crisis cleaning - what jobs are most important?

artichoke

hi all

well - i know if i followed the flylady thread with a bit more motivation this would not be an issue..

but although i try to follow there are some jobs i just avoid - mopping the floor, cleaning the skirting.. windows etc..

i manage to do the basics most weeks but don't really deep clean...

anyway - i need help / advise..

it is half term - i have kids age 5 and 6 at home - DH is on a course this week leaving the house at 7 and home around 9..

and MIL has just announced she is coming up to visit on thursday until early next week and she will be sleeping in living room on sofa bed...

MIL is a bit of a perfect housewife so i need to do a bit of a crisis clean tue and wed ..and she is petrified of spiders of whch we have many so i need to deweb..

so given limited time as i have kids at home to keep occupied..and i work from home so need to do some work as well:

What jobs are the most important that someone would notice / object to if not done...??

i am thinking deep clean bathroom - it is Swish and swiped every day but not deep cleaned..

deep clean living room of dust and wash covers as she is sleeping in there..

kitchen is not that bad as i do that each week but cupbaords are a mess and floor needs a mop..kids room and our bedroom are a state but she will not go in our bedroom and kids room - well i will be embaressed but if rest is ok then i can cope..

-- i am asking what jobs do people think are most important and people notice / judge you by?

i need motivation to get this done by thursday and then hopefully will have enough energy to get back on the flylady thread...and get down to level 3 without avoiding the bits i hate

i know others work on their houses much harder than me... ..i live within my own comfort zone and generally feel ok about the house and kitchen is swish and swiped and sink shines, oven is clean, floor is swept, i do one wash of clothes every day, and bathroom is swish and swiped dailu - but we do have clutter as house is tiny - but MIL lives on a planet of perfectionism.. and lives as a single person in 4 bed house so clutter not an issue for her..

So kids are in bed and i am going to scrub the kitchen tiles and maybe mop the floor..:eek:

i NEVER do housework at night usually - so which me luck
art

Turkishdreamer

artichoke wrote: »

hi all

well - i know if i followed the flylady thread with a bit more motivation this would not be an issue..

but although i try to follow there are some jobs i just avoid - mopping the floor, cleaning the skirting.. windows etc..

i manage to do the basics most weeks but don't really deep clean...

anyway - i need help / advise..

it is half term - i have kids age 5 and 6 at home - DH is on a course this week leaving the house at 7 and home around 9..

and MIL has just announced she is coming up to visit on thursday until early next week and she will be sleeping in living room on sofa bed...

MIL is a bit of a perfect housewife so i need to do a bit of a crisis clean tue and wed ..and she is petrified of spiders of whch we have many so i need to deweb..

so given limited time as i have kids at home to keep occupied..and i work from home so need to do some work as well:

What jobs are the most important that someone would notice / object to if not done...??

i am thinking deep clean bathroom - it is Swish and swiped every day but not deep cleaned..

deep clean living room of dust and wash covers as she is sleeping in there..

kitchen is not that bad as i do that each week but cupbaords are a mess and floor needs a mop..kids room and our bedroom are a state but she will not go in our bedroom and kids room - well i will be embaressed but if rest is ok then i can cope..

-- i am asking what jobs do people think are most important and people notice / judge you by?

i need motivation to get this done by thursday and then hopefully will have enough energy to get back on the flylady thread...and get down to level 3 without avoiding the bits i hate

i know others work on their houses much harder than me... ..i live within my own comfort zone and generally feel ok about the house and kitchen is swish and swiped and sink shines, oven is clean, floor is swept, i do one wash of clothes every day, and bathroom is swish and swiped dailu - but we do have clutter as house is tiny - but MIL lives on a planet of perfectionism.. and lives as a single person in 4 bed house so clutter not an issue for her..

So kids are in bed and i am going to scrub the kitchen tiles and maybe mop the floor..:eek:

i NEVER do housework at night usually - so which me luck
art

In my house cleaniness is paramount, my kids who have all flown the nest now say I am 'anal' about it.

If I go into someone else's house it is the bathroom, usually visited after at least one cup of coffee (it must be my age) that I tend to notice. Clean toilet, bath and basin. Fresh clean towels and no nasty surprises!!

In the kitchen, I always clean my worktops after every use, bleach sink daily and empty bins regularly. The floor is also cleaned weekly (only 2 of us in house most of time).

I am very minimalist, so not too much clutter for me, but obviously different with young kids. I assume the Living Room would be likely to be used the most by MIL, so that needs to be clean and tidy.

I would be thinking my MIL knows how busy we are, is familiar with the family, so has to take as she finds to a degree.

Perhaps she would offer to 'muck in, or out' as the case may be.

Don't wear yourself out over it, she will be gone before you know it.

Good luck.

*Maya*

Is there any way your kids could go on a play date for a halfday/day. If a friend could have them you could offer to return the favour some weekend.
If you set your mind to it you can do a fairly deep clean in a day.
Deep cleaning the bathroom shouldn't take long and then I would concentrate on he living room. Pull out all the furneture and damp dust everything. Clean pictures, ornaments and windows well.
You could do a couple of kitchen cupboards a night until she gets there.

Look at the Flylady list to see what they do on each room at level 3.

Don't anic. She's there to see the family.... and good luck.

lostinrates

In this sort of crisis I wouldn't deep clean anything until you've surface cleaned everything, and have time left over. Get it what I think of as ''closed cupboards and drawers clean ...whoch sometimes means opening cupboards, or using a bedroom as a dumping zone to sort through after the Royal visit. Then, worry less about windows and lampshades more about clearing surfaces and getting the hoover through everywhere. Get it well aired so it smells good. Get the kitchen benches and cupboard doors clean, loo and sink and bath clean.

Make sure her sheets are smelling lovely and if you can iron pillowslips it will look a whole heap better. So if your room is out of bounds, and as much can be hiden there, get the place fresh is what I would do.

Sambucus_Nigra

Bathroom, Kitchen floor, fridge, hoover and tidy up. Get the cobwebs when you hoover. Anything else, is a bonus.

artichoke

hi all

thanks for suggestions so far - i am half way though mopping kitchen floor - and will scrub outsides of cupboards while i am down at floor level - the whole house is country cottage rural shabby but not "chic". The kitchen units are wooden and very old so never quite look clean. MIL is city modern minimalist with all mod cons so we have quite different expectations / lifestyles...

dust is a battle as we have wood fired central heating and keep stacks of wood in utility room along with the bark, mud and other bits that come in with the wood.

Right off for another 15 mins - wil read in detail later..

art

lindseykim13

In this situ i would run madly around with black bags and chuck everything that i don't want mil or clutter items into the bags and hide in my bedroom if i know she wont go in there. Then i would clean bathrooms, kitchen & living room. I would just get kids to tidy their rooms so they are reasonable and leave mine a mess lol
If i had time i would check front garden was ok and porch/enterance too, first impressions!

budgetboo

I have pets so the cat litter tray is crucial! It's kept in the bathroom out of the way & has a lid but pet odours are really offensive, so it's always the 1st thing I check if expecting guests. Second only to anywhere that might habour pet stonk is the disposable nappy bin if you have one - get it out the way as I don't think parents realise how awful these can honk up the house (one of the key reasons I went for cloth). Older people (with distant memories of babies) notice the nappy bin far more than other parents.

After that kitchen surfaces - the floor is nice if it's spotless, but noone wants to eat food they think has been prepped on a dirty surface so scrub down the hob top, work surfaces, check the kettle/toaster too for finger marks. Wipe down the shelf you keep your tea/coffee/sugar and make sure the fridge is clean inside. Also if you have kids, make sure all the cutlery in the drawer is spotless as sometimes a child's version of washed up and hours are two different things! Nothing worse than someone sending back the teaspoon when you offer them a cuppa cos your kid/dp didn't wash up properly! Then you can ask her to make herself at home and do herself a cuppa when she chooses wthout blushing.

Next does the bathroom look perfect? I won't go in a restaurant twice if the loo is less than loved. Ensure the kids are trained to wipe the basin after they have brushed their teeth to ensure you don't have to endure public humiliation.

Her sheets and towels - these should be freshly laundered and smell nice. I add a little lavender to a cup of white vinegar for my house linens and it does make such a difference. Make sure she has your fluffiest towel to use.

Ban the kids from leaving their crap anywhere but their rooms while she's there.

artichoke

hum - thanks everyone - i will tackle the bathroom in the morning but it is a problem - MIL is a shower a day person and we have no shower just a very old enamel bath - that has rust marks on the bottom so looks dirty..

and our sink has a tap hanging off - you need to hold it straight when you use it or it geos all over the floor - basically we need a new bathroom but can not afford it at the moment..

towels are clean but scratchy as we don;t have/ want a tumbler..

DS is a nightmare for dribbling wee on the floor (age just 5) but i do try and disinfect every day when i swish and swipe but the odour does linger..as is seeped into the floor..

aggh i do need to try and get someone to take kids out for a few hours plus what i did not mention is the reason she is coming is that it is DD's birthday party on sunday and i need to organise that :eek:plus plan all the meals i will cook when she is here - i had already meal planned but as Dh is not eating with us this week my plans are a bit kid friendly and not suitable for a vegetarian MIL..so i need to look at my meal plan in the morning and do an online shop.

aghg usually when this happens i just give up and MIL arrived and the house was chaos but i would like her to think i have got better now the kids are older..

anyway kitchen cupboards and wooden panelling scrubbed - it never looks perfect as the panelling is over 100 years old...half of the kitchen floor mopped - i need to move the table and chairs to mop the rest but dont want to leave it ovenight with the table in the wrong place as our dog is old and nearly blind and will get confused if the table is in the wrong half of the room overnight..



art

off to bed now as will be up at 6am

artichoke

Turkishdreamer wrote: »

In my house cleaniness is paramount, my kids who have all flown the nest now say I am 'anal' about it.

.

hum - this is the bit i am worried about - everyone has different tolerances for cleanliness and germs and i think mine is very differerent to MIL..

Certain things i am paranoid about - we keep sheep so i am very aware of bio-security and hygiene so it is boots and waterproofs off in the utility room and hands washed an dried on a towel that is kept for when you have been doing farm work and towel goes straight in washing machine in utility.

but we have dogs and cats and we walk through the yard to get into the house which is muddy so we do have mud and dog / cat hair in the house.

Cooker is an aga type which looks a bit grubby on the hotplate and inside the lids but is just use and age..it is hygienic but does not look clean..

floor is old quarry tiles that i have just mopped half of - but are over 100 years old so although mopped and scrubbed still look shabby..

so that is why i am asking what are the most important things i can do to make it look clean even though it is old and shabby..

art
must go to bed or will have no energy for anything in the morning..

artichoke

lindseykim13 wrote: »

If i had time i would check front garden was ok and porch/enterance too, first impressions!

aghg yes i did want to get the garden looking ok but it is a tip with lots of tree trunks waiting to be logged, and lots of sawdust on the grass form when we did the last logging..plus old garden ghghtoys waiting to be rehomed

utility room which is the entrance room at the back (we don't use the front door) is full of logs ...

aghg ok - will try and sort utility room tomorrow..

aghgh - i just want to hibernate..