Housework routine

M.E.

I have limited energy, definitely limited enthusiasm and get little out of doing housework.
So I randomly set the kitcher timer (up to one hour) and then do the room on the flylady list. That is my housework done for the day, unless I feel like doing more.
I then reward myself with cuppa, knitting, MSE or whatever. If I feel like doing more I reset the timer and finish the room I should have done last week!

curlygirl1971

I can't begin to tell you how much I hate cleaning - your list would take me a month to achieve. My coffee breaks usually end up with me watching some random movie.

I used to be very house proud but.......now I'm not. Living on a dirty main road doesn't help because even if I do dust the benefit doesn't stay for long. I don't invite people round any more.

I'm not too bad at being tidy actually and of course I don't let things become unhygienic - but 9/10 I come up with an excuse not to give the house a good clean. By the time I've washed up from dinner it's often nearly 8pm and I'm only at my house 2 in every 5 weekends. I suppose I will feel more inclined to do it when it's warmer and lighter - not least because I will see the dirt more - but I've realised for a good while that I do need to give myself a kick up the proverbial

4nnabella

Hiya

I've spent this afternoon cleaning my house and have:

Hoovered every room (kitchen, living room, hallway, stairs, landing, bathroom and two bedrooms - and bedrooms both involved decluttering floors so I could get to them with the Hoover!)
Mopped kitchen and bathroom floors
Dusted/cleaned all surface
Cleaned curtains
Washing up
Cleaned bath/sink/toilet/tiles in bathroom

and I've got a husband to clean up after and two cats (hoovering seems to take a bit longer when the cat hair glues itself to the carpet...)

I started in the living room and worked my way round the house, doing everything in one room before moving on to the next. I did living room, kitchen, hallway, stairs, landing, bathroom, bedrooms.

I didn't have a break, feel like I've worked at a steady decent pace, and it's taken me about five hours. Some bits took longer than others. I think the bathroom definitely took the longest.

Oh and I don't iron. If I want to wear something that needs ironing then I'll do it the night before I want it. But I'm like you and don't do towels, bedding or anything like that! Life's definitely too short to iron towels!

rachbc

apart from this weekend when it all went a bit wrong we do a 2 hours blitz sat am - all hands on deck (me, dh, ds 13 and dd 4). In that time ds does his own room and sorted washing and dd follows me around helping me (meaning everything takes twice as long as it would by myself lol)

We have 7 rooms plus kitchen and bathroom so pro rata about the same as you! In that time we clean kitchen and bathroom, tidy dust and hoover all rooms and strip the bed/s and wash the hard floors. Then in rotation 1 room a week each room gets a more thorough clean - ie kitchen inside fridge, maybe a cupboard or 2 that have got out of hand, bedroom the wardrobe/ drawers might get sorted, shower cubicle properly descaled etc.

Then I sit down, have a brew, turn round and wonder if I dreamt the last 2 hours as it looks just like it did before i started - at least you don't have rugrats messing the place up again!!

ETA I dnt iron - dh irons a shirt for the rare occassions he needs one!

I wrk form top to bottom of the house and then kitchen last of all as then all the washing, rubbish and dirty dishes that are gathered as we go end up in the kitchen for the final push. other than a daily wipe down of the kitchen, putting the toys away at bed time and a few loads of washing I don't anything else during the week - just don't have the time or inclination -but we are all farly good at putting stuff away as you use it, clothes in laundry as take them off etc etc so it never gets tooo bad.

beemuzed

Ceridwen, I like your style! I pretend I'm employing myself for all the "hats" I wear: secretary to two bodies, churchwarden, archivist for another society, tutor, etc, etc.
I then work out how much time each "job" takes, either weekly or monthly and take it from there.
Trouble is, I give myself far too much time off!!

meritaten

I hate housework too! so little time - so many more interesting things to do! I was brought up in the fifties and it seemed to me that my mum and nan (we lived with my grandparents until I was ten) were ALWAYS immersed in housework - how the heck two women could do housework in a fairly standard 3 bed semi, for so many hours a day boggles my mind! mum would never play with me as she always had 'things to do'! nan - well, apart from polishing everything that stood still, was a fantastic cook and would do preserves and pickles and make us cakes, welshcakes, pikelets (sort of drop scones) and was a very good seamstress!
I am NOT like them - Mum says I am lazy..........so when I do decide the house is a tip - I sort of do a Kim and Aggie! I can clean the whole house in about 4 hours! I dont have loads of dustcatchers (ornaments) I don my 'official cleaners outfit' dont laugh - its a tabard top and my rubber gloves which have been 'Kimmed' - I put glittery peel-offs around the cuffs and after humming the theme tune to 'How clean is your house' under my breath I wade in! I also have fun by trying out some of the more bizarre cleaning tips - and to my surprise most of them work! what cant be cleaned gets binned (apart from the antiques on my dresser) and I am ruthless!!!! if its broken and waiting to be fixed - it gets binned! if I decide I dont like it - its either binned or the charity shop gets it! once I decide its cleaning day I am unstoppable! the rest of the time I couldnt care less!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

It does depend - but I read the Flylady thread, which divides things up into manageable tasks for each weekday.

Bedrooms generally just need the bed made/covers changed, anything dropped on the floor picked up and vacuumed. No more than half an hour.

If the bathroom is clean beforehand - ie, any spills are wiped up as they happen, soap isn't left going squishy on the sink, bath/shower is rinsed at the end of ablutions, any marks in the loo are brushed away and cleaning fluid popped in last thing at night every couple of days, then all you need to do is empty the bin, wipe over surfaces, clean the mirror with a spray of 1 part vinegar to 9 parts warm water, and give the floor a quick mop, all of which will take roughly 15 minutes, but could go to half an hour if you need to scrub the bath, grouting or every square inch of the floor for some reason.

Hall/stairs,landing should take about the same, as it's just a quick dust, sweep/vacuum and mop after collecting any extra bits of clutter and rehoming them.

If you wash up as you go along, dry and put away, plus wipe over the worksurfaces when something is spilled (and once you've washed up), cooker and sink, plus pick up the mop and just flip it over any dirt tracked in before it has a chance to get ingrained/sweep the floor each day (which is just a couple of minutes here and there), you'll then have about half an hour to 45 minutes for wiping cupboard fronts, appliances, mopping the floor and having a nice cup of tea whilst the floor dries. Taking stuff out the fridge as soon as it is used up/wiping up spills removes the need to have a major cleaning session - as you do the cupboard fronts, just open the fridge and clean the seal and wipe the base of it.


Then you have the living room, which can eat time. Ruthless recycling - if it isn't needed anymore, it goes straight into recycling without hanging round on a surface to be dealt with later - helps. Probably about half an hour to 45 minutes could be spent here, depending on how much 'stuff' is there. One way of starting is to start with small spaces - get them clear (10 minutes) then another place, etc. AnW's Mum calls it 'dot to dotting', as the spaces eventually join up. Keeping seats and tables clear is half the battle. Empty bin. Then quick dust top of furniture and any ornaments and vacuum.


Dusting and polishing can be one and the same thing if you use a cloth lightly impregnated with polish. Except for your books - put the vacuum cleaner on low power and use the brush attachment to get some of that dust off without damaging them.

So far we have 30mins +15mins + 30mins + 45mins + 30mins = 2hrs 30mins. Or half an hour a day.


Washing for one person for a week depends on what you do and how much you use towels/bedlinen. If you assume one lights wash, one darks wash and one bedlinen/towels/teatowels wash per week, that gives you 15 minutes loading and unloading machine and 15 minutes hanging up/taking down and folding. Plus half an hour ironing - put things on hangers as you finish ironing each item and that saves a bit of time. So roughly an hour in total, but spread out through the day.

You can then add in cleaning windows, wiping over appliances (if you do it as you wipe the surfaces each day, it isn't a job), descaling kettles quick flip of the duster over the light fittings, cleaning curtains, etc, when you get the urge.

So all in all, 4 hours spread through the week should result in your place gleaming after a short time.

newlywed

see me, I go through phases of madly cleaning.... then I hate it and can't be bothered and don't see why I should be the only one who does it

So in my hating housework times I limit myself to dusting and cleaning and tidying one room completely a week and then on top of that I clean the kitchen worktops regularly and clean the toilet and sink. So about 2 hours a week really. That sounds scummy reading through the rest of the posts. But I work full time pay most of the bills, do all the cooking, washing and food shopping.

rosy

I recently came across this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Housework-Blues-Survival-Emotional-Challenge/dp/0956493904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301774153&sr=8-1
it's not about how to do the housework itself but really concentrates on ways to psych yourself up to do it/ give yourself an incentive etc. The author also has a blog (on which the book is based) which has quite a few good ideas http://makepeacewithhousework.com/Make_Peace_with_Housework/Blog/Blog.html

( By the way I've no connection with it at all, just happened to chance on it!)

Quenastoise

I honestly wouldn't have the moral fortitude to do all the cleaning in one session a week

I like to pretend to have everything under control by tidying up every day, doing the dishes, the laundry, recycling, moping the glass dining room table, and wiping kitchen surfaces every day. The rest is done on an ad hoc basis - it gets done if it needs doing.

If I need a longer cleaning session - say DH works on a Saturday, I have various tasks on the go at the same time to keep me going - say I am getting a meal together in the slow cooker, doing the laundry, putting clothes away, getting rid of the rubbish all at the same time to drive away the boredom.

Oh, and not having high standards helps :rotfl: