Top Tips for a clean tidy home

tooties

Hi OP,

I hate cleaning etc with a passion!!!!! However this time last year i implemented a cleaning routine and i have stuck to it totally.

It has made such a difference to our house and i am so glad i have done it.

I suffer terrible with depression but having it all laid out gives me a structure to follow.

Hope you get sorted soon

regards

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

avogadro wrote: »

Good Grief.


Possibly a social services issue? Not worth risking your own safety.

She sounds perfectly sane when doing her poor little old lady act to everybody else; I don't think SS want to be wasting their valuable time on a sociopath who is more attached to things than people.

In any case, I'm done there. Not my problem - I only posted the pictures to show how not getting stuck into cleaning can escalate over a few years; I could keep it to usable levels whilst I was stuck there as a kid, but once I'd gone, a few bits got added every week until it got to that.

BrokenBetty_2

Its great to see this thread pick back up. I've just started my 3rd week back at work, after being off for a few months with anxiety / depression, so great to re-read the older posts and see the new ones.

tattycath

Some great tips on here. This kind of thing motivates me to get something done. Certain TV programmes motivate me too like:
Obsessive compulsive cleaners
Hoarders
Hoarder next door etc etc

I need to go and do something constructive and start de cluttering again now.

CathA

I try and have a 'housework rota', sad I know!! For me in a normal week (not at the moment as I'm full time babysitting for my grandson for a few months) I work as follows-

Monday-day off of everything, so if I want to sit on my bum and do nothing/watch cr4p on tv/spend hours on internet I will. I have just started swimming on a Monday afternoon. However, if I feel motivated and want to wash the windows/clean the cooker/sort the paperwork I can, or not as the case may be!
Tuesday morning-shopping with the baby, he's asleep in the afternoon so I have to be quiet (more cr4p tv/internet/reading the paper!)
Wednesday-clean upstairs, change sheets, get ready for work in the afternoon. It's a point of hilarity at work when I come in, I'm often greeted with cries of 'Oh it's Wednesday, have you changed the sheets'?
Thursday-clean downstairs and hoover the house, get ready for work in the evening.
Friday-pretty much the same as Tuesday though I walk to town with the baby, rather than take the car as it's only bitty bits of shopping to get. Friday afternoon, baby is asleep, more cr4p tv etc-you see where this is going? Don't know what I'll do when he doesn't sleep in the afternoon, there's only so much CBeebies I can stand!!

Anyway, I've built into my schedule enough flexibility that it's easy to change things if needed; for example if I'm going out for the day on Thursday, I can swap that day's housework to Monday, or do some of it quietly when the baby is asleep in the afternoons. Everything is done once a week so nothing gets left out. If there is a week where something gets missed (like this week as it's my birthday tomorrow, not doing much then!) it doesn't matter as I can catch up next week.

Just try and do something every day, factor in days off as housework IS work, be flexible and don't fret over small stuff. If you're starting off with a mess, do one area at a time, be ruthless, get lots of bin bags, turn the radio up loudly and sing along to it, don't focus on how much there is to do, just concentrate on what an improvement you've made so far. Don't sweat the small stuff! Good luck!

gunsandbanjos

My two tips:

Don't walk around empty handed, if you're going from one room to another have a quick glance around to see if anything needs taking with you.

And do timed bursts, it is STAGGERING how much you can get done in half an hour. Set a timer on your phone or whatever and just go for it, I was amazed the first time I did it.

JacobWeddle319

If you don't have time for cleaning, then it's best you hire a professional cleaning service. They will definitely make your house super-clean and tidy. If you don't prefer outside interference, then you should find time for cleaning it yourself. I clean my house on weekends. If you get time on a weekend, then that's the perfect time for cleaning. After that you should try to clean part by part on weekdays after your work. This way you can keep your house from further disaster.

ognum

JacobWeddle319 wrote: »

If you don't have time for cleaning, then it's best you hire a professional cleaning service. They will definitely make your house super-clean and tidy. If you don't prefer outside interference, then you should find time for cleaning it yourself. I clean my house on weekends. If you get time on a weekend, then that's the perfect time for cleaning. After that you should try to clean part by part on weekdays after your work. This way you can keep your house from further disaster.

I disagree, hiring a cleaner will not tidy your home! You need to tidy before a cleaner comes, if you don't then it's a waste of money all they are doing is pushing piles of stuff around.

Lostinthenorth

I've found it helps to look at a room from an outsider's point of view - I'm not the world's tidiest person (but I am very concerned about cleanliness), but I find that having people visit shames me into a degree of tidiness!

Kathy535

I got mocked at work for this, but I have a list on the fridge. Me and OH both have three tasks each night and six at the weekend. If we both do our tasks each day the house stays tidy. The tasks are a mixture of stuff that needs to be done each day (eg bleaching work surfaces, kitchen sink, wiping hob) and stuff that needs to be done less often (changing beds, wiping paintwork, cobwebs). There's also stuff that needs to be done less often, defrosting freezer, washing curtains etc. In the week it takes around 15 mins per evening, weekends 30 mins.

So, in theory, I should always have a clean and tidy home. In reality, OH thinks I'm too anal about this and doesn't understand that if you wipe over the kitchen tiles every Tuesday you only need a quick wipe rather than a real going over every month (for example). So, I end up doing most of it. But, ho hum, it keeps things clean and means I don't spend my weekends doing the housework.

Despite my work colleagues openly stating I'm too controlling and treat my OH like a child (and why would I do that exactly?), it works for me.