dancer67 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I clean. But I really need to do a DEEP cleaning. Curtains, dust bunnies, windows etc....I can never seem to get to it. How does everyone handle this task? I feel like by the time I am done with one room, by the time I get to the last room, it is time to start all over again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I'm actually feeling pretty stressed the last day or so because I need to deep clean for my own sanity (even though I clean daily) but haven't been able to get it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Your supposed to deep clean?:001_huh: :lol: I don't. I just try to get it before it's really bad. Once a month I go on a rampage and stop all life until the house at least comes close to my expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I just discovered the most amazing thing. Books on cd - while you listen, you can always be doing something else. We've been listening to Uncle Tom's Cabin in the dining room. My kitchen and dining room are getting so clean! I give each of the kids a few areas to tackle, choose my own, put the next cd in - and for 1 hour we mindlessly clean while we listen. And its painless! Can't wait til tomorrow - out comes the stove and the fridge so I can clean behind those, and the kids are cleaning out the pantry! Woo-hoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amydavis Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I really need some tips on this. We are trying to declutter and still have lots of boxes left to sort. My room looks like a storage unit. Our home is older, built in 1930, and I feel like I can not keep it clean. There is so much space, and from not being as airtight as they make houses these days, it gets so dusty - so quickly. I can usually multi-task, but with this, it seems if I start on the house, then we never get around to finishing up school. And if I do school, well then, no house! Does that make any sense? I am feeling overwhelmed! So, definitely listening in for some pointers on how to juggle it all.:bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Your supposed to deep clean?:001_huh: That was my first thought too. I decided a while back that my mission calling was making sure other women felt good about themselves. I do this by making sure my house is not as clean as everyone elses so they can pat themselves on the back and say "At least my house is better than Aunt Pol's." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanie Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I clean. But I really need to do a DEEP cleaning. Curtains, dust bunnies, windows etc....I can never seem to get to it. How does everyone handle this task? I feel like by the time I am done with one room, by the time I get to the last room, it is time to start all over again! You do one room at a time. I start with one room and plan on it for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. If I'm good I can even get it done on a school day. So one Saturday you can take down the curtains in the living room or even the bedroom too, and throw them in the wash if their washable. If I'm in the living room then I head down the the floorboards to do them. I also use the micro-fiber glove to dust things so I don't have to get all the products out. It's hard to do it or even plan it when you look at is as a whole. You've got to break it down and you will feel very productive. Lower your expectations in terms of how much you get accomplished at once. Another tidbit is that my kids have chores everyday which include dusting. I always do an overall dusting over the weekend, but at least it gets wiped down daily. It's much easier when you keep up on it than doing it all at once. HTH!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Someone used a phrase on here a few weeks ago that I've adopted as my own. The phrase is "homeschool clean." As in, "There are dust bunnies under every piece of furniture and cobwebs in the corners, but the dishes are done and the laundry is mostly done, so now the house is homeschool clean." It means that while I'm homeschooling, only the superficial cleaning gets done. The deep cleaning will be done when the kids graduate. I manage to keep up with just the basics (and I mean just the basics.) Anything beyond that is just extra that I've finally been able to stop worrying about. I look around and if the house is reasonably cleaned (been dusted and vacuumed sometime in the last two weeks, paper piles are under some sort of control, dishes, bathrooms, and laundry are done) then I consider the house "homeschool clean" and let the rest slide. In the end, in the very, very end, are we really going to care if we got all the dust bunnies? Nope. As long as the house is clean enough to be healthy (no filthy toilets or piles of molding dishes) and we can walk on the floors because there isn't any clutter on them, then I feel that the house is just fine. And when we're old and gray, we won't look back and regret those dust bunnies. We'll look back on our precious memories of time spent with our children. Caveat: this isn't an excuse to live in filth. The closets may need to be cleaned out, the tops of the curtains may be dusty, and the shed can be a mess, but our day-to-day living areas should be tidy and the basics maintained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn in OH Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I didn't think it was possible to ever be "done". It seems to me to be an ongoing never ending project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 out comes the stove and the fridge so I can clean behind those, and the kids are cleaning out the pantry! Woo-hoo! You clean behind the stove and fridge? Really? I decided a while back that my mission calling was making sure other women felt good about themselves. I do this by making sure my house is not as clean as everyone elses so they can pat themselves on the back and say "At least my house is better than Aunt Pol's." This is what I say as well. :D Someone used a phrase on here a few weeks ago that I've adopted as my own. The phrase is "homeschool clean." As in, "There are dust bunnies under every piece of furniture and cobwebs in the corners, but the dishes are done and the laundry is mostly done, so now the house is homeschool clean." It means that while I'm homeschooling, only the superficial cleaning gets done. The deep cleaning will be done when the kids graduate. I manage to keep up with just the basics (and I mean just the basics.) Anything beyond that is just extra that I've finally been able to stop worrying about. I look around and if the house is reasonably cleaned (been dusted and vacuumed sometime in the last two weeks, paper piles are under some sort of control, dishes, bathrooms, and laundry are done) then I consider the house "homeschool clean" and let the rest slide. In the end, in the very, very end, are we really going to care if we got all the dust bunnies? Nope. As long as the house is clean enough to be healthy (no filthy toilets or piles of molding dishes) and we can walk on the floors because there isn't any clutter on them, then I feel that the house is just fine. And when we're old and gray, we won't look back and regret those dust bunnies. We'll look back on our precious memories of time spent with our children. Caveat: this isn't an excuse to live in filth. The closets may need to be cleaned out, the tops of the curtains may be dusty, and the shed can be a mess, but our day-to-day living areas should be tidy and the basics maintained. Homeschool clean....I like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulfbourne Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Someone used a phrase on here a few weeks ago that I've adopted as my own. The phrase is "homeschool clean." As in, "There are dust bunnies under every piece of furniture and cobwebs in the corners, but the dishes are done and the laundry is mostly done, so now the house is homeschool clean." It means that while I'm homeschooling, only the superficial cleaning gets done. The deep cleaning will be done when the kids graduate. I manage to keep up with just the basics (and I mean just the basics.) Anything beyond that is just extra that I've finally been able to stop worrying about. I look around and if the house is reasonably cleaned (been dusted and vacuumed sometime in the last two weeks, paper piles are under some sort of control, dishes, bathrooms, and laundry are done) then I consider the house "homeschool clean" and let the rest slide. In the end, in the very, very end, are we really going to care if we got all the dust bunnies? Nope. As long as the house is clean enough to be healthy (no filthy toilets or piles of molding dishes) and we can walk on the floors because there isn't any clutter on them, then I feel that the house is just fine. And when we're old and gray, we won't look back and regret those dust bunnies. We'll look back on our precious memories of time spent with our children. Caveat: this isn't an excuse to live in filth. The closets may need to be cleaned out, the tops of the curtains may be dusty, and the shed can be a mess, but our day-to-day living areas should be tidy and the basics maintained. I think you can replace 'homeschool clean' with 'toddler clean' as well. With a toddler I feel like we just keep up with the mess we make for the most part, with laundry, toys, books, dishes, food thrown to the floor etc. It's hard to keep up the basics most days. Besides, if I ever feel too bad about my house I watch 'How Clean Is Your House' with those two British ladies and feel a LOT better about my own home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 You clean behind the stove and fridge? Really? Not normally, lol! But, actually, about once a year, when my fridge starts making knocking noises and the dog and cat both are pawing at something under the stove, I pull them out. Its absolutely disgusting. I'm surprised the refrigerator hasn't combusted and burnt the house down with all the dust and pet hair that gets sucked to the back of it. (I'm so embarassed. I can't believe I told you all that.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancer67 Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 Well, my house is certainly "homeschool clean". The normal stuff gets done. But you look up, and as your ceiling fan is going ,the dust is flying off of it! Or you bend down to pick something up and you have an inch of dog fur under the bed......ewwwwww. I think I need to deep clean one room at a time. It will probably take me all day. Especially when it comes to a good dusting. My LR has ALOT of woodwork, and that needs to get done. My windows are driving me crazy. I have to do the front door all the time because I have dog slobber 1/4 of the way up all the time:001_huh: Oh, and I am not even sure I want to get behind the fridge. Once I go in, I may not ever come back from "behind the fridge-land":lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I don't get it all done, not even close. The mess is getting overwhelming--things are clean, but there's too much chaos. The kids and I plan to spend much of Thanksgiving week deep-cleaning and tidying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Flylady zones. Pick a zone - bedroom, living room, whatever- and for the week, deep clean that room only while still doing normal cleaning on the rest of the house. And you dont have to do it all either. When I am on a bedroom zone, I might go through my drawers, vacuum under the bed, dust teh shelves, cull some books, tidy my bedside table....just a few extra minutes a day on that room only. Well...I am like many of you. I don't get to many jobs and my home is not suitable for a magazine, and I probably make other people feel good about their own homes...however, I do like to spend time doing "extra" jobs, especially decluttering, regularly. Particularly since we go to garage sales every weekend as a family activiity :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertDweller Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 That was my first thought too. I decided a while back that my mission calling was making sure other women felt good about themselves. I do this by making sure my house is not as clean as everyone elses so they can pat themselves on the back and say "At least my house is better than Aunt Pol's." :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karie Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I did this this summer. What I did was I picked one room to thoroughly clean every week. I did this during the summer because we weren't doing a lot of school. For example, when I did my living room, I pulled all the furniture from the walls and cleaned behind everything, I cleaned all the blinds and windows, I went through any closets in that room, I cleaned the ceiling fan, I cleaned the drawers of the end tables. I made a list of every thing I wanted done for that room and crossed it off as I went. Crossing things off a list makes me feel like I've actually accomplished something. Since I picked one room a week, I was able to finish the whole house by the time the school year started. By giving myself one week to do it, I didn't feel like I had to do it all in one day. Deep cleaning (cleaning behind furniture, blinds, etc) doesn't need to be done all the time. Those things will stay fairly clean for awhile. When I cleaned our walk in closet, I took everything out of the closet and put it on the bed, then went through all the clothes and got rid of 2 bags of clothing. It took me 6 hours to do that closet, but I felt SO good after it was done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Someone used a phrase on here a few weeks ago that I've adopted as my own. The phrase is "homeschool clean." As in, "There are dust bunnies under every piece of furniture and cobwebs in the corners, but the dishes are done and the laundry is mostly done, so now the house is homeschool clean." It means that while I'm homeschooling, only the superficial cleaning gets done. The deep cleaning will be done when the kids graduate. . I like that, "homeschool clean" I think I will adopt that one too. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RecumbentHeart Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I clean. But I really need to do a DEEP cleaning. Curtains, dust bunnies, windows etc....I can never seem to get to it. How does everyone handle this task? I feel like by the time I am done with one room, by the time I get to the last room, it is time to start all over again! I haven't found it to be something you can really consider "done" and my most effective strategy has proven to be coming to terms with that reality and from there, consistency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 ACK! We are cleaning this week. We have a party here on Saturday and I have loads of real life to get done this week too. But we aren't just party cleaning, our basement is getting finished now (DH has put up all the framing and insulation and is putting in recessed lighting) so now we need the electrician and the drywallers to come in. That means that my basement (AKA: Dump it down there noone will ever see it area) needs to be not only clean, but somewhat bare! It is an overwhelming task because we have to find places to put all this storage stuff!!!!! We are also having to do some cleaning like emptying boxes that have been sitting here full for 2 years while I ignore them! We spent about 3-4 hours yesterday on cleaning and will spend 1-2 today. My goal is to get the basement and the main floor complete by Saturday for the party and then worry about the upstairs next week. It is overwhelming and I hate cleaning..... I called my clean freak friend yesterday for advice and I had to :lol: at her advice. She said to start with the ceiling and ceiling fans and clean that first! I had NO plans to deal with anything above the level people could SEE! Now I have even more stress! ARGH! Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katemary63 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I clean. But I really need to do a DEEP cleaning. Curtains, dust bunnies, windows etc....I can never seem to get to it. How does everyone handle this task? I feel like by the time I am done with one room, by the time I get to the last room, it is time to start all over again! I don't, my house is a wreck....I was out horseback riding yesterday, never did get to the dishes...can't seem to think the house is more important then enjoying God's beautiful world and all the things he has blessed me with on the farm. We spend more time outside then in anyway....I make sure the house is clean for holidays...that's about it. Otherwise, we just accept that there is not enough time to keep it neater and still homeschool and have fun. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katemary63 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 (edited) ....which include dusting. I always do an overall dusting over the weekend, but at least it gets wiped down daily. WOW! You dust every week AND the kids wipe down daily......huh....just wow....... we dust.....when company is coming....IF we know they are coming ahead of time and also for Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter! :lol: Dust is my friend. :D ps. Just so ya'll know, I DO clean the kitchen, the bathroom and mop both floors thoroughly once a week. Thank goodness I have only one bathroom! Edited November 4, 2009 by katemary63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 While I am homeschooling, my house will never be 'deep-cleaned' all at the same time. The only time I have for deep-cleaning is weekends, and I might hit a particular based on need enlisting children to help. Otherwise, this is not the season for deep cleaning. This is the season to educate my children. I do de-clutter/deep-clean over the summer, but by October it's back to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 In the summer I take a week (or two) and go through EVERY room in the house and clean EVERYTHING and that is ALL I do that week! I move things, I go through drawers, I clean shelves, I throw stuff away, etc. Anything that can be cleaned gets cleaned in a pretty systematic (room by room) way. I LOVE throwing stuff away and organizing, by the way. :-) Because we do TOG I think of our school year in 9 week chunks, so I broke the house into 9 zones. Each week I only focus on that one room. I don't do as in-depth as I do in the summer, but I make sure that room looks good. It doesn't take that long to fix up one room when it has been deep cleaned a few weeks before. In terms of the weekly/daily stuff the kids have their chore list and I have mine and we take and hour (or two) on the weekend to all do our chores together. Believe it or not, it is not in my nature to have a spotless house. However, dh really loves a clean home and so I have developed this system as a way of keeping the place looking great for him and for all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Disclaimer: Small house, only 4 people. Also, dc are grown and gone, but it makes it easier--most of the time--to write if I use present tense instead of past. :-) There are certain things that I do without fail: Make my bed every single morning as soon as I get up. Get dressed before I leave my bedroom (I shower at night, wash my hair in the morning in the kitchen sink). Have dc get dressed as soon as. Always, always clean the kitchen as soon as we finish eating, even if we're late. We clean house on Friday, including all the laundry--wash, dry, put away right now. On the other days, clutter is controlled (and remember: kitchen is ALWAYS clean, beds are ALWAYS made). On Fridays, everything is dusted, furniture moved to vacuum, clean bathrooms, everything. (We had just bought new carpet when we started hsing, so I vacuumed Mondays and Wednesdays, as well). I think it's possible to have a clean home and homeschool at the same time, but we have to be in charge of it, not reacting to it, KWIM? And we have to undestand that it is not the nature of housework to be "caught up," any more than it is the nature of the work on dairy farms to be caught up; a dairy farmer doesn't get up in the morning and say, "Doggonit, I have to milk those pesky cows again!" No, the job is milking the cows every day. And the job is cleaning the house every day, and doing laundry, and all the other things. Sometimes just changing the way we think about a job can make a difference. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I have found that I want to do three major things: homeschooling, running a working home, and a lot of sewing. I can do any two of those things at any one time, but I don't seem to be able to do all three at once. If I'm cleaning and sewing, homeschooling doesn't get done, so that is the #1 priority and the other two take turns in priority. I meant to do a lot of cleaning and sewing over the summer, but somehow that didn't happen this year. I think because we were dealing with having no income, and surviving took a lot of energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I don't get it all done. Cleaning is like the never ending story. There are so many more interesting things to be doing. However, I like the book on cd suggestion. I will see if I can implement it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayle in Guatemala Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I don't have a ton of clutter--we do have a lot of books since we don't have access to a library we have to have books available. I thoroughly clean one room a day. My dc keep their own rooms clean and I go through their rooms with them every few months to stay on top of junk. We do the 10 minute pickup every night right after dinner just to keep things tidy. Disclaimer: I do have a girl (she's 16) who's a single mom and needs work to help her family and her baby. She comes in once a week for 4 hours to deep clean and disinfect the bathrooms and get in the nooks and crannies of our house. Now, in theory it's a great set up for me, right? But, the truth is, she's not very good at cleaning and I'm training her. It's kind of a job-training situation because she can make decent money being a housekeeper for gringos here, but, she needs to learn how to keep house for gringos. That's why I have her working for me so she can learn and get a really good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrscopterdoc Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Someone used a phrase on here a few weeks ago that I've adopted as my own. The phrase is "homeschool clean." As in, "There are dust bunnies under every piece of furniture and cobwebs in the corners, but the dishes are done and the laundry is mostly done, so now the house is homeschool clean." It means that while I'm homeschooling, only the superficial cleaning gets done. The deep cleaning will be done when the kids graduate. I manage to keep up with just the basics (and I mean just the basics.) Anything beyond that is just extra that I've finally been able to stop worrying about. I look around and if the house is reasonably cleaned (been dusted and vacuumed sometime in the last two weeks, paper piles are under some sort of control, dishes, bathrooms, and laundry are done) then I consider the house "homeschool clean" and let the rest slide. In the end, in the very, very end, are we really going to care if we got all the dust bunnies? Nope. As long as the house is clean enough to be healthy (no filthy toilets or piles of molding dishes) and we can walk on the floors because there isn't any clutter on them, then I feel that the house is just fine. And when we're old and gray, we won't look back and regret those dust bunnies. We'll look back on our precious memories of time spent with our children. Caveat: this isn't an excuse to live in filth. The closets may need to be cleaned out, the tops of the curtains may be dusty, and the shed can be a mess, but our day-to-day living areas should be tidy and the basics maintained. Thank you so much for this!!! I LOVE this idea!! I think that finally, now I can breathe easy, and relax. My house will never be featured in a magazine, but I can live with that. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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