klmama Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 I'd like to have a cleaner, more organized home, and I need a plan. If your house is clean and well-organized, how much time do you spend on house cleaning and organizing each day or week? If it's not, don't feel like you need tell me; just tell me what you think would be a reasonable amount of time to get it that way! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) In the steady state, I just spend a few minutes each day: wiping down kitchen counters after cooking, wiping dining table, swiffing floor, cleaning a toilet - whatever is necessary when it's necessary ( not on a schedule ). I am using the time confetti of five minutes here and two there. We have an organized home and each item has a designated place; we put things where they live, so no time is needed to organize. Huge time saver. Twice a year I spend some time decluttering closets etc. Edited August 1, 2018 by regentrude 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 I think it depends a lot on circumstances. The home, how well organized it is to start, how good you are at cleaning up as you go. But also some environments are dirtier than others. When I lived in NYC similar to how snow turned rapidly gray within days, maybe hours, of a snow fall there was was sticky soot like stuff that came in and clung to surfaces. Where I am now in country there is red dirt that does similar even trying to keep outdoor shoes outdoors, and also there seem to be centuries old dust bunnies. Fairly sleek houses in suburban situations seemed to have less of this sort of problem. One approach could be to ask a professional cleaning service how long weekly for your home to be cleaned, and not expect to be able to do it faster than professionals can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 6 minutes ago, Pen said: One approach could be to ask a professional cleaning service how long weekly for your home to be cleaned, and not expect to be able to do it faster than professionals can. I disagree with this for three reasons: They have a team vs. one person, they only have to clean not tidy, and JMHO but there's a lot of important stuff they don't do, that I did as a cleaner in the early 90s. Now, I'd have to schedule and pay for a "deep clean" of a kitchen, to get what'd I'd consider to be a routine clean. So it seems to me that not much would transfer from agency style to homemaker style, as far as what gets done and how long it should take. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 10 minutes ago, Tibbie Dunbar said: I disagree with this for three reasons: They have a team vs. one person, they only have to clean not tidy, and JMHO but there's a lot of important stuff they don't do, that I did as a cleaner in the early 90s. Now, I'd have to schedule and pay for a "deep clean" of a kitchen, to get what'd I'd consider to be a routine clean. So it seems to me that not much would transfer from agency style to homemaker style, as far as what gets done and how long it should take. I agree with you that there usually is a lot more to do than what a professional service would do. And people often have to put away out of place stuff before a paid cleaning service would come. But it might stop the unrealistic expectation that one could get the cleaning done in two hours per week if the professional service would need 4 hours for 2 people to do it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Well I will tell you two women spend 2 hours every two weeks cleaning 1/3 of my house (kitchen/dining/one bath/living). And they don’t really organize, more stack things up to clean. And it’s not an impeccable job either but it’s what I have. i’ve been trying to organize closets/clean baseboards/ 15+ windows upstairs myself and it’s just taking forever. Because it’s so freaking boring and there’s so many LEGO pieces and there aren’t enough podcasts in the world... 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 If I averaged it out over a full week it would probably be about thirty minutes a day. I have a schedule (certain things are done on certain days) and stick to it as much as possible. We're minimalists by nature and I guess that makes it a lot easier. We simply do not do clutter, and it's a little incomprehensible to me that people need books and apps and what nots to help them know how to get rid of stuff. For me staying organized and tidy is as easy as breathing. It's just what I do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 I can stay on top of most things if I spend an hour a day cleaning. This is generally broken into 5-10 minute jobs. I’m a hyper-Quick mover though. I don’t expect normal people to run up and gown the stairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 49 minutes ago, Pawz4me said: If I averaged it out over a full week it would probably be about thirty minutes a day. I have a schedule (certain things are done on certain days) and stick to it as much as possible. We're minimalists by nature and I guess that makes it a lot easier. We simply do not do clutter, and it's a little incomprehensible to me that people need books and apps and what nots to help them know how to get rid of stuff. For me staying organized and tidy is as easy as breathing. It's just what I do. You are so ? lucky! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfish Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) We did Flylady years ago and learned good routines and decluttering skills. Flylady was probably 2-3 hours a day when I was working hard to declutter. I couldn't go as slow as she suggested. After we decluttered and gave everything a "home", cleaning takes about 2 hours a week. I'm not counting laundry because we sort into the hampers, and I do a load when a hamper is full. It's maybe 10-15 minutes total hands-on per load. I do a load from start to finish before starting another one. I'm also not counting daily repeating things like meal prep/clean-up or our quick pick-up/ put away stuff before dinner which is about 15 min per day. Lawn care is maybe an hour a week. Edited August 2, 2018 by Starfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Too much. But I’m going to say that we have small children and a house that is difficult to clean. I have learned that the infrastructure matters. In the rooms that are newly done, meaning that they have new materials that are cleanable and also that they have proper storage and organization, it takes 5 minutes or fewer to do a basic clean and not much longer for a better one. Bathroom looks a little dingy? In a couple of minutes, I can wipe it down, and it will look clean and stay clean and tidy for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Daily and weekly tasks plus laundry, probably 1.5 hours a day, with about half of that being kitchen tasks. My dh does most of our laundry stuff though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Bunny trail, I just read somebody’s claim today that she could fold a load of laundry in four minutes? Does that sound believable to you? I’m trying to figure out if I’m super slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 I think it would depend on what was in the load. All towels? Sure, four minutes would be fine. Assorted items belonging to multiple people (and needing to be sorted accordingly) take a lot longer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 That’s true, also maybe it is all hers. I didn’t know anything about the commenter, and assumed she was talking about her family’s laundry. She could have been single. Whew! ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoseInABook Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 23 minutes ago, SamanthaCarter said: That’s true, also maybe it is all hers. I didn’t know anything about the commenter, and assumed she was talking about her family’s laundry. She could have been single. Whew! ? I tested it out for you. I did a load for a family of 8 (2 adults, 6 kids) with a handful of towels thrown in there. Extra large capacity washer. Just under 8 minutes to fold. ? I didn't time how long it took to put it away though. 4 minutes would be like speed folding here! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) 42 minutes ago, SamanthaCarter said: Bunny trail, I just read somebody’s claim today that she could fold a load of laundry in four minutes? Does that sound believable to you? I’m trying to figure out if I’m super slow. Yes. Depends on the load. Towels, sweatshirts, jeans, absolutely. Tiny baby t shirts, probably not Edited August 2, 2018 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfish Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) 48 minutes ago, SamanthaCarter said: Bunny trail, I just read somebody’s claim today that she could fold a load of laundry in four minutes? Does that sound believable to you? I’m trying to figure out if I’m super slow. Yes, I probably am this quick for most loads. Our work and dress clothes that need to be hung take longer and so do the underclothes. It seems to take forever to match socks. Edited August 2, 2018 by Starfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 5 hours ago, Starfish said: It seems to take forever to match socks. We solved the sock problem by each family member having a different kind of socks, and only that kind. No need to march pairs when all your socks are identical, and easy to distinguish between people if each has their own style. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 51 minutes ago, regentrude said: We solved the sock problem by each family member having a different kind of socks, and only that kind. No need to march pairs when all your socks are identical, and easy to distinguish between people if each has their own style. we do this too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 7 hours ago, SamanthaCarter said: Bunny trail, I just read somebody’s claim today that she could fold a load of laundry in four minutes? Does that sound believable to you? I’m trying to figure out if I’m super slow. It would depend on type and size of the load. It may also depend on whether it's a load for one or a load for four or more, and whether she's counting sorting out what belongs to who or just doing the actual folding. With three men here -- well, you'd think I'd be able to remember which shirts belong to which one, but sometimes I have to stop and think hard about it. I admire whoever does laundry for big families and can keep it all straight. I can clean and organize w/o thinking about it, but sorting clothes takes effort. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) I've been working on one of two rooms a week. I know that's slow but I want to keep up with my regular daily life. For example, the kitchen one or 2 cabinets cleared out and decluttered every day until done. Dd bed room took 2 days so she would not get overwhelmed making go and keep decisions. hall closet and kids bathroom up next. An hour per area is reasonable and will help to not get overwhelme d. Edited August 2, 2018 by lynn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Back to my bunny trail, laundry was really overdue today and so I timed folding all 10 loads. I averaged 6:40 per load. This blows my mind! If you had asked me this morning to estimate how much time it takes to fold a load of laundry, I would have said 20 minutes. Also, while I was at it, I timed unloading the dishwasher. 5:20. In case you wanted to know. ? 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 1 minute ago, SamanthaCarter said: In case you wanted to know. ? I did, thanks! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooksandBoys Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 2 hours ago, SamanthaCarter said: Back to my bunny trail, laundry was really overdue today and so I timed folding all 10 loads. I averaged 6:40 per load. This blows my mind! If you had asked me this morning to estimate how much time it takes to fold a load of laundry, I would have said 20 minutes. Also, while I was at it, I timed unloading the dishwasher. 5:20. In case you wanted to know. ? That’s so interesting! I can unload the dishwasher in less than 3 minutes, but it takes me about 15 minutes to hold a load of kid laundry (5 minutes for towels). I do count putting away in that time, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfish Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 16 minutes ago, BooksandBoys said: That’s so interesting! I can unload the dishwasher in less than 3 minutes, but it takes me about 15 minutes to hold a load of kid laundry (5 minutes for towels). I do count putting away in that time, though. Yes to unloading the dishwasher in 3 minutes! I totally hate that task so I set my timer for 3 minutes and try to beat it. Most of the time I do. I loathe it that much. lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Way more time than I am wiling to put in! Or maybe more effort, not sure. But I need to get back into doing something. We may need to put this house on the market pretty quickly in the next few months. I can do a full load of unloading, putting away, and loading the dishes in 7 minutes. I have a system of sorts. That is for a reg. load. If there is anything that needs extra rinsing, etc.....that would add more time. Yesterday I spent 30 min. on my very messy bedroom. We have a large master and it was a mess. I need to put in another 30 today to vacuum and dust and scrub the bathroom a bit. But I did it quickly. If I focus and move fast I can do it quickly, but I can't do that for long periods of time. I can do an hour or so max per day. I should do much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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