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How many hours do you spend cleaning a week


hjffkj
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Not including kitchen clean up and dishes how many hours would you estimate you clean a week?  What about your kids?  Dh? Do you pay for a cleaner to come ever? This doesn't include yard care, laundry, or house projects that need to get done.  Just your normal running of the household clean, dust, vacuum, mop, etc.  

I'm just doing a major declutter and deep clean of the entire house right now and am trying to figure out for myself what is needed on a daily/weekly basis in order for things to not get overwhelming.  We have a tendency to ignore cleaning until things get to a point where rooms take hours to organize and clean, mostly because people don't put things away or we just throw things into a bin to get it off the floor so we can run Roomba but the stuff in the bin never gets put away. 

So, it got me wondering what amount of time other people spend on things.  

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Just now, ScoutTN said:

Not enough. I detest housework. 

hahaha, me too!!  That is one reason I am trying so hard this time to get a routine down.  Today alone I've probably cleaned for 2 hours straight and still have at least another hour left of it in order to finish the 2 rooms I wanted done today. At least we did the deep clean of the kids room 2 weeks ago and they have been able to quickly clean it up every few days when asked.  I also deep cleaned my bedroom 2 weeks ago and spending 2 minutes a day getting things back in their places and setting Roomba to do her thing has brought so much calm to my mornings. So, I'm REALLY trying to instill the calm throughout the house, we'll see how it goes once the house is all in order.  Only a few more rooms before a routine has to be figured out.

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Less than an hour.
I use the time confetti, the five minutes here and there between tasks. Swiff the living room while I talk on the phone, etc. It feels like I don't actually spend time, but somehow the house was always fine for drop in company (not now with Covid, of course) 
I have easy to clean hardwood floors and tile, and no clutter.

Edited by regentrude
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2 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

I hate doing it, but I don’t like clutter. It takes me two hours to properly clean our small house, including scrubbing tubs and mopping floors. 

Man, if it only took 2 hours a week to clean my house I'd have zero problems keeping it clean. But our house is big and with 6 kids there is always stuff on the ground and random surfaces.  During the school year they are really good about putting things away but still there is always stuff out.

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I'd guess about two hours? That's spread out, most of it in small increments. Mopping is my most time consuming task. I do almost all of the cleaning myself. But . . it's just me, DH, DS22 and two small non-shedding dogs. So we don't generate a lot of dirt or mess. I've always operated on the theory that it's easier to get things clean and keep them that way with a little regular attention than it is to let things slide and then have to do marathon cleans to recover.

Edited by Pawz4me
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I have the habit of picking up after myself as I go, so the only real cleaning I do (outside of the kitchen) is when I tackle areas that others have cluttered.  Which I get to when I get to.

I do have a service that comes to clean surfaces every 2-4 weeks.

 

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3 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Man, if it only took 2 hours a week to clean my house I'd have zero problems keeping it clean. But our house is big and with 6 kids there is always stuff on the ground and random surfaces.  During the school year they are really good about putting things away but still there is always stuff out.

Yeah, that makes a difference! I’m an empty nester. I can understand how it’s such a huge undertaking with six children! But, lol, I have a husband. He makes messes!! 😝

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I have 3 kids at home but they're all over the age of 13. I do not clean their rooms. They get to straighten up, wipe a dustcloth over the furniture and vacuum once a week. 

My house stays fairly tidy (other than my dh's piles which I've kinda given up on--actually he promised me he'd clean them up for my birthday. We'll see) So as far as cleaning, I spend probably 2-3 hours a week. That's cleaning bathrooms, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, dusting, wiping baseboards, and windexing all the stuff in the kitchen. 2-3 times a year I tackle windows and ceiling fans. 

Generally, I get all these things done in tiny bits of time squeezed between this and that. I dusted and vacuumed the living room this morning while finishing up my ds's school work.

I've never been one to devote a large block of time to cleaning the whole house once a week.

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My house is not super clean, but we clean once or twice a week.  If I could figure out how to do this every day our house would be really clean.

Our cleaning period lasts for only 15 minutes.  We set a timer, everyone in the house cleans, and then we all get a piece of chocolate (like a Hershey's miniature or a fun size candy bar.)  Fifteen minutes isn't a lot, but when it is multiplied times everyone in the house, it adds up really fast.

I have health issues, so long periods of cleaning are just not really do-able, especially on a regular basis.  This works pretty well; I just wish I were more consistent with it.

 

Oh, and the little girls have to clean up their room before bedtime.  This is separate from our house cleaning time.

Edited by Junie
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About 3….

It’s about an hour to clean all three bathrooms well. It’s about another hour to straighten, vacuum, dust, and mop. The third hour gets rotated between jobs. I could work much faster if we didn’t have six people making messes, but it does increase the degree to which I need to clean. 

I am not including stripping and remaking beds, as I consider that laundry. 

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I would say about 2 hours a week.  We are starting in decently-good shape, but we do need to do something weekly or it will be going slowly downhill.  
 

I am not counting dishes, laundry, vacuuming, and minimally cleaning the bathrooms and the kitchen.  
 

I would say 30 minutes a day for basic laundry, kitchen, vacuuming, and bathrooms. Past that is extra — and expects

starting with a basically clean and decluttered space.  

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Not a lot.

We eliminated dustcatchers and decorative items for the most part.  I can tidy up my living room in about 10 minutes right now, and that includes putting anything away, dusting, and vacuuming.  Repeat for other rooms, substituting using a steam mop where necessary. 

We each clean our own bathrooms each week, and tidy as we go along in the rest of the rooms. Every evening is a tidy before bed in the living areas and the school area is cleaned up when we finish for the day. 

I pick one major task a day (wiping down windowsills and ledges, mirrors and windows, stairs, etc.) and add that to my list while ds is doing his independent reading or math.

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Hmm, let's see.  I spend maybe an hour a day neatening up and doing dishes.  DH spends about an hour after dinner doing dishes and thoroughly cleaning the kitchen.  Kids help clean up and vacuum the house.  

Once a week the kids and I clean the entire house.  I neaten, dust, scrub toilets, and nag -- probably 90 minutes total.  Each younger kid takes about an hour to do his assigned tasks; oldest DS is about 90 minutes.  So all together about 4 hrs, although I would not say that we are a model of efficiency.  A group of four motivated adults who did not dally and squabble could surely whip through in half that time.  But as they say, you go to war with the army you have.

 

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I have 3 teens and 2 don’t really pick up after themselves at all. The oldest is starting to pick up after himself in the sense that I have

hope for the others.  
 

Edit:  so — 2 hours a week — not counting what I consider daily chores (about 30 minutes a day) but counting seeming hope

for my teens.  

Edited by Lecka
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My mom had a rule that if it took more than 20 minutes to tidy clutter  or 2 hours to clean you have too much stuff.

It can easily take me more than an hour to tidy and 3-4 hours to clean, but I have a much bigger house than Mom did and many more bathrooms. I tried flylady’s system for a while and kind of adapted it to our schedule & routines. The goal is for everything to be mostly cleaned weekly and deep cleaned monthly. But in reality I spend more time tidying junk & less time cleaning. 

DH has wanted to hire a housekeeper since we got married.  I resisted for a while but now I’m thinking we will when the littles can be vaccinated.

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My kids each clean a bathroom and Dh vacuums. Those get done every week. I do midweek vacuuming. 
 

I do the dusting, swiffering, general picking up snd organizing. My kitchen gets really cleaned - cabinets scrubbed, fridge taken apart etc. about 3x a year. 
 

I make kids help wipe down walls and baseboards every couple months.

My time, probably 60- 90 minutes. Everyone else 30 mins each. So 2.5-3 hrs.

1300 sf house. 

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My kids each put in about 20 minutes of housework a day. As they have gotten older this has become more of a help than a hindrance. Just that chore time covers one medium-good cleaning of each bathroom, vacuuming all carpeting and sweeping all hardwood once a week, changing sheets, washing towels, pet care, putting away their clothes, emptying the dishwasher, dusting one room a day and wiping the eating table and bathroom counters daily.

I tend to tidy and wipe as I go all day, plus I usually spend one 15 minute chunk tackling an area that especially needs it. 

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Very dependent on house size, pets, kids ages, and your level of clean 😉

DD cleans a house 3 hrs a week- that's just bathrooms, floors, and dusting- they have indoor pets, no kids. 

My house, I've been cleaning out closets and such,  but easily 5 hours a week of just cleaning- floors, bathrooms- and endless pickup bc I have a preschooler 😉 

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26 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

My kids each put in about 20 minutes of housework a day. As they have gotten older this has become more of a help than a hindrance. Just that chore time covers one medium-good cleaning of each bathroom, vacuuming all carpeting and sweeping all hardwood once a week, changing sheets, washing towels, pet care, putting away their clothes, emptying the dishwasher, dusting one room a day and wiping the eating table and bathroom counters daily.

I tend to tidy and wipe as I go all day, plus I usually spend one 15 minute chunk tackling an area that especially needs it. 

Same.  My kids do chores daily in addition to just cleaning their rooms.  So they do most of the housework.   I don't really have much to do, because they get it all done.  I usually don't have enough jobs to give everyone to keep them working the whole time either.  When everyone works together things get done really fast.  Dh and I will usually work at the same time and just get things all done at the house quickly, but the big kids do all the chores we do.   A pro of having big kids!

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If you don't count laundry, dishes and cleaning up after meals?   Um....none?  

Not really, although I definitely don't do enough.  I'll clean the bathroom once a week, deep clean a kids bedroom once a month.  We just made a deal with oldest dd to vacuum and dust the house when she comes over each week to do her laundry.  But I need to straighten things up enough so she can vacuum and dust and I have camps this week so won't get to it until next week.  

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1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

I'd guess about two hours? That's spread out, most of it in small increments. Mopping is my most time consuming task. I do almost all of the cleaning myself. But . . it's just me, DH, DS22 and two small non-shedding dogs. So we don't generate a lot of dirt or mess. I've always operated on the theory that it's easier to get things clean and keep them that way with a little regular attention than it is to let things slide and then have to do marathon cleans to recover.

ha, I've always felt that way in my head but executing it has always been a struggle for me.  Well before kids it was easy.  I'm trying to get back to that now that a good number of my kids are able to pick up after themselves better.  But I still have littles and 2 shedding dogs so I struggle with the routine of it all. So, I'm building little habits now.

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1 hour ago, Junie said:

My house is not super clean, but we clean once or twice a week.  If I could figure out how to do this every day our house would be really clean.

Our cleaning period lasts for only 15 minutes.  We set a timer, everyone in the house cleans, and then we all get a piece of chocolate (like a Hershey's miniature or a fun size candy bar.)  Fifteen minutes isn't a lot, but when it is multiplied times everyone in the house, it adds up really fast.

I have health issues, so long periods of cleaning are just not really do-able, especially on a regular basis.  This works pretty well; I just wish I were more consistent with it.

 

Oh, and the little girls have to clean up their room before bedtime.  This is separate from our house cleaning time.

We do this too but somehow it just isn't enough and we always end up needing to do a huge clean about once a month of so, which I really don't like.  I'm thinking for our house 2 15 minutes/day might be the way to handle it.  The kids are pretty good about handling 15 minutes in varying degrees of effectiveness.  With 6 or 7 people, depending if dh is home to join, we can get a lot of the downstairs done.  Then I guess just doing bathrooms on another day.  

 

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1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

About 3….

It’s about an hour to clean all three bathrooms well. It’s about another hour to straighten, vacuum, dust, and mop. The third hour gets rotated between jobs. I could work much faster if we didn’t have six people making messes, but it does increase the degree to which I need to clean. 

I am not including stripping and remaking beds, as I consider that laundry. 

yeah, the large household with everyone at home all the time is really adding to the time it seems. There are ten people in this house since my parents live with us. 

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1 hour ago, Melissa Louise said:

Not a lot. 

I lowered my standards. 

Wouldn't be more than a couple of hours a week, and sometimes less. 

ha, my standards are pretty low now!  I don't stress about the mess thankfully.  I just have really enjoyed my bedroom being so well cleaned when I wake up that I figured it is time to experiment with keeping the whole house that way.  I still won't stress about it, just be a bit more intentional about it.  We'll see 🙂

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1 hour ago, Katy said:

My mom had a rule that if it took more than 20 minutes to tidy clutter  or 2 hours to clean you have too much stuff.

It can easily take me more than an hour to tidy and 3-4 hours to clean, but I have a much bigger house than Mom did and many more bathrooms. I tried flylady’s system for a while and kind of adapted it to our schedule & routines. The goal is for everything to be mostly cleaned weekly and deep cleaned monthly. But in reality I spend more time tidying junk & less time cleaning. 

DH has wanted to hire a housekeeper since we got married.  I resisted for a while but now I’m thinking we will when the littles can be vaccinated.

at the beginning of the pandemic when dh was still working from home and my aunt was out of work because she runs a pet sitting business we paid  her to come over 3 times a week to help me with the kids and clean.   I had a newborn so keeping the other kids quiet enough for dh to work was not easy so I needed the extra help.  Cleaning was just the icing on top.  I really miss that arrangement.

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Oh, boy.

It always entirely depends on how well I’ve stuck to my routines. So, the less I clean, the longer it takes in the future. The more I clean, the less it takes in the future. But when I’m doing pretty average with my game plan? Probably 5 hours a week.

I do not clean the whole house at once. More like an hour a day in each of the zones I have.

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Um, less than an hour? SO & I clean the kitchen in turns - not rotational, just as one of us gets to it. Wiping down counters is pretty much a daily thing. He does 99% of the cooking (Oh, I so love this man for that!) and I generally do the dishes. I clean the bathroom counter, he cleans the tub & toilet and mops the floors. He does most of the vaccuming. Neither one of us are good about dusting but most of our "stuff" is bookshelves which don't show the dust as much. He takes out the garbage but I get it ready in part of the apartment. We did deep clean a lot of things this summer. 

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3 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Not including kitchen clean up and dishes how many hours would you estimate you clean a week?  What about your kids?  Dh? Do you pay for a cleaner to come ever? This doesn't include yard care, laundry, or house projects that need to get done.  Just your normal running of the household clean, dust, vacuum, mop, etc.  

Almost none to maybe 15-30min a week. I hire a cleaner once a month she can get things much better than I can in 2-3hours (all our clutter goes into a box and cleans all bathrooms, kitchen, and vacuums common areas). Probably no one will say our house is neat it pretty much sits at clean enough.

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There is a difference between cleaning and tidying.  My house is always tidy.  I have minimized decor and can’t stand having anything other than the Keurig, fruit bowl, and paper towels & hand soap on my kitchen counters. Which, by the way, is why I am starting to regret the too-large-to-store-in-a-cabinet air fryer I recently bought.  I hate that it is on my counter.  Hate it. I cannot stand clutter. So, we are always tidy.  But, this has only happened since becoming empty nesters and downsizing and minimizing. 

As for cleaning we have 1,600 sq ft, and I spend around 4.5 - 5.0 hours per week.  However, I can’t be a person who cleans a little every day.  I want my entire house clean all at the same time.  I think this is because I used to have a housekeeper until we downsized, so I was used to its being all done at once. So, I clean our entire condo on Mondays. I don’t like it, but I do it. 

I started following GoCleanCo on Instagram during the pandemic.  I use her entire room approach of doing one room at a time as opposed to doing one task at a time. 

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