Jump to content

Menu

When do you CLEAN?


Recommended Posts

We pick up the house every day (many times a day:glare:). Junk mail goes in the trash, "hot spots" are mostly under control. What I stuggle with is finding the time to really clean. Mop, scrub toilets, wipe baseboards, dust, things like that. When do you fit cleaning into your day? All in one day (which is what I would prefer) or a little every day?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We add those things into our routine each day. After schoolwork is finished we spend 30-45 minutes working on cleaning stuff. We usually only deep clean the bathroom once a week, so one day I will spend most of that 30-45 minutes cleaning the toilet, wiping baseboards, cleaning tub/shower, scrubbing floors and such in both bathrooms. One day is spent deep cleaning the kitchen each week (sometimes that only gets done a couple of times a month), and the other rooms on the other 3 days. My kids 8,5,3 dust, clean the windows, and pick up the toys, papers, and so on. If they get done before I do then my 8 yr old reads to the other two until I am done.

 

I could get everything done in one day, but I waste time on the computer from 9pm-11pm at night when I would have plenty of time to get it all done in one day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a detailed chore list broken down by room (in an excel sheet) and how often each chore needs to be done by day/week how many times per day etc. We do self care and a quick pick up of rooms in the a.m. Chores that take longer are done after school, and deep cleaning is done once per week. I assign colors to each child so they know when they do what. I also list chores they can earn for extra money/priv. I tried to upload it but I guess we can't upload excel here? If your interested in seeing it, pm me and I'll e-mail it to you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't do no stinkin' cleanin' 'round these parts! :lol:

 

Heheh..Seriously though, I keep my hot spots under control throughout the day. I clean my kitchen thoroughly every evening. I wipe down the boys' bathroom every other night while my two middle sons are in the bath. I vacuum the area rugs and sweep the hardwoods in the main part of the house daily since I have an infant scooting around down there all day.

 

The rest of it I usually do on Saturday evening after my kids are in bed. I don't mind because I enjoy cleaning and organizing.

 

Now, I only do laundry when somebody complains that they don't have any clean undergarments. That situation must be remedied. Somehow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do a little everyday ... the Flaylady method. It sounds like your using Flylady too by your mention of hotspots. I find that doing the whole house in one day is too exhausting. I would only have 1 day to do that and it will be on Saturday. Now the last thing I wanna do on Saturday is spend the whole day cleaning when I can go out with my kids and have fun or lounge around and relax. So to me it works better to do the deep clean on one section of the house at a time.

 

Now the way I used to do it was to do a deep clean of that section of the house a day and then relax over the weekend. Then I discovered Flylady and the way she does it is to spend 1 week doing a deep clean on a section of a house spending only about 15 mins total of deep cleaning. Now this excludes decluttering and tidying up. This makes the whole proccess mopre doable for me since my family has grown lol.

 

So according to Flylady, and taking into consideration that you went to bed with a clean and shiny sink, you basicaly wake up and do your personal hygine routine. Then you:

 

*Swish and swipe - less than 1 min

*Put a load of laundry in the machine - a couple of mins

*Hit your hot spots - 10 mins

*Declutter a section of the house - 15 mins

*Deep clean in this weeks zone - 15 mins (I think its 15 mins, if not its 10)

 

All of this in under 1 hr and then you do your weekly home blessing for 1 hr once a week.

 

I just like this a whole lot better than driving myself crazy cleaning for 1 whole day. It is your choice though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My house is reasonably clean and neat, but I admit, I rarely get down on my knees and scrub the floor, my fridge is rarely emptied and cleaned, the baseboards look pretty bad.

 

I vacuum and clean the bathrooms each weekend. During the week, I do clutter patrol and light cleaning as needed, and when I can fit it in. Usually in the late afternoon.

 

Dishes and laundry are daily, I just toss the laundry in before we start school, and fold at lunch.

 

DS has daily chores, but he does a lousy job, so once a month or so, I do his jobs to really get them DONE.

Michelle T

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"CLEAN"... this sounds familiar... wait! Is it Latin?

 

I'm on the Motivated Moms program, so officially I would say "a little every day", but I often combine tasks, like cleaning the bathroom mirrors when I'm squirting stuff in the toilets.

 

My mother always had a "cleaning day" and it took little actual time, but in my house, it would take at least two days to declutter, then deep clean. And then the chaos would ensue when we were all too tired / fried to address anything afterward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I clean when company is coming!

 

Actually, my DD17 does all the laundry, sorting every day and putting in a load when needed. Once it's dry, she'll either hang it up or plop it on my bed and I fold and put away, usually inbetween DD7's schooling.

 

I deep clean bathroom and kitchen 1X week, usually on saturday morning and then DH and DD's help. If I get it done Friday during the day - yay! but I don't too often.

 

Living room gets picked up everyday and dusted and vaccumed when we notice it needs it or if someone is coming over - usually once a week but not always.

 

Bedrooms get neglected. They are either spotless or a complete disaster - including my own. Junk everywhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two words:

 

Cleaning lady

 

My cleaning help has saved my sanity. Over the years I have used a few different options:

 

--Professional service. Pricey, but man are they good!!!

 

--Teenagers that I train. This is what I am doing now, by the way. I pay less because they are not as amazing or fast as the professional service.

 

--Swap cleaning with another mom.

 

If you can afford it, it's well worth the money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thursday afternoons. I have a small house so I'm usually done in 2 hours with help from the boys. Every other Wednesday I clean my folks' house which takes a bit longer for the exact same house. They have more nicknacks. :o I like cleaning on Thursdays because I feel ready for the weekend. Friday is our light day for school and I can enjoy family time on the weekends without fretting about the house. And I do fret.

Cleaning once a week also helps me not obsess about the house the rest of the week. I tend to get lost in cleaning and spend way too much time so limiting myself to once a week helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before major holidays. :D

 

I used to let Fridays be cleaning day with a brush up on Mondays. That way the house looks good for the weekend especially. That worked well for me until we started homeschooling and Friday became park day. Even though we don't do park day any more, I've neglected to pick up my cleaning schedule again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We do a little every day. Most of these tasks are assigned to the children. These chores get done before school for the most part.

 

Monday: wash

Tuesday: vacuum and clean bedrooms (after lunch)

Wednesday: mop and clean bathrooms

Thursday: Nothing as we have gym and swim. If we didn't it would be kitchen cleaning.

Friday: dust and clean living room/family room

 

When the children were really small we used to clean on Saturday morning (all of us).

 

Jennie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest janainaz

Usually a little every day, but one major cleaning a week. I noticed my plantation shutters and ceiling fans were disgusting and cleaned them today and tomorrow I'll probably decide it's time to do the frige and pantry. It's all on as as need basis and there is ALWAYS something that needs to be done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I have an awesome cleaning lady that comes twice a month. This means that I don't ever dust, clean out my bathtub or shower, clean my oven, windows, blinds, or baseboards. She even wipes down my doors/molding and cleans out my toaster oven. :D It has really kept me sane, esp. because with a 2 and 4 year old I have so much other cleaning to do.

 

I do most of my daily cleaning after dinner. I wipe down my counters and the table, wash dishes, clean out my sink, sweep the whole house, and sometimes do a quick mop and/or vacuum (depending on how messy my floor got that day) after dinner while DH gets the girls ready for bed. This probably takes me about 45 min-1 hour. I wipe down the bathrooms/clean out the toilet quickly if I am in there and notice they are yucky. I clean out the fridge the night before I grocery shop. I do a load of laundry each day, putting it in first thing in the morning and folding it and putting it away in the afternoon.

 

Of course, this is on top of my three-times a day tidying of the house. I never would have believed how much mess two little girls could make until I became a mom. =)

Edited by lovelearnandlive
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 2nd and 4th Thurs of every month when my cleaning lady shows up and....in between if company is coming. :lol:

 

At least I know that twice a month it's all clean at the same time. Otherwise I used to do this:

Mon: bathrooms and towels (laundry

Tues: dust LR & FR and a laundry load

Wed: Vacuum and two loads of laundry

Thurs: a laundry load & kitchen area

Friday: a laundry load

Sat: Vacuum

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We cleaned house on Fridays (of course, we picked up and made beds and stuff daily): all the laundry, all the dusting, all the everything. Small house, small family; once-a-week cleaning worked for us. And I really liked having the week free from major cleaning, having the weekends free from any cleaning at all, and not having to rush into cleaning and laundry and stuff on Monday. On Monday we could just...get up and start our day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My house is reasonably clean and neat, but I admit, I rarely get down on my knees and scrub the floor, my fridge is rarely emptied and cleaned, the baseboards look pretty bad.

 

I vacuum and clean the bathrooms each weekend. During the week, I do clutter patrol and light cleaning as needed, and when I can fit it in. Usually in the late afternoon.

 

Dishes and laundry are daily, I just toss the laundry in before we start school, and fold at lunch.

 

DS has daily chores, but he does a lousy job, so once a month or so, I do his jobs to really get them DONE.

Michelle T

 

I'm with Michelle. Some basics get done, but my plan for deep cleaning is to wait until the children are all out of the house. My youngest is 4.:D With homeschooling, caring for 5 kids, violin, piano, and swimming (plus some exercise time for me!), there is no time for anything else.

 

My mom has the cleanest house. Every little part is clean, her floors are sterile (she steams them), and there is nothing out of place. She often tells me how easy it is to keep a clean house when there is no one there. And that I will have plenty of time to clean when my kids are grown. :001_smile: She's a great mom!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dd (11yo) and I both have daily chores to keep the house *neat*. However, a deeper cleaning is done Saturday AM. This is how I was raised. I can't imagine doing it any other way. It's worked for me all my life.

 

But if we're busy on Saturday, the plan falls by the wayside. :glare:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...