How satisfied are you with the amount of time you spend cleaning?

[kathymuggle]

If I wanted a clean house, I would spend all my time cleaning!

Am I inept? have a particularly untrained household? Or is this the norm?

Poll time!

kathy

[texmati]

I'm not a mom... so you can take this with a grain of salt. I'm a slob, I never learned, or knew how to clean. And I just got married and bought a house.

My husband's really good at picking up stuff, so things are generally neat. But he doesnt seem to mind filth. Like "the floor is a different color than when we moved in" filth.

After one 2 hour session trying to clean the bathroom floor, I decided to do some research. I really like 'speed cleaning' by jeff campbell.

In the book, they go through the basics of how to clean a kitchen, bathroom, ect. Like very move. I was really impressed, and although I don't follow is steps exactly, it really has cut down on the time it takes to clean the bathroom or the kitchen. (Because I had no idea what I was doing before).

Now my house is a lot cleaner, and faster.

[hellyaellen]

i don't let it get any worse thatn what i can clean on my day off. when i'm really on top of things i do a little eeach day so that my whole day off from work does not revolve around housework. and on my day off i devote at most an hour or two to cleaning. (by cleaning i mean picking up and putting away as well as like washing dishes, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, wiping etc) Kurt does all the vacuming, much of the sweeping, all of the outside cleaning.

[normajean]

I am a SAHM, but I spend very little time cleaning. My house is clean, meaning the bathrooms, kitchen are scrubbed frequently, floors vacuumed, etc. I do the kitchen daily, try to do the bathrooms daily, vacuum carpets at least twice a week. House is dusted & dust mopped the wood floors every week (kids do that). I change bedding every other week.

My routine is all beside the point though, I used to be a big time slob..it takes a lot more time to clean if you have huge messes vs maintaining an already clean house. I used to let it get dirty and then try to clean it all at once. That takes way too much time. Picking up & wiping up after things as they happen doesn't take much time at all.

It takes about 30 seconds to wipe the bathroom counters after you brush your teeth in the AM. Another 30 seconds to scrub the inside of the toilet, 30 seconds to squeegee the shower after you use it. Then a few times a week go over the floors, mirrors, outside of the toilet and that takes 10 minutes or less.

Now if you have a really dirty bathroom to scrub that hasn't been attended to since last week, it takes at least 45 minutes to clean it all at once. 90 seconds a day is so much easier!

Likewise, it's easier to wipe off the stove after I slop sauce on it (10 seconds) than it is if I wait 3 hours until its dried (10 minutes).

I make a point to vacuum immediately after we de-clutter because then I don't have to pencil in time to declutter AND vacuum. Once a day we pick up toys-and on vacuum days that is when I vacuum, I do it immediately instead of waiting until the toys have migrated out again, saving me time on having to pick up twice.

[cheenya]

Originally Posted by normajean

It takes a lot more time to clean if you have huge messes vs maintaining an already clean house. I used to let it get dirty and then try to clean it all at once. That takes way too much time. Picking up & wiping up after things as they happen doesn't take much time at all.

I agree, this is something I'm working hard on.
I chose other on the poll. I used to spend way to much time cleaning, I've cut way back now. I still would not say my house is acceptable, but I have three rooms that are, I've been adding one a month, so hopefully very soon I'll have an acceptable house.
I've found the ideas at www.flylady.com to be very useful, although I don't totally follow her system. When I start getting overwhelmed remembering the ideas of "do it now," "you are not behind," "I can do anything for 15 minutes," and "the house did not get dirty overnight, it won't get clean overnight", has really helped me.

[normajean]

Originally Posted by cheenya

I've found the ideas at www.flylady.com to be very useful, although I don't totally follow her system. When I start getting overwhelmed remembering the ideas of "do it now," "you are not behind," "I can do anything for 15 minutes," and "the house did not get dirty overnight, it won't get clean overnight", has really helped me.

I'm so there! Like you, I don't follow FL's system but I love her ideas. Besides the ones you mentioned, I also like "even housework done incorrectly still blesses your family" and "I deserve to have a clean house, so I better clean it!"

[ReadingMama]

I voted "Other" because my house is not as clean as I would like, but it's not that I refuse to spend all day cleaning. I think I should spend more time cleaning and I feel guilty when I don't. So my answer is: I should be spending more time cleaning because I am not comfortable with the level of cleanliness in my house. On a scale of 1-10 (because I'm anal like that), I'd say if 5 is average, my house is about a 3.5 to 4.

[kathymuggle]

Thank you ladies!

some days it feels like all I do is housework, childcare, and spend too much time on the computer!

I am willing to keep the computer addiction, and the kids are only little once....but the the housework - well, I'd lie to shove it but somehow keep the house in an acceptable state!

I am working on getting the house into needs "maintenance" state -but it is taking so long...... I guess i am getting impatient.

Kathy

[Llyra]

My house is so-so these days; it's been known to be pretty clean, or a total mess, depending on how demanding my children are at any point in time. Honestly, I'd like to spend MORE time on cleaning. That's new for me; I used to blow off cleaning and claim I didn't mind the mess. But with five of us, there's just so many more opportunities for making messes, and my patience is running out with the clutter. I spend very little time on cleaning now, but that's because I HAVE very little time. Any minute I can snatch for cleaning I use, but there are just not enough hours in the day. And I refuse to compromise the care I give my kids for the sake of cleaning, however badly I want a clean house.

So for now, it's mess and clutter.

[bellabear]

I'm right there with ya. I clean my house and in 10 minutes it's trashed again. I think I need to do some SERIOUS decluttering. I spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours (usually weekends) cleaning and it's never enough. It's depressing really. I can't clean when dd's napping because it would wake her up. I can't clean much during the day cause I feel like I'm neglecting her, she deserves my time, kwim? But when I think about it, I realize she wont be little forever and one day my house will be kinda clean

Michelle

[Birth&Bunnies]

I do a little laundry every other day as needed. Tidy as needed but only do the floors, vacuuming once a week. I think the most effective is to do it all together so the dirty doesn't mess the clean up. Dh does half the dishes, and shares the rabbit cages too. I also only have one kid and am a WAHM where we manage apts. and the office is connected to our house.

[Ruthla]

It varies so much, depending on my physical health that week. When I feel well, I do more cleaning and encourage my kids to clean along with me. When I'm not feeling well, the whole house falls apart and I get royally pissed off at my kids for not keeping up with basic chores when I'm not available to nag them.

I do have help for about an hour a week, that my parents pay for. She doesn't get much done- mostly sweeping, mopping, and vaccuuming (and putting everything back in the wrong spots when she's done) but it does keep the house looking respectable when I'm too tired to deal with it myself.

[Sharlla]

DH SAH and he does most of the cleaning. He doesn't spend too much tim e on it, pretty much does it before I get home.

[sphinxie]

My vote would have been "I would like to spend more time cleaning, in other words I would like to have more energy. My house is not quite acceptable, but it isn't a disaster either. When I really want to Get Stuff Done besides cleaning, I just let the house slide for awhile--then it's a disaster, but it's easy to just start cleaning again." So I voted "other"

[DesireeH]

I voted "My house is acceptable, I do not devote oddles of time to the house (please explain!)"

I think upkeep is the answer. If you do small amounts each day and keep it up, it's never a major undertaking, ykwim?

To dust, wash the toilet, sweep, vacuum, throw in a laundry....I can do that in a short amount of time. As soon as I get up I usually make my bed (having one thing look nice always motivates me to do more.) I chuck a load of laundry on it (that needs to be folded but dont fold it right then.) Go get the kids breakfast and unload the dishwasher while I am right there anyways sipping my coffee. Throughout the day fold that laundry. I fold the biggest stuff first (like towels and jeans, its motivating cause it makes the pile smaller! LOL) I usually vacuum right before DH comes home...the kids race to put their toys away.

I do have a super helpful DH though. He'll easily do the dishes after dinner since I made it...he'll scrub the tub.....he mops on the weekends....he's very helpful which I think makes a huge difference too. If I didnt get help I'd be irritated and not want to do it. LOL

After the kids bedtime I pack lunches for the next day and get the coffee ready so all DH has to do is plug it in. I try to do small things to make the next day easier when I can fit time in.

[hottmama]

My house is usually clean enough for me, and I don't spend a ton of time on it. I make the beds in the morning (sloppily!), do the dishes, wipe off the counters, and sweep the kitchen/dining room after meals, I do a load of laundry every day, I clean the toilet twice a week, I clean the tub whenever I want a bath, I mop the (wood) floor and clean the windows before I have people over. There isn't really much else to do.
Oh, and occasionally I get obsessive and spend an hour or two scrubbing the walls and baseboards, but not often enough for it to count.

[transformed]

I love to clean-like mop and dust and stuff. But it NEVER gets done because I cant keep the house picked up enough to clean!