How Messsy is Too Messy?

[Collinsky]

When you go to visit someone, what level of mess are you comfortable seeing? What would cause you to think, "Okay, that's too dirty." What bothers you? What doesn't at all?

I'm assuming that no one goes to visit anyone with the intent to judge, it's not about that... but when you see a home, what causes you to feel that it's past "Comfortably Untidy?" Dishes in the sink? Dirty bathroom? Weird smell? Mantelpiece doesn't pass the white-glove dust test?

I'm asking because my house is chronically messy!!

[4evermom]

The things that bother me most are strong smells (litterbox, urine, cover-up sprays), unidentifiable globs (old foodstuff), piles of hair and dust behind bathroom doors, and dirty toilets.

[Blucactus]

i think the only time i've ever been grossed out at someone else's house was when the bathroom reeked of urine. i guess it takes a lot to gross me out!! lol.

[Blucactus]

ps. my house is chronically messy too!

[SAHDS]

I don't like dirty:

strong, unpleasant odors (urine, cigarettes, pets, garbage)
visible catbox
stained carpet
filthy blinds
dirty toilets
floors that need vacuuming and mopping
dirty dishes
messy kitchen, period.
messy bathroom, period.

I don't mind a mess:

a pile of clean clothes that need to be folded
toys spread out because they're being used
unmade beds

Will I judge? Nope. Will I be uncomfortable? Most definitely.

[Attila the Honey]

Smell is what does it for me. I've been in houses that look neat and have a godawful funk, and I've been in messy houses that don't smell bad at all. I can tolerate anything but funk.

[sapphire_chan]

Stink is bad.
Mysterious goop is bad.
Not being able to sit down is bad.
Not being able to move to the places I need to use, place to sit down, bathroom, is bad.
Save the "if it's yellow" policy on flushing toilets for your immediate family. (As I save it for mine.)
If there are fruit flies in the kitchen, I expect there to also be little bowls of soapy apple juice. If you seem resigned to the bugs, that's a sign that I'm lucky I'm not seeing worse.
Darkness is bad. If I can't see the clutter, I'm going to be scared of the clutter. Doesn't need to be full of sunshine, but things should be easily visible.

[Tilia]

Unvacuumed bothers me. Not just a few crumbs, but gross stuff everywhere.

Dirty plates and bowls in the living room.

Cat smell.

Old sippies.

That's about it.

[texmati]

:

This is a really good question-- I just realized last week when cleaning up for my guests, I'm uncomfortable when things are too clean! It makes me feel anxious. I don't have that internal barometer to know what's normal.

[Kelly Jene]

For me, it's got to be the smells and animal hair. I have cats so I know about how quickly cat hair gets on things.

Smells I think are just the worst though. Urine or poo smells, animals smells, etc.

[wednesday]

Smells, animal hair, visibly dirty toilet. Dishes/clutter make me feel right at home though

[rainyday]

Definitely smells.

Dirty bathrooms. I'm grossed out when I can see a visible ring in the toilet bowl. Also, I hate dirty bathroom sinks. Some water splatters are fine, but when the faucet is no longer shiny because it's covered with hard water stains and dried on soap and gunk, then I'm grossed out.

Large amounts of dirt (hair, dust in lots of big clumps) bothers me.

I don't mind a few not-too-dirty dishes in the sink, but I don't want to see the remains of last night's dinner stuck to a pile of dishes that's overflowing the sink.

I guess I grew up with the idea that you do a little cleaning up for company, and to me the bare minimum is to clean the bathroom (toilet, sink, and get the majority of the hair off the floor), make the kitchen presentable, and make the living room comfortable (maybe a quick vacuum if needed, clearing out some of the clutter). If a person can't be bothered to give their toilet a quick scrub when it's visibly dirty, then I feel uncomfortable - like either I'm not really wanted or just eww, the house is dirty.

[AngelBee]

:

[Serendipity]

It depends on if the visit is planned out ahead of time. If you know I'm coming and have known for more than a day, I'd expect no smells, and no visible old fast food stuff, or filthy dishes, or filthy toilets. I have no problem at all with clutter, like paper, clothes, toys, books etc. if I can still sit somewhere. If I drop by unexpected or you had short notice, I wouldn't mind dishes etc. in the sink. Dust doesn't bother me, and neither do un-vacuumed floors.

[Liliana]

Originally Posted by rainyday

Definitely smells.

Dirty bathrooms. I'm grossed out when I can see a visible ring in the toilet bowl. Also, I hate dirty bathroom sinks. Some water splatters are fine, but when the faucet is no longer shiny because it's covered with hard water stains and dried on soap and gunk, then I'm grossed out.

Large amounts of dirt (hair, dust in lots of big clumps) bothers me.

I don't mind a few not-too-dirty dishes in the sink, but I don't want to see the remains of last night's dinner stuck to a pile of dishes that's overflowing the sink.

I guess I grew up with the idea that you do a little cleaning up for company, and to me the bare minimum is to clean the bathroom (toilet, sink, and get the majority of the hair off the floor), make the kitchen presentable, and make the living room comfortable (maybe a quick vacuum if needed, clearing out some of the clutter). If a person can't be bothered to give their toilet a quick scrub when it's visibly dirty, then I feel uncomfortable - like either I'm not really wanted or just eww, the house is dirty.

Just have to say that my toilet is visibly dirty after I scrub it twice.

In other people's houses I notice bad smells and dirty dishes that aren't in the kitchen.

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by Liliana

Just have to say that my toilet is visibly dirty after I scrub it twice.

Try a pumice stone, they work great for hard water.

Oh, and I forgot pet hair - blech.

[papercranegirl]

The three things that get me are smell,sink crud, and way past their prime sponges. If I see sink crud at your house I will clean it up. If you only have an icky sponge to clean it up with I will be back with a fresh one and some cleaning supplies.

General mess, laundry, dust bunnies, project clutter, heck even mud in the foyer don't bother me but sink crud.

[DanelleB]

I agree with all these except the stained carpet. You can't go and rip out your carpet the moment the kids spills grape juice on it. You can clean it the best you can and keep it vaccumed, but it's not reasonable to consider a house "too messy" because the carpet is stained--especially when there are young children running about.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by DanelleB

I agree with all these except the stained carpet. You can't go and rip out your carpet the moment the kids spills grape juice on it. You can clean it the best you can and keep it vaccumed, but it's not reasonable to consider a house "too messy" because the carpet is stained--especially when there are young children running about.

:
Although I suspect what was meant was carpet that's obviously stained from not picking up pet accidents quickly enough. For those, I'd want reassurance that they're very very old and from when the pet was younger. If they're truly gruesome, like you see them every day and they bother *you*, area rug.

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by Liliana

Just have to say that my toilet is visibly dirty after I scrub it twice.

We have some old stained toilets. That doesn't phase me. It's things like urine drops, dust, and hairs.