Who has a really clean house?

[somethingcleverer]

H and I were just talking about our friend that is a clean freak. He was complaining (yet again) about how his wife never cleans, doesn't clean right etc.  Every time we go to their house it is spotless. Even when they had two dogs and two kids their house was sooooooo clean.  I actually find it pretty fascinating. Even on the days that I am going all day cleaning and picking up my house will never be that clean. 

So who has a super clean house? Please give me your secret, I want a super clean house too! I'll take any advice I can get. 

[roo1582]

Um yeah...definitely no help here. I need the secret too! My house used to be clean, but once Andrew was born, my time is just totally gone.

[traceyt07]

Sorry, no tips here. We just hired a cleaning lady and it's still not spotless. Lol.

[heatherbee]

Does that lady actually spend time with her children? Because that's the only way I could ever get my house really clean. Even then it wouldn't stay that way for more than 5 minutes because I have 4 pets, 2 kids and a husband ....

I have no advice either. I was just thinking how I've been home all week and my house is worse because i have been doing things with the kids all day. I'm actually trying to make an effort while I'm home for August to let the housework go and enjoy the time home with my kids, but it's hard!

[starfishy]

I was just thinking this. I want a super clean house but Tommy is constantly dropping stuff all over the place. I'm starting the war by trying to win the "stuff" battle. I want less stuff. If it doesn't have a home it's gone. No more clutter!

[britbratjf]

Uh no. My house is usually cleaner than it is now (not great at cleaning 34 weeks pregnant!) but it's never "super" clean unless we are hosting something (Xmas, bday party). Then it usually lasts for 12/24 hours if that!

[jennmm]

If I had a cleaning person, mine would be really clean. Until that happens, nope.

[jodielyn10]

So I don't exactly know what your definition of "super clean" is, but my house stays pretty clean. The secret is that it never really gets too messy or dirty to begin with, so keeping it clean isn't hard or time consuming.

We limit eating and drinking to the kitchen and the back deck (or dining room obv for special occasions) so there's never food scattered throughout the house.
Almost all of the kids' toys are in the den and they put their toys back in the bins every night before going to bed - takes 2 minutes tops.
Either I or my H cleans up the days' dishes every evening.
I sweep up the main floor usually every other day - takes 5 minutes.
Saturday during nap time I clean (floors, bathrooms, dusting, stainless etc) and my H mows and/or does house projects)
Also, my H and I are really clutter averse, so we don't have a lot of "stuff" around the house.

I always find the argument that people who have really clean houses must not spend any time with their kids pretty frustrating because we spend literally every minute that the kids are awake and not in daycare with them.

[jennmm]

Jul 31, 2015 6:54:31 GMT -5 jodielyn10 said:

So I don't exactly know what your definition of "super clean" is, but my house stays pretty clean. The secret is that it never really gets too messy or dirty to begin with, so keeping it clean isn't hard or time consuming.

We limit eating and drinking to the kitchen and the back deck (or dining room obv for special occasions) so there's never food scattered throughout the house.
Almost all of the kids' toys are in the den and they put their toys back in the bins every night before going to bed - takes 2 minutes tops.
Either I or my H cleans up the days' dishes every evening.
I sweep up the main floor usually every other day - takes 5 minutes.
Saturday during nap time I clean (floors, bathrooms, dusting, stainless etc) and my H mows and/or does house projects)
Also, my H and I are really clutter averse, so we don't have a lot of "stuff" around the house.

I always find the argument that people who have really clean houses must not spend any time with their kids pretty frustrating because we spend literally every minute that the kids are awake and not in daycare with them.

I wish my H were clutter averse. He's constantly bringing it stuff, setting it down, and just leaving it. That's half the battle at my house.

[somethingcleverer]

They do spend time with their kids. I know the husband does a lot of cleaning too, but he definitely expects it to be up to his standards when he get home.

starfishy, I think clutter is our biggest challenge too. Most of the toys are in the family room but the area is pretty open so they get dragged throughout the house. The kids also fight picking up toys. I've been grabbing whatever they don't play with and putting them in garbage bags to donate to charity.

jodielyn10, Thanks for your system. I feel like we do that but the house still never seems that clean. Part of the problem is that H and I don't work as a team to get everything done. H does help clean but he rarely deep cleans and if he sees me cleaning he will sit down and relax because he figures I'm doing it (which makes me crazy). Maybe we need a better strategy between us because I feel the big things never get done, or if they do someone is destroying another part of the house.

I'm so glad j12 is dirty like me! Everyone can come over except jodielyn10 

[jodielyn10]

Yeah, somethingcleverer, I agree that having an equal partner taking care of the house helps. If I have something going on and can't do the weekend deep clean, then I know he will do it - without me asking. My H feels the same way I do about having a neat and clean house, and he lived alone until he was 33 so he was used to doing all the housework himself. It would definitely be harder if it were just me doing all the cleaning.

[heatherbee]

Maybe she secretly has a cleaning lady That's what I would like to think anyways, lol.

[summergirl1211]

somethingcleverer, I'm trying to figure this out too because we're going to be listing our house in the next month. Between a dog that is constantly shedding and toys everywhere, I'm dreading getting our house spotless and keeping it that way. I've been doing my best to pack up things here and there to de-clutter but we still have a ways to go.

When Riley used to take naps I'd take that time to clean the bathrooms on the weekends and when I work from home I try to at least vacuum during one of my breaks, but it's really hard to keep up. I just keep reminding myself that once we move we'll hire a cleaning agency and it won't be nearly so bad.

[roo1582]

The biggest problem on my end is that Andrew rarely takes any sort of long nap. At most its usually 45 minutes. Many times its just 20 minutes. Kayleigh is at the point where we are lucky if she naps. That leaves very little time to actually get anything done. H does a lot around the house. He is busy mowing, doing other yard work, projects around the house. I'm seriously considering getting a house cleaner to come every other week, but I honestly don't even know where to start to find one.

[bantyrooster]

My house is never dirty but is cluttered. H works a lot is to be honest my 3rd child. If Ellison slept better I would clean more during nap. We are more than likely getting a cleaning lady back. It took so much stress off the last couple times I have hired one.

[aylafsu1881]

We tend to have a clean house I guess. Or at least SIL and mIL comment on how clean it is all the time. I agree with jodielyn10 We never let it get really dirty/messy regularly. I pick up toys throughout the day and tidy as we go. I make E put away most of her toys before bath time and clean up the rest at night. Everything has a spot and I use bins/backets to organize her toys so they are not in a pile somewhere. I load dishes in the dishwasher and run it or hand wash them if there is just a couple after every meal.

As for cleaning, I wipe the counters and sinks in the kitchen every night. About once a week I wipe the bathroom counters/mirrors and do the floor in the kitchen. I swiffer the floor every couple of days or if I see a bunch of dirt in one area. We have a cleaning lady who comes every 2 weeks to do deep clean stuff. I hate scrubbing the bath tub and floors so she does that and dusts. It helps a lot. I do the laundry every 3ish days so that it does not pile up.

I tend to be OCD though and I like organization in the house. I think having stuff clean and ready to use makes me relax and less stressed out.

[xanthepants]

I'd say I'm a lot like aylafsu1881,and jodielyn10,. It just never gets that out of hand in the first place. I dust every Friday, make the beds every day, use Clorox wipes every day In the bath at some point during the day. I wipe the kitchen counters down once a day as well and deep clean once a week as well. We clean up toys daily and have a place for everything. But if you look deep there are certainly things that don't always don't get done so don't always think that we are some freak of nature. Our windows go too long without cleaning, I forget about cleaning the basement, etc.

[cbear]

We have a fairly clean house- honestly I can't stand clutter and I feel more calm when things are in order lol! But honestly I do most the cleaning on Friday afternoons. I'm off at noon and go to the grocery store and then clean like a mad woman for 3 hours before I pick the kids up. If I didn't have that afternoon our place would be a mess!

I do try to do laundry throughout the day on Tuesday or Thursday when I'm home with the kids. and then scrub the bathrooms during naptime one of those days too, so it's more of just the floors and dusting, etc on my Friday afternoon

[samelly]

I'm bringing in a cleaning lady next week before my in-laws arrive, so that they think I keep the house cleaner. haha.

I think people that keep a spotless house usually spend a little bit of time cleaning each day. Everything in the house has it's place and it is put away immediately after it used. I'm more the type that will let the mess build up until it annoys me and then have to spend a couple hours cleaning.

[bliz1712]

just reading the title, this is my first thought....



Our house isn't dirty, but more cluttered than I'd like. Some of it is because of H, toys for the kids, and just that we have a small house and more stuff than we should probably have. It's definitely not OCD clean, but it's lived in. I don't mind it, my family doesn't mind it and that's all that matters. Also, it's hard to keep up on everything when it's done by 1 person, ME! I don't want to spend all day cleaning so I do what I can, when I can.  Oh and our house is just very outdated in most areas.  LIke our kitchen.  The counters and walls are horrible, but it's not worth doing much to since we have to gut the kitchen.

[aimeefarrahfowler]

My sister and her husband have a freakishly clean house. OCD clean. They don't have kids, but they do have four cats...

Basically, they just keep it clean. Dishes and mail are dealt with immediately. They vacuum several times a week. My sister is actually pretty exhausted with it and can get fed up with his constant cleaning and badgering her when she doesn't do something "right".

My own house is basically a mess all the time. I hate to clean. H hates to clean. When I finally am home from work and get both kids to sleep (and A has been fighting me until 9:30-10 lately), the last thing I want to do is scrub a toilet or wash dishes. Something I need to work on.

[sarasansh]

Our house is clean (thanks, cleaning lady!) but cluttered. I am generally the culprit (besides Robin) when it comes to clutter, but it's something I work on. For me it really is just a matter of taking those extra steps when I need to--bringing the laundry basket all the way upstairs and putting the laundry away in one go, emptying the diaper bag and hanging it back on its hook, making sure Robin picks up his toys before bath time. I do feel calmer when the house is de-cluttered, it's just so easy to fall into the clutter trap!

[barefoot84]

Our house is actually a lot cleaner now that we have kids. I didn't want them crawling on a dirty floor and all...

But a saw a quote once " A clean house is a sign of a wasted life" and it made me smile. I'd just rather be playing with my kids than washing my windows.

[barefoot84]

Jul 31, 2015 20:53:04 GMT -5 barefoot84 said:

Our house is actually a lot cleaner now that we have kids. I didn't want them crawling on a dirty floor and all...

But a saw a quote once " A clean house is a sign of a wasted life" and it made me smile. I'd just rather be playing with my kids than washing my windows.

This in no way means that I think the ladies with a clean house play less or enjoy life less. It just takes too much effort for me to keep the house really clean since I'm a natural at messing it up.