How often to you have to clean to keep your house clean?

[frugalfarmwife]

It's a never ending battle here, with our being in and out of the barns all day we end up dragging dirt and hay in all the time, I have a couple of commercial door rugs in the entry wayto catch most of it.

I do try to vacuum every 2-3 days (area rugs) and do usually sweep the hardwood 2x a day.

We have 5 dogs and a cat in the house and almost daily I get enough hair for another critter, lol.

I do keep the kitchen counters cleaned and clear, it really helps to keep it look cleaner
kj

[acezz4e_tish]

i have to vaccuum daily. i have a speech pathologist that comes twice a week, i have to do it twice those days, cause i do it righ before she comes in, shes allergic to pet fur. with a blonde lab and a black long hair cat, u knowwww i got fur too.lol

[Lostsoul33]

I clean a little bit each day. I know that someone could drop in at anytime so I want my house to be neat. My girls have their own room where they keep all of their toys so the floors aren't cluttered. Once a week I tell them I'm going to vacuum. They think the vacuum will eat their toys so they're generally pretty cooperative with the cleaning up. My downfall is laundry. I really hate doing it and at times, I let it pile up a bit too much. Thanks for the websites that were suggested. I'll definetely check them out.

[shelbylovesmelby]

Originally Posted by Lostsoul33

I clean a little bit each day. I know that someone could drop in at anytime so I want my house to be neat. My girls have their own room where they keep all of their toys so the floors aren't cluttered. Once a week I tell them I'm going to vacuum. They think the vacuum will eat their toys so they're generally pretty cooperative with the cleaning up. My downfall is laundry. I really hate doing it and at times, I let it pile up a bit too much. Thanks for the websites that were suggested. I'll definetely check them out.

Please teach my 3yr old to pick up!!! The only thing that gets her interested is if I get out a trash bag & tell her if they aren't picked up they are gone. She's only 3 but she can learn to help some, rather than make a ton of work for dear ol' mom.

I do a lil bit everyday & as I go along. I was raised by a complete slob so by comparison I think I do well

But I'd like a lil more clean for those unexpected guests, but alas dh is the speedy cleaner whereas I'm a putzer & get glued to this pc too.

[PrincessPerky]

My 3 year old and 2 year old are responsible for 80% of their own clean up toywise.

I decluttered dramatically, and I limit the number out at any given time (one bucket or twoish single toys) generally there is only about 2 minutes of my clean up needed, or 15 of theirs. (notice I clean up quite a bit faster!)

The only toy we still have difficulty with is duplos, in 30 minutes they can get a couple hundred out and that seems to be difficult for them to focus on clean up still, but we are working on it.

Also some things are more fun to clean up for (like art) than others (like nap) so I aim to clean up accordingly.

[Tightwad Kitty]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

My 3 year old and 2 year old are responsible for 80% of their own clean up toywise.

I decluttered dramatically, and I limit the number out at any given time (one bucket or twoish single toys) generally there is only about 2 minutes of my clean up needed, or 15 of theirs. (notice I clean up quite a bit faster!)

The only toy we still have difficulty with is duplos, in 30 minutes they can get a couple hundred out and that seems to be difficult for them to focus on clean up still, but we are working on it.

Also some things are more fun to clean up for (like art) than others (like nap) so I aim to clean up accordingly.

Have try at putting duplo block playtime on an old blanket then just pick the corner of the blanket put them in a box. The littleones could just pick the ones that not on the blanklet. I have seen a drawstring bag playmat around many years ago but old blanklet is alot more frugal.

I am still finding those kind of blocks around the house after 25 years, I put them into small jar until I have a few then I put them in the trunk with the other ones. When my son has a family then he can have the lot!

[PrincessPerky]

Heh the blanket idea is cute, I might try something like that.

[mccartygirl]

We're right there with ya Princess - we have Mega Blocks in the bag and she has a little wagon too. I try to make a game of picking up stuff. She loves to put her toys away, thank God! I don't know about your house but the blocks sure do entertain DD and DH well!

[PrincessPerky]

Oh yeah awesome fun and stuff, but the clean up is killing me...

[elcheapo]

I am a clean freak I clean everyday and everybody picks up their own stuff. So generally
it takes a little under 2 hours a day to keep my home maintained with one deep cleaning
per week

[Firefly]

I used to be such a neat freak but my husband is such a slob and I think I just got burned out on keeping every thing spotless. I do 2 hours a day of cleaning.

[acezz4e_tish]

me too! everyone here is that way. im burnt out since i took care of my household since i was six. my kids all but one older then that and all slobssssss, daves a slobbbbbb. heck caught him tonight drinking out of a bottle in the fridge! my oldest is the only neat freek.

[PrincessPerky]

Hey the blanket trick is working! I actually have the duplos in two containers, one for squares and rectangles (the standard bricks) and one for everything else, and I got two small kid blankets, I let them dump them on the blankets, and then we all dump the blanket, they like the blanket dump so much they were pretty fast putting them on the blanket!

[Tightwad Kitty]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

Hey the blanket trick is working! I actually have the duplos in two containers, one for squares and rectangles (the standard bricks) and one for everything else, and I got two small kid blankets, I let them dump them on the blankets, and then we all dump the blanket, they like the blanket dump so much they were pretty fast putting them on the blanket!

Hi Princess Perky
I am glad that your children have taken to they new game of blanket dump!

I think that this idea of blanket dump strategy could be used on other messy things and when you have lost something and you need to tidy up real quick.

[Ima saver]

I hate to say this, but my husband does all the house work.

[PrincessPerky]

Boy is he a busy man!

[Ima saver]

He is. It is almost embarassing, but my husband is a perfectionist. He builds houses and he does all the work himself so it will be perfect. He also does all the housework and most of the cooking. He was the oldest of 3 boys and his mom had him do the housework. So he works 6/7 days a week and works when he gets home on something.

[PrincessPerky]

Betcha he would feel out of sorts with nothing to do....

[Ima saver]

He never sits still, he is always doing something. About 9 pm, he will sit down and relax for a few hours before going to bed. When we do eat at home, he always tells me to leave him alone and let him clean up the kitchen.

[lrjohnson]

I like things very neat, but I'm not a stickler for clean. (I have no kids or immuno-suppressed visitors.) My house has empty, wiped surfaces, but the baseboards and floors may be grimier than they should be. I'm okay with this. I really actually feel physically uncomfortable around a lot of clutter. I lean towards the Japanese aesthetic (there as a small child, may have imprinted). I don't like knickknacks-I love to travel and cheap silver jewelry acts as my souvenirs.

We spend maybe an hour average a day tidying, washing dishes and laundry, and other houehold tasks. Some days 15 minutes, of course others longer with recycling, mopping, etc. I used to do more of it, but now my partner has crossed the halfway mark - he's taking some voluntary time off work.

The less is in a room, the happier I am (with the exception on masses of [used, paperback] books on numerous shelves).

I agree with Amy D. on another item: some items can wait, some items build. If I skip a few days vacuuming, when I do vacuum it doesn't take longer (or maybe a marginal extra few minutes). But if I skip laundry or dishes, they grow. So I stay on top of decluttering, dishes, and laundry. My house is always guest ready though perhaps not white glove ready.

My (modified) minimum wage challenge