Major and other clean people

[Nonny]

Sept 21, 2015 19:10:16 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

The rest of you... Do you have a schedule? What do you do daily? Weekly?

These days I'm a SAHW with no kids, and I still don't clean any where near as much as @majorwife.

Daily:
Make bed

Watch copious amounts of crap TV while playing Candy Crush (original and soda saga)

Wipe down kitchen counters after dinner

Load dishwasher

Shower

My H feeds and waters the cats, and scoops the cat box

Several times a week:

Exercise

De-clutter (things like dealing with mail and coupons, filing, putting away cat toys that have been strewn about, etc.)

Run errands (not the grocery store)

Weekly (usually Wednesday or Thursday unless otherwise noted.  I prefer to clean on Thursdays, but sometimes we have people over on Wednesday nights, so I do it then):

Meal plan and grocery shop (usually Tuesday or Thursday, rarely on the day I clean)

Vacuum the upstairs

Steam mop

Clean bathrooms (alternate between deep clean one week, and half assed wipe downs with Clorox wipes the next)

Give kitchen extra attention

All laundry (Sundays: my H and I alternate between who is switching it over and starting loads, we each fold and put away our own clothes, and alternate putting away communal things like towels, sheets, cleaning cloths, etc.)

Bi-Weekly:

Dust

Vacuum the downstairs

Make a new recipe

As Needed (could be as frequently as several times a month, or as rare as once a year):

Extra scrubbing of bathrooms or kitchen (such as if we are having guests)

Trim the cats' claws (I try to do this before vacuuming)

Brush the cats (again before vacuuming)

Clean the oven (once a year)

Clean out the fridge (ever couple of weeks before trash day)

Unload dishwasher (sometimes it's daily, sometimes every couple of days)

Wash the cat blankets

Vacuum the couch cushions (when I remember, couple times a year)

Purge closets, drawers, etc.

Wash bathmats, shower curtain, inside of windows

Wipe water drop drip marks off walls (this is a pain in the ass because our walls have this awful texture that I hate)

I should note that I spend significantly more of my time each week cooking than I do cleaning, and that's with eating out twice a week.  When I do my weekly cleaning it's between 1-2 hours on the half-assed days and 2-3 hours on the deeper cleaning days.  It's so much easier once I got into a routine that worked for me, and I found that doing a deep cleaning every two weeks was a bigger pain in my ass than doing a small cleaning every other week, and a medium cleaning every other week.

And we've always done laundry on Sundays ever since we started living together in 2001, so that is entrenched in our schedule even though I could do it any day of the week now that I'm not working.

[sushi]

Sept 21, 2015 14:54:03 GMT -5 wambam said:

Sept 21, 2015 14:52:00 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

It turns out that I have struck up a decent deal. H hates going to the basement to do laundry in our building. So I do that on Saturday mornings and do a few little putzy chores while waiting for it. Meanwhile, he vacuumed and mopped the entire apartment, picked up the clutter, and wiped down the bathrooms. All because he hates going to the basement? OK, WORKS FOR ME!

I love our division of labor. We live on a wooded lot, so there's always yard work to be done and I DETEST yard work. I made a deal that I'd clean the whole house once per week if I didn't have to do any yard work. And that's what we do. I'll scrub toilets and vacuum and dust for the rest of my life if it means I don't have pull weeds!

Is love this arrangement if I were the one pulling weeds.

[josieposy]

I'm still hoping for a Jetson house.

[ECB]

Not to take anything away from Major, but does anyone remember that post/poster from a long while back (It may have even been on the site that will not be named... sorry!). I can't remember her name but she posted her cleaning schedule and it included full on cleaning the kitchen every night (to the point of wiping down the shelves in the fridge), changing out her sheets AND bath towels DAILY (at least during the summer. during the winter, the sheets may have been every other day).

It was like 2 hours of full on cleaning every night.

[secretlyevil]

Wait! There's a difference between swiffering and mopping?!? I don't belong here.

[lg28]

I'm an extremely clean person. Maybe not quite as as major, but I highly recommend mominatrix reading "the art of tidying up". It's a really good way to start. We have a thread on MMM (joy of tidying) on it.


Daily I:

Load and unload dishwasher
Sweep and vacuum
All dishes
Laundry
Pick up all toys and clutter at the end of the day

I also do 1 or 2 rooms daily (dust, mop, clean sheets, etc) but I don't have a specific schedule for those.

Once a week I wash the cars inside and out.

I also clean out closets every season and purge, donate. Etc.

I have very little clutter in my house because I hate it. So it definitely makes it easier.

[laurenpetro]

Sept 21, 2015 22:53:47 GMT -5 SallyJ said:

My routine:

Step 1: Marry well. My husband is a mostly SAHD/works part time and takes care of nearly all cleaning and laundry.

Step 2: Be lucky enough to afford a house cleaner.

Step 3: Give no fucks about a clean house. I prioritize my time else where.

Eta: I sounded bitchy. I am seriously impressed with people who can priortize cleaning. I'm a messy person, and I despise cleaning. I avoid it, clearly.

We are one.

[tacosforlife]

Sept 22, 2015 5:57:59 GMT -5 ECB said:

Not to take anything away from Major, but does anyone remember that post/poster from a long while back (It may have even been on the site that will not be named... sorry!). I can't remember her name but she posted her cleaning schedule and it included full on cleaning the kitchen every night (to the point of wiping down the shelves in the fridge), changing out her sheets AND bath towels DAILY (at least during the summer. during the winter, the sheets may have been every other day).

It was like 2 hours of full on cleaning every night.

JFC.

I have mentioned before that we sleep on dirty sheets because changing them is a PITA. Seriously. Our mattress weighs like 200 pounds. We did not consider this when we picked it. Changing the sheets is a monumental effort. DAILY?! Every other day? Fucking kill me.

[wambam]

Daily:
Make bed(s)
Unload and reload dishwasher
Clean up after cooking
Tidy - fold blankets, pick up
Take out trash, recycling as needed
Wash workout clothes laundry as needed

Weekly:
Clean kitchen
Clean bathrooms
Vacuum
Dust
Swiffer wet tile
Laundry (usually do everything on one day)
Change sheets
Change towels

[IIOY]

Sept 21, 2015 19:10:16 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

The rest of you... Do you have a schedule? What do you do daily? Weekly?

LOLOL This is code for, "I'm not here for all of that ^^^"

I am a bit of a clean freak myself, although I'm not in major's league.  I created a daily calendar and put a single chore for each day. I really gave thought to the chores to make sure that a one-month cycle would basically keep the house clean from top to bottom.  However, no single chore is huge and every one feels doable in a single day.  

I also am a compulsive spot-cleaner, so I won't lie and say that I don't do a fair amount of other cleaning on a daily basis. For example, I tend to clean the bathrooms as needed, regardless of my task calendar. However, the psychological boost from getting that one chore done each day makes the spot-cleaning seem less onerous and more like a voluntary contribution to a tidy home.

Disclaimer: I created this chart after I did a massive, whole house cleaning and de-cluttering that took me months.  I took each room, one at a time, and attacked it.  It could take days to do a single room but I methodically worked around each room until every part of it was done.  I also attacked the basement and the garage, although both will always be a work in progress because I'm competing with H in a constant messy v. clean cage match. 

If you go on Pinterest, there are a ton of cleaning schedules to provide inspiration.  My best advice is to break it all down into bite-sized chunks because it's so easy to get overwhelmed. This is why I started with the one-section-of-one-room-at-a-time process. Like everything else in life, once you start the ball rolling, you'll find it's much easier to keep going.

ETA: And I also have the occasional flip out, where I stop everything in life and just scrub the hell out of my house for hours on end. Obviously this helps, although I don't recommend having this mental break on days where you actually have something else planned because it's tough to stop once you get going. 

[SmartyCat]

For cleaning itself we have a cleaning service every other week, which also helps keep us on track with clutter because I don't want to pay someone to clean surfaces they can't get to.

I used Flylady for a number of years. If you can get past her dogmatism over quirky things (you must wear shoes in the house and they must be lace up shoes. My eyes roll out of my head), there are a number of small things that add up to a routine over time. Try subscribing to the FB page rather than the e-mails.

One more resource if you want perspective from people who have dug or are digging their way out of serious clutter and supporting each other along the way - Stepping Out of Squalor. I squick out a bit at the word "squalor", but this year I've met my decluttering match with my Mom's house after she moved and nobody IRL understands the magnitude of what I'm up against. I lurked for a while before posting, but the people there have been very welcoming and helpful.

[wambam]

Sept 22, 2015 7:29:02 GMT -5 SmartyCat said:

I used Flylady for a number of years. If you can get past her dogmatism over quirky things (you must wear shoes in the house and they must be lace up shoes. My eyes roll out of my head),

Wait, what? Tell me more about this.

[eclaires]

Sept 21, 2015 20:01:19 GMT -5 @ladydisdain said:

Sept 21, 2015 19:10:16 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

The rest of you... Do you have a schedule? What do you do daily? Weekly?

Week one: "Hmmm. The house is doing OK after last weekend's cleaning."

Week two: "I should really sweep and mop the living room. Maybe after I use a sanitizing wipe on the bathrooms..."

Week three: "Omg, I'm a sloth living in a hovel and there are probably diseases growing here." Cue maniacal deep cleaning everywhere.

This worked really well for me until my back/neck got so fucked up in a car accident I can't do it and we have too much going on to have my husband pick up my slack between his work and the kids' commitments.

Our goal right now is to get things put away and the house presentable by next Thursday when I have a cleaning lady coming for an estimate.

[secretlyevil]

I guess I should mention I have high maintenance floors that can't have harsh chemicals near them. I have yet to convince H vinegar would be ok. I pull out the Windex for tough spots when H isn't looking.

[mominatrix]

Sept 22, 2015 8:07:21 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

I guess I should mention I have high maintenance floors that can't have harsh chemicals near them. I have yet to convince H vinegar would be ok. I pull out the Windex for tough spots when H isn't looking.

Get a steam cleaner! I have one and it's the only reason my floors ever get cleaned.

... And if @majorwife chimes in here and tells me that's not really cleaning my floors, I might cry.

[niemand88f]

Sept 22, 2015 9:38:31 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Sept 22, 2015 8:07:21 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

I guess I should mention I have high maintenance floors that can't have harsh chemicals near them. I have yet to convince H vinegar would be ok. I pull out the Windex for tough spots when H isn't looking.

Get a steam cleaner! I have one and it's the only reason my floors ever get cleaned.

... And if @majorwife chimes in here and tells me that's not really cleaning my floors, I might cry.

Oh it absolutely does, I love the ones we use at work (as part of our floor sanitizing process at an animal shelter, I think it kills almost everything except ringworm spores) and want to buy one for home as soon as I can afford it.

[greeneggs]

Sept 22, 2015 9:38:31 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Sept 22, 2015 8:07:21 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

I guess I should mention I have high maintenance floors that can't have harsh chemicals near them. I have yet to convince H vinegar would be ok. I pull out the Windex for tough spots when H isn't looking.

Get a steam cleaner! I have one and it's the only reason my floors ever get cleaned.

... And if @majorwife chimes in here and tells me that's not really cleaning my floors, I might cry.

I'll just quit and burn the place to the ground if steam mopping doesn't count.  

I try to keep a clean house but it never sticks for long.  I like the idea of one but get so overwhelmed buy the sheer amount of everything to do that I can never keep it up for long.  Usually my method is to have a massive freakout over a holiday or event, clean ALL THE THINGS!!1!1 in a blitz of caffeine, bleach, and panic, keep it up for a few weeks/months, then get overly stressed out or overwhelmed by life and let things slide back into piles of clutter again.

During the lovely time where I'm in maintenance mode I like the cleaning schedule from Little Green Notebook but that only works if everything begins at the same level of clean.  

[secretlyevil]

Sept 22, 2015 9:38:31 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Sept 22, 2015 8:07:21 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

I guess I should mention I have high maintenance floors that can't have harsh chemicals near them. I have yet to convince H vinegar would be ok. I pull out the Windex for tough spots when H isn't looking.

Get a steam cleaner! I have one and it's the only reason my floors ever get cleaned.

... And if @majorwife chimes in here and tells me that's not really cleaning my floors, I might cry.

Steam would make our floor bubble. Seriously, the contractor we used for our artistic concrete really f*ed it up. It makes me so angry. Our floor really is gorgeous and people always compliment us, all I see is the issues.

[anodyne]

I have a Wunderlist cleaning schedule. PM me if you would like me to email you a copy.

[IIOY]

Well, I went to scrub my shower stall floor and wound up cleaning two bathrooms top to bottom. I'm not as strictly organized as @majorwife, but don't let it be said I'm not compulsive. LOL

[msmerymac]

Sept 22, 2015 7:30:55 GMT -5 wambam said:

Sept 22, 2015 7:29:02 GMT -5 SmartyCat said:

I used Flylady for a number of years. If you can get past her dogmatism over quirky things (you must wear shoes in the house and they must be lace up shoes. My eyes roll out of my head),

Wait, what? Tell me more about this.

Flylady lives in a bubble. She comes at it from the perspective of a woman who does not work outside the house. So she says you still must get fully dressed each day, down to your shoes. It helps with the mental prep I guess. (In fairness, I know from working at home that getting ready/dressed in the morning is a huge help, but sometimes getting dressed still means putting on jeans or yoga pants, and due to my 90 year old pine floors, I don't wear shoes in my house.)

She also has(or had, not sure if she still does), cleaning challenges, where she emails you at like 2pm and you have to run and go clean your over or something. Really helpful if you have other things to do in the middle of the afternoon.

[vlagrl]

Sept 22, 2015 7:23:36 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

Sept 21, 2015 22:29:34 GMT -5 just said:

Sorry - she swiffers once a day and mops once a week ... right?

yes

ok nevermind  but I have a feeling once we get hardwood floors I will be swiftering once a day as well.

[2curlydogs]

Sept 21, 2015 20:01:19 GMT -5 @ladydisdain said:

Sept 21, 2015 19:10:16 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

The rest of you... Do you have a schedule? What do you do daily? Weekly?

Week one: "Hmmm. The house is doing OK after last weekend's cleaning."

Week two: "I should really sweep and mop the living room. Maybe after I use a sanitizing wipe on the bathrooms..."

Week three: "Omg, I'm a sloth living in a hovel and there are probably diseases growing here." Cue maniacal deep cleaning everywhere.

THIS! LOL 


I tried MW's method for a month. I was miserable. H was miserable (because fuck all if I'm doing all that shit). It didn't work with both of us working out of the home full time.

My natural purge-nature keeps the clutter to a minimum, but there are still days/weeks where the daily shit (mail, paperwork, library books, kid toys and art supplies) feel out of control.

[stephreloaded]

After DD goes to bed, I feel like I have no energy to do ANYTHING. I usually clean on the weekends but if I have something do to, I will postpone it for one more week and the apartment is a complete disaster. I live in a tiny apartment so that makes it a lot easier to clean.

My mom is very disappointed that one of her kids is like me as she is such a clean freak. She says that one of the things that make her feel proud is when people come in her house, they comment that everything is spotless.

[stephreloaded]

I started checking the Flylady site. 

After you do this, you will keep it shiny by drying it out after each time you use it and making sure when you go to bed that it is shining so it will make you smile in the morning. This is how I get to hug you each day! That shiny sink is a reflection of the love that you have for yourself.


I can think of a lot better ways to show I love myself  .

[lg28]

Sept 22, 2015 14:31:56 GMT -5 stephreloaded said:

I started checking the Flylady site. 

After you do this, you will keep it shiny by drying it out after each time you use it and making sure when you go to bed that it is shining so it will make you smile in the morning. This is how I get to hug you each day! That shiny sink is a reflection of the love that you have for yourself.


I can think of a lot better ways to show I love myself  .

masturbation and a glass of wine, for starters!!!!