How often do you clean??

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

EVERYDAY! lol...seriously...we just moved in....we have 4 bathrooms and two kitchens...with a 5 year old and a cat...I am so OCD...If I let it pile up, then it gets too big! I just had back surgery and have to take it easy for a few months, so I can't do most of it myself. We have a cleaning lady that comes in once a week...we just hired her...she's the third one I tried out and I like her....I am very OCD, so I find that my version of clean was way more than the first two ladies did....great thing is that this girl I found was an Au Pair, so she is our new cleaning girl and baby sitter...she is from Brazil, with the cutest accent and so sweet. She is working on her masters and seems well rounded...she has not baby sat yet, but once my mom leaves, we plan on having her in 1-2 times a week, for cleaning and on the weekend for date nights....

It's so hard being away from home, my mom used to be such help....I have a really bad back from a car accident years ago...if I could do it myself I would...but that's not the case....I hate having to rely on others for help, and at times I over do it and my husband gets mad at me for over doing it....it's the Greek in me....we can't help it...I go to other people's homes and have to hold back from trying to clean their houses HAHA!

[trailmix 77]

Speaking of people who come in to clean. My Mom has someone come in every week or every 2 weeks, I can't remember, to do heavier cleaning. Anyway, she tells me today that the woman used toilet duck on the toilet seat!!!! I'm calling them to complain.

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

Speaking of people who come in to clean. My Mom has someone come in every week or every 2 weeks, I can't remember, to do heavier cleaning. Anyway, she tells me today that the woman used toilet duck on the toilet seat!!!! I'm calling them to complain.

I stay on them in the beginning...that's my fear...that they'll do something wonky! I have her use all my cleaning products, and I make sure i'm specific with instructions...I figure, if i'm paying, why not?! They make a lot of money per hour...good help runs from $15-$25/hour.... I tell ya, if I needed a job...i'd be cleaning houses!

[carslo 0]

This takes me back to the shoes in the house topic.

My home here in the USA, is always full of people! Right now we have at any given time 8 - 14 people here, but 8 is the number right now.

I do not like clutter nor dirt. We have no carpet in the house - thank goodness or I would be going crazy as everyone except my husband and I spill like crazy, and with three tweens in the house it is almost helpless to try and do anything until the early morning when my husband has gone to work.

I clean the main bathroom daily including the floor and even that gets wiped up a couple of times a day. I do not clean my stepson's bathroom or room! He is 21 and off to the NAVY next year and I don't go there.

I dust once a week, and do not have many of my decorative things out, nor have I hung any pictures yet. So there is only a couple of things tables to dust and a few pictures to clean with Windex.

I sweep and wash the floors every two days. With all the traffic in the house, I possibly should do it every day, but I don't. I had a Velida mop in Canada that was perfect, here I have a Liberman (sp?) and a Velida style bucket. They had a string mop before I came and no bucket - not sure how things got cleaned.

If someone calls and are arriving shortly, I have both wet and dry Swifers - though I do not think the wet ones really clean that well.

Dishwasher is run at least once a day and I wash the three grates from the top of the gas stove at least 2 times a week in the dishwasher. The rest of the family fries a lot and this is the only way I can keep the grease at bay. I don't cook for the rest of the people here, just Carnell and I and if I fry I have those mesh covers for the pans.

I polish the stainless steel appliances 2 times a week.

I sweep the front and back porches once per week.

Towels are used once and then go in the wash as the ash from my families skin is darker than mine.

The sheets in our room are changed once a week, if really hot out maybe 2 times per week.

Kitchen towels are changed every morning. Bathroom hand/hand towels are changed 2 times a day (I refuse to buy paper towel for the bathrooms, as was the practise before I arrived - if you hands are clean after washing them there is no need for paper towels!)

Walls are spot washed when ever necessary - I don't think anyone has ever told the tweens that they do not need to hang on to the walls to walk or turn a corner.

I wash the blinds 2 x per year and I hate to wash windows. I use the Windex outdoor spray on most of the windows and clean the bay window once a month.

I vacuum the floors about every two weeks to get the stuff the broom misses.

I am fussy about the cleanliness of my home - it is my own personal issue. So I can't take the poll as it doesn't fit into my cleaning routine.

Everyone has a different level of comfort with cleaning their home, I try to remember that people don't died from a dirty house, but I still like it nice and wear my "clog" sandals in the house because the floors will never be clean enough for me as people wear thier shoes inside the house.

Janet

Edited August 10, 2009 by carslo

[Sprailenes 47]

I know with my inlaws, they live in a large house and it's beautiful BUT they don't clean it that often. I mean it's not filthy but things would just lie around and their cleaning lady would only come once every two weeks and she didn't do a good job.

They have ceramic tile on their kitchen floor and people wear their shoes in the house, so eventually they had to go out and buy a steamer because dirt and grime would get stuck in it.. like permanently stuck. I always figured that if they cleaned it at least twice a week, it wouldn't come down to them having to go out and buy a steamer... also: TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF IN THE HOUSE.

[JillA 2]

I know with my inlaws, they live in a large house and it's beautiful BUT they don't clean it that often. I mean it's not filthy but things would just lie around and their cleaning lady would only come once every two weeks and she didn't do a good job.

They have ceramic tile on their kitchen floor and people wear their shoes in the house, so eventually they had to go out and buy a steamer because dirt and grime would get stuck in it.. like permanently stuck. I always figured that if they cleaned it at least twice a week, it wouldn't come down to them having to go out and buy a steamer... also: TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF IN THE HOUSE.

Ew my in-laws house is the same way. A bloody mess, with dog hair on all the furniture and they all wear shoes in the house. Dishes are always piled high in the sink, it's gross. I would have not been able to move in with them and live there, that's for sure. Even for a few months, I don't think I could have handled it

[Sprailenes 47]

I used to try to clean during the weeks the cleaning lady didn't come but I started to feel like it was expected of me so I stopped, also no one seemed to try to keep it clean. I understand that both my MIL and FIL work but so do we and I clean. I guess that's where he got it from. I dunno... I was brought up doing daily and weekly chores so I guess we are both products of our environment.

Different strokes for different folks.

But between you and I... I prefer my strokes.

[Misty1979 0]

I know with my inlaws, they live in a large house and it's beautiful BUT they don't clean it that often. I mean it's not filthy but things would just lie around and their cleaning lady would only come once every two weeks and she didn't do a good job.

They have ceramic tile on their kitchen floor and people wear their shoes in the house, so eventually they had to go out and buy a steamer because dirt and grime would get stuck in it.. like permanently stuck. I always figured that if they cleaned it at least twice a week, it wouldn't come down to them having to go out and buy a steamer... also: TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF IN THE HOUSE.

Ew my in-laws house is the same way. A bloody mess, with dog hair on all the furniture and they all wear shoes in the house. Dishes are always piled high in the sink, it's gross. I would have not been able to move in with them and live there, that's for sure. Even for a few months, I don't think I could have handled it

My MIL's house is the same way too! In fact, she borrowed our vacuum back when we lived in NC to use on her carpets. As soon as we moved here to CA, I whipped out the vacuum to use on my own rugs and it stunk up the whole house. I kid you not, my husband and I both had to leave the house due to the odor of wet dog and who-knows-what else that it left behind. You literally can't even get in the door without tripping over this, and stepping over that.

As for my cleaning habits, I'm not as "scheduled" as the rest of you guys it seems since I don't have a particular day in which I do all my different tasks, but usually the floors get mopped once a week, vacuuming once or twice a week, depending on how much it's needed...dishes daily, (I hate dirty dishes hanging around.) Dusting is my enemy, so I avoid it as much as possible, but try to do it at least monthly. Bedsheets get washed once a week, bathrooms cleaned weekly and touch-ups as needed.

[Marilyn. 340]

I grew up with daily and weekly chores too but it didn't stick

[Sprailenes 47]

I grew up with daily and weekly chores too but it didn't stick

[SapphireDreams 71]

As much as I hated have an ####### clean freak mother, I'm really grateful that she taught me how to clean and that I grew up in a spotless house. My husband is one of the neatest people I know, he loves order. BUT, he definitely has different standards of cleaning, like dusting, disinfecting, washing towels and sheets...he likes to push it as long as we can go without stinking... I like to refresh once a week!

When we get our own place, I plan to clean once a week. If we have a busy weekend, I suppose I could do some things every other week... but honestly nothing disgusts me more than a dirty bathroom! I didn't realize how clean my Dad and brother are! I was lucky living with them!

[Wis-Can 0]

OH my, I think I must have OCD. I clean the bathroom probably three times a week, and do a quick whip down daily. All floors get swept daily, floors get mopped twice a week. I only vacuum once a week. I don't have any carpet, YIPPEE! I can't stand dishes in the sink so I am constantly doing them. I dust twice a week. Towels every couple of days, sheets once a week. I do a full house sweep of clutter and stuff left..every couple of days. I am a bit of a clean fanatic I guess. I just like a neat organized house. Thankfully Petie loves that about me. The only man I ever met that puts the toilet seat and cover down!! LOL

[Carlawarla 1]

Another question though - how often do you change the sheets and towels?

I change the towels everytime I do laundry, so usually every 1.5 weeks.

I only wash my sheets like twice a year though, I shower before I go to bed, and the washing machines here aren't big enough. And without a car, I can't get to a laundromat easily.

Is this an error the part I bolded? Maybe not, but wow, twice a year?

We have an ensuite bathroom and a hall bathroom. We each claimed one, so I don't have to contend with us using the same one. I think that makes a huge difference in terms of cleanliness. While I vacuum and dust once a week, change the sheets and clean bathrooms once a week, sweep daily but only mop once a week...it seems like this isn't out of the ordinary. Some weeks however it seems like "too much". With only the two of us living here, no pets, no kids, some of the things I do probably could be extended between chores. Gene does have allergies though, so keeping things clean is important.