View Full Version : Are you a good housekeeper?
awakenedsoul
4-6-14, 12:15pm
Are you a good housekeeper? What's your routine? Are there some things you enjoy and others you avoid?
I feel like as a housekeeper I'm slipping. So, I've started doing housework for two hours a day. That helps me to stay on top of it without burning out. Yesterday was laundry day. I sweep the kitchen floor daily, and am good about doing the dishes right away. I keep my bedroom neat, but my knitting makes the living room a bit messy. My new approach is to clean one room a day. Then it's not so overwhelming. My weakest area is mopping the floors. I always procrastinate on that. How about you?
I am not a good housekeeper in the sense of doing deep cleaning types of activities, and I am woeful when it comes to mopping the floors. However, I sweep some or all of the apartment on a daily basis, clean the cat box once or twice a day, keep the kitchen clean and all the rooms generally pretty tidy. I hate dusting and vacuuming, and leave DH to vacuum. I am fantastic at keeping up with laundry, however! The oven needs a good clean, and all the floors need a good wash, but I'm not embarrassed to have anyone over unannounced.
No, I suck as a housekeeper. I like things organized and tidy, but I really think cleaning is a waste of my life energy, and so I do a minimum to keep the place relatively sanitary. I let things go too long, but at least that way I always get a feeling of accomplishment when I get around to them because I can see a noticeable difference. :~)
I don't have a whole lot of clutter, and keep things picked up- no one ever just "drops by" but they could. My saving grace for company is that I'm a good cook and love candlelight. Even dusty houses look good by candlelight. If company thinks I'm too dirty, they can decline the invitation.
For some obscure reason I just love ironing so that's one of the things I never procrastinate on. I usually listen to some music, sing and dance when I'doing it and it's one of the most enjoyable houseworks second maybe only to cooking. I am also quite good at washing the dishes during the cooking process and right after we eat. I don't really enjoy it but it always makes me think of my grandma who used to tell me every evening "you wash the dishes, Girl and don't frown, you pray that we can make them dirty tomorrow again and thank for having something to put on them today" We live with so plenty to eat here nowadays but it's good to have a trigger to remind me not to take it for granted.
We live in one bedroom appartment so the general maintenance is not very time consuming and I do most of it on Saturday morning and Wednesday evening.
What I absolutely hate and put off for as long as I can is cleaning the windows. The house we live in is quite old and has very high ceilings (11,5 feet) and tall double windows. They are great, we have so much light and the space in between the two windows is perfect for growing gardencress, basil and chives or garden parsley or other herbs .... but keeping them clean is torture for me.
I'm with herbgeek. I am not a good housekeeper, and this is made all the more clear when living with my clean-freak DIL. Not that we are totally Oscar and Felix in the Odd Couple (well, she's Felix), but there is definitely a continuum of cleaning, and if she's 10 on a scale of 1-10, I'm more a 5. I do not have a routine, which is part of the problem, although I've tried in vain to stick to Flylady's schedules.
I think some people just have a talent for cleaning, and I never did. But I've found the more clutter-free I am, the better housekeeper I am. I think my adult ADD makes my mind tilt when I get too much visual overstimulation and then I just give up. But if everything is nice and neat, I'm much more motivated to keep it that way.
awakenedsoul, I love the books by Alexandra Stoddard and also one of my favorite books on decorating is Peaceful Spaces by Alice Whately. I love love love her style. I think if I had her decorate my home, I'd be much more motivated to keep it clean.
Since our complete living room is still "new" to me, I like to keep it tidy. It's only been presentable for about 2 years now, prior to that it was a work in progress. So it's fun to clean a place that's new and shiney, where the paint is thick and cleans up nicely. At the same time DH finished our living room we spruced up other rooms on our first floor so that is looking good now and is a easier to keep clean. I will say that the paint job on our kitchen cabinets is already wearing through, too thin! ack. We just had them painted 3 years ago.
That said, we have peeing dogs around here so that is a constant cleaning challenge.
Upstairs, things are messy and often downright dirty. Since the death of one of our cats, though, things are cleaner. She had urinary tract problems and spent much time hopping in and out of litter boxes, tracking and spreading cat litter. That problem is much less now.
I'm "surface good"....not so good at deep cleaning. Windows - maybe twice a year.
I think I'm horrible at housekeeping until I go into a few friends homes and then I think I should be given an award. I'm much better than I give myself credit for. I've been watching episodes via youtube of "Compulsive Obsessive Cleaners". Its British. They pair an obsessive cleaner with someone who hasn't cleaned their house in years.
I keep the kitchen the cleanest followed by the bathrooms and I always stay on top of laundry. We're all
I'm "surface good"....not so good at deep cleaning. Windows - maybe twice a year.
I think I'm horrible at housekeeping until I go into a few friends homes and then I think I should be given an award. I'm much better than I give myself credit for. I've been watching episodes via youtube of "Compulsive Obsessive Cleaners". Its British. They pair an obsessive cleaner with someone who hasn't cleaned their house in years.
I keep the kitchen the cleanest followed by the bathrooms and I always stay on top of laundry. We're all bad ab's out putting stuff down when we walk in the door so there is always a bit of clutter than needs to go back to it's home.
Gardenarian
4-6-14, 2:14pm
I think I'm a pretty good housekeeper. When it was just dh and me and our dog, our house was always tidy. We had a smaller house then and a lot less stuff. DH and I share kitchen cleaning, and he takes care of his music studio, but I do the rest.
Like a lot of homeschoolers I know, I had to lower my standards of housekeeping - it was either that or run around all day cleaning up after my kid. Now that she is a teen it is getting easier, though we have a backlog of kid-clutter to get rid of.
I like cleaning windows and washing floors and that sort of thing. I feel resentful when there is piles of other people's stuff and I feel like I'm somehow responsible for getting it sorted and finding a place for everything (but I try to let that go.)
I'm much happier in an uncluttered and clean house, and if other people pick up after themselves it is really not very time consuming or difficult. That's a pretty big IF, though.
My DH is a sporadic housekeeper; he throws all his stuff in piles (leaves clothes on the floor, on chairs, mail lying about) and then cleans once a week. It's kind of hard to reconcile our styles; it's a good thing we each have our own space.
Nope, hate it! Sanitation for kitchen and bathrooms but periodic cleaning for the rest of the house.
I think I expend too much of my precious life's energy on housework, but I really need a reasonably neat and clean environment to feel content.
Teacher Terry
4-6-14, 5:34pm
I like a neat/clean house and my hubby could care less. When I had 3 kids & worked f.t. my standards were a lot lower. Now it is so much easier & because we have 3 little doggies we have either hardwood or pergo floors which makes things so much easier. I have the Mint robot that sweeps & mops my floors once a week.
awakenedsoul
4-6-14, 5:42pm
This is fascinating to me. Thanks for all the replies. You have all motivated me to do some housework. I would be totally embarrassed right now if somebody stopped by. There's straw mulch that I tracked in on the carpet, and I need to clean the kitchen. Other than that, it's okay.
The more I've decluttered, the easier it is for me to keep things clean. No knick-knacks, everything has a home or it goes out the door.
Like the Flylady system I divide my place into zones, but my system is to hit a zone each day of the week. Taking about 20 minutes in an area a day and I'm able to keep the worst at bay.
Mondays are Zone 1 - Living Room
Tuesday, Zone 2 - Kitchen
Wednesday, Z3 - Studio Office
Thursday, Z4 - Bathroom
Friday, Z5 - Bedroom
Saturday, Z6 - Air out Blankets/Quilt (All my Japanese neighbors throw their futons over the balcony on Saturday to air out so I throw my quilts and blankets out :)
Sunday, Z7 - Just added Digital Housecleaning/Decluttering :)
A little bit each day, makes it all so much easier. No kids, no pets. That and moving around a lot. I'll clean the inside window sills once in a while but I'm long gone before I need to do something about the outside window sills.
It has taken me several years and testing out several different systems for me to put together a system that works for me and my personality. I hate daily routine so anything I can do to keep my life flexible is necessary for my mental health.
All my projects have a home in my Studio, I do my best to work on one project at a time in my living room/kitchen table. I did realize last week that if I emptied a cubby hole of books I have in my living room that I could use that as a home for my current project instead of it being a mess in the living room. Now to actually do that...
When I was a young stay-at-home mom I did a pretty good job. But it was just something I had to do, and I didn't really enjoy it. DH worked-outside-the-home, of course, so My Job was to raise the kids and keep things (relatively) neat and orderly. A bit later on, as I started working full-time, things were hit-and-miss, but no one was home all day to mess things up, so things stayed neat and clean (except the kitchen, of course), and DH and I "cleaned" every couple of weeks. Later on, I quit working when we thought my mother was going to live with us, and then when she decided not to I didn't go back to work so I had everything to myself!! for the first time ever!! and I had a ball! I loved doing all the little things, admiring the well-made bed and fluffed pillows, etc. etc. I didn't wash dishes (even with a dishwasher) after dinner though -- that was Our Time Together and I wasn't going to waste it cleaning up -- and I cleaned that up the next morning.
Then DH retired. Sigh. And he was/is home all the time, and in my way. And because he's an extremely high-energy person he became very very involved with the running of our church and it's various programs. And all of a sudden things have to be done around his schedule, not when I want to do them. And he goes to a lot of meetings so he wants dinner at odd times, sometimes at the last minute it seems. So cooking is a chore, and it's often a quickie thing, and not the really nutritious meals I'd like to prepare. And he wants me involved in everything he's involved in, and gets "hurt" when I don't want to. So I do, and I'm constantly in a frenzy and stressed and it's driving me crazy. But it's my job to support him, you know, so that's what I do. But I'm too old for this!! (He's just like his mother, btw -- she was a '40s/'50s Social Butterfly :D And they had a housekeeper!)
So yes, if I can work AT MY OWN SCHEDULE, I can keep a clean and organized house. Not perfect, of course. And I loved hand-washing the dishes, hanging out clothes, and ironing! But of course I don't do that anymore ...
I'd echo what others have said. I'm a decent housekeeper and can easily stay on top of laundry and dishes now that I have an empty nest. Not ashamed to have others over, but I'm not a "you can eat off my floors" type person either.
I do know of people who have professional housecleaners mainly to handle floors, bathrooms and kitchens. I think if those 3 areas are under control, and your home is generally uncluttered, then any other housework should be pretty manageable.
awakenedsoul
4-6-14, 7:51pm
Oh these are fabulous replies. Thank you. Dhiana, I've been kind of doing the same thing, one room each day. I need to write it down, though. Plus, the living room gets much more use than the bedroom. So, I'll do that one a couple of days a week.
Lainey, That sounds true. I think I need to set aside a day for floors. When I was younger, I'd clean the whole house in one day. Now that doesn't appeal to me. It sure feels better when it's done! Tomorrow I'm going to clean out the refrigerator. That's another chore I put off. But, I splurged on a beautiful pink Big Chill model, so I really want to take care of it.
Blackdog Lin
4-6-14, 9:13pm
Oh, I wish I could make myself come up with a cleaning schedule. I just don't like housecleaning. If I could justify spending the money, it would make my life darn near perfect if I had a weekly cleaning-person to do the floors, and bathrooms, and dusting.....but I'm retired, on a fixed income, and while I could afford it, I just can't justify it.
I'm tidy and relatively uncluttered, can't stand stuff setting around out of place. Things are put away, and the laundry gets done once a week. But true household cleanliness as far as floors and walls and windows.....got more important stuff to do! Like reading and being outside! That stuff just gets dirty all over again, all too soon!
I keep the kitchen pretty clean, just 'cause I like to cook and I'm sanitary with it. The rest of the house.....when a room gets to where I think someone might be tempted to call the Health Dept. on me, I clean it. Not till then. Them's my standards and I'm sticking with 'em!
Yes, I am a good housekeeper. I do not have a schedule. I've learned over the years to clean and organized when needed. Some things need cleaning more often than others. I was told by a friend in Germany one time that 'we wash clothes when they are dirty, not just because we wore it' so I decided to take that over into other areas of my life. Now I prioritize and do not run myself ragged trying to do all things just because. Much less stressful.
Nope. I am, at best, a reluctant housekeeper. If I keep up with the little messes and general disorder that comes with a busy life, it is all cool. I love and maintain a spotless bathroom and kitchen, but the rest can go as long as I can stand it. Today is a deep cleaning day for the living room because I cannot stand it any longer. I am giving up lunch with a friend to get this done.
The catalyst for today's cleaning and moving all of the furniture is a television that I bought just before the Super Bowl game weekend. It was an insanely cheap sale thing and I thought it would be nice to watch television once in a while.
It is still in the box because everything is arranged to work without a TV. I am going to get this done if it kills me.
My daughter, however, keeps a beautiful home.
I am a pretty good housekeeper. I like things orderly and organized so that I can know what I have and where it is. My husband recently bought us a Roomba and gosh, golly, darn, I love that thing!! I have a cleaning service that comes once a month; I especially like that 2 of the 4 cleaners on the crew are guys so that when I want to clean behind the fridge or something else that is heavy, they can move it out and back.
I treated myself once to a housecleaning service. You know, one of those groupon discounts - and then they gave me a buy two more get one for free after that first visit... however, after those four I never renewed. But, it was very nice to know the baseboards or ceiling fans had been cleaned, or whatever.
My SIL is the Queen of Clean. She is so far extreme that I think a dust spec trembles in fear in her presence. Her husband once said she goes behind him cleaning up to the point of putting away the things he is still using....She lives in another state, but if I know she is coming I have to really up my game... she once asked me how often I clean my kitchen / dining room ceiling. I guess never was not a good answer.
I clean on a regular basis, but it does not meet my standards. <sigh> I just don't feel like doing it after work, and I feel as if I am wasting my fun time if I clean on a weekend....I have used flylady in the past, and maybe I should try that again... a few minutes every day really does make a big difference. I spent many hours this weekend doing household chores, and still will go home tonight and work until late. I have a cable tv installer coming after work tomorrow, so I need to actually move the tv and clean behind, etc... all those components and cables really hold onto the dust! Once it is done, I will give myself credit for spring cleaning accomplished!
Teacher Terry
4-7-14, 3:19pm
I also have cleaners come once per month. Only costs $55.00 so well worth it. I got rid of it for awhile but then had to pay the chiropractor $40 to put my back in so was not worth it.
ApatheticNoMore
4-7-14, 3:27pm
I looked at the price of maids once, most of the places seemed to be like $150-$200+ for I don't know my one bedroom apartment (to come one time). I just rolled my eyes, 1%er stuff I guess .... And that was enough to put an end to that fantasy pretty much for good (nowhere was under $100).
iirc, I paid $40 for 4 hours - and then another $80, so all in it was $120 for 16 hours of cleaning... a bargain! I would not be able to pay $20 or more per hour on a regular basis.
I used to be a really good housekeeper, but no more. The things I hate most are bed-making, dusting, and mopping. The only thing I can think of that I like is weeding through things to keep my possessions at a minimum, and that helps keep as clean and tidy as possible while not doing the other stuff. Oh yeah, I'm also good at washing pots and dishes as soon as I've used them--this helps sanity.
awakenedsoul
4-8-14, 8:53pm
When I was teaching 15 ballet and yoga classes a week, I tried hiring a lady to clean one day a week. It was $60.00. She was really nice and did a FABULOUS job. She taught me a lot of her tricks. One of my problems was that I had been making my own cleaning products with hard water. When I used them they left were smear lines on the mirrors, etc. I didn't realize what hard water does. Now I use bottled water for my vinegar water. She used to always say, "Your house is clean." I guess some of her clients expected her to do dishes and laundry. She said my house was easier for her, since I "just had what I needed." I only had her clean about four times, but it sure was nice!
I was a good housekeeper, but not so much anymore. I like my tiny cottage to be clean, sanitary, and uncluttered. However, being in a wheelchair fulltime now I need help with most cleaning. My adult DDs and DS take turns coming over on Sunday afternoons to help me with cleaning the house, laundry, and prepping food for my meals for the week. I appreciate their help so much. I don't know what I would do without my awesome kids!
I haven't read the entire thread, but to just answer the question... No, I'm not a good housekeeper. I live in this house with other people and they are not good housekeepers either! At this point in time, sadly, there is no "meeting of the minds" around this issue. Maybe someday.
awakenedsoul
4-9-14, 8:13pm
All of these answers have really helped me to get better about my housekeeping. For me, a little each day is much easier than trying to tackle it all in one day. That way I can still do the things I enjoy.
I'm with herbgeek and Float On. I keep things tidy and at an acceptable level of cleanliness but I am lax when it comes to more intense stuff like vacuuming, mopping and cleaning windows. I don't know if I've ever actually cleaned a window...
As long as spaces aren't cluttered or covered in crumbs, thick dust or hair, I'm ok. I'd never be able to stick to a cleaning schedule. I clean as I go.
Not remotely. I find it interesting that--for the most part--housekeeping is supposed to fall on women, no matter how much they may have on their plates. Have there been any men commenting on this thread?
iris lilies
4-17-14, 11:12am
Not remotely. I find it interesting that--for the most part--housekeeping is supposed to fall on women, no matter how much they may have on their plates. Have there been any men commenting on this thread?
Well let's see: DH pays bills and manages all finances, mows all lawns on multiple properties, takes care of car maintenance, does all garden work for "his" beds plus he surprised me by mulching areas in "my" side this yearr, fixes everything that goes wrong in all of our houses (all I have to do it point to something and say "wanh!")
So yeah,--house care falls to me. That seems reasonable. Now there are plenty of things I could bitch and moan about in this area such as the excess number of dishes that he generates when he cooks, but then, he *IS* cooking his breakfasts and lunches as well as doing the baking that he "requires". He eats a lot of baked desserts. Oh yeah, he also washes his own work clothes.
But overall, he does lots that I don't do and much of his work I am INCAPABLE of doing.
awakenedsoul
4-17-14, 11:49am
I've been getting better, and I like the results. My father is very good about that kind of thing. When we were growing up he would make our lunches, clean up the mess afterward, put the dishes in the dishwasher, empty it the next morning, etc. He also cooked dinner once a week, drove us to school, and helped us with our homework. But, he was unusual. My mom was also an excellent housekeeper.
Some of the best housekeepers I've known have been male dancers....(mostly gay men.) But, in general, I think women still do most of the housework. Although there is a new archetype out there, Mr. Mom. Those men do it all. We have a few in our neighborhood. The wives are out earning the higher income. My brother does all of the laundry, cleaning, and cooking. His wife works insane hours. She makes more money than he does.
new2oregon
4-17-14, 12:30pm
Not remotely. I find it interesting that--for the most part--housekeeping is supposed to fall on women, no matter how much they may have on their plates. Have there been any men commenting on this thread?
When I was Married I did my share of the work. When I got divorced I got my kids so I did the best that I could. It was not easy. I kept things under control by doing a little at a time.My kids are all on their own now. Now that its just me its easy to keep up on. I am not a neat freak but I am not a slob either.
I don't think all the work should fall on the women, but it goes both ways . When a guy goes out and digs out from the storm and cleans off your car it would be nice to at least have a cup of coffee made. We heated with wood so I didn't expect my wife to cut wood to heat the house, some things are a mans job.
awakenedsoul
4-17-14, 2:47pm
There's one! Thank you new2oregon. That's true. Whenever I hire men to do construction work or repairs, I offer them a cup of coffee. They always seem to really appreciate it.
Since I'm single, I do a lot of the male jobs to save money. (Tree trimming, yard work, cleaning the roof and gutters, taking out the trash, etc.) You do what you have to do...
awakenedsoul
4-17-14, 5:47pm
Thanks Spartana. I try to word my threads in a direct way to encourage a light, (not serious or confrontational,) discussion. I think it's great that you and your ex husband did chores together. The one guy I lived with was not into housework. I think if men are posting and they consider the jobs they do "male" it's their perspective, and I still think of some tasks that way, too. (Mainly the ones I can't do, like fixing the plumbing, or changing the oil in the car.)
I was thinking this a.m. that the two straight male dancers that I dated in my twenties were both meticulous with cleaning their cars and condos. They both lived alone, and took excellent care of their properties.
I LOVE having a clean house and started this thread to motivate myself to do a better job. It puts me in a happier frame of mind. My brother in law's MIL does all of the cooking and cleaning for them. Can you imagine? For free!!!
When I was married hubby and I pretty much did the household chores together - both did cleaning, cooking, yard care, laundry, house and vehicle maintenance. We didn't just split it up, but actually did it together. Great bonding experience (and a great way for many "intimate" moments :-)!). We both had very demanding jobs that kept us gone from home long periods of time so generally fended for ourselves, but when we were together we liked to spend as much of our time together as possible - even doing chores. I personally could never be with a guy (EVER!) that felt it was my role and duty as a female to be the house cleaner, cook, laundry-person, etc... Any more than I'd ever be with a guy who felt it was his role and duty to care for the maintenance type chores. I'd rather mow the lawn than do the laundry anyday. OK I'd rather hire someone to do both those things but that's a different thread :-)
I love the idea of doing chores together, but my partner and I have totally different work styles. I like a lot of resting between tasks, he's a full speed ahead kind of guy. I couldn't agree more about the division of labor. There's no division of labor here--in fact, there's very little labor. And lots of hiring out, eventually.
awakenedsoul
4-17-14, 7:51pm
Friendly reminder...the title of this thread is "Are you a good housekeeper?" I've lost some people on other threads I've started due to one person quoting someone's post and putting it down, or becoming oppositional. One woman answered by pm because a group of people were picking a fight. (It had nothing to do with the original post. She really knew the subject, but didn't want to stick her neck out.)
If you want to debate roles of men and women in the home, please start another thread. So far no one has said that they are an excellent housekeeper. That makes me feel better.
One time my dad had to take over the household when my mom got sick. He worked full time, and with four kids, it was overwhelming. We went through four baby sitters the first week. He had no idea how much work she had been doing. She was very disciplined with the home. After that, he started paying her $3,000. a month for all of her work. The money was to cover everything: home repairs, etc. He put her in charge of the finances. I've never heard of anyone else doing that. It taught us to value her efforts. He also made sure we thanked her each night for making dinner, and after she did our laundry.
Now I've got to go clean my bathroom...
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