View Full Version : Housework tips please?
I've been feeling much better lately due to now taking meds.One thing that still bothers me though is the state of the house.Its always untidy and try as I might I cannot keep it as I would like.
Can anyone with a clean and tidy house give me any tips on how to get organised please? Do you do x amount each day cleaning? what routine etc.?
Thanks,hope you dont think I'm crazy lol.:wacko:
julie x :unsure:
Your not crazy julie, well i do,nt sort of have a routine, but this might help, I don,t want to be at it all day so, i usual start with getting the washing on,then i clear one room at a time , get bin bags at the ready and be ruthless, you did,nt mention any family members, if you do have any i would say get them to chip in, if their youngsters make it fun, if their older then make it their responsibily to keep their room tidy , get them knowing how the washing machine works, get them doing their own ironing, you really have to be firm , it,s hard to start with , but it worked for me. I,m a mum, and have a life too . Start today, it will get easier. xx
Hi,
I've never been great with keeping to a housework routine so I can't help you personally.....big motivation problems!
Anyway I was on Martin Lewis's site yesterday looking for cheap recipes and I found a thread called the flylady thread, lots of ideas and tips on keeping to a good routine! It looks really good and I think I'm going to follow her housework routine! Lots of tips on there and everyone seems really friendly, having other people to work with might help with my motivation issues :blush: :)
It's great to hear you are feeling better by the way! :D
Here is a link to the flylady thread...
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=788585
x
I feel the same , my house gets messy really quick so Im getting strict,
Ive stopped the kids having any snacks in the living room.
Every morning I always start with putting the clothes in the washing machine , then do the breakfast.
Another thing ive started doing is , when i cook a chicken roast , I cook it in a throw away foil tray , cos im fed up with the work it creates.
Also Ive started getting the kids cleaning the kitchcen floor , if they dont they dont get pocket money :winks: .
Look forward to others ideas:hugs:
Thanks domino and hazymind for the replies.I really do need to get into a routine cos its driving me mad.I can clean and tidy a room and within a day or two its back to the same mess again.There just seems too much to do.The rest of the family,52,23,17 and 14 would rather step over things rather than pick them up and even though I've told them to do their own ironing they dont do it until the last minute and then I do it for them.
I suppose I should be doing housework right now,but sometimes I would rather be doing things I like,like reading and posting on here lol.
Any other ideas welcome.:)
julie x:hugs:
Thanks mirry,just off to put the washing in lol.
Joking aside I think us women have to juggle too much,no wonder we end up with anxiety/depression!
julie x :hugs:
Dying_Swan
11-03-08, 13:32
Hello :)
I definitely agree with getting your kids to help. When I was a teenager I had to do my ironing. If I didn't do it, it didn't get done. Thats what you should do....don't give in! It won't hurt them to go out with a few creases, but if they don't like it, they know what to do!
Give each person a job that is their's. So one has to clean the floors, one does the washing, one does the hoovering etc. Give them a timescale in which to do it, and a penalty if it doesn't get done!
xxx :flowers:
forgot to say , Life is too short for ironing :winks: seriously I stopped doing the ironing 2 years ago :yesyes: . I find clothes do not need ironing if hung up straight away , and i only buy clothes that are easy care.
As for dusting , a feather duster is good for a quick nip round (much quicker than spraying and polishing )and then the hoover picks it up from the floor.
I am now training my kids to do the "ROOM SCAN" before leaving it , so for example ,
if they have left pens on the coffee table , they should tidy it before they leave the room. And now my husband is doing the same ,so he takes coffee cups out the room on the way to the loo sort of thing:yahoo: .
forgot to say , Life is too short for ironing :winks: seriously I stopped doing the ironing 2 years ago :yesyes: .
Yep me too Mirry - I even got rid of my big ironing board the other day to the tip and bought a little IKEA camping type one that hangs neatly on a peg in the cupboard for when I am doing sewing projects and I do have to iron.
I find like you if you hang clothes neatly on the line or radiatior you really save on ironing when it comes to putting them away.
Over the last 20 years I have always involved the kids in chores - it's how they earned their pocket money. When they were very little we had a chart on the fridge and they ticked off the jobs they had done.
I would also suggest a book by Karen Kingston 'Clear your clutter' cos if there is one thing we all do it's hang on to things long after we need or want them. It's almost like we don't really see the clutter we've accumulated anymore but it really holds you back and makes keeping things neat and tidy a flippin nightmare.
I have been a hoarder much of my life but decided to make a big change to this at New Year and tackled room by room, gathering so many bin liners you wouldn't believe. I still could do more but the bulk has been done and I can't tell you how liberating it is!! Really!!!
Love Piglet :flowers:
Lilith1980
11-03-08, 14:09
Hi Hopeful
I think the perfect solution to your problem would be to get a buff looking chippendale to do the household chores while you sit and admire the view lol :roflmao:
Seriously, I dont have as much to do as some of you lovely ladies because I dont have any kids, but I guess something that perks me up and makes doing household stuff more interesting is putting on some music.
I tend to put on some upbeat music on just because it motivates me and once I start cleaning/hoovering or whatever, I normaly find other things that need doing but it becomes more fun because I can have a mad old bop around to the music whilst I do it :blush: :D
Definitely agree on getting the kids to help though, you can make it fun for them or bribe them with pocket money! That's what my Mum used to do :winks:
Jo xxxxx
I usually do one room per day, wash everyday and iron as soon as there are about 6 items in the basket. I'm a bit OTT with ironing :blush: I kind of iron most things though not bedding, towels or socks!
Baby wipes are brilliant for most polishing jobs. I also wipe round the loo, bath and basin everytime I use them so they never get dirty really.
Little and often I find best.
Kate
Gosh Kate your very good :ohmy: . The most important thing for me is , as long as the down stairs is neat and tidy then I need not worry who turns up at the door ,lol.
well ive done all down stairs today, my daughter is home today , she is very good, she has done her room and changed her bed , this is a weekly thing for her, i just stopped doing it , as she could never find anything, well you do it and you will , ok she,s 24 now and it has,nt done her any harm. I did,nt get married and have 2 children to pick up after them every 5 minutes, nothing in my marriage lines to say that i was chief cook and bottle washer:shrug:We all pitch in that,s how it should be.Do,nt get me wrong i love my family to bits , but it should,nt be one persons job.
My handy hint is if you have kids who are old enough tidy up or a partner who thinks the floor is a filing cabinet - have a big storage tub and stick all the clutter on the floor in it and if they want it, they can get it out themselves. If it stays in the box more than 2 weeks then chuck it in the bin cos' they never even missed it.
Gosh - I am a meanie
HERE HERE, same goes for anything really , if it,s gathering dust get rid.
*Sigh* yes Mirry, it is sooooo hard being this perfect :shades:
Kate
Hi Hopeful,
First off,you are NOT the household slave!!!
List the jobs that the kids and hubby can do to help and tell them what you expect.
Have a big clean over the next couple of weeks,tackling one room at a time,but no more than that.
Our kids "live" upstairs so every Sunday morning,I leave the hoover and polish at the top of the stairs-they soon learn what to do with them!!!
Make helping you a normal part of their routine.
Be firm and don't take any bull from them.Show them that 15 minutes of their time can make a huge difference to you.
Best wishes,
Chalky
Thanks everyone,lots of ideas there.
Sometimes the state of the house bothers me and other times it doesnt.I wonder if this is just my mind playing games on me? Its as though I've always got to have something to worry about.I suppose that if this is all thats troubling me then I'm doing alright,if you know what I mean.
julie x:hugs:
Just a quick reply before I read the rest of the posts from others. You have teenagers same as me. Well I just went on strike when they didn't clean up. I stopped cooking the evening meal. Guess what, I now haven't cooked for four months. After all of them living on crap for about three weeks they now do the cooking and the washing up. So it was well worth sticking to my guns. I nearly gave in when
I saw what they were feeding themselves, but I stuck with it and now I'm so pleased that I did. Also I don't iron even if their ironing is bad. They learn soon enough, we have to stick with it. Never give in, because they know you always will. This time just leave their dirty clothes if they don't make it into the laundry basket. My eldest soon learnt where to put her dirty clothes when she had to wear a dirty uniform to school.
Good luck SJ
Alabasterlyn
12-03-08, 13:56
I find working out a routine and sticking to it works for me. I also think if you can blitz your house and get it spotless just once then it's much easier to keep it clean and tidy after that.
Atlhough there are only two of us in the house now we have a fairly big house, 3 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms etc and it does take a lot of time to keep it all clean and tidy. I don't think I'd ever keep on top of it all if I didn't have a set routine.
My other half laughs that as soon as something is put down it's either put away or thrown away. I really hate clutter and whenever I get a charity bag I go round the house making sure I fill it up just to get rid of things I don't use anymore.
Kate - just to say I really liked the idea of the wipes to do your dusting round with and have ordered some off Tesco in with my shopping (what ones do you use) so thanks for that tip! :yesyes:
Piglet :flowers:
Ooooh Piglet, I've gone all :blush: now LOL
I use supermarket own brands, usually you can get special offers on them, and always the unscented one's.
They are especially good on leather settees and shoes and also stainless steel :D
Kate xx
What a great thread.:yesyes:
I get a bit obsessive with my cleaning. I like to do one room at a time, but if someone goes into a room I have just finished - I have to go back in and give it another once over. It drives me nuts - but I just have to do it.
Great tip about the wipes - thanks.
Some days the house being a bit of a mess bothers me, then other days it doesnt.
My problem with getting help with the housework is that I like it done to my standard. If my husband helps (which I am grateful for) - he just tidies up, and hoovers. I like to pull everything out, clean everything down, clean skirting boards and give the rooms a really good clean. Then I beat myself up when I dont get it all done :weep:
I know I put enormous pressure on myself - but I like everything to be perfect. I live in a really nice house - and hate to see it look untidy. The problem is that I work and have 2 kids and find it hard to keep up with everything.
My friend doesnt like her house to look like a 'show home', it is clean but she says she likes it to look lived in. I think I am a bit obsessive with it. Any tips on how to overcome this would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway - thats my story.
:) hi hopeful and all, just caught up with this thread - now i should be brimming with cleaning tips as its what i do for a living and even if i do say it myself i come highly recommended:blush: but and this is a big but - i get paid to do it:yesyes: so at home its a different story:ohmy: i used to love being clean and was probably somewhat obsessive - but not anymore because i now have a husband and a 10 year old and 2 dogs, so really its a bit of a drag to keep on top of everything myself. i wash constantly, but i usually have a mountain of ironing that i look at for days and days:lac: then i either get my husband to do all of his stuff and i workl through mine and my daughters over a few days. i clean the tops in the kitchen, the toaster, sink kettle numerous times a day,:wacko: but i usually have pots all over the side, because they are still a bit wet when they come out of the dishwasher and i cant be bothered drying them so i sort of let them air! i clean the toilet everyday and keep the sink clean plus bathroom mirrors, but sometimes we actually have like tumble weed of dog hairs on the hard floors - if we dont vacume everyday:shrug: (am i glad nobody i know comes on here or i might not have my jobs if they read this)
so, like i said i should be able to give you lots of good tips but i cant - except ge tyour husband to pay you:yesyes: and like everybody else said its a good idea to get everyone to help or just dont do it - if youve all got pretty high standards - well if youve spoilt them? then either they will be really miserable and hate it a mess or they will see how hard you work and start to appreciate you, oh and btw if the ppl i work for didnt have me their houses would be very dirty - so dont worry, you are entirely normal:winks: you just need more motivation or more help, or maybe just accept its no big deal and work out which things for you really need to be done like i said for me a dirty toilet is a real no no, take it easy emma:shades:
Ann, I think I'm a bit obsessive too, I like to do it all myself, to MY standards and then moan that no one does anything to help out :blush:
Kate
Hi all again :) , today i popped into my neighbours to help them with the housework (they are elderly) and i notised that they put a big tray next to the kitchen sink,
with a dish rack on top , so the water runs off the dishes onto the tray and doesnt make the stainless steel dirty. I thought it was a good idea cos i hate it when it gets a rusty look on it.
Cant believe i am enjoying this thread , keep the ideas coming :flowers:
Ooooh Piglet, I've gone all :blush: now LOL
I use supermarket own brands, usually you can get special offers on them, and always the unscented one's Kate xx
Great hun cos that's just what I bought lol!!!
I've just whizzed round the lounge surfaces with one and was most impressed with the muck that came off lol!! :blush: :blush: :blush: :yesyes:
Despite the fact I had a root canal filling today I feel I will do some more later - most satisfying the way the dust sticks to the wipe rather than just floating off to land somewhere else. Top tip and most enjoyable to do!!!
Piglet :flowers:
Just been reading another thread about routines and Bluebell has got her housework done by 11-12 am. I need to get a routine going cos mines never finished. Will some of you list your routines for me please? eg. 8am wash up,9am mop floors. Then I maybe able to work out something to suit me.You'd think that at the age of 52 I'd have this sussed,and I do feel silly for asking,but it really is a problem to me.I want to have my house looking lovely and I'm determined to get it and keep it that way.
Thanks everyone.:hugs:
julie x:hugs:
bottleblond
14-03-08, 09:52
Hi there,
I just came across this thread but ain't read everyones suggestions, just hope i'm not repeating someone elses!!
My first point would be to de-clutter.
One room at a time, make three piles, one pile with things you need to get rid of either for the bucket or charity shop, second pile for things you want to keep, third pile for things that have to be put into another room.
De-cluttering in itself makes a huge difference to each room and makes it much easier to clean and keep clean!
Take care
Lisa
xxx
Thanks for all the tips.The wipes are brill.I've been looking at the flylady site,thanks for that Hazymind,its a great site and makes housework fun.I'm now using a timer and doing jobs for 15 minutes.I've got a long way to go but the house didnt become a mess overnight so it wont be perfect overnight either.A couple of hours a day should do it eventually.Feeling a lot more positive about it now.Thanks all.
julie x:hugs:
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