Indoor cleaning and home hygiene

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HC1

HC1

HC1

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Following on from my last thread about mould I've now found myself getting a bit obsessive about dusting, cleaning, and hoovering etc, after blitzing my flat from top to bottom last week to make it almost as clean as a science laboratory. So I was just wondering how much effort you lot put in to cleaning and how often you do it. Are you pigs or princesses ? :)
 
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HC1 said:
Following on from my last thread about mould I've now found myself getting a bit obsessive about dusting, cleaning, and hoovering etc, after blitzing my flat from to bottom last week to make it almost as clean as a science laboratory. So I was just wondering how much effort you lot put in to cleaning and how often you do it. Are you pigs or princesses ? :)
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Probably should do more but with full time job and hobbies and other interests don't do nearly enough.

I have never timed it, but I probably do 2-3 hours a week, clothes washing, cleaning kitchen worktops, toilets, showers, hoovering etc.

We have a dog so cleaning is pretty much pointless to an extent as soon as it cleans it will be dirty the next day.
 
Funny this should come up as I had a major argument with my other half last night about this. I'm undoubtedly a clean and tidy person (everything has it's place, never leave stuff lying around, never any washing up left on the side etc.) but I simply don't see when things like the bathroom need cleaning. So it gets left for a while, or my other half has to point it out and she has a habit of doing this mid-morning on a Saturday when we've had a nice slow/relaxing start to the day.. generally in the vein of "I could have gotten up and blitzed this in an hour, what a waste of a day". My reply is well yes, had you mentioned it last night as that being a plan for the morning, I'd make the effort to get up promptly and do that. But then of course she shouldn't have to tell me when things need cleaning etc. which I kinda agree with.

It was so bad I looked up what the going rate for cleaners was around here. I figure 2-3hrs every fortnight is fair (do cleaners normally have a min hours?), at about £15/hr that's what £60-90/month? Anyone else got a cleaner? My mate said it's the best money he spends every month!
 
It takes me a whole weekend to clean my 2bed flat thoroughly. Do it one every 6 weeks. Quick vacuum or bathroom clean in between though.
 
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Frankly I'm concerned about the state of my home. I just don't manage to stay on top of it and all the various jobs tend to be left too long, albeit on rotation. I'll typically make time for something when I notice it's a bit grotty, but a bit like @Scam I don't always notice. If I did things as a routine it'd be fine i.e. bathrooms every Saturday, hoover every Sunday, that sort of thing. But there's just too many I think, especially factoring in stuff like outdoor maintenance.

I think partly it's because when I do clean I clean thoroughly, and also tend to be pretty neat as I go. So the "dirty" stuff is more hidden factors such as dust buildup behind things. Routines work e.g. I always wipe kitchen counters and clean the sink after washing up nightly. The dream is to have a home that's neat enough to then keep clean with some weekly/rota type arrangement. But for now it's too many things in a house that's less than halfway finished.
 
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The enemy to keeping things clean and tidy really is having stuff in the way and no allocated home for different types of things. Putting up a couple of big wall cabinets to make use of some space which wasn't very useable otherwise was revolutionary for me as I can avoid clutter that way. Obviously not always possible if you are renting.
 
Scam said:
Funny this should come up as I had a major argument with my other half last night about this. I'm undoubtedly a clean and tidy person (everything has it's place, never leave stuff lying around, never any washing up left on the side etc.) but I simply don't see when things like the bathroom need cleaning. So it gets left for a while, or my other half has to point it out and she has a habit of doing this mid-morning on a Saturday when we've had a nice slow/relaxing start to the day.. generally in the vein of "I could have gotten up and blitzed this in an hour, what a waste of a day". My reply is well yes, had you mentioned it last night as that being a plan for the morning, I'd make the effort to get up promptly and do that. But then of course she shouldn't have to tell me when things need cleaning etc. which I kinda agree with.

It was so bad I looked up what the going rate for cleaners was around here. I figure 2-3hrs every fortnight is fair (do cleaners normally have a min hours?), at about £15/hr that's what £60-90/month? Anyone else got a cleaner? My mate said it's the best money he spends every month!
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Anything around £15 p/h is the norm. We pay £32 for 2 hours and they prove cleaning stuff. 2 hours every 2 weeks just on bathrooms + kitchen + vacumn makes all the difference to us and certainly better use of our money than other things.
 
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Shoza said:
Anything around £15 p/h is the norm. We pay £32 for 2 hours and they prove cleaning stuff. 2 hours every 2 weeks just on bathrooms + kitchen + vacumn makes all the difference to us and certainly better use of our money than other things.
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I'm not trying to insult you, and I'm assuming you're not disabled, but do you not feel ashamed that you have to hire someone to come into your home and clean up your personal mess? I don't like strangers in my home anyway but I would feel very embarrassed and a bit pretentious hiring a home cleaner. Genuine question.
 
Weekly schedule

Thurs
Clean towels

Fri
Clean bedding

Sat
Kitchen
Bathrooms

Sun
Hoover n dust
Clean towels

Some laundry happens most days.
Kitchen worktops get wiped down daily.
Washing up as needed.
Shower is a pita so isnt done weekly.

Many other things I need to do, usually happens during pto, downside of living alone is there's nobody to share this work with.
 
That's surely like anything. Is your time worth more to you than the £15ph you're paying someone else.

Why go out for dinner whne you can cook yourself, why pay for shopping delivery when you can go shopping yourself, do you clean all your own windows etc? Go to extremes and why don't you fix your own car or your broken toilet, can learn how to do many things, yes you may need some tools, that are slightly more expensive than cleaning kit. I used to do a lot of work on my cars when living at home but as time became less available and I earned more i generally pay someone to do the more complex pieces that'd I used to chuck myself into.

Probably between the wife and I we'll do a couple of hours per week of cleaning, little and often. Kitchen gets a wipe down pretty much every day on surfaces, bathroom sinks etc wiped every few days and proper scrub once a week, shower wiped down every time etc helps. Think dusting is the thing only done once a month, but more you hoover the less dust accumulates. As above less clutter helps keep things tidy as easier to dust etc as you're not constantly moving and putting things back.

Been doing home improvements over the last 18 months but they're almost complete now and plan to get a cleaner once done. Everyone I know with one says they are one of the best investments they've made.
 
Shoza said:
Anything around £15 p/h is the norm. We pay £32 for 2 hours and they prove cleaning stuff. 2 hours every 2 weeks just on bathrooms + kitchen + vacumn makes all the difference to us and certainly better use of our money than other things.
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Thanks. Wonder if a cleaner might insist on 3hrs a go for a 3 bed, two bath house but I guess we could negotiate (concentrate on bathrooms, etc)
HC1 said:
I'm not trying to insult you, and I'm assuming you're not disabled, but do you not feel ashamed that you have to hire someone to come into your home and clean up your personal mess? I don't like strangers in my home anyway but I would feel very embarrassed and a bit pretentious hiring a home cleaner. Genuine question.
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My issue is that is exactly my girlfriend’s attitude. But at the same time I get the “why do I end up doing everything when I have a really hard full time job” etc. We both work full time, it’s no wonder we don’t want to dedicate every Saturday morning to cleaning :confused:
SoliD said:
That's surely like anything. Is your time worth more to you than the £15ph you're paying someone else.
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Yeah exactly.
 
HC1 said:
So I was just wondering how much effort you lot put in to cleaning and how often you do it. Are you pigs or princesses ? :)
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I've not got a clue as IDK what and how often others clean stuff. :)

Dust & hoover once a week (or should it be hoover & dust?)
Bedding changed once a week, would be nice to change it more often but getting bedding dry without a tumble dryer takes ages in the winter.
Towels only get used twice before washing, I'm the only one using them.
Washing up each night, no dishwasher.
Bathroom/shower cleaned from top to floor once a month.

Then twice a year, autumn and spring, i spend a weekend doing a deep clean. Washing hard floors, windows, pulling furniture out and cleaning under/behind it, washing kitchen cupboards, and basically cleaning anything that's too much hassle or may get missed with dusting & hoovering.
 
HC1 said:
I'm not trying to insult you, and I'm assuming you're not disabled, but do you not feel ashamed that you have to hire someone to come into your home and clean up your personal mess? I don't like strangers in my home anyway but I would feel very embarrassed and a bit pretentious hiring a home cleaner. Genuine question.
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Do you feel insulted when someone makes you a coffee, cooks you a meal in a rest or drives a train / bus for you?

I’m surprised anyone would ever have this attitude. Very odd.
 
Shoza said:
Do you feel insulted when someone makes you a coffee, cooks you a meal in a rest or drives a train / bus for you?

I’m surprised anyone would ever have this attitude. Very odd.
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I guess I must have a different outlook on privacy and how I treat my home/personal space. You can't compare what goes in inside your own home to what happens out in the daily world but, being honest, I'll have to admit that I'm very fussy about quite a lot of things actually and I keep social interactions with people to a minimum on an "as necessary/essential" basis.
 
My mate lives in a house with a 'live in' landlady. She NEVER cleans the house! It is extremely dusty, dirty etc, everywhere! Rooms piled full of c r a p.

Cats bowl never cleaned out, mouldy cat food around bowl. Its disgusting there. He is trying to move out but nowt available.....

His room is the cleanest room in the house...
 
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Scam said:
My issue is that is exactly my girlfriend’s attitude.
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I feel her pain:D
Seriously though have you never heard the phrase "clean as you go"? It's much easier to live day to day in a tidy organised way and clean up after yourself than it is to leave mess everywhere and keep adding to it until it turns into a big problem that will take ages to put right.

Live your life your own way though. None of my business really.
 
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