sew_Tracy

My house, clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy As long is there is no heath or tripping hazards, the house cleaning police won't get you!

Truly, my house is so big, it's impossible to keep up. We have 5 people including a 16 and 20 year old son (SLOBS), a very lazy elder, and double sloppy hubby, 3 dogs, 2 cats, and a huge yard. I have laundry and no refer to it as the "L" word and I sweep up a new puppy every other day.

Anyway, I can have the entire house sparkling clean and have it look no different the very next day. I keep MY bathroom, my desk, my bedroom, my sewing area, and the kitchen clean. Those guys can clean up their own messes!

I do clean the guest bathroom that the boys use and supposedly clean if I expect company. I am afraid of their commode!

lovecreating

I'me at the end of my second round of kids (raising kids 33 years) one son is living here full time and commuting, the other just returned for the summer from 1600 miles away. They are neat by no means. I just try not to look when i go by their rooms. I do clean their bathroom every week. I absolutely love our very short summer, but we bought a camp a few years ago, and although it is so much fun with family and friends, I find I'm totally overwhelmed this time of year. With a pool and extensive gardens and a good size house it is a lot for me to take care of, not to mention the projects I put on myself. I do it all myself while my husband works long hours running his business and the boys work physical labor jobs to earn their college spending money. I hate spending the money paying someone else and I like to keep up on things. This time of year there is so much to do, it kind of ruins summer for me. I'm looking forward to downsizing in a few years.

kyquiltlover1942

Before my husband retired, I used to have a certain thing I did in a 2 week period, with Thusdays off. Laundry and ironing on Monday, windows on tuesday, baseboards and wall spotting on wed, etc. I was usually done with everything on that days schedule by 11 am, and in a two week period the whole house was cleaned. Then DH retired and it sometimes took me 2 days just to get the kitchen floor mopped. Since my heart trouble he does most of the house work (no cooking or dishes). He has just been great the past few years.

flybreit

Here is your answer MaryKatherine, and others: http://flylady.net/

FlyLady focuses on one 'zone' a week on a repetitive basis so nothing ever gets really out of hand. She also talks about 'crisis cleaning' if you want to get the whole house done quickly. I don't really know how it works, just that it does. I didn't grow up with good housekeeping skills - I'd tear through the house when company was coming and make myself and everyone else miserable.

I've used her system (off and on) for years and it just amazes me how well it works. I've been off of it for quite a while - had a cleaning lady, she moved, I didn't replace her, the house had to get to where is was bothering me, now I'm slowly getting back to it.

Along with that, I'm doing some 'spring cleaning'. It started with the floor tile grout. Last week's zone was the main bathroom + one extra room (the laundry room for me) and since I was focusing on those two areas of the house, I decided it was time to tackle the gross grout. ugh!

That led to me getting out my steam cleaner (LOVE that thing) - did a super job on the grout. Of course the grout put me on nearly eye level with the baseboards so I steamed them while I was on the floor. They looked so nice! So I'm just working my way around the house working on the baseboards.

When you look at the detailed cleaning items for each zone, and think about those things getting done about every 6 weeks, it's easy to understand how easy it is - cleaning a window that was cleaned 6 weeks ago is a lot easier than one that was cleaned 6 years ago!

Give it a try - I think you'll be glad you did :-)

borntoquilt

I am also in PITCH mode! Spending the winter in our RV makes us both realize how little we really "need". So, my plan (I am kinda sticking to it *wink*!) is to clean out one drawer or closet or cupboard in the house each day and "pitch" (re-cycle where I can). It is working so far and I feel really good about getting all "like" items back together in one spot. How many JUNK drawers does one person REALLY need? I have started in on my fabric, too, and will be donating a lot I'll NEVER use again to local group who use it to teach people how to make their own quilts. Plus the group makes quilts for hospital, nursing homes, etc. I LIKE that idea... It doesn't take much of my time and I always have plenty of time to do what I WANT to do.... Hope this works for someone else out there...... Happy Quilting...

Wildernessties

I can't bring myself to spend hours every single day cleaning. You get it cleaned one day and in a day or two you have to do it all again, especially the floors. There is just my husband and I but he doesn't remove his shoes and since he is 70, it isn't worth the aggravation to retrain him. I just don't worry about it. Don't get me wrong, I do clean but I am not a "neatnik" I guess you could say. Our house is "lived in.".

Mornigstar

Before I arrived from winter away I arranged for cleaning lady to do spring cleaning. I promised myself when that was allllllll done then I would set up sewing machine and NOT until then . For me it was worth every dollar to have the help. Even did the garage and it is such a freeing feeling. Extras went out at same time.
Set machine up today because of the virtual sewing weekend but now much easier to do weekly cleaning myself.
Good luck whatever you decide to do.

gmaybee

I invite people over for dinner, so the main floor gets done. Now we want to put our house on the market again, so that means really deep cleaning each room and decluttering. I went through each room and made a list of what needs to be done in each one. I plan to do a room a day when I can, and not stress over it. For each room I'll set up a day, get organized, then reward myself, by sewing etc. when that room is done.

CindyA

I do the Flylady system (as best that I can). "You can do anything for 15 minutes."

linda faye

I am another one who follows (mostly) the Fly Lady method. I don't spend all day cleaning but do have a daily routine. FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself. The Fly Lady herself has an amazing story. Check out her website. I follow the Fly Lady Lite version so I am not bombarded with emails. Her products are wonderful too should you choose to get them. It certainly is not necessary. Free program established by someone who has been...and still is.... in our shoes as homemakers.

Bless you as you little by little get back control of your home.