Cleaning CONSTANTLY!!!!!!

[jayali]

Why do I feel like all I do is clean and the house is always DIRTY!!! It is making me NUTS!!! Maybe this belongs in the bitching post, but I am really looking for some advice so I posted here.

About two months ago I let our cleaning ladies go. They weren't great and I felt like I was getting ripped off. So I decided to do it myself. I am a SAHM and have a babysitter three mornings a week, so I thought this would be easy. Also we live in a very small house.

Well I set up a schedule for myself. Monday and Friday is laundry, Tuesday is bathrooms, Wednesday is dusting, Thursday is vacuuming and mopping floors. But lately I feel like all I do is dust, vacuum and I should be mopping more, but really can't find the time. The bathrooms are clean, but I feel like I need to clean them at least twice a week. When I had my cleaning ladies they came every other week and I only did bathrooms and sweeping on the off week.

Seriously, I vacuumed the entire house yesterday (hardwood throughout) and feel like I could do it all over again! And on that subject, am I the only one who is dissatisfied with my Dyson? It picks up well, but I feel like it is made poorly, very plasticky, AND, it is hard to more around.

Anyway, I digress. Does anyone have any tips for me on how they keep their house clean. I really would like to not have to hire cleaning people again. I feel like they bang up my furniture and break things.

Any tips are appreciated!!

[peaceil]

Try flylady.net... it's a (free) system that works well for a lot of people!

[justlearning]

My tip would be to not worry about keeping your house so clean! :) I'm envious that you have a babysitter and that you also used to have cleaning ladies--I'm a SAHM with a newborn and toddler and don't have any babysitter or family around here nor a cleaning service.

Because our house is 3700 sq. feet and 3 floors, I just try to keep it picked up as much as possible and not worry about keeping everything spotless. (I don't even remember the last time that everything in our house was dusted at the same time!) I like to try to keep the main level and basement cleaned as much as possible because that's where guests come, but even that usually isn't really clean unless I'm planning on having friends over or hosting a playgroup.

The bottom line, though, is that I also like to have lots of interaction time with my kids so I make that a priority over my house cleaning. So, if you truly feel like your home needs to be cleaned as often or more often than what you're saying (I feel good if I clean the bathrooms twice a month, not twice a week!), then perhaps you should try to ask around for references for a better cleaning service. Life's too short, IMO, to spend more time cleaning your home than enjoying your kids. Just my two cents... :)

[daniele_ut]

I just stopped stressing about it. We can't afford a cleaning service and I work full time. I only get a limited number of hours daily with DS and I won't spend them cleaning. I will throw in a load of laundry when I get home from work about every other day, but that's it until DS goes to bed and then I pick up the whole house for about 30 minutes, putting laundry in hampers, toys away, loading and unloading the dishwasher, clearing the clutter. If I stay on top of it daily it never gets that bad.

I'm lucky if the bathrooms get cleaned once a week, and the kitchen floor only gets mopped once a week as well. I wipe the countertops down daily during my evening pass around the house. Dusting happens very infrequently. I usually vacuum once a week, or twice if it's really necessary.

As for the Dyson, I tried it and thought it was overpriced for what it did, so I bought a Hoover Windtunnel on sale for half price ($150) and have been very happy with it.

[mamato1]

No suggestions here, just a whole heap of empathy. I feel like all I do is laundry and clenaing my hard wood floors. I don't even remeber the last time I had a chance to dust. Like the pp's I try to just lower my standards which sadly aren't too high to begin with. :)
Chris

Mama to Brendan (aka Boomer) 01/04


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