who ft moms, when do you clean your house?

[AnnieW625]

I need some help here. I am tired at night and it is the last thing I want to do on the weekends. It has gotten progressively worse since I had DD2.

Finance wise we can only have our house cleaver come once a month.

[egoldber]

The cleaning fairies come twice a month. Between that it is spot clean as needed only.

[lizzywednesday]

I used one of the weeks of PTO I had left at the end of the year to clean my whole house.

I'm hoping to be able to just do maintenance from now on.

It's freaking hard, though.

[lcarlson90]

We have a housekeeper who comes twice a month. Other than that we only clean the kitchen/do dishes. Everything else we just let it go. We just don't have the time and/or energy to clean.

[Mommy2Abby]

We have a housekeeper who comes twice a month. Other than that we only clean the kitchen/do dishes. Everything else we just let it go. We just don't have the time and/or energy to clean.

:yeahthat:

[mom2khj]

We have a housekeeper who comes twice a month. Other than that we only clean the kitchen/do dishes. Everything else we just let it go. We just don't have the time and/or energy to clean.

Pretty much this unless we have something that needs immediate attention.

[TxCat]

House cleaner once a week. We don't go out to dinner much and never go to movies as a result. But I love coming home to a clean house once a week.

[cookiemonster80]

We have a housekeeper who comes twice a month. Other than that we only clean the kitchen/do dishes. Everything else we just let it go. We just don't have the time and/or energy to clean.

Exactly this

[ZeeBaby]

Our cleaners come once per month. We clean food debri and wipe the counters down daily and do dishes. Everything else is pretty much as needed. I am trying to get on a schedule to mop weekly. It is just hard.

[psimpson3-5]

I hate to admit it, but my house is a mess. We just "straighten" (put things away) and have a house cleaner come about every 4 weeks. We pay her $20 per hour. It takes her about 4.5 hours to clean the house.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

We have a housekeeper who comes twice a month. Other than that we only clean the kitchen/do dishes. Everything else we just let it go. We just don't have the time and/or energy to clean.

Yep.

And laundry, that's the only other thing we do really. I got a combo washer/dryer so I can put it in before leaving and set it to come on so it will be just finishing up drying when I get home.

[daisysmom]

Our cleaning lady comes once a week but every other week she just vacuums. We have a shedding dog and live in the city on a busy street so it is amazing to me how much dust and dirt comes into our house. My dh has really bad allergies so the vacuuming is something that he really needs.

Honestly, we do no cleaning on our own except dishes. It just isn't my priority. My mothers priority was a spotless house but it just isn't mine. Thinking about the ghread on when do we exercise, that IS my priority and cleaning isnt Our house is more than 100 years old with lots of heavy molding, all hardwood floors, so I kinds think the dirt blends in. But I am kidding myself.

[Dream]

The cleaning fairies come twice a month. Between that it is spot clean as needed only.

:yeahthat: Except the cleaning fairies come once a week.

[BabbyO]

Ok...my ideal is that I clean bathrooms, kitchen and do laundry every week. DH vacuums. Someone needs to dust....we are terrible about dusting.

Reality:
-I clean bathrooms on average every 1.5 weeks (I get it done several weeks in a row, then we have a stretch when it is every 2 weeks)
-Laundry gets done every 1.5 weeks
-Kitchen....this one gets cleaned when we can't stand the filth anymore, which usually equates to every 4 nights or so.
-Sheets are changed every 1.5 weeks, too
-Vacuuming DH is faithful to vacuuming every week....but he's can also get it done during lunch since he WAH.
-Dishes washed when the dishwasher is full. Dishes that can't go in the dishwasher are washed every day...every other day max.

I try to clean a bit in the evenings...but usually the best I do is getting some laundry done in the evenings. Usually it is weekends. I try to start before the family is up since I used to wake up before everyone...but that hasn't been the case as often.

We can't afford cleaners. Usually if we are hosting an event I take off 1/2 or a full day before the event and clean/prep for it. That is when my deep cleaning (and about the only time dusting) occurs.

Other than that I've learned that I need to let some of it go a little. The things I have listed above are the *Critical* items in my world. My kids aren't going to remember a pristine clean house...they are going to remember mommy sledding with them.

[emily]

I try to keep things from getting too messy. The entire house is rarely clean at the same time and even if it is, it's only clean for that moment before one of the kids spills something.
I try to alternate cleaning upstairs and downstairs every week. I also straighten up every night for 10-15 minutes so that everything is put away (no clutter). Our house is generally clean enough so I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone stopped by as long as that someone doesn't go into the upstairs bathrooms. Bathrooms are DH's job and it doesn't get cleaned often enough.

[arivecchi]

The cleaning fairies come twice a month. Between that it is spot clean as needed only.
:yeahthat:

[PunkyBoo]

This is one of the main reasons I got a nanny when I started working, so when I get home my home is in slightly better condition than when I left. She does the minor everyday stuff- empty the d/w and wipe down the kitchen daily, washes boys' laundry and changes the boys bedding each week, dust and vacuum once a week, and wipes down the bkys' bathroom weekly. I do laundry twice a week- one weeknight per week I do DH and my laundry, the Sunday is a big laundry day- master bedroom sheets, all of our clothes, and all the towels. DH and I fill in the other housework when the mess gets too much for us :bag

[wendibird22]

Laundry mostly gets done on the weekends, every weekend though sometimes I manage to get a load washed/dried on Thurs or Fri night.

Kitchen gets vacuumed most nights after dinner and mopped on the weekend.

Downstairs living room carpet gets vacuumed on the weekend. Upstairs gets vacuumed once a month.

Sheets get changed once a month. I need to do this more often but it just creates more laundry.

Bathrooms (2.5) get full cleaning every 2 weeks. If needed we spot clean a sink or a toilet more often.

Dusting happens about once a month, probably closer to once every other month. Definitely done before company comes over :)

About 2x's a year we do a more thorough cleaning such as vacuuming out window sills and cleaning window glass, cleaning down the exterior of kitchen cabinets, vacuuming behind the stove/fridge.

In the late fall, winter, and early spring it's easier because there isn't any outside work to do so both DH and I are on cleaning duty. In the warmer months it's hard because DH takes over the lawn and garden and I have all the housework myself. DH is great at pitching in. I do 99% of the laundry. He mops 80% of the time. We share vacuuming, bathrooms, and dusting during cold weather months.

[mommylamb]

We don't have a housekeeper/maid service. I would like to, but DH doesn't want to. And to be fair, he does all of the house cleaning pretty much. I sometimes do dishes (as in load and unload the dishwasher), and I do laundry about 80% of the time. DH does everything else. He grew up in a very blue collar family in England and is just opposed to having someone else clean up after us. He also has very high standards and would rather do it himself so he can meet those standards. Whatever.

[HonoluluMom]

Every day, tidy up the house - put away toys, wash dishes, wipe down tables and counters

Perhaps once during the week, depending on how DD's week has been going, one load of laundry.

Every week (usually Sunday and it takes 2-3 hours) - vacuum, dust, clean kitchen, clean bathrooms, bathtubs, toilets, and 1-2 loads of laundry to include sheets and towels

[kara97210]

It took me 2 years after DS was born to figure out a system for cleaning that works for us. I'm a little OCD about cleaning, although my standards have relaxed a lot since having kids. We also do have a cleaning person who comes monthly. For me the most important thing is to not let things (laundry, dishes, etc) pile up.

For laundry it feels like it's a constant battle, so I do a load of laundry almost every day. I work from home 2 days/week, on those days I do laundry between meetings. Generally this is when I wash sheets, towels, etc. My goal is to not have to deal with more than 1-2 loads on the weekends. I generally pile up the clean clothes in the guest room (it's next to the laundry room) and fold everything at once while listening to podcasts.

After the kids go to bed (by 8:30) I spend 15-20 minutes cleaning. When I was growing up my mom would turn on the timer for 10 minutes every night and clean the kitchen. I do the same thing, generally I can get all the dishes done in 10 minutes (you kind of speed up because of the timer) and it doesn't feel like any time at all. I do the same thing with picking up after the kids. I put the timer on for 5-10 minutes and usually get done in that time, including a quick cycle with the hand vac.

I keep cleaning products in each room where they are used and clean the bathroom during the kids baths. They like to sit in the bath forever, so instead of pulling them out early, 1-2 times a week I let them play longer and I clean the sink, mirror, toilet. Occasionally I'll wipe the baseboards, etc. I can see them the whole time (that bathroom is probably 5x8 ft) and it just takes me a couple of minutes to clean.

I just feel a lot better when the house is clean. I know it's going to get really messy again the next day, but I have a hard time relaxing when the house is messy. It probably comes from growing up in a borderline hoarders household since my sister is the same way.

[elephantmeg]

I do it fri eve/sat am around other stuff. I work nights on Thurs and so get up around 1 or 2 on Fri and slam through as much as possible. My fairy godmother (AKA the cleaning lady) comes once a month. AND THIS IS THE WEEK! I usually never: mop, clean the bathtub or microwave (she does those when she is here and I spot clean those as needed) and I might vacuum bedrooms one other time. So basically I clean the kitchen stove/sink/counters, sweep the floor, vacuum the living room, clean toilet/sink/mirrors (x3 BR-ugh!) and generally pick stuff up and put them away. The kids have to have their stuff picked up Thurs night for cleaning on Fri... or fri for cleaning on sat. I start laundry on fri and continue usually until monday...

[sntm]

Never? I have a cleaner come every week or two. Spot clean, mostly kitchen, in between.

[vludmilla]

Never? I have a cleaner come every week or two. Spot clean, mostly kitchen, in between.

:yeahthat: I love my cleaner. I would give up many things before I would give her up!

[DualvansMommy]

I have my cleaner twice a month; she does the big jobs in cleaning all of my 3 bathrooms, vaccum every room we have, dust and mop, and clean the kitchen in depth. In between visits, I vaccum the den, office and put swifffer through den and living rooms. I clean our master bath sinks every few days.

I always wipe down my kitchen after every meal we eat, vaccum the tiles (have two dogs so its important to me to have dust free floors) every 4 days or so.

DH helps out a lot, so on the 2 days he works from home, he takes care of big heavy laundry duty like our beddings every Tuesdays; our king size bed, DS bed and Fridays he does all the bathroom towels, dishtowels and dogs bed.

On Mondays & Wednesdays while DS is at "school" I do our clothing laundry, run errands and make big batches of dinner for us to eat and freeze for rest of week. Usually do 2-3 recipes both days, and that's when I usually run the dishwasher.

[amldaley]

We did not have a cleaning lady or housekeeper. Dishes and laundry every day. Swept under the table and in kitchen every evening. Vaccummed a couple of times a week usually while the other one of us was cooking. Bathrooms on Saturday morning but many weekends they got skipped and so only done 2-3 per month or if we had company coming over. Dusting got done...I don't know...a few times a year? We just dealt with it. It wasn't great.

That said, I don't do much better as a SAHM! I always thought I would be this fabulous housekeeper. But it turns out that my days are filled with feeding, dressing, cleaning after, driving around and entertaining the DD's and there is little time for anything else. Hoping that gets better when they are a bit older.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

The cleaning fairies come twice a month. Between that it is spot clean as needed only.

:yeahthat:

we have a cleaning lady who comes every 2 weeks. Other than that, is spot cleaned as needed, plus we do dishes/run the dishwasher every night, and i sweep/vacuum the kitchen every few days. i do laundry twice a week, and i usually do one batch on the weekend and then another mid-week in the evenings.

[Green22]

Dh and I alternate on the weekends. We would usually go every 2 weeks but now that we have a nanny I want to clean every week. But by us alternating it makes it seem like we are cleaning less. I do an ergorapido vacuum about every 2 days after all are in bed on our first floor and try to pick up every night for 10 minutes to keep things under control.

I understand how you feel. I hate cleaning so much bc the dust makes me so sick. I feel like it ruins my weekend. And I do not like having the kids in the house while we clean, so I try and get dh to take them to the bookstore or library for 1-2 hours so I can just get it done. I have found that doing it weekly has made it more manageable and less dirty/less of a chore. Also my house is very small and mostly hardwood on the main floor. But still I feel like it is taking away from the precious little time I have with the kids.

I would love to have a weekly cleaning person but do not have the money for it, plus every time I have hired a cleaning person I end up letting them go within 2-3 cleans later. The first clean is always great and the. It just goes totally downhill. Like one time she literally did not clean either bathroom. One other lady came while we were at work and said it took 3 hours. One day dh stopped in a timeshe should have still been there ( like an hour later) and she was gone and so was the $. I have had bad luck I guess.

Eta: dh does laundry, I fold and put away usually on weekends though there is kind of always laundry around. Dh cleans and wipes the kitchen and dining room while I bathe the kids or after he puts dd to bed and I am still nursing ds. After showers I run the dishwasher at night and I empty it in the am. I also clean bottles and do other hand washing then. If dh didn't do laundry I would just put in one small load every am, then flip it in dryer after work, pile it up during the week, then iron while the kids play or watch tv on the weekend. Hth

[citymama]

Once a month housecleaners like you - wish I could afford more frequently but we budgeted for once. DH does a lot of cleaning help - cleaning the stove, loading/unloading dishwasher, sweeping. We both spot clean and I'm more picky about the bathroom so I usually clean the sinks and toilets on weekend. Between us we sweep the living room and kitchen daily, usually after kids are in bed. We rarely run the vacuum or use our beloved steam mop. That's all we can manage and generally we're fairly clean people so it isn't terrible (but it sure isn't spotless either).

[randomkid]

My suggestion is to keep looking around for housekeepers. I'm not sure how much you are paying now, but I put off hiring someone for a loooong time because it was too expensive. I had a few estimates, but they were too high. I never felt like I could get this house cleaned and I wasn't getting the help I needed from the other people living here. I kept asking my friends and acquaintances until I finally found a company that is much more reasonably priced. They actually charge less than half of what previous estimates have been, so I can have them come every other week! The best part is that they clean better than any other company I have ever hired. They have only been here twice so far, but it makes a huge difference for me. I'll spot clean between visits - vacuum as needed, wipe counters and clean the kitchen, of course. I just couldn't do it without a housekeeper. I don't really think it's possible if you WOH full time.

Sorry I don't have any magic secrets for you! Now, my biggest challenge is staying on top of the clutter so it's not such a hassle to pick up before they come!

[dhano923]

We have a housekeeper who comes twice a month. Other than that we only clean the kitchen/do dishes. Everything else we just let it go. We just don't have the time and/or energy to clean.

:yeahthat:

[abh5e8]

i've found i clean much better/more often if i do a little every day. I can never find 2-3 hours to do it on the weekends. i also make the kids help. dd runs the vacuum about half the time. they clear the table after meals, load some dishes directly into the dishwasher. they also hang up their wet laundry, then fold/put it away.

daily: all dishes, run & empty dishwasher (dc are home for 3 meals a day, so its full), wipe down counters and table, vacuum main level, 1 load laundry, pick up toys/ect.

weekly to twice weekly: quick clean bathroom + spot clean as needed

the kids and I do some in the am, before I go to work and some at night.

[boolady]

We have cleaners that come twice a month, and we sweep/spot clean as needed. We pick up every night, DH takes out trash as needed and recycling almost every night, and we just always try to keep it so that if we have company coming, it is vacuum/sweep/wipedown ready.

Like a PP said, there are a lot of things I would sacrifice, and do, before I would get rid of the cleaners. I just won't spend the precious time I have with DD and DH cleaning the house all the time.

[egoldber]

I don't really consider laundry, trash, dishes as hosuecleaning. I was thinking scrubbing floors and bathrooms, dusting, etc.

In addition to the cleaners every other week....

laundry - almost all on the weekends. Our week nights are too busy.

dishes - load and unload dishwasher every day

trash / recycling - when full, every 3-4 days

[alootikki]

I agree with all of the previous posters -outsource as much as you can! If your cleaner comes once a month, see if she can change/wash the bedsheets at the same time.

[khalloc]

I am an awful cleaner. I hate cleaning. Mostly because of my husband. He is anal about cleaning and it really put me off of it. I like to clean more when he is not around....

He does most of the cleaning during the week. Tidying up the kitchen, picking up the 1st floor of the house and keeping the basement playroom tidied.

I really really really want a housekeeper. I think once we remodel our kitchen I am going to see if we can have someone come in 2x a month to clean.

[aa2mama]

I would love to have a housecleaner, but it simply isn't in the budget. Our house isn't as clean as I would like, but I do the best I can with limited time.

Every night when I get home from work, the first thing I do is start a load of laundry and set our Mint vacuum loose in a different room every night.

I unload the dishwasher while supper is cooking. After dinner, I throw the laundry in the dryer. DH washes dishes and loads the dishwasher while I'm getting the kids ready for bed. DD likes to play in the tub for a few minutes after she's clean, so I use that time to spot clean the bathroom.

After the kids are in bed, I straighten for about 15 minutes. Then I grab the clean laundry and put it away while watching TV.

In theory, I would love to clean a different room every night, but in actuality I end up cleaning on Saturday mornings while the kids watch cartoons.

[daisysmom]

I don't really consider laundry, trash, dishes as hosuecleaning. I was thinking scrubbing floors and bathrooms, dusting, etc.



I was thinking this same thing when I was reading other responses. I do a load of laundry pretty much every night, or maybe 5 out of 7 nights, b/c DH and I both workout so there are sweaty clothes, and DD gets really dirty on the after-care playground. And we run the dishwasher once a day and take the trash out once a day. I don't let those things build up :) But I don't ever scrub floors, baseboards, and bathrooms.