What are your routines that prevent mess, minimize cleaning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
De clutter, de clutter and de clutter.

The end.

Seriously. It changed my life having to clean out my mother in laws house when she went into assisted living. I stopped holding on to "things."

Having organizational things help-file cabinet, baskets, shoe racks etc help.

Only eating in the kitchen, 10 minute straighten up everyday, at least one load of laundry a day.

[Anonymous]

" Organizational things " only encourage more hoarding.

[Anonymous]

Huge de clutter twice a year. Books, clothes, stuff.

Every night I set the alarm for 20 minutes and clean. I hate cleaning, but hate a mess. These 20 minutes are my compromise with myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:" Organizational things " only encourage more hoarding.

I used to think this but now I disagree. Rubbermaid bins are 90% of the time for hoarding. Usually adding shelving units is hoarding. But Elfa for a closet, or drawer dividers, or bins for a pantry are good. They actually make LESS space but they “hold” the home for things that are in use so they get put back properly.

Example: I have a shelf for handbags in my closet. I got dividers so that each one has a slot. They look so much neater and when one is out, its slot stays empty. I can’t add any handbags without getting rid of one. If I just had them on the shelf, I could easily justify shoving one more on there.

[Anonymous]

I recently bought clorox toilet wands and now I don’t mind cleaning the toilet. Also love my Dyson stick vacuum.

[Anonymous]

If I could only stabilize my weight, I could get rid of most of my clothes. My elastic weight/waist seem to have no upper bound. I fear the upcoming, inevitable affects of Halloween candy and Thanksgiving stuffing and pumpkin pie.

[Anonymous]

We alternate at night - one parent does bottle and bedtime, the other parent cleans up after dinner, turns on the dishwasher, and makes the bottles for the next day.

Whoever is in charge of the baby in the first wake time of the day unloads the dishwasher while the baby plays with something from the kitchen (spoon/spatula/colander/whatever) and that way dirty dishes go right in the dishwasher all day.

We run the dishwasher every night, even if it has 10 things in it. Keeps the system flowing.

[Anonymous]

Everything single thing in the house has to have a "place." Even if it's often out and in use - it has a place. Hook for purse in closet. Place for mail (outgoing/mine/his). Baby's swing has a spot. Diaper bag has a spot. A place for everything! Stops stuff from getting overwhelming.

[Anonymous]

Both spouses need to agree that "less is more."

[Anonymous]

we have 3 kids 8, 5, and 3. we have VERY few toys. I keep the stuff with pieces/parts up high and they have to ask to get it down. only one toy at a time, the other must be cleaned up before a new messy one can come down. they make their own beds, put away their clothes, and bring in their dishes. we also carve out time where everyone just straightens up together for 10 min or so. my house is always tidy. honestly being a minimalist is key tho.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't marry a clutterbug like I did. LOL.

Teach your kids not to leave dirty dishes in the sink. Meal is done, they can help you put dishes or cups in the dishwasher. Use one cup all day long. It also helps to keep food only at the table, rather than allowing snacking in front of the tv or in the playroom or wherever. Minimizes the spread of food-related mess.

We taught DC to do a "two minute drill" a few times per day. Rather than "clean your room" which would seem overwhelming we would set a timer for 2min or 5min and tell them to get done as much as they could. When kids were that young, we would help, but it got the habit going.

I like this two minute drill idea!

[Anonymous]

I do two "Pick up 10 things" drills every day. We run around like crazy, putting things away and counting aloud. My kids jump at it because they usually pick the easy stuff to pick away. In a family of 4, if you pick up and keep 40 things in its proper place, twice a day - you are GOLD.

- I have made beds easy. My kids have a faux down comforter and no top sheets. They just have to spread out the comforter to make their beds.

- No shoes indoors.
- Everyone makes their bed as soon as they wake up.
- Everyone puts all dishes for snacking, cups, saucers, bowls from their rooms on to a tray in the hall in the morning.
- Everyone puts all their dirty clothes in hampers in the morning.
- Everyone takes care of disposing off mail addressed to them and any paper
- Everyone puts their dishes in the dishwasher after meals.

Some assigned chores specific to the family members.
-My DH runs and empties the dishwasher (thrice a day...we cook and eat a lot). He also takes care of breakfast and puts away leftovers in the fridge.
- My youngest waters the indoor plants, recycles and composts the kitchen scraps and will hang coats inside the coat closet.
- My eldest is in charge of panty, fridge and refrigerator organization - as well as making shopping lists by store.

- I clean (since my twice a week cleaning lady is no longer an option) the bathrooms and all the floors, once a week.
- I wash at least 2 loads of laundry a day. All my towels, bath mats, bed sheets and bed linen are white so I can wash on hot and use bleach. I fold everyone clothes and they are in charge of putting their clothes away in their dressers. I Konmaried clothes in the begining of the pandemic and I fold clothes in a specific manner based on whose clothes I am folding and their storage space in their bedrooms
- I take care of the yard and outdoor stuff.
- I cook some entrees during the weekend. Mostly DH is cooking but if I have to cook, I cook in the morning just after I finish my breakfast.

Thank the LORD that I do not have pets. Less responsibility and my house is cleaner because of that.

[Anonymous]

Fly lady

[Anonymous]

I recommend Cheryl Mendelson's classic "Home Comforts" a lot
Basically, at night the house is "done" by picking up clutter, putting it back, washing dishes, cleaning counters, taking out garbage etc. Ideally you wake up to a clean house every morning but mostly this happens by having a schedule ie days for certain things. You are doing something each day
(Like grocery shopping, deep cleaning etc) or hiring out but the point is there is REGULARITY, on both a weekly and daily basis. This helps us most. You are proactively tending to the house, not allowing chores to build up. Decluttering helps but is not deep cleaning. Decide what you need to do daily and then within reason, try to do it. Then most of the time, you live in a clean environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything single thing in the house has to have a "place." Even if it's often out and in use - it has a place. Hook for purse in closet. Place for mail (outgoing/mine/his). Baby's swing has a spot. Diaper bag has a spot. A place for everything! Stops stuff from getting overwhelming.

This is so important. We were having work done on a room recently, and everything from that room got moved into the next room over. There was still space to walk around, but everything was out of place. It was amazing how fast that led to more mess. Once some things were not put away, it was too easy to not put other things away, and so on.... I realize this is how people lose control of their stuff.

I would add the caveat that the “place” needs to be convenient and you shouldn’t need to move things to put something away. Have the place for things be near to where they are used. If you have to go to another room, or move things around on a shelf, things will just get left out.