what minimum daily cleaning do you do?

[Anonymous]

I unload/load the dishwasher, wipe out sinks, spray clean oven/counters. Vacuum kitchen/playroom. Broom up dog hair. Run at least two loads of laundry and put them away. Clean up toys at the end of the day. Anything else that needs attention.

[Anonymous]

Every day: Clean kitchen, empty dishwasher, declutter, make beds, sort/fold/put away laundry, clean cat box. Should vacuum kitchen daily but hate doing it. DH takes out trash and recycling. Housekeeper comes weekly to do the heavy cleaning ($150 for a 6 BR/4 BA house).

[Anonymous]

Just a tip for quick vacuuming in the kitchen - we love our rechargeable SHARK that we keep in the pantry. Hubby likes it too and it's light so even our kids can do it. The canister vacuum is more of a pain to haul up from the basement.

[Anonymous]

I don't do anything everyday.
I do kitchen every other day, laundry and vac once a week (usually wed) and dusting/ baths once a week (sun)

[Anonymous]

Wow. Either the mess factor really goes up with kids and pets, or I am a slob. Our house is always neat, because clutter drives me crazy, but I don't actually clean anything (besides dishes/counters, daily, and laundry, weekly), unless I notice they're dirty or I'm expecting company. Which usually translates to weekly for the bathroom sink, every other week for the rest of the bathroom, and every 3 weeks for vaccuuming and dusting. We take our shoes off when we come in the door, and since we don't have kids or pets, it just doesn't get that dirty ... and I sit on the floor a lot so I would notice. I do think 2 weeks for the vaccuuming and dusting would be better but we just don't have the time, and are too cheap to hire someone.

[Anonymous]

I think the one thing I am falling behind on is the bathroom tubs. I pretty much wipe or mop or clean every other part of the bathroom regularly.

For those of you that clean it yourselves, how often and how do you do it? I'm one of those rare ones around here that doesn't have a cleaning person!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:housekeeper comes every other week. She dusts, vacuums, mops, kitchen, baths, and changes our sheets. She also manages to get all my shoes back in my closet, which I am somehow incapable of doing.

Daily: we wash dishes, clean the kitchen counters, spray the shower. Take out the trash and recycling as needed (we recycle a LOT more now that we have a two-canister slider in the cupboard instead of a single trash can; highly recommend it). In theory we sort the mail into recycle, shred, read, but it ends up being more like once a week.

On the off weeks, I wipe down the sinks & toilets with a Method wipe. DH may or may not vacuum (our new rug is still in the pilling stage). Even with two dogs, it just doesn't get that bad when we are all out of the house 8 AM - 6 PM.

Every weekend, I do 3-6 loads of laundry (whites, lights, brights, darks, sheets & towels, tablecloth & napkins). I might do one of these loads on a weeknight if I run out of time on Sunday.

If we didn't have a housekeeper, I'd probably subscribe to the Fly Lady way of doing it. One task per day, plus a set amount of time every day for de-cluttering.

If we didn't have a housekeeper, I would seriously resent DH for not cleaning enough, or well enough. Her services have prevented much anger and tension.

I finally realized last year that we HAD to get a housekeeper or I was going to murder DH in his sleep. We still have to clean (or should that say I still do some cleaning) but it has helped all of us tremendously.

[Anonymous]

16:27 again. I should add that I clean the bathroom while the kids are in the tub. Their bathroom, at least, is pretty darn clean.

We have 2 big dogs so I still need to vacuum pretty often - probably 2-3 times per week - usually right when I get home from work at night and I just tear around the house for 10 to 15 minutes.

Kitchen and dishes have to be done every day - otherwise we have no sippy cups in the a.m.! - and the main house rule is that all toys have to be put away and the playroom cleaned up before bed.

[Anonymous]

housekeeper once per wk (3 bedroom, 3 stories townhouse) for $80

every day: maybe make our bed, load/unload dishwasher. put away toys and books at end of day. that's it.

maybe one load of laundry per week if someone is running out of underwear...

[Anonymous]

I set guidelines for myself and make it part of my routine:
Monday: adult laundry
Tuesday: vac. upstairs
Wednesday: vac. downstairs
Thursday: kids'/baby's laundry
...you get the picture. That way it's a habit and when skip it or am too lazy I'm bothered by it.

Toys - it's a must everyday - I rolled my ankle 2x in two weeks on fisher price farm animals!

[Anonymous]

SAHM. 6 Bedroom, 8 bath house. I do the following:

Kitchen clean up everyday, mop 1x week
Laundry every day 1-2 loads
Beds every day
Bed linens 1x a week
Used toilets (we have several that are used infrequently) 1x week minimum
Showers 1x a week (baths too)
Clutter every day -- I hate it
Trash every night
Dish washer every night

Deep clean hired house cleaner every other week

[Anonymous]

Good topic!

[Anonymous]

Great topic - now only if MIL would read it so not everyone gags when they visit there! WHAT does that woman DO all day!? ROFLMAO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wipe the sink out after brushing teeth.
Throw a load of laundry in the washer. Put it in the dryer if I have time.
Go to work.
Get home, make dinner.
I clean the kitchen pretty thoroughly after each meal, including wiping down the stove, the counters, the table, sweeping the floor, and rinsing and putting dishes in the dishwasher. When it's full, I run it. I usually wipe out any obvious spills or drips in the fridge.
After dinner I fold and put away laundry.

We have a cleaning service every two weeks. What I list above is pretty much all I have to do. When I didn't have a cleaning service, I rotated one larger chore each night. It might be vacuuming, washing the kitchen floor, scrubbing down one bathroom, dusting.

I'm about like this. Mornings I wipe down the counters and load a dishwasher load. Usually try to throw in a washer load as well and fold at night. But other than that, I cannot clean during the week (and I have a once every two weeks cleaning lady, which at least makes me feel like there isn't anything growing on the floors)