how much time do you clean, for a clean home
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Anonymous
That sounds right for laundry. Actually getting it clean doesn't take much time at all, but folding and putting away usually takes 20 minutes or so. Or when I wash bedclothes, I consider remaking the beds part of the "laundry" task. Does that seem like too much or too little to you? I look forward to when my kid is old enough to vacuum and load/unload the dishwasher. Not tall enough yet! |
Anonymous
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We spend 40 min a day probably. Some of that is dishes and unloading dishwasher, washing knives, counters etc. laundry sorting is mostly DH and kids help too now. We have weekly cleaner who does bathrooms and changes sheets and does a big vacuum and mop. I clean up after meals and messes.
We can do more to be cleaner but I'm ok with how we are right now. |
Anonymous
Hard to say what's normal for laundry, but yeah, 20 minutes a load sounds about right. Spread out over multiple interactions: sorting, moving from washer to dryer, hanging/ folding. One of my kids' earliest chores was keeping the shoe shelf tidy. It's right there at a 5 year old's level! We generally (though not fanatically) don't wear shoes in the house, and the rack by the door has strong chaos tendencies. It was their job to make sure that shoes were ON the rack (not scattered all throughout the entryway), out-of-season shoes were moved to the upstairs closet, etc. I made a special point of praising them when I came home and it was done. I declined treats if it wasn't done. No anger, no nagging, just "Ice cream is for after chores are done, and it didn't get done today. *shrug* Maybe tomorrow!" |
Anonymous
My kids do their own laundry. I know the 16 year old doesn’t fold his 90% of the time. Just pulls it out of the basket clean. It takes about 5-10 min for me to fold my own. I do it maybe 1-2 times a week (lots of workout clothes). |
Anonymous
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Huge 5 bedroom house - I have had the same solo cleaner for years. She spends 4 hours and changes beds, dusts, mops floors, vacuums, starts laundry, folds, unloads dishwasher, cleans bathrooms…I have her here once a month - more often if needed.
I generally love to deep clean so I will kind of pick a project like cleaning windows or cleaning out the refrigerator or (today) using my shop vac to remove lint in and around the dryer. Typically I’ll do laundry daily. Semi regularly touch ups in between cleaning - like wiping down surfaces. |
Anonymous
I know. You are absolutely right. I can do that. And not making their beds won't cause friction but I want them to feel at ease when they come back to their room. I do have some reasons for why I do what I do. I can close the door, not make the bed, not do the laundry, not fold and put away clothes in their dressers, not empty the waste paper basket, not pick up the snacking plates/cups/water bottles etc from their bedside tables etc. That is a real and valid choice. I can just not do it, because no one is holding a gun to my head. But, I do all of this because of a number of reasons - - My kids are hard working and responsible outside of the house. They have always done well in school, college, job etc. They are very social, financially responsible, frugal, exercise regularly, eat healthy food, have goals, make good choices, have friends who are good kids, are respectful, good and kind people. I feel when I take care of their day-to-day life - they come back home to a safe haven and they can reset. In a way, it is reward for them for being good people and I don't have to worry about other things for them. - I feel that the world have enough stressors for their generation and being able to come home to peace and cleanliness is good for them. I really want this house and their rooms to be their comfort. - All of us like to be in a clean environment and like to have impromptu get togethers. We host and cook a lot. I want my kids to be able to have friends over without worrying about the clutter. I try and have my home to be 'guest ready' at all times. We also cook a lot and so that also creates a lot of mess that needs to be cleaned out every day. - I don't enforce the 'no eating anywhere but the kitchen' rule with them. They are usually snacking on healthy things like salads, nuts, yogurt, fruits, tea, water etc, and that is more important to me than the fact that they carry their dishes down. - I like to have an open, clean house every day. It is welcoming for my family members but it requires me to put in the work every single day. If I stop doing it, the house will become a source of stress for every member of the family. And I know that cleaning will be the first thing that my family members will stop doing. Or even if they clean, they will do the bare minimum job. And I have seen that our mental health deteriorates when our house it not clean. We become irritable, can't find things, snap at each other, feel overwhelmed, can't concentrate, feel restless etc. My kids do know how to do laundry, throw a party, cook, clean the house, make their beds, iron, fold clothes etc. They do all of that when they are away from our house. They have taught others how to do adulting, but they don't do it at parent's home. I have accepted that now. That is the reason that I have hired a weekly cleaner. The weekly cleaner is not to help me, since I do my part every day. She is there to do the chores in lieu of my family members. Ah well! |
Anonymous
Ok, that works for many. I totally understand closing the doors if you have unexpected visitors and you don't have the time & energy to clean. Or, if you think that these chores are the responsibility of your grown children and they should bear the consequence of not keeping a clean room. However, there are a few things that I don't agree with this approach. - Closing the doors do not teach them to start cleaning up by themselves. The family will let the mess pile on without putting the effort to clean. No one is saying that their children started to do daily clean up automagically when mom stopped cleaning for them. - Keeping the doors locked up means that there is no sense of clean, airy, bright space near the bedrooms. No sunlight coming in. No clean floors. No neatness. Why would I subject myself or my family to this? - Letting things pile up means that subsequent cleaning will become more difficult. The only way to get ahead is daily cleanup. Trust me, I have taught my kids how to do these chores. So, they know the mechanics of it. They just don't want to do the daily grind of cleaning up as they go through their day. I hope that they will yearn for this when they live in their own space and when things start to get out of control if they don't clean. If they have been used to living in a clean environment in their childhood home , sooner or later, that is what they will want to replicate or atleast recognize the dysfunction for what it is. |
Anonymous
| At least 1 hour per day (1500 sqf, 2 adults, 1 child, 0 pet). I’m the only one who cleans and it’s not quite enough. |
Anonymous
[twitter]
Do your teens clean the kitchen too? Load dishwasher, scrubs pots and pans, white counters and sweep floor? Just the nightly routine of that takes a long time, especially when we have more than two loads of dishes. |
Anonymous
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If you’re including dishes and laundry about an hour a day. If you’re not then maybe 20 minutes. Then on weekends I do a deeper clean alternating bathrooms, kitchen and other rooms. I put on a weighted vest and make a workout of it (my time is limited with young kids).
Used to pay someone to do it, but then Trump impacted my job security. |
Anonymous
They don’t do as thorough a job as i do but it’s acceptable. The rule here is that the cook doesn’t clean up. I cook more often, so they clean more often. If they get sick of cleaning they are welcome to cook, and someone else will clean. When it’s my turn to clean the kitchen I end up doing the little things they’ve overlooked the last couple evenings. Wiping down the backsplash; stacking the storage containers neatly. That sort of thing. |
Anonymous
| 2500 sq ft house. We spend 15 minutes picking up at the end of each today, the whole family pitches in. I spend 2 hours on Saturdays cleaning: vacuum rugs, 2 bathrooms, dusting and mopping kitchen floor. We hire a service for a deep clean twice a year. |
Anonymous
So do I. Op, at least 15 minutes each time I clean the kitchen. 5 minutes to tidy the bathroom. 5 - 10 to make the bed and tidy the bedroom. The roomba runs daily and I dust whatever room is bothering me. We have a housekeeper twice per month to do the things I can't. |
Anonymous
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I used to love the "big clean" that happened a few times a year, where I'd dismantle the fridge, wash windows inside and out, vacuum deep inside the air vents, etc. I don't love that any more. So now I do those things more often, in smaller doses.
For example: clean your fridge every week. Yes, every week. Before you go to the grocery store, toss anything that's no longer edible, wipe any spills and crumbs, maybe unload and pull out one drawer or shelf each time for a soapy wash. Then when you get home from the store, there's plenty of space and you're not cramming good food on top of bad. (Looking at you, mom.) It used to take me an hour to clean the fridge. Now I budget the time as part of the grocery chore; it takes 10 minutes a week to just never let it get dirty. Do one vent every time you have the vacuum out. Do one drawer or closet shelf whenever you have a little extra time after folding laundry and putting it away. Cleaning up a finished vase of flowers? Dust/ polish that table/ shelf while you're picking up dropped petals. Ok, windows don't lend themselves to the incremental model, because they involve dragging a ladder in and taking down curtains. Once you've done that, you might as well do the whole job and wash the curtains too. |
Anonymous
Me too! |