STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

jessjoy · Kenneth Cole

Cleaning Routine

KaffeeKlatsch · Marc Jacobs

The best piece of advice I've received when it comes to cleaning came from a self-help book for single moms: do all you can cleaning and laundry wise during the week, so when the weekend comes you really can sit back and enjoy.
With that in mind, I actually made a daily chart with all my chores on it...yup, I'm a geek! And I've found that 1 hours worth every day after work really does free me up.

Elle · Hermes

Keeping as much dirt/dust out of the house in the first place helps - mats at all the doors and no shoes on in the house.

We live in a pretty small house, but I still struggle with the non-daily cleaning tasks. The guest bathroom and the wood floors get cleaned on a weekly basis, everything else waits until it shows signs it needs to be cleaned ... ashamed

. I dust maybe once a month? Windows, same?

We usually set aside a couple hours on a weekend morning (spurred by my husband declaring the house annoyingly dirty- bwahahaha) and do big cleaning tasks - it helps me stay motivated because we both feel excited that we don't have to clean whatever the other person is cleaning ...

we both have cleaning stuff that we hate and others we don't mind. Hell if I'm cleaning this whole house by myself!

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

DH and I split big jobs like cleaning the wood floors. I get one side of the house, he does the other. That helps make it seem less daunting. I dust probably once every two or 3 weeks. DH is much neater than I am, so many chores are initiated by him complaining. In fact, just last night he walked into the guest room and said, "is this what the whole house would look like if I were not here?" I said yup.

janey831 · Kate Spade

I am horrible at cleaning, but I tend to do a little cleaning every day. Part of this is because I live with a disgusting, messy male roommate. I feel like I am always picking up/cleaning after him.

XtinaStyles · Marc Jacobs

I second the list idea.

Since I live with roommates, we have a list of all chores that need to be done on a weekly basis and those that should be done on a monthly basis. Each item has a box to check it off.

It sounds anal but when you just clean a room you don't always remember to clean mirrors, dust, etc and this serves as a reminder.

Kincali · Dooney & Bourke

I live in the house of sand and fog. It is so embarrassing I should put this in confessions. There is crap everywhere and my clothing/stock has taken over almost every room in our rental(which is tiny). My husband has a stressful job and when he gets home he literally just wants to plop down on the sofa and veg out to tv for the rest of the night. Then on the weekend we have 50 different events and errands we have to do so nothing gets done.

I understand his need to relax but I can't do all the clean up on my own and it pisses me off. We definitely need a bigger house but I don't want to live here and I'm dragging my feet on buying something permanently.

Anyway, after what probably should now be put in the rant thread, I'm going to try to implement at least a daily 30 minute clean up every night with a checklist whether he wants to or not. thanks for the advice girls!

-- Edited by Kincali at 17:04, 2009-03-11

nightshade · Nine West

I don't like wasting my weekend cleaning either, so I keep at it during the week and it seems to work. I keep a set of cleaning supplies in both the upstairs and the downstairs bathrooms and I find that helps. If the cloth and cleaner are right there, it's so much more likely that I will be inspired to wipe down the counter or mirror.

We live out in the country where there are a lot of cultivated fields, so dusting has to happen once a week at least in the summer. Not so bad in the winter.

I find the kitchen takes the longest because of spills on the floor and smudges on the cabinet doors, etc. I clean the fridge once a week when I'm making the shopping list.

Collette · Chanel

I'm sort of a clean as I go type of person. Like after I brush my teeth I wipe down the sink and counter. I spray shower cleaner on the walls after I shower. Wipe off the counters after I make food/eat. As far as vacuuming and cleaning the floors. Well Im on stirke from doing that until I move out. Let the ex take care of it! lol

Kari · Dooney & Bourke

cleaning lady, cleaning lady, cleaning lady!!!!!

I hate that I spend the money on it....but it is SO worth it.

I only have her come every other week so that I don't have to worry about tax issues.

So, twice a month she SCRUBS the house. She sweeps, mops, scrubs the counters, sink, cleans the oven and the stovetop and the microwave, scrubs the bathrooms, and vacuums the floors. She even washes the lint catcher on my lint filter on the dryer.

Then, all I do in between is dishes, laundry, and try to wipe things down. Once in a while my hubby will clean the floors in between if they get bad.

Suasoria · Chanel

I clean before company or houseguests come over, but I find that I can do 5% of the work regularly and the house instantly looks 95% better.

Things I do a lot are sweeping the hard flooring, wiping off the surfaces in the bathrooms, emptying trash/recyclables, and containing the clutter. I do these things at least once a week or oftener, but even these tasks I do only in the rooms we actually use.

I have to clean the kitchen floor frequently because it's black and white, so the light-colored dirt shows on the black squares and the dark-colored dirt shows on the white ones.

I rarely dust or vacuum the rugs. Refer to "company coming."

I get a cleaning person for special occasions (like a dinner party when I'm doing all the cooking) but I am challenged when it comes to getting someone to come in routinely. I have so many relatives and acquaintances who clean houses for a "living," if you can call it that, such as the mother of one of my BFFs who is well into her 60s. It's a "there but for the grace of god go I..." experience for me and it's uncomfortable. Plus I want to believe I can do everything for everybody all the time and do it perfectly.

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

I am totally obsessed neat freak. Here is my cleaning schedule:

Daily: Wipe down granite counters, dust coffee table, vacum rug in family room, make bed and wipe down bathroom mirrors with windex. load/unload dishes , clean cat litter

Mon: see above
Tue: see above
Wed: Misc cleaning of yard
Thur:Laundry (darks)
Fri: Laundry (whites)
Sat: Clean bathrooms, wash sheets, dust all furniture, clean kitchen
Sun: Clean all tile floors with mop, clean wood floors, vacum entire house

DH and I have a 50/50 routine. so every day we each pick a few things from the list and tackle it together.