how clean is your house - 4 standards of cleaning
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How clean is your house? The 4 standards of cleaning

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Like many other people, I hate cleaning.

I do a quick wipe round (wipes may not be sustainable, but they do make it easier to do a minute here and there) after cooking and in the bathroom as and when, but a regular proper clean I’ll put off until I can see things need doing.

Our house isn’t really conducive to having an immaculate house.  Of course there’s N (who’s a law unto himself unless I’m up with him at the crack of dawn)…crackers, babybel, strawberries cheese crumbs and pancakes on his help your own breakfast, all eaten on the sofa!  Bits everywhere.

how clean is your house The 4 standards of cleaning - Bubbablueandme

Then there’s living on a farm, which means that however well I vacuum and clean, there’s spiders’ webs appearing as soon as I’ve cleared them, and the OH brings in straw, mud, black sock bits and more just from walking into the house. Even with a door mat, and a longer entry rug, it still doesn’t prevent bits turning up all over the house where he’s walked.

For a 3 bed house, it’s pretty large, which means it can take a few hours to clean from top to bottom properly.  When I first moved in we were good about sharing the cleaning and would do it on a Sunday morning.  But now the OH’s got slack and does nothing except clean the Aga and top of the oven, so it’s left to me.  Although I am training N up – at the moment he likes doing vacuuming so I can get him to do 2 rooms at least.

I’ve started doing the Kon Mari method of decluttering (clothes, books, dvds and games are done, just everything else to do now!), so once that’s complete, I shall be lazy and get someone professional in to do a deep clean, and then it’ll be easier to clean regularly.

I guess I’m making it sound like we live in a tip, but it’s not that bad.  My focus is always on visitors.  If I know we’ve got visitors coming round then I’ll clean.  But I’ve realised that even for that I have different standards of cleaning and I bet lots of other people do the same (please tell me it’s not just me!).

The 4 standards of cleaning

Normal everyday living

This is my normal state of cleaning.  I clean when things look like they need it, ie the dust is visible, there’s too many bits on the carpet, the kitchen floor needs steaming.  The bathroom and kitchen surfaces get the most attention obviously, a quick wipe after using.  For me (and now the OH) can live with this.  The OH used to say that a house needed daily vacuuming, but then he wasn’t going to do it every day, and as I work and have better more interesting things to do, that view has been withdrawn.

Coffee morning / playdate

Or when visitors are coming for a few hours.  This means I can clean the downstairs really well, but I don’t have to worry too much about the upstairs.  Unless I know N will take friends upstairs, then I’ll do the stairs and his room.  There’s no point rushing round to clean everything if they’re only going to go into a few rooms.

The bonus is if the weather’s good and we’ll likely be in the garden.  Just the kitchen, backroom and bathroom to do!

There’s also the difference between a playdate with people you know vs people coming over for the first time ever.

Overnight visitors

In addition to seeing friends, having visitors, especially overnight ones, it does mean that the house does stay cleaner and tidier for a bit longer. It’s never easy with a child who pretty much refuses to tidy up after himself, but the house might look tidier for at least a few days.

This is when I do a full clean.  Every room tidied, spiders webs hoovered away or brushed away, floors cleaned, vacuumed, freshened, dusting, brushing/cleaning off the curtains,  cleaning the aga (well, maybe), getting all the washing put away, bathrooms all cleaned (even the downstairs scruffy shower room that’s really only used by the OH for shaving and for hanging up wet swimming costumes). I probably even clean up the utility room to a certain extent, and clean out the fridge if it needs a bit of a wipe down.

The Obsessive

It’s never going to be me, although I wouldn’t mind having a house as clean as that.  Cleans (properly, not a fleeting wipe of a surface) every day.  Usually has a rota, so maybe a room a day, with some vacuuming each day.

Having an immaculate house does make the place feel more spacious but I do begrudge it when it can take a morning to properly clean the house, only to see it destroyed again as soon as N walks in the door with his wellies on, or the OH comes in from the farm.

I’m hoping my decluttering will help make it quicker and easier to clean. Maybe once it’s deep cleaned after the clear out, I’ll get a cleaner again.

In the meantime I can however, be pleased that

a) I don’t clean for a living,

b) that I don’t live in a mansion, and

c) I don’t have to clean huge historic buildings. Check out Karcher’s fun quiz to test your knowledge.

What type of cleaner are you?  How do you do your cleaning?

Why not take a look at these similar posts.

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25 Comments

  1. Eurrr… I hate cleaning but love a clean home so I find myself doing chores most of the time, even if it is behind a grimace! Visitors are a pain in the bum, especially when my mum comes to stay! I get a bit of a sweat on with the cleaning then 🙂 #brilliantblogposts

  2. Oh god, what I wouldn’t give for a cleaner… I love your categories, it’s so true!

    I’m one of those ones who has a rota, with a few different tasks most days. But my house never looks immaculate. A dog, a pre-schooler, a teenager and a lot of interests/clutter/uni work just don’t make for a tidy house!

    #brilliantblogposts

  3. Love the different categories. I definitely have a quick clean downstairs if friends are coming round, and hope they don’t need to venture upstairs. With a 3 1/2 year and 15 month old there isn’t much time for cleaning and there’s more interesting things to do. Although having watched Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners the other night I did have to hoover under the sofa cushions the next morning! #briliiantblogposts

  4. I’ve waved the white flag. I fear childcare and blogging combined now take up so much of my time we have cleaner. Aside from what she does, minimal cleaning is done throughout the week! It’s dreadful, I know, but c’est la vie. #brilliantblogposts

  5. Before I had children I was 100% and obessive cleaner lol! Now having 3 children and two of whom have special needs means I clean when I can, but it is not as clean as I would like but the care of my little ones takes priority so Id say it is more of a turn a blind eye type of clean sometimes lol!

    1. Oh yes, the clothes thing is brilliant. Mine and N’s are like that, although they are quite rammed. Need to sort the OH’s because his clothes are spread all over the place. Doesn’t have many clothes but they’re messy

  6. I have a toddler and a teenager so my house is never sparkling clean. I do try my best though to keep up with the mess.

  7. lol I love your categories of clean. I try to keep my house at the friends coming over standard but that doesn’t always happen – obsessive happens twice a year when I do a big spring clean. x

  8. I love your four standards, and you are so right about them. Someone coming round for coffee is simple, and just requires the downstairs main rooms. But an overnighter, that takes me a whole day to prepare for! (and if its a family member who’s over-familiar with your house? well then there is always the danger that they might peek in your cupboards and involves even MORE work!)… thank goodness for those occasional guests though, otherwise nothing would ever get cleaned/organised in my house.

    1. Thankfully my mum was really relaxed about it, and wouldn’t have been nosy about things, and none of the OH’s family ever stay because they all live within 1.5 miles. Very handy!

  9. I’m definitely NOT an obsessive so I can cross that one off. I actually think they are a bit strange. It can’t be healthy to live in such a sterile environment.

    Nope, I’m “clean when you can’t get away with not doing it” or if someone is coming round.

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