When do you clean your house?

[Bonnie]

OK... when do you clean? I never seem to be able to clean properly, and I have a pretty small place, so there isn't even that much to clean. I had a cleaning lady for a while, but she wasn't very good, and I felt like it was a waste of $$, so now I am struggling to find the time to dust, vacuum, wash the floors, really clean... I pick up every day, so my house is neat, and I do bits and pieces where I can, like wipe down counters, clean up in the bathrooms, but as for really cleaning, I cannot do anywhere near what I'd like... if I do it, I either have to go to work late, or leave work early. What do you do?

[Brooke]

I don't. :lol:

It gets done whenever one of us decides to do it. Usually one evening Darren gets a bug up his butt and insists on vacuuming and then that turns into scrubbing the floors. I hate those days!

Have you ever thought about doing it first thing every Saturday morning?

[Nocona]

Usually on the weekends and that's not very often :blush: It's usually only when it REALLY starts to bother me :lol:

[Mary]

We don't do much cleaning. We try to pick up things every night and then we have cleaning people that come every other week. We vacuum around the table after dinner and if the kitchen floor or the family room look really bad I'll mop or vacuum, but that is about it.:blush:

Mary

[Martian Lullaby]

We usually pick up a bit here and there on weeknights, and on weekends we try to take care of the bigger stuff.

[Alyssa]

Well, I don't know if I can really answer this as well since Joe is a SAHD and does clean a lot. He does do things when home with the kids, and moreso on the 2 mornings Aidan is at school. But there is still lots to do otherwise, and I'm a little cleaning obsessed. Mostly I do it at night...and sadly, sometimes instead of spending extra QT with the boys. :sad: I just know I'll go insane looking at dirt/clutter. I do a lot more when they are in bed and certainly on the weekends is when I do most of it.

[Bonnie]

I am totally cleaning obsessed... I have a hard time doing it on the weekends though because I like to play with my kids and get OUT of the house!

[Brandi]

I'm so glad to see that people don't clean regularly! I was going to say "Clean? What's that?" I'm with Brooke - we do it when it's out of control or we just can't stand it anymore.

[gulp!]

We don't do much cleaning. We try to pick up things every night and then we have cleaning people that come every other week. We vacuum around the table after dinner and if the kitchen floor or the family room look really bad I'll mop or vacuum, but that is about it.:blush:

Mary

:nod: this is us, too, except our dog vacuums around the table after dinner. :lol:

[Trish]

OMG, Bonnie, I swear I was just coming on here to post the exact same question! :lol: It hit me tonight as I was on my hands and knees mopping my kitchen floor at 9:30 pm :rolleyes:

OK, when do I clean? Well, I also can't stand to look at clutter, so I try very hard to keep my house picked up on a daily basis. As for vaccuming and such, tonight I vaccumed while the boys were sitting at the table, having a snack, and therefore they were not in my way - I just had to pick up the majority of their toys. I tend to do a lot of cleaning after they have gone to bed. I will dust and clean the bathrooms and do laundry during that time. I will also clean on the weekends, but sometimes have things planned and I don't have the time, so I have to fit it in during the week.

I wish we could afford a cleaning lady, but right now it's just not in our budget. We had one for a few months a year or so ago, but she just came every other week to do the heavy cleaning and it's vaccuming and mopping the floors that I need help with (we also have 2 dogs and a cat) so her doing that every other week didn't really help me out.

[Lady E]

I try to do a deep cleaning every other Saturday, usually in the morning while the kids are playing or when they take their nap. The alternating Saturdays I do a surface clean (pick up, mop, vacuum). If I have something to do where I need to leave the house at a certain time then it doesn't get done and gets pushed back to the next week or one day during the week when I decide I can't take it anymore.

[schwanda]

Cleaning lady!
I do some laundry on the weekends. We run the dishwasher every night before going to bed. We straighten up Nathaniel's toys each night after he's asleep. The vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, mopping is done once a week by our cleaning lady. Obviously, we do emergency clean ups but that's it!

Amanda

[jstauffer]

Cleaning? What cleaning?? :lol:

DH stays home and does dishes and laundry and picks up stuff every day. The rest of it usually gets done when I can't stand it anymore. That usually is during the evening after the kids are already in bed. Sometimes I'll have Sierra help me with some mopping or something if Sean's taking a nap and she's not. I have to enjoy this brief time where she actually LIKES helping me clean.

[Bev]

Usually on a weekend morning when one of us can be bothered. Often I will tackle the bathrooms while DH vacuums. It's bad, because honestly, who wants to clean when you would rather be with your child? Doing ANYTHING else! :lol:

[Marcella]

DH and I try to straighten up a little each night... do the dishes, put the toys away, etc. We do laundry on the weekends. Then we have a cleaning lady who comes every other week and does the bathrooms, dusts, vacuums, floors, counter tops, etc. It's some of the best money we spend!

[mama2jackson]

Cleaning? What cleaning?? :lol:

This is me!!! :lol: My hubby is gone for most of the time and I work full-time and take care of Jackson so when I'm home, I want to spend time with Jackson. I really only do deep cleaning (mopping, bathroom, dusting, etc.) when I can't stand something anymore. I do try and vacuum twice a week, but once a week is really good enough for me. I do "tidy up" at night. I always do the dishes, clean up the counters, clean up toys as much as possible, so it's relatively "neat", but not necessarily clean :lol:! I became real lax about the cleaning once Jackson was born and once my husband went to work on the road...my time is spend with Jackson and Josh (when he's home).

[mommyLil]

We try to do it on the weekends but it doesn't always work, we do our "nightly" cleaning first thing in the morning... we usually leave dishes in the sink in the mean time and stuff like that its just easier to clean when Nick is asleep and he goes down late enough that we go down with him but get up really early and clean up and make lunches and get ready for the day.

[Alysia]

Usually on the weekends and that's not very often :blush: It's usually only when it REALLY starts to bother me :lol:

:nod: Every once and awhile DH and I will both just go on a cleaning spree. We always pick up the kitchen but rarely have time to do a proper cleaning throughout the whole house. I have thought about getting a cleaning lady but we can't afford that.

[Denise]

When needed! :lol: Or when DH needs clean underwear , when we ahve nowhere to sleep cuz the bed is overflowing with clothes-clean of course, dirty is everywhere else...or we are sticking to the floor etc... :lol: I try to tackle one thing at a time and its usually when DS goes to bed around 8ish. I often bring home work so I dont get alot done when I want to.

[bunkie68]

Who says I do? :lol: Seriously, big cleaning usually only gets done when it's so bad I can't stand it or when company is coming. I try to pick up after Julian goes to sleep of a night, and I pretty much always clean up the kitchen - one thing I can't stand is dirty dishes in the sink and crap on the kitchen counters. But everything else gets done on the basis of when I can't stand to look at it any longer.

I'd love to find a cleaning lady, but I'm real weird about having someone in my house when I'm not there, and it would be kind of strange to just sit there while she cleans. So until I can resolve that dilemma in my own mind, I'll do without.

When Kevin moves out, I'm hoping it will get easier to keep things clean. I'm generally better about putting dirty clothes in the hamper, dishes in the sink, etc., and there will no longer be a trail of empty Diet Coke cans through the house (that's his thing, not mine). And if he isn't wanting me to do something for him of a night anymore, I might be able to start picking up one room a night or something, so I'm hoping it will get better when it's just me and Julian. We'll see!