Hi guys.
I'm just going to plunge right on in. My household cleanliness situation is less than ideal right now. I live with two people who seem either oblivious to or apathetic about living in what I would consider at best "gross conditions" and after two glasses of wine I'd call "filth."
Now, I got myself into this living situation, and as the person with the greatest desire/preference for cleanliness, it's really on me to take the house to a more preferable level. No, it's not always easy, but if you think about it, it's not really fair to expect other people to live up to my standards just because I have moved in with them. (I knew one roommate before moving in but really only "knew" and not "was friends with." So it's not like I'm living with a family or S/O who would be expected to all work together.) If I'm the person bothered by the mess, I need to step up and own it and solve it. For the parts I can't solve by myself, or if my roommates do totally shirk things that are blatantly their messes, it's going to be up to me to initiate calm, non-accusatory conversations with them where we work towards a solution, not get passive aggressive, or expect them to read my mind if I'm upset they haven't cleaned up. I get all that. It's...not perfect but it's the living situation I'm in and it's going to be fine, because it needs to be.
I've been working on the house problem for the past 4 months. There are a few problem areas where it is very hard for me because it's clear that filth has accumulated for years and it's also obvious that it's not my filth, never was, and I didn't cause it and so on, but I'm trying to just take it day by day and keep making things better. Eventually I'll either grit my teeth and address these areas, or maybe just let the house burn down instead. Either way, that's for future-me to worry about.
The reason I am posting about this is to ask for advice on cleaning from people who have been in the game for a long time and have advice or tricks and such that could help me. I am generally a tidy person especially in my living areas but I have never had house cleanliness issues on this scale before or been the most clean-freak-y person in the house. Basically I've never had to completely run house cleanliness and chores on my own before.
I was looking on the internet for advice about what a good frequency would be for certain chores. And I started getting like, what seemed like kind of really crazy idealized advice to me? Which is why I wanted to talk to the sane people of hubski.
Here are some questions I have/things I'm trying to figure out. I'm going to bold the crux of each point to make it easier for you guys.
- These crazy cleaning websites are telling me I should be dusting, vacuuming, doing laundry, and cleaning bathrooms on a daily basis. Even if that might be an ideal recommendation, I feel like in practice...does that happen? Do you adults who have been adulting for a while think that is a reasonable or executable goal? I was thinking more of a weekly basis. One another website told me I should be vacuuming 1x per week plus another time per each household member. That would be 4x a week. That also seems a little excessive to me. I mean, I like and want a clean house - it's just, I feel like in real life people generally don't vacuum that much. Am I wrong?
- basically interested in how frequently you do chores, and how you try to track them. Right now I try to do at least one thing a day which usually ends up being about 3, which I think is great. Yesterday my friend told me her rule is that she has a set number of minutes each day she has to spend doing certain things (like, 30 minutes every day cleaning) and if she doesn't do all her minutes, she rolls them into the next day. I find that intriguing and wouldn't have come up with it on my own. What do you guys do that helps you keep on track?
- I have this shower drain that repeatedly clogs. It's disgusting. At first I thought it was mostly my fault because of my hair, so I started doing things like brushing my hair right before the shower, using dry shampoo, taking quick showers etc. That doesn't seem to have made much of a difference. We have used Drain-o on this drain 2x in the past 4 months, and that's no good. Today I just bit the bullet, grabbed a coathanger and pulled what masses I could get to out of the drain. (Not that it matters, but what I pulled out seem to support the idea that my hair is not the primary clog factor. I read online that semen can contribute to clogging kind of wonder if one of my roommates is routinely jacking it in the shower...maybe that's just an internet fable? What I pulled out was extremely slimy, shiny and gross. It was much more slime than hair.) WHAT THE FUCK CAN I DO ABOUT THE SHOWER DRAIN PLEASE. Also any ideas about what might be causing/exacerbating this issue would really be appreciated. I would say the drain develops clogs that definitely noticeably slow down water drainage within a month after using Drain-O. What the fuck is going on here and why. How do I fix it.
- if I suspect that no one has ever come out and cleaned the dryer duct itself in the 5 years the dryer's been in the house and in use, like, how urgent is it that I try and get that to happen? The roommates DO clean the lint trap when they do laundry but they both appear to simply then throw the lint on the floor. (I'm biting my tongue on my ranting here, trust me, I know the feelings you are currently feeling as you read and then re-read that last sentence in disbelief. I knoooowww. So don't fixate too much on that.)
- what are chores that are easy to miss or overlook that I may not realize I'm missing?
And then any other tips plz.
Honestly I was going to send this to someone via PM but I couldn't decide who I thought would be best. So I figured I would just ask all of you.
I want to feel more comfortable and happy in my house than just tolerating it.
ref
So I would spend the $100 bucks and hire someone (a team) to come in and do a deep clean once. Hopefully this cost can be split between all the roomies. Give them a specific list of problem areas so that they spend their time on those areas and not sweeping the same section of the floor you can sweep.
From there it becomes easier. I typically clean for about an hour of Saturday and Sunday. One day I'll do the bathroom. One day I'll mop. One day I'll move everything off the kitchen counter and wipe it down. One day I'll do the inside of the cabinets. Etc.
An hour is a good amount of time because it doesn't get in the way of anything, but it allows you to get stuff clean. You can get a lot done in an hour.
I would also choose to clean during times your housemates are around. Unless you are living with the rudest people on earth...or children... it's remarkably hard to watch someone clean and not help out a little bit.
Once the house is cleaner in general, it becomes harder to leave it dirty. I'll leave a dish in the sink here or some spilled water on the counter without thinking twice, but I would never for a second do that at my parents. The counters at there house is always spotless, which means I literally spray and wipe down those two crumbs and the circle from my drink.
Practically, here are some other tips:
Get vinegar. It cleans everything. Dilute it with water and put it in a spray bottle. Or splash a bit down all your sink drains once in a while and let it sit. It'll get rid of that stank.
Get windex. It also cleans everything (except real wood)
Get one bleached based thing for grout and the corners of your tub. I hate bleach but we have a can of it. I use Kablam foaming or something for the rest of the bathroom and it's alright. If you dont mind bleach, use that though.
Get a package of little heavy duty white hand towels. You'll save heaps from not using paper towels.
Get a good duster off of amazon.
Get gloves. I use little latex ones because we have a pack, but dishwashing ones would be fine. This is especially helpful when you are knee deep in the toilet going ew ew ew ew ew.
If you have a significant amount of floors, I recommend a real mop. If you dont, get the best sponge mob thing you can get. A swifter is not a mop.
Sign up for some bullshit mommy cleaning blog newsletter. Not only will you learn random cleaning tips, but you'll feel terrible about yourself; this bitch has time to raise two kids, handmake fucking cleaning solutions, go to church, and blog nonstop about it. What are you doing with your life? (lol)
Lastly, do the best you can to clean a little bit in between things. So like, you get home from work, relax, go to make food. While making food, clean the kitchen or sweep the floors or dust the bookshelves. Don't go crazy just literally 5 minutes here or there helps.