A few things.

1) You need to enjoy cleaning. That probably means buying tools that make it more pleasant, and it means a total change of attitude. In your case, for this to work out long-term you need to enjoy cleaning up after two roommates that apparently wallow in their own filth. I don't see that happening, do you? So your solutions are short-term while you figure out how you want to live and find people who will support that.

2) You didn't mention your cats. This illustrates that you are a typical cat owner that doesn't understand the level of schmutz cat domiciling adds to a house. I'll bet there's a litter box that's resented at least as much as the dryer lint, too. Cats increase your need to vacuum by a factor of 2 per cat. Whatever normal non-cat-people do, you need to do three times as much. See also: Furniture. Upholstery attachments were invented for cat owners, they just don't say it on the box.

3) The actual pace of cleaning depends on a lot of factors and the Internet can't judge that as well as you can. For example, I moved 50 yards in 2011. The first place had hardwood floors. The second place has carpet. The first place had the Roomba run twice a week because hardwood floors in Los Angeles means black feet. The second place I vacuum maybe once a month but then I have to shampoo because the carpet gets sticky from all the NOx and free radicals in the air (as well as the tire and kerosene particulate coming off the runway). Should I vacuum more often? Maybe. But the carpet hides the skunge waaaaay better than the hardwood. I vacuum when my wife starts to get stuffy. The carpet sure doesn't show it.

4) The real trick is to never let it get messy. The messier you let it get, the more insurmountable it is to clean. I don't dust. Period. Things don't get particularly dusty around here. Period. But what dust they have is grimy and sticky and awful and the longer you let it stick around the thicker it gets. If I dusted, I wouldn't know this. Instead I'm left in a position where I don't dust (and am looking forward to living somewhere dust isn't sticky) because the act of dusting is horrific enough that I pay two nice toothless ladies about $150 every nine months to clean after I spend the day cleaning.

5) Ignore the Internet. It's pretty hilarious that a drain that sucks down three people's worth of shampoo, conditioner and soap is accused of being slimy and gross because semen. Get a grip. Drains are disgusting and if you have at least one person with long hair using the shower you will have to hook a dead rats' worth of hair and skunge out at least every other month.

Those are the basics. Relish the fight, be honest as to what's going on and accept that the act of cleaning means being up to your elbows in filth regularly and you'll do fine.

on post: Neat Freaks and Household Cleaners: Seeking Advice
by kleinbl00 3334 days ago   ·   link