Time to ask for help...

[shirlthegirl43]

Okay, I confess, I can't do tidy. I try but I am hopeless. I would love nothing better than for Madmax to come home on Thursday or Friday and to go 'WOW look at this place' because it is tidy rather than coz I made a nice meal

Can some of you who are good at household duties please help me with a few tips.

The boys do very little to assist and to be honest, by the time I have gone back 5 times to check they did something I might as well have done it myself.

[Glutton4...]

Sorry, Hon, can't help. When I lived on my own, my place was always immaculate. Painfully tidy, in fact. My Sister (we shared a room, as kids), on the other hand, was the untidiest person on the planet. Or so I thought, until I met Mr. G. My Sister was so pleased when he moved in with me, because, she said, my place now looked like hers.

Bad habits are easier to learn than good ones. I'm now as untidy as he is. I see no point in tidying up too often, because he'll come home and make a darn mess within minutes of walking through the door! Luckily, he doesn't mind living in a Pig Sty!

[ginger ninger]

Wish I lived nearer shirl...I'd come and do it all for you sweet heart, as ya know I actually enjoy house work, but I don't like ironing .

[FionaH]

I'm no help either Shirl. You have seen the state of this place! Like you I would love to live in a nice tidy house, I just lose the will living with my lot.

[Caro]

Well, I'm rubbish at keeping the place tidy, but my ex always had his place immaculate. His tip was to always do a little something as you walked around, ie if you walked past a pile of mags lying around, pick them up as you go, that way everything gets done in small bites, rather than a huge effort.

Of course, it wasn't very peaceful living with him, he was always dashing around

[SarzWix]

I'm not that brilliant either, but the main problem here is that there's too many people and more crucially, too much stuff, to fit in this house.

The only way to have a tidy house is to have less 'stuff'. If everything you own won't actually fit in your available storage then you'll never have a tidy house. My ma used to have a 'show home' look to the house, but she was absolutely ruthless with clear-outs every 3 months

[coreopsis]

Hmmm...

1.Clean house is a sign of wasted life
2.House is not a museum-it doesn't have to be spotless

I was always jealous of people having VERY tidy houses-like my MIL until I went to visit her and there it was-huuuuge cob web behind the photo frames and out of date milk in the fridge.So?Nobody's perfect.
Sometimes there's not enough time to clean.My house is neither spotless nor dirty-I'm not ashamed of it, people come to see us,not the house.

[SarzWix]

Oh, and Lists! Lists, lists, lists.

Go into a room, make a list of:

What you can get rid of
What should be in an another place
What needs moving
Cleaning
Polishing
Dusting
etc

Start working at the beginning of the list, and don't do anything in any other room until that one is done. Getting side-tracked between rooms is fatal, you just end up chasing your tail

[northepaul]

Rota
I do the major stuff on a rota:
Every other Sunday I hoover upstairs and down after dusting and cleaning the bathroom. I change the bed covers on the monday after this Sunday.
I do the Ironing on Sunday evening
I do washing Wednesday (dark) and Saturday (whites)
On the other sunday I clean the kitchen (well sometimes)
I hoover downstairs every week.

I do most housework at the weekend because I work all week, sometimes til quite late.

Hope that helps

[jackie j]

I am not the tidiest of people in my own home but funnily enough dont mind doing for other's. I do ironing for someone, used to do my sister's housework as well as my own. I have been clearing stuff out big time and its suprising what a difference it makes already.
Love to come and help you shirl.

[taff]

you can either blitz as you go, and start in one area, and do itall at the same time, so you find something from omewhere, put it where it's supposed to be, then find something else etc, or do as the tv star suggested [] and clean as you go.
or, if you're really desperate, invite your female friends round and ask them to help

[shirlthegirl43]

I just love you lot

I suppose the real problem is that we have no storage in our house - it is a very old terraced cottage which has been extended back and up. It has a flat roof so no attic and downstairs is pretty open plan. The untidiness doesn't bother me and neither does the dust (I have a dust allergy but it doesn't flare up till I move the dust from where it has settled)

If I tried to do all our laundry like northepaul does I would be washing solidly for each of those days - boys don't half get through clothes

Madmax is a Virgo and would love to think he is scrupulously tidy. In fact, he tidied the shed out the other week and now we can't find the jigsaw and the bin liners disappeared for a while

[Two_Sheds]

I don't need a tidy house, but I do need to know where things are. Mr TS just drops things where he likes. Tonight he couldn't find his cycle mitts, because 8 wks ago he just threw them into the garage. Tools etc he will use and just put down anywhere. He never can find anything, but expects me to!

Tuesday is my housework day, and I blitz the place. Wednesday, it looks like I didn't bother.

I pick up as I go, and I never go upstairs empty-handed. Stuff for upstairs gets put on the stairs and I take it when I go up to the loo or whatever.

I hate clutter, and I loathe keeping things that aren't used or are broken. I have a box for eBay/charity shops, and I'm ruthless. Himself goes to the poundshop and buys ten different torches and 4 packs of useless drill bits: they go in the box.

Dust if you must ...

[shirlthegirl43]

Dust if you must ...

I love that - it's getting printed out and framed for Madmax Thanks T_S

BTW, I do that thing with the stairs too - I put everyone's clean laundry on them too - then I eventually end up carrying it all up to their rooms - then I get it back in the laundry pile still folded

[Caro]

or do as the tv star suggested [] and clean as you go.

Oh goodness!