Housecleaning

Post Reply New Topic

Want to talk about cleaning? Or don't even want to think about it long enough to read this and respond?

What is it about cleaning that is awful? I love things that are clean. But doing the cleaning is incredibly difficult.

Why I hate housecleaning (here's a start to the list, please add your own)

- Not routine - I clean the dishes every day no problem but that's at the same time and part of my routine. The other housecleaning is 'random' and not scheduled. It's supposed to be done "when it needs to be done" which I don't usually tend to see or identify as easily (but others do)

- Transitions - Difficult transitions to going from a sitting activity to moving around, going from a warm and dry activity to this one that often involves water and cold.

- Sensory issues - Smells, like the dirty things that need to be cleaned and then the cleaners involved in cleaning them. Lots of strong annoying smells. Also dust that can be problematic, cause sneezing and coughing.

- Not Linear - It is always difficult to know WHERE to start when cleaning a house or room, and then WHERE to finish. There never seems to be a finish, so you just go until you drop or until you're forced by time to go do something else. I once spent 8 hours scrubbing the walls of a lab because I wiped one spot and saw the difference in the color of the wall, and that was it. I had to clean the whole thing. Up on ladders, down on my knees, I got it done. But that's the problem, isn't it? Once you wipe that one spot you have to do it all.

Hey I'm the same as you, I hate things being dirty but struggle with cleaning. I also do the dishes every day. I try to do light cleaning in the kitchen every day too else it gets really gross really fast. If I have time after cleaning the dishes I'll wipe the sides and scrub the hob. And I always clean the table before I have my evening meal.

I find the best way is to try and make cleaning as routine based as possible. For example I try to vacuum a little bit every day, usually while dinner is cooking, and I slowly work my way around the house from room to room over a couple of weeks. If it is a room where vacuuming isn't appropriate like the kitchen, I'll sweep and mop instead. This way it never seems like I have a large overwhelming task to do, and it is part of a routine.

I struggle with cleaning things in the bathroom as it's something that I don't want to do regularly, but a couple of months ago I went kung-fu on the mold between the tiles in the shower, and now it looks all shiny again

Not Routine- I have tried several times to make it where I was supposed to clean the bathrooms every certain day or do the laundry on this or that day. I can never seem to stick to a schedule, though. My best thing is laundry and for whatever reason if I am home washing laundry, I can do other cleaning better if I am also loading and drying laundry. I let it pile up before I fold it and hanger it and put it away. Put it away is the hardest part. I think it has something to do with the trouble of opening drawers and going into the closet. For some reason I noticed the thought of the drawers just sort of wears me out. I plan to get rid of a bunch of clothes soon. I have things I don't really wear and they just take up space and make clutter.

Transitions-- They suck. I get stuck in one place if I stop to have a "break". In fact I am doing it now, typing on WP. Breaks are bad unless I am having an actual panic attack or something.

Sensory Sensitivities-- Handwashing the dishes is my biggest problem here. I often hate getting my hands wet. I would use gloves, but then my ADHD kicks in and is like, "Why would I do that? I'm not gonna wash those dishes. I'm going to go do [insert more desirable activity]." ADHD sucks. I use straight white vinegar to clean everything. More engineered chemicals make me sick. You can also use straight vinegar on windows and mirrors if you wipe with a fresh paper towel or a pat of toilet paper. I get streaks if I use a washcloth or anything else for that. I do not use commercial-brand laundry detergents. There is all kinds of crap in those stuff that shouldn't be put in our water supply nor put on our bodies. Walmart has a Eco brand. It's okay. I also like Country Save brand but it is really expensive. Another is Sprouts brand Free and Clear 2x Powdered Laundry detergent. I do not use fabric softeners; not only they toxic but they actually steadily damage your materials. For a while I tried making my own detergent but I noticed it was harsh on materials. There is almost nothing worse for me than laundry detergent smells. It even gets to me when the neighbors are using this stuff and the fumes are in the air outside. I also find that laundry perfumes turn sour or cat-pee-smelling after a few days on the clothes. You can also clean with lemons. Just cut one in half and rub it on your counters. Then bag it and use it again if there isn't any meat on it. One thing with going more natural on your laundry detergent is that stains are harder to get out so a lot of my kids' clothes are stained. I broke down and started using Spray-n-Wash again. Still more stains but they aren't as bad.

Not Linear-- I don't make it linear myself usually. And I can definitely relate to your experience with the wall. I've done stuff where I got totally lost in doing one thing and felt all accomplished afterwards. Another thing with figuring where to start is to perhaps turn off all the lights when it starts to get dark and just pick up and fix the things you can see in the half-light or clean by candlelight (unscented of course, beeswax or soy if you can for health reasons). It takes the "Whoa!" out of it and often I don't realize the overwhelm is even there until it's gone.

I'm a retro style housewife and have been doing this for close to three decades so I'm really good at housecleaning if I do say so myself. I can give you lots of tips and how-to's if you want, and help you figure out how to get your house in tip top shape and keep it that way.

We have lived in lots of different places over the years from tiny one bedroom apartments to where we live now, which is a four bedroom, two full bath, livingroom, formal diningroom, den with fireplace, eat in kitchen, laundry room house. That's a lot of space to clean every day and stay on top of. I also have laundry to do for myself, my husband and my kids, all four of which live here now. My oldest daughter does her and her fiance's laundry though and cleans their room (which is actually more like an apartment and is a converted attached two car garage). I also cook most of the meals (my oldest daughter is in culinary school and cooks dinner fairly often because she enjoys it and wants to practice) and I usually cook large meals and everything from scratch. So, thats a lot to do and I manage to get it all done every day, most of the time, and still have time to get on here and to do other things.

I have to have a system and I've tried lots of different ones and finally found one that works for me. Everybody is different, and has different environments, different standards of what they feel is clean enough, different amounts of time to devote to cleaning, different levels of ability to clean either based on physical limitations or simply on the fact that they haven't learned how to do housework. You have to take all those things into consideration and then find something that works for you. The most important part of it is to make sure it's a system you can keep up. It's all well and good to spend a weekend doing a major, deep clean of your whole place and organizing everything, but if you can't keep it up then you'll end up right back with a mess in a few weeks.

What I do is every day I straighten up the whole house, make the beds, take out all the garbage and empty and wipe out the cat litter box, wipe down the kitchencounters, the appliances, and bathroom counters and the toilet seat, dust the furniture with a feather duster, sweep the floors (I don't have carpet) and damp mop the kitchen. I also do the dishes and put them away and do the laundry and put it away. I can get all that done within an hour, except for the laundry and sometimes the dishes if I have to let something soak. I do air dry them so if I have a lot of them I do them in batches and wash another sinkfull when those in the drainer are dry and can be put up.

There is a lot more to keeping a house clean than just what I've listed above, so I have a weekly schedule for doing other things. These things can be done once a week and it's plenty to keep things looking nice.

Monday - I do sweep the floors every day and damp mop the kitchen, but on Monday I sweep and mop the whole house. I also sweep more thoroughly then than on most other days. I move the smaller things out of the room so I have a bigger clear area, and I sweep under and behind the couches and dressers and other furniture thats very low to the floor. I also use the broom and go around the light fixtures and the corner where the wall meets the ceiling and in the corners of the room down to the floor and that gets all the cobwebs that can form there. I mop the whole house too and for that I use dollar store brand pine sol in water. I mop the living area first and change the water, then the bedrooms and bathrooms and change the water, then the kitchen and laundry room. I always sweep and then mop one particular area at a time so I don't end up mopping an hour or two later when the dogs may have tracked dirt

Tuesday - Even though I dust every day with a feather duster that isn't really enough. On Tuesdays I get the dollar store brand of aerosol dusting stuff and a rag and dust all the wood furniture. I wipe off the knicknacks too, but I dont spray them with anything or wash them off, I just dust them off with a rag. I dust off the light fixtures and ceiling fans then too. I do that before I sweep because the ceiling fans always have dust that comes down all over the floor, even though I do it once a week. I also dust the pictures and stuff on the walls.

Wednesday - This is the day I Windex all the glass stuff. I use the dollar store Windex and I clean the inside of all the windows in the house and the outside of the ones I can reach if it's not raining. I also clean all the mirrors and computer screens and tv screens and I clean the glass thats on the photos on the wall in the hallway and den and the glass on my livingroom coffee table.

Thursday - Thursday is bathroom day. I wipe off the counters and toilet seat every day, but there's more to it than that. I do mop it on Monday so I don't have to do that again, and I've cleaned the mirror on Wednesday so I don't do that again either, but I clean the counters very good with SOS pads and clean the toilet with Comet or Barkeepers Friend and clean the tub with a SOS pad. Every couple of weeks when it's looking dingy I clean the fiberglass wall things around the sides of the tub with an SOS pad and I wash the shower curtain. I also put out fresh nice towels in the bathroom on Thursdays too. Yes, I'm one of "those ladies". The towels hanging in the bathroom aren't for us to use. They are for company to use. Not regular company like the kids or my friends that come over all the time. These are for other company. Basically they are only used by new people or really not at all. We use the other not quite as pretty hand towel that is kept folded in a basket on the counter. It's only for washing hands, the bath towels are in the linen closet in the front bathroom or under the sink in my bathroom. I also go through and throw out some of the magazines in the front bathroom and put the newer ones from the den in there.

Friday - On Friday's I change all the bed linens and wash them. I wash the blankets too and about once a month I wash the bedspreads. I take the sheets that I use as a slipcover on my nice pink silk couch off and wash them and put them back. This basically takes all day, considering the time it takes to wash and dry all that and the fact that I am doing that to three beds (my older daughter does theirs). The dryer takes two cycles to dry some of the really heavy blankets even though it's a brand new dryer.

Saturday - In nice weather I try and do some things outside, like making sure I get rid of the crap that people pile in the driveway and stuff, and staying on top of all the stuff that the kids leave on the porch. I put it away where it goes and such. I have done gardening before and this summer I want to put out some flowers and things and so I'll be doing that this coming season when it warms up.

There are other things that have to be done, and I do them on a monthly and also a seasonal basis. The first week of every month I organize everything in the house. I do a different room each day until I've done every room in the house. I start with the kitchen the first day and I clean out the drawers and cabinets. I do the same with the laundry room. I clean out the drawers of the linen dresser in the diningroom and the cabinet under the china cabinet where I keep my casserolle dishes. In the livingroom, I clean out the organ bench and the desk cabinet, the drawers and cabinets in both bathrooms are done on the same day and then my bedroom drawers and closet the next day, then I do the kids closets and their drawers, one room per day. If they have a drawer that they want for junk or stuff they don't want messed with, I leave that alone and tell them to do it. If I do it once a month like that, then I know where I've put everything and I don't end up with a big mess. I also take the cushions off the furniture and vacume under them, and I change the AC filter.

Four times a year I do a deep clean. I do it when the seasons change, and I do it one room per day like I do the organizing. I wash (or home dry clean) the curtains and iron them and put them back, I move the furniture and clean behind it, and clean the molding in the diningroom and wash down the woodwork with Murphy's Oil Soap. I also clean polish the wood furniture. For that I clean it with a mix of half olive oil and half vinegar. I wipe it off really well with that and then rinse it with warm water and dry it and then polish it with olive oil by wiping it with it and then polishing it and rubbing it in with a clean cloth. I do that until it's not greasy at all and nice and clean. I also clean all the knicknacks by washing them in warm soapy water in the sink, I do that with the globes of the light fixture and as much of the chandelier as I can, and I vacume the pheasant. I take the china out of the china cabinet and clean the mirror behind it and put it back. I also change my seasonal decorations at this time. I change my diningroom tablecloth, the runners on the table, the side table and the linen dresser, I change the runner on the mantel and the ones on my dresser and chest in my bedroom and my bedroom tablecloth on my bedside table. I change the candles and the other seasonal knicknacks I put out too and the wreath on the door and in the foyer over the mirror.

Once a year I move the fridge and clean behind it and also the washer and dryer. I need to do the stove, but I never have.

This seems like a lot, but it works for me, and also you have to remember that since I'm a housewife, taking care of the house is pretty much my job. I also like things clean. I'm not saying this would work for everybody, but it might work for some people, and modifying it to do more or less or changing how often you do things may work as well. The daily and weekly stuff is pretty much all you need to do to keep your house clean enough for most people. Doing the monthly and seasonal things helps keep dirt from piling up.

OliveOilMom - that exhausted me just trying to read it all! lol I can tell you this - THAT just ain't happening!

Plus I've worked my whole adult life to support my family - 4 kids. It takes a full time + a parttime just to make ends sort of meet.

Oh, my schedule won't work for everybody or even for most people. Like I said, I'm a full time housewife and my kids are grown, even though they all live here now, the youngest is 18. When my kids were younger I couldn't do all of this either. I changed my routine over the years as needed at the time. When I had three in diapers at once and one in grammar school I didn't get a whole lot done around the house, believe you me! I managed to get most of the major basic minimum stuff done though, most of the time lol. Mine would only work for someone home all day and with enough energy to do all that. There are times I can't do it when I'm sick or something else has come up.

I posted all of that to give people some idea of things that should or could be done to keep the house at the standard I like and can maintain. Some people actually do more, but I feel that what I do is plenty. It's way beyond the expectations for somebody who works outside the home to do that, or someone with young kids even.

What you could do is use my daily and weekly plan as a kind of idea base for you. List the things that absolutely have to be done daily and do them in one chunk of time or split it up to fit around your schedule, then get a few other things that you would like to do weekly but just can't find the time for and pick one day per thing and schedule them. Maybe something like daily work is straightening up the house, garbage out, sweep the kitchen and damp mop if needed, dishes washed and put away, one load of laundry done and put away (if you have a washer and dryer at home). Then you could give other things a day of their own like vacuming or sweeping the house, cleaning the bathroom - even if it doesn't include the tub and it's only wiping off the counter and the toilet, changing the bed linens, light dusting with a feather duster. That way if you got into routine and after a few weeks those things got to be second nature and much easier to get done, you could add occasional things like once a week pick an area and organize it, like one wee straighten out and organize your dresser drawers, the next week do the kitchen cabinets, something like that where you could work on it little by little during the week and it's not so much something you get overwhelmed by.

If you want some ideas to do things quicker or shortcuts or things like that, let me know and I'll be happy to brainstorm with you. It's not easy to keep things clean and neat and stay on top of things when you have a family and a job, I've been there before when I worked because my husband was laid off - he did great at watching the kids while I was at work but he can't seem to see dirt, a mess, or comprehend how to clean it I do know a lot of shortcuts and also ways to clean specific things if you have something specific in mind.

I'm not trying to put my self out there as some perfect Donna Reed lady, because I'm certainly not and no better than the next person out there managing a home, I've just had more time to work at it and now I have a lot more time to devote to it than a lot of other folks. I'm sure ten years from now when (hopefully) everybody has moved out into their own place and it's just me and my husband here, my routine will be different because there will be less daily cleaning and also I may not be physically able to do as much of the deep cleaning, but thats the beauty of it, it's always changeable to suit my needs, time, energy and life.

So let me know if there's anything you want suggestions or shortcuts or tips and tricks on. I know plenty of ways to get around most of the stuff I do now, because there was a time when I just didn't have the time or energy to do them.

Also, I forgot to say, I'm really into doing things and shopping cheaply. You mentioned how hard it is to make ends meet and I have four kids too and although the youngest is 18, they live here now (youngest son moved back in today) and I feed everybody on about $500 a month. My husband works and pays the bills and all, and my oldest son works but he's paying off fines and things now and we aren't charging him rent, so everything here is done on my husband's salary. He's a construction worker and that doesn't pay all that much. It's difficult, but doable. We don't have rent because my MIL bought us this house in 2001, and we get food stamps but the bills and everything else comes out of his paycheck. So I know lots of good, cheap recipes, lots of one dish meals, good substitutions, etc. Also, when my kids were younger, "Cheap, Quick, and Easy" wasn't just a truck stop tramp, it was my go to standard for what was for dinner, so I've got lots of ideas for that type meal and for some crock pot stuff that can cook all day while you're gone to work.

I also know lots of ways to cut bills and spending and it ain't all just the Amy Dycxysn (I have no clue how to spell it, and that's wrong but it sorta looks like that and it's pronounced 'decision') "Tightwad Gazette" crockpot oatmeal for breakfast and reusing aluminum foil stuff either. Some of it is easily doable and not tons of work. I have lots of good thrift sites as well, if you would like them. It's hard to find one with a lot of good ideas, most of them just rehash the usual stuff or have way over the top stuff that either nobody is going to do, or it's so much work that it's not worth it.

Let me know if you want any of that, I'm happy to share!

ETA; My daughter and I are going to try some of the Rachel Ray Week in a Day stuff this month. Netflix has several of her shows that show you how to cook quite a few different things all in one day and freeze them. You might like to try that since you work two jobs. I'll let you know how it turns out. If you have Netflix, look it up and tell me what you think of it. It looks interesting and I've done something similar before, but it was when I was very pregnant and was getting some stuff in the freezer for when I had the baby and another time when I went out of town for a week when my kids were little.

I hate cleaning although I love clean things/places. I hate dirty things/places. Cleaning requires you to deal with dirty things. Dust, rubbish etc. That's why cleaning is very unpleasant. I've lost the motivation to clean my place (for a certain reason) and I haven't vacuumed my place for 5 years. You can't walk without stepping on rubbish in my place. Rubbish is piling up everywhere. You can hardly see the carpet because it's covered with all sorts of rubbish. Being at home is stressful because I'm surrounded by rubbish. I don't know how I can get out of this situation. I'm either extremely clean and tidy (to the point where people feel uncomfortable) or extremely dirty and messy. I'm in the latter state at the moment (hopefully not permanently).

My problem with cleaning involves many of the things mentioned above.

But one that is not mentioned is being overwhelmed by detail. When I am not cleaning, I can pretty much pretend the mess is not there.

But once I start cleaning, the "detail filter" comes off and I am immediately overwhelmed. I don't see a kitchen that needs cleaning/tidying. I see a million individual things that need to get put away or cleaned. They rush in all at once and I get completely stressed out. Cleaning also reminds me of how much of a failure I am in this area of life. I don't know anyone who likes to do something they are bad at.

I need to have a sign made: "Instant B****: Just add cleaning."

I become absolutely miserable when I clean, and make my family miserable too. Even though I would like to have things *BE* clean, it is difficult to get there, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I am working on this and have not freaked out the last 2-3 times I have swept. I also try to remember to light my "everything is right in the world" candle to help soothe me during the process.

Honestly, truly, I would like someone to come in and help me with this. I have been horrible at organization since I was a kid, and I have been trying to get better at this for 17+ years of marriage to no avail. I have a hard time setting up a routine for myself that doesn't seem to get derailed all the time. I am not good at it. I am good at thinking. Sometimes I'd like someone else to do the concrete work required to keep a life running and let me live in my abstract world. It is hard to go back and forth.

My house isn't as bad as some. But bad enough.

Nerdygirl, not being able to make it instantly (or ever) perfect is one reason why a lot of people who end up living in a messy house aren't able to get it clean. I've read that many times. It's being a perfectionist and people are hesitant to apply it to someone messy, and messy people are also hesitant to apply it to themselves about their housework because it hardly looks like a perfectionist lives there, but that really is the reason for a lot of people. To use your example of the kitchen, it would be like starting to clean a messy kitchen and seeing such a mess everywhere and knowing that you can't make it all look the way you want it in one or even two or more cleaning sessions makes you just give up. Doing the small things, or just the very necessary things feels like "what's the use?" and like nothing at all, so there seems to be no point in it.

One way to tackle that is to realize that there are levels of cleanliness and neatness and to just work toward one level, in one room, at a time. For the kitchen this would just involve getting the dirty dishes washed and put either away or in a central location like an unused area of the table, getting the garbage and old food out, getting most of the clutter into one area or out of the room entirely if possible, getting the counter space and table space available wiped off, and wiping off the appliances to get grease, old food, dust, etc off. Don't worry about the inside of the microwave or behind the toaster, or that grime that gets on the coffee maker even though it's nowhere near the stove. Also getting the floor swept and mopped in the areas that you can reach and are walked on and seen. That's all that has to be done to get it functionally clean.

The next level is getting rid of clutter. Take everything that doesn't belong in the kitchen out of the kitchen and put it in the room it belongs in. If you have a place to put it away, put it away. If not, just put it in the room it goes in and worry about finding it a place when you get to that room.When it's all gone and nothing is in the kitchen that doesn't belong there you can start with one cabinet or drawer at a time and throwing out what you don't need or want, broken things, old food, etc and straightening it up, wiping it out, and putting the clutter thats out and would go in there, in there. Then you will have everything put away and no clutter, and will be organized in the kitchen.

Then it's just a matter of moving things around on the counters and cleaning them and behind them, and cleaning the inside of the microwave (I HATE THAT!) and sweeping and mopping the whole floor, qiping down or dusting the light fixtures, wiping off the range hood and the wall area behind the stove, windexing the windows and cleaning the inside and out of the garbage can (I that too and get my husband or son to take it out back and do it for me).

Then if you wanted to deep clean it periodically, you already have your cabinets and drawers deep cleaned, you could clean out the fridge and wipe it down, and clean the oven and burners. If you are really ambitious you could move the fridge and clean behind it and vacuum the coils.

You don't have to do all that though. I'd suggest just getting it to the functionally clean stage and keeping it that way for at least a month before worrying about anything further. You could do all your rooms like that, getting them to the functionally clean stage and once your whole place is like that, make your goal to keep it at that level and not make yourself do any more for a month. After a month of maintaining that, then move to the next level, one room at a time. Go slowly so you don't get overwhelmed and get each room to a particular stage and make sure you can keep it up before you do more.

Thats what I'd suggest to do if you think it would help. I've been in situations where I let my whole place go to hell for months when I was depressed and then had to do something like that to get my house and myself back up to where I wanted it to be. Sometimes I would go through and spend a few days doing a big clean and then just get right back on track from there, but that was the kind of thing I did when I had antidepressants and they kicked in and I was able to. I had to do it the first way when I didn't have access to any and had to get myself back on track without the benefit of meds. I'd suggest that way for you too, because it really helped me when I thought I just couldn't do it and wouldn't ever get back to normal.

One of the main things for doing it like that is setting your goals realistically like that and sticking to them and not letting yourself get ahead of them no matter how good you feel and how much you may want to. Also you have to remind yourself every day that this is good enough for right now and you need to leave it like this because you have a plan to take it to the next level. When you know you have a plan and a time frame for when it will be done, it's a lot easier to live with it the way it is and you don't feel as bad about your house or yourself.

Let me know if you give it a try and how it works for you. Good luck! I hope you can get it worked out, there's not a whole lot thats worse with living in a mess when it's driving you nuts and you just can't clean it.

ETA; Would it be possible for you to hire someone to come in and help you with certain things? Not on a regular basis but on a once or twice basis to help you get the bulk of stuff done? Maid services can be good, but also expensive and they don't know where you want things put or how you want things done. Maybe hiring someone to come and work with you to do some of the work while you do different stuff?

I can deal with cleaning itself. But I'm terrible at taking initiative; I can't look around and notice that the counters need cleaning. Someone has to tell me or give me a schedule, and my mom won't. Also, I don't know how to do quite a few household chores, and Mom tends to expect us to magically have any and all information that makes her life more convenient if we have it.

The Bad:

I wish there were a better way to clean toilets. I would lay down some serious money for a self cleaning toilet or a robot that cleans toilets. You can pour or spray whatever you want in there, but the only way to get it clean is to use a brush. Then the droplets splatter around, not a lot, but enough to be disgusted by. Then there are the droplets that fall on the floor when you're done, followed by the question of where to store this nasty thing. Then I try not to dwell to deeply on cleaning the thing itself, because if you don't, you're just creating a breeding ground and swirling it all around the next time you use it, and if you do, then, how and where? The tub, where you bathe and where you bathe your dogs? The kitchen sink, where your food gets rinsed? Just throw it away and forget about the landfill problem?

I'm not a huge fan of having to clean anything hard to reach, which, for me, at five foot four is a lot of stuff- windows, shelves, cabinets, ceiling corners, and such. I wobble on ladders because I have no sense of balance to speak of, so every time I clean something up there it's practically a death defying circus act. I've been lucky so far, but I know it's a matter of time before I break some bones.

I hate vacuuming- between the noise, and having to tug the hose or the device itself along as I go, the weight, and then the smell of the vacuum itself after all the dust and pollen and hair and dander has been collected, and then dumping the basket and getting the contents everywhere if you use that kind, it's just awful. I do it because it has to be done. I'd buy a Roomba if I thought they were more effective.

As for laundry- I don't mind tossing things in the washer or dryer or hanging them to dry. That's not a problem at all. I am however on a constant search for one of those old Rid Jid ironing boards. That way, I can sit on my couch and watch a documentary or something while ironing and keep my eye on the stove or breadmaker, rather than having to stand and look at nothing but the wall and have to put off cooking.

One of my friends cooks all of his meals for the week on one of his days off. I wish I had the skills to do that. Not the cooking skills, but the planning skills. I've cooked stuff and frozen it on occasion, but that's as close as I come.

The Good:

Baking soda is magic on tubs with a good scrubbing sponge. This is a recent discovery for me, and I felt the need to share because I feel like I've wasted important hours of my life and sent gallons of pollutants dripping down my tub drain with all the useless spraying and scrubbing.

My little paper shredder was such a great investment. I got rid of so much paper clutter that way.

I go through my stuff on a monthly basis, considering what to donate to Goodwill, and what to look for while I'm there. The problem for me is gifts. People give me stuff, random useless stuff that might look good if I had any decorative sense, or flat out isn't me, or isn't my size, or whatever. That stuff adds up. It all has to go somewhere. My personal rule is that all pretty things should serve a purpose. They should be useful on a daily basis or hang on a blank space on my wall if they're a painting. There is room in my home for the decorative vintage cutting board that can hang on the wall and tells me what herbs and spices to use with what when cooking, but there is no room for a wishing pyramid. I keep a running list in my car of what to look for while I'm at Goodwill- real silver or silver plated silverware to replace the cheap stainless steel set I bought just to have something to eat with a long time ago before I realized Goodwill had the good stuff.

Having the right things helps- the same friend who cooks a week of meals at a time gave me a shoe shine box and a standing valet. I have no idea why these are not more widely used. The show shine box is a place to store all my shoe shining supplies and the top of the box has a sort of stand on which to place the shoe you're shining. When it's not in use, it looks neat and can be easily stored. The standing valet is a place to lay out clothes you intend to wear. The one he gave me has a box on top just big enough for my smart phone and any small jewelery I intend to wear that day. It has made getting ready for work and such so much easier. I wish this could have been a part of my life much earlier. On the same sort of note, before I found a bread box, I had bread and bread products all over my counter. That's a slight exaggeration, but that's what I saw, and all that bread being there made it physically harder to reach the counter to wipe it down. With a bread box I bought on dollar day at Goodwill, all my bread has a place to go that makes sense. The bread box itself is easy to wipe down and the counter is much more easily accessed to wipe as well.

Betwixt, I love thrift stores and yard sales! I've bought most of my wardrobe from them - I love Vintage! I've found so many cool things at them. Also Freecycle is great, and Craigslist also has a new section of free stuff.

I do have a couple tips for the things you mentioned. Cleaning toilets does suck, but one thing that helps is one of those blue drop in the tank things. It doesn't get as dirty that way I've found. Also, when I clean it I get an old rag and put it around the brush and rubber band it around the handle. This way it doesn't splash as much and has more of a cleaning surface than the brush part. I use Bar Keepers Friend (it's like Comet) when I use the brush like that and it scrubs things off just fine. I have been known to put on the thick yellow rubber gloves that I keep for bathroom cleaning and use an SOS pad in there when need be too. That works so much better than you'd think. I mainly use SOS pads when I clean the bathroom anyway. You only have to wet them and scrub with them and throw them away, and then just wipe off the area with a damp cloth. It cleans much better than sprays and it's less messy than powders. I do the sink and counter first, then the toilet with one, then I use another one (or two, depending) on the tub. It's much easier to scrub the tub with an SOS pad than anything I've ever used. I've used baking soda but the SOS pad works much better and it doesn't scratch my fiberglass tub. It also quickly cleans the surrounding fiberglass walls. I have a detachable shower head so rinsing is easy, but you can actually just wipe it off with a damp cloth afterwards and you don't have to pour cup after cup of water on it that way.

Do you have Netflix? If so, look for the Rachel Ray Week in a Day videos. If not, you could look to see if they are online. I'll let you know how it goes with us when we try it this next month. If you can get three or four crockpots at Goodwill, you could make several dinners at one time and then freeze them. I had three at one time but now I only have one left. I have several really good crock pot recipes. I use one in the summer to boil peanuts. I have one of those big ones and I leave them on low for about three days and keep adding water and salt. They turn out great! My favorite things for the crock pot are beef stew, mac and cheese, beef tips, and I like to put a beef roast in there with BBQ sauce and cook it all day until it basically shreds itself for sandwiches. I also like the little weenies wrapped in bacon and cooked in brown sugar.

Tried it. The toilet still needed scrubbing. Also, lots of chemicals. Given the way water works, I'm going to have to drink that water again some day. I can't keep people from dumping their anti-psychotic or menopause or heart or gender change meds down the drain, but I don't need to contribute, especially since it doesn't work.



And then how do you detach the dirty rag you've rubber banded on there? And what happens with the rubber band? And with the gloves, how do you remove them? How do you clean and store them? It's the toilet brush all over again. I use medical gloves and wash my hands vigorously after I throw them in the trash.
There's no way I'm putting my hand, gloved or not in that thing to scrub with an SOS pad. I have been meaning to investigate the scrub brushes with flushable wipes for a while. I'd still rather have a self-cleaning toilet or a robot though.

That's a scrub sponge, like the kind I referred to.

I use them with the baking powder to clean my tub, as I said. Magic. Unlike a scrub sponge and a spray. Gets all the dog grunge out, all the facial mask goo, all the sticky soap and shaving cream residue.

I use an old washcloth for that. Then when I'm done, I throw it in at hot and pour in the bleach.
then the toilet with one, then I use another one (or two, depending) on the tub. It's much easier to scrub the tub with an SOS pad than anything I've ever used.


I'm happy with my scrub sponge and baking soda method. My tub is happy too.


I wasn't pouring cup after cup of water before I used baking soda. I was pouring Lysol, 409, whatever said it would work but didn't. Baking soda is quick, easy, effective, and non-guilt inducing.



Nope. And no thanks. I don't easily learn things from videos, and you'd have to pay me money before I'd watch modern homemaking videos anyway.



I might just try that. I should probably ask him if he has a shopping list or weekly menu I can borrow. That's the hardest part for me. The planning and organizing part.



I've never used a crock pot.
My normal diet consists of soups, smoothies, eggs, oatmeal, fruit, store bought rotisserie chicken, and such.

I can't stand clutter and cleaning actually relaxes me. I clean pretty much everyday to keep the house clean so it won't keep piling up. I don't do the laundry every day because there isn't always enough for a load and I just check the laundry room to see how much linen there is after I separate it and see if it's enough for a load. Things I have to do everyday are sweeping and vacuuming because with kids, they make those messes and plus toy picking up and picking up after myself everyday. I just do basic cleaning enough to keep the house fine. i also make my kid pick his toys up or I take them away and I do. I just stick them in the garage and tell him he doesn't have to worry about picking those up because he won't be making that mess again so he doesn't have to worry about it anymore because those toys are gone now. I am thinking when he gets enough taken away, bring some back inside for him to play with again and that is less messes for him to make and less hassle to fight him to get them cleaned up. He does cry and get upset but then he gets over it like nothing ever happened. I do try and wash the floor once a month and I clean the toilet whenever I see it needs it. Just grab the chemical and the paper towels and wipe it down and use a toilet brush if necessary.

I find it difficult to clean. Sometimes it is because I have low mood, but other times I forget all the steps involved and flit from one thing to another because I realise that say, I've started to hoover but I forgot to put the stuff on the floor away first so now I can't.

The worst is when I'm staying with or visiting friends (my wife's friend's in all honesty) and everyone is supposed to pitch in. I can never work out what I should do. So I ask. And then when I'm done I can't work out what <i>isn't</i> someone else's job. Rinse and repeat.