Keeping a neat and clean house

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Does anyone else have trouble keeping a neat, clean, and organized house? I collect too much of everything and now it seems to be so piled up and disorganized, I don't even think a paid house cleaning crew could help me sort though this mess, and I always seem to find a good reason to procrastinate about just buckling down and getting it done, and yes, I just keep collecting more very odd junk....I live alone, and my daughter who is grown said to me, and not in an unloving way either, I totally get what she is saying..."mom, what if you died or something? You'd be leaving all of this mess and your collections of things, for me to dispose of..." I totally understand her point of view...is this a classic aspie problem?

I can only see one square foot of my floor. Nobody in my house will clean. I'm the only Aspie (my mom has never cleaned and my lil sister doesn't know how/ need that responsibility). I just don't understand how. I will learn one day, though.

If reminded, I will vacuum. ^^

Nope. I obsess over my room, and make sure it's spotless.

As an artist I am interested in shapes and colors and odd objects. I live in a one room apartment with lots of books and interesting stuff that might be used in future projects so neatness can be a problem. I also have a pet sparrow.

Neat! Clean LOL!

My flat is a total mess!

I also have a hard time keeping a neat place. I keep reminding myself that this will improve, with time.

I can be very clean if I have any visitors. I don't collect junk and only keep what I need. Being clean just meens setting aside some time and knowing everything has its place.

I take the empty plates to the kitchen week after they've started collecting mould (unless they're greasy which is a smell I can't stand in the long run).

i can go from one extreme to the other. Like Aspie_Chav said about visitors, can get into frantic almost manic cleaning and tidying mode, everything in its place, all visible surfaces clean, but this means that in general don't find prospect of visitors easy!! !
I tend to collect stuff too. And it will creep creep from walls to centre of room. I keep important ( generally financial cos if don't handle them get in trouble, ) papers organised, and photos, and drawings ( by me and by son) and so on, in files etc, even if it often takes me 3 months to get round to filing away.
Cleanliness is harder than organisation. Don't do much of it!! Manage a batch of washing machine activity every two weeks or so, and some washing up.
When i go out i am always tidy and pretty clean ( in fact CAN'T go out unless am satisfied by appearance to obsessive degree!), but at home will go up to three or even four days without washing or changing clothes.
Conclusion; house mostly in a medium state of mess.

Mess--- I seem to have alot of it these days. It's hard to keep the place clean, though my home is cleaner than SOME places I've been. I can't seem to get things organized, so in reality it is more of a "clutter situation" as opposed to a "clean situation".
There are some things that will never be clean, though. The furniture will always wear the cats' fur--- I am seriously entertaining the idea of shaving the cats. It's either that or buy expensive all-leather furniture that the fur won't stick to, and that is not an option. Besides, the fur will still end up SOMEWHERE, like on the floor, where it will still make a mess.
Anything that makes a stink has to be cleaned regularly. In that respect i like cleanliness. Dirty dishes, the poopy litterbox, mildewy bathtub--- these things repulse me and I do my best to keep them clean.
Yep... it's really the clutter that's the problem.

I find cleaning to be overwhelming, boring, a terrible waste of time that could be used in a much better way.

I'm not justifying not having a clean house, I'm just explaining what goes on in my mind. I love neat and clean, I love organized. My main room and computer area are organized but I have to force myself to dust and actually clean, and I only do it when it's out of control.

Then it seems like I "just got done cleaning that" when it's very dirty once again. Further examination proves that it's been months since I actually cleaned. It just feels like it was yesterday.

I love it when it's clean. I hate to do the cleaning.

I'm not sure if it's a common Aspie problem, but it is certainly a problem with me. And I can relate to what the OP said about her daughter being concerned about what would happen if she were to get sick or not be able to take care of the home anymore. I have many collections, mostly books and objects of art - and I do not have storage space. There's no more room on the walls and the shelves. I hate being disorganized, I just don't have the time or the means to get it together. I intend to though. I can't stand living in a disorganized environment. I'm thinking maybe a letter to be opened upon my demise is in order.

Well, I am, or was, like all of you! YEAH, I KNOW! That sounds like a contradiction or parodox almost. BUT...

I used to be VERY clean in EVERY way. HECK, if I dropped something, I ******HAD****** to pick it up. I would probably have been declared OCD! When I am bored, I often have a strong desire to clean. When I moved relatively recently, I moved into a BIG house, partly to create one big mess, and throw out much of it, and other stuff was put in its own place. I EVEN went through EVERY bill/reciept/statement for the past 2 DECADES, and put them in one neat little file!

Well, I didn't keep it up, and my life is overly complicated here, so my place is a mess! OH, it is sanitary, pretty dust free, no stains or food, etc... HECK, there is even a radon mitigation system, so the radon level might be one of the lowest in the state! But there are boxes and papers ALL OVER!

For as long as I can remember I have been the neat and tidy, everything-as-a-place sort of person. My parents never had to fight to get me to clean my room, it was always done. Everything was neatly organized, books lined up according to size between the book ends, closet coordinated by colors, shoes in a perfect line by type. The order made me feel comforted. When everything else was a mess (my parents are slobs; full ashtrays everywhere, so much crap on the kitchen table you can't even see the table under the pile, years-old food in the fridge and cupboards) going to the neat order of my room helped me clear my head and think. My head becomes what my surroundings are. If there is clutter, my head becomes cluttered and I get very stressed. If my environment is neat and ordered, I can think very clearly and I feel quite calm and relaxed.

Thanks everybody! I think I see what I need to do...flip that switch in my head that will flip me in the opposite direction...the clutter and the piling up of clutter comforts me, but is abhorent to others and it's an excellent excuse to not allow anyone in my home...therefore keeping people at a distance from me, like I like...but intellectually, I have matured in the last 5 years, and I know deep down that I can just say, "No, you can't come over, no you can't come in" and I don't need to say, no you can't come over because the house is a mess....I need to get obsessive in the opposite direction, and work in my spare time to organize my clutter, and throw away some things, and donate some things--letting possessions go seems to be very difficult for me....on a scale of one to ten, getting rid of stuff is a ten...so, starting Monday of this week, I will try to throw away and give away things...and we'll see how that goes....just thinking about it makes a knot in my stomach, don't know why...but I will try, and we'll see how it goes...cleaning isn't a problem as much as massive clutter is a problem.Personal hygiene isn't a problem either--with me it's possessions and clutter problem...I have enough clothes for at least 30 people, not to mention furniture and etc.

Flip it! flip it good
dun nun nun nun nun