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I'm not a naturally tidy person but I've been doing a lot of house- (apartment-) cleaning lately, and it's got me thinking about how other people go about it. What I would like you to tell me is this: The Nature of My Living Space -- House or apartment (or other)? How many square feet (if you know it) and/or how many rooms? Who Lives in There -- Do you live alone or with other people (you barely tolerate or even maybe possibly love??)? Any pets? My Cleaning Responsibilities -- Obviously if you live alone you're responsible for all of it. If you live with others, do you have any areas that you are solely responsible for keeping clean (what are they?) or do you share responsibility for everything? If so, do you split chores evenly, rotate them from person to person, what? My Cleaning Schedule -- Do you have one? Do you actually follow it? How did you come up with it -- i.e., how did you decide what chores needed to be done how often and when? (I'm really interested in this.) Do you do chores as-needed throughout the week or do one big cleaning marathon session? Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- If your home was hit by a meteor and you had to restart a new home from scratch and with a limited budget, what equipment/supplies would you prioritize getting? Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- The other things you like to use Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- Things your parents or Hints from Heloise taught you, things you learned from hard experience, etc. Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- ? Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend -- Apps, websites, etc. My Cleaning Soundtrack Music -- ???
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Jul 21, 2015 16:32
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My answers -- Rabbit Hill posted:The Nature of My Living Space -- I live in a 740 sq ft apartment, with five rooms: large living room/dining room, galley kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and loft space (basically a very wide hallway) E: Another great resource for cleaning tips and motivation -- ApartmentTherapy.com's "cleaning" tag Rabbit Hill fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Sep 1, 2015 |
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Jul 21, 2015 16:34
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The Nature of My Living Space -- Apartment, 850 sq ft. Who Lives in There -- 2 adults, 1 toddler, 2 cats My Cleaning Responsibilities -- In theory, responsible for general cleaning, litter box, bathroom, and laundry. In practice, everything but the kitchen. My Cleaning Schedule -- Full apartment on Friday mornings, partial on Monday mornings. Dishes, litter box and vacuuming main room every day, laundry whenever needed. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- Bleach wipes, toilet bowl cleaner, bar keeper's best friend, 409, white vinegar. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- I love those melamine erasers! They are the best for cleaning showers/tubs. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- You can use white vinegar/lemon juice for a lot of things. I still break out the heavy-duty cleaners for anything that may have come in contact with fecal matter (human or cat), but vinegar picks up the rest. Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- Cleaning the stove, mopping, hand-washing dishes. Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend -- Real Simple often has good cleaning tips and things like "20 Minutes to the Cleanest Fridge You've Ever Had!"
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Jul 21, 2015 17:23
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I give an old Brazilian lady $50.
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Jul 22, 2015 15:50
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The Nature of My Living Space --1770sqft 3br/2bath. Who Lives in There -- 3 adult males, post-college My Cleaning Responsibilities -- I'm supposed to keep my room in decent enough condition that it doesn't cause biological hazards. The rest is shared - meaning if you see some mess, clean that poo poo up, like a MAN. My Cleaning Schedule -- I clean when things look messy. Once they do not look messy anymore, I stop cleaning. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- For the kitchen, a rag, soap. For the rest, a mop/vacuum? Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- Dishwasher? Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- My girlfriend used to work in restoration cleaning up dead bodies. She has all sorts of tips. Magic erasers are clutch, degreaser is important too, etc. This thread is stupid. If you make a mess, clean it up. Your parents should have showed you how when they were raising you. If you lack basic cleaning skills (I once had a Kuwaiti roommate who had a family of servants living with him growing up so he couldn't pick up after himself), then kill yourself.
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Jul 22, 2015 16:17
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I'm just interested in things like how often do people dust their bookshelves and what kind of cleaning schedules they have devised, my friend. Sorry if this topic makes you upset. 
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Jul 22, 2015 18:04
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The Nature of My Living Space 500sqft 1bed/1bath apartment Who Lives in There Live alone with 2 cats. My Cleaning Schedule I do light pickup during the week (load the dishwasher as I use dishes, etc), but the real cleaning (sweep, mop, laundry) is done on Sundays. Saturday is my super lazy video games day, Sunday is my "responsible adult" day since I work M-F. Makes sense to put the responsible day before returning to work. I usually end up googling for how often to do X chore if I'm not sure. I found out relatively recently you're supposed to clean your dishwasher monthly. I haven't had a dishwasher in years.  Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without If we're talking bare minimum.. a vacuum, cheap-y kitchen towels (like 100 pack for $5) & vinegar. If you want to get a little lavish, you can spend $0.50/towel and get 50 microfiber towels for $24. Adding essential oils or citrus to the vinegar will help/eliminate the smell of vinegar. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities Swiffer for moping, Natures Miracle, steam cleaner for my rugs, a Dyson vacuum in particular. My DC28 (refurbed) is amazing. If I didn't have pets I wouldn't have bought a steam cleaner. It's obviously no where near as good as an industrial one, maybe not even as good as the rug doctors you can rent, but its good for running over the rugs 3-4x/year. It cost me like $200 and it saves me the hassle of renting a rug doctor, hauling it both ways, making sure its returned on time and so on. Not really cleaning, but mason jars and reusable lids like these. You can find them in big box stores like Target/Walmart/etc.[/list] I use mason jars as a substitute for plastic tupperware. If you reuse the metal lids/rings, they can develop rust. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing [list] [*]There is almost always a cheaper way to clean. Sometimes its totally worth it (vinegar cleaning solution) and sometimes its worth paying the luxury tax (handwashing all your clothes). [*]DIY laundry detergent is super cheap and easy to make. Its usually a combination of castile soap, borax, and baking soda. Vinegar works in place of bleach and the smell doesn't stick to your clothes. Castile soap can be used alone Dr bronners lists a bunch of uses for castile soap here. [*]You're supposed to clean vacuum filters. My dyson ran fine over two years without the filter being cleaned just because I never really thought about it. It runs even better now that the filter gets cleaned regularly.  [*]Wash your bedding at least every 2 weeks! Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend I always google and pick the least crazy looking answer. My Cleaning Soundtrack Music chill classical music, ~70s R&B (Al Green,etc). ladyweapon fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Jul 22, 2015 |
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Jul 22, 2015 19:18
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The Nature of My Living Space -- 1 bedroom/bathroom apartment with a living room, office, and kitchen Who Lives in There -- Just me My Cleaning Schedule -- Rinse any dishes that aren't greasy right away. Soak the rest for later. Dishes every Saturday/Sunday. Wipe the bathroom down once a month as well as vacuum the carpeted areas. I sweep the hardwood floor areas. Laundry is running while I clean the place. After I'm done all that I sit down and fold clothes. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- Sponges, Lysol, broom and dustpan, vacuum Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- I have a small kitchen floor, so a swiffer is much more conveinent than a mop/bucket. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- Little bits of cleaning throughout the week will save you some effort when it comes to cleaning day. Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- Doing dishes is something I loathe and I look forward to the day I get a place with a dishwasher My Cleaning Soundtrack Music -- Don't really listen to music as I clean. I usually watch Netflix on my tablet as I wash dishes or fold clothes.
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Jul 22, 2015 21:37
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The Nature of My Living Space -- 1 bd/1 br, ~600 square feet Who Lives in There -- Me, my fiance, one chinchilla, a 20-gallon freshwater aquarium My Cleaning Responsibilities -- Fiance cooks and does most of the laundry. I do everything else. To be fair, he pays like 90% of the rent. My Cleaning Schedule -- I wing it and clean as the place gets dirty. Vacuum when the carpet has a noticeable amount of fuzz and stuff, do the dishes when the sink is full, take out the trash when full, but the chinchilla gets fresh paper towels in her potty corner daily and the fishtank is scrubbed when everything eventually gets a nice brown coat of algae. I do other stuff mostly when I'm expecting visitors or when it looks funky. I'm moving cross-country next week so everything's getting wiped down as it's packed--nobody wants to bring dirt with them! Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- glass cleaner, vacuum, dustpan and brush, dish soap and dish scrubbrush Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- Krud Cutter, Swiffer wetjet mop, Arm and Hammer scented carpet powder Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- Nature's Miracle for Cats is way overkill on chinchilla urine, but it gets that spot out fast. I save a load on pet bedding by using fleece fabric to line the cage, then shake it out and wash it weekly. Bonus questions: Chores I Hate -- Cleaning the trays under the stove's heat coils, cleaning the window unit air conditioner when it starts to smell mildew-y
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Jul 24, 2015 02:53
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Rabbit Hill posted:
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Jul 26, 2015 18:57
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Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- My place used to look like something out of hoarders. I just had piles of useless stuff everywhere. I got to the point where I knew I had to do something, but it was just so overwhelming of a task I didn't know where to start. In a post about lifehacks on another forum, someone posted how they dealt with a similar situation. Basically, force yourself to throw out or clean up just 5 things a day. Doesn't matter how small. It breaks down what is a mountain of a task into very small chunks, starts incredibly easy and gets progressively harder, and makes you feel good that you're actually doing something about the problem. After a couple of months my place is now at least presentable, and on its way to being respectable.
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Jul 26, 2015 20:31
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Rabbit Hill posted:I'm not a naturally tidy person but I've been doing a lot of house- (apartment-) cleaning lately, and it's got me thinking about how other people go about it.
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Jul 27, 2015 00:12
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The Nature of My Living Space: 750ish square foot 2bedroom 1bath apartment. Who Lives in There: Me and my husband. My Cleaning Responsibilities: I generally vacuum stuff and clean the kitchen and tidy up living room/bedroom. We split on laundry. He does the weekly bathroom cleaning. My Cleaning Schedule: daily stuff: dishes, small messes, laundry every couple days. weekly: vacuuming, getting poo poo that ends up on the tables put in their proper place Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without: microfiber clothes are cool, packs of bleach cleaning wipes, upright vacuum. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities Swiffer thingy, just bought a sweet metal drying rack and now we line dry our clothes outside Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing: Do poo poo daily. I grew up with dumb hoarder parents, and when i get into a mental funk/depression issues, I start thinking "lol you don't deserve a clean home," but the answer to that is to say "gently caress you brain" and do some chores. Seriously though, depression sucks, growing up with parents who couldn't clean a home to save their lives sucks Chores I Love or Hate: gently caress dishes, hooray clothes drying Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend: I have a calendar I put stars on when I do certain things every day (method to deal with depression stuff), and one of those is for doing something cleaning related every day. it doesn't have to be a lot; even just doing some dishes counts, but definitely helps with keeping up with chores. Too, I try not to go overboard of like, cleaning binges. Otherwise, I wait to clean until I feel like it, which means everything gets terrible and I feel terrible. Consistency is my goal. I've heard UFYH recommended a bunch too. My Cleaning Soundtrack Music: the softies, run the jewels, and lim kim
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Jul 27, 2015 03:41
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Rabbit Hill posted:
Also, once every other month: potee posted:I give an old Brazilian lady $50. Except she's Columbian and it's $40.
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Jul 27, 2015 18:25
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The Nature of My Living Space House, just shy of 2000sqft, 3 bed 2.5 bath Who Lives in There Myself, my husband, a dog (beagle), and a cat My Cleaning Responsibilities I do pretty much everything because my dirt-tolerance is so much lower than his. I do almost all of the cleaning, he does things that require being tall or using tools. He helps with laundry and dishes, but I still usually do most of it. As for lawn work, I mow and he edges. (I can't physically hold the edger right and it kicks rocks and poo poo at my shins and ugh I just hate edging!) My Cleaning Schedule I generally keep "stuff" picked up day to day. Once a week I'll vacuum the carpets (most of the house) and take a Lysol spray bottle and paper towel roll into the kitchen and bathrooms to tidy up. I take much longer to sweep or mop because I have slate tile kitchen floors with uneven surfaces that swept dirt gets trapped in. It gets gross over time but I just hate sweeping it! Dusting happens about once a month or whenever we are about to have company. It's actually hilarious but one time while I was bored at work I made a little spreadsheet calendar about how often/what day I would do household duties if I were a stay-at-home wife. I could share it if you're interested. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without Shark Navigator vacuum, Shark hand vac, Swiffer Sweeper, Swiffer Wetjet, Lysol spray bottle. I don't use it often, but Scott's Liquid Gold makes cabinets and other wood things look bright and clean and shiny. When I sold my last house I used it and it's like the kitchen had a complete facelift with a $5 canister and a rag. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities Standard broom, Kaboom for the shower, Clorox bleach spray or Comet powder for toilets. They work fine, but I'm open to better products when these bottles are empty. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing I have a microfiber couch set and 2 shedding pets. Internet says I can use a vacuum to get up pet hair, but it lies. Pinterest says I can use a squeegee - it also lies. DUCT TAPE is the only way I've found to reliably get pet hair off of microfiber! Oh and also, I've stopped buying Natures Miracle. I can always still smell pet pee, so I've started using baking soda whenever there's a stinky spot (hardly ever, both are reliably potty trained). You just sprinkle baking soda all around the area, leave it for 2 hours, and then come back and vacuum it up. I used to keep the litter box on carpet and the carpet reaked horribly. Now you would never have known there was a cat box in that corner even if you stuck your face right down in it for a big sniff! Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate I get great satisfaction from vacuuming and then dumping the canister in the trash. To be able to say "Look at all that dirt/hair that is no longer in my carpet, gross!" Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend Pinterest is great for "life hacks" and organization tips. There's a bunch of bullshit as well, but there are some good tips to be found. My Cleaning Soundtrack Music N/A or Family Feud playing in the background (yay Game Show Network marathons) Damn Bananas fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Jul 29, 2015 |
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Jul 29, 2015 21:35
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The Nature of My Living Space Apartment, ~1000 sq ft, 2 bedroom, 2 bath. Who Lives in There Me, my wife, and our two cats. My Cleaning Responsibilities I do the bulk of the cleaning because my wife has severe ADD and manic-depressive disorder. It's difficult for her to do the day-to-day stuff. My wife handles the laundry and sometimes takes out the garbage. I do the kitchen and bathrooms, cat litter, dishes, and sometimes tidying up. My Cleaning Schedule Daily: Cat litter. With two cats, it gets stanky real fast. 2-3 times a week: Dishes. It's much easier if I don't let them pile up. Once a month: Bathrooms. I figured out that a month is the longest I can go before they get too gross. Laundry and everything else: As needed. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without Rubber gloves Sponges Paper towels Bleach Ajax/Comet Lysol Toilet brush Windex (Glass cleaner) Broom Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities White vinegar Baking soda Disposable masks (I have sinus and respiratory problems) Child's toothbrush (for cleaning bathroom sinks) Glade plugins/room spray Swiffer Metal clothes-drying rack Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing It gets drat hot here (Texas) in the summer, but it's a great time to hang your clothes outside. Dryers use up a lot of electricity and give off a lot of heat, so "nature's dryer" (the blazing hot outdoors) is a much better option. I bought a clothes-drying rack from Target for about $40 a few years ago, and that thing has paid for itself. It's also really easy to do small loads of laundry in the kitchen sink, especially delicates like bras. I use baby shampoo and baking soda in lieu of detergent like Woolite, which is ridiculously expensive. You can use denture cleanser tablets to get stains out of white items made of delicate fabric (like lace curtains). I've tried this and it works like a charm. This is more common sense than anything, but if you bleach a cat's litter box, for the love of God, do it in a well-ventilated area and open a window. Ammonia and bleach make a toxic gas. Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate I pretty much hate cleaning, because I could be doing something fun instead. Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend The British show "How Clean Is Your House" has some pretty cool tips. That's where I learned about the denture cleanser trick. My Cleaning Soundtrack Music Dance music and lots of it! Eien Ni Hen fucked around with this message at 09:07 on Jul 30, 2015 |
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Jul 30, 2015 09:00
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The Nature of My Living Space -- Four bedroom, 1.5 bath house, about 1,000 sq ft. Who Lives in There -- Myself, my boyfriend, one dog, two cats, and a lizard. My Cleaning Responsibilities -- We share responsibilities but he does more vacuuming/mopping and I do more laundry. My Cleaning Schedule -- No set schedule, just clean stuff when it gets dirty, do laundry when it piles up. If we are having people over we will do a deep clean. We only dust like twice a year. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- Vacuum and mop, for sure. Also a dishwasher. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- Scented candles. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- Washing most of your clothes with cold water works just fine. Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- I hate vacuuming. I like doing laundry on sunny days when I can hang it outside on the clothes line. My Cleaning Soundtrack Music -- Reggae. If you put your phone in a bowl it amplifies the sound.
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Jul 31, 2015 03:05
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The Nature of My Living Space -- Small apartment + garden, 3 rooms although the kitchen can barely be called a room Who Lives in There -- Me, my girlfriend and my cat Dustbunny My Cleaning Responsibilities -- Do I have something I'd rather do than clean then I'll do it but once the entertainment needs are satisfied I'll clean My Cleaning Schedule -- Generally I like cleaning late at night before bed, usually on a Friday, give the place a good 45 minute blitz and between the 2 of us we can get most everything done. I hate cleaning at weekends or during the day Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- Kitchen Roll, it's probably not cost efficient but I love the stuff. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- Mr Muscle loves the jobs you hate Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- Have something else you can put your mind on whether it's music or a podcast or a TV Show Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- Dishes. Can not loving stand them probably because I grew up with a dishwasher Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend -- your hands and feet My Cleaning Soundtrack Music -- Guns and Roses
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Aug 7, 2015 15:49
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The Nature of My Living Space 2 bd, 2.5 br townhome, galley kitchen which drives me batshit because it's narrow and full of millipedes and spiders Who Lives in There Myself, my boyfriend, 2 cats My Cleaning Responsibilities Wash dishes, vacuum upstairs rooms and stairs, brush cats, cook dinner on alternating nights, clean the litter box on alternating nights, clean the master bath because I use it more, do the laundry (but only fold my own) My Cleaning Schedule I try to do the chores as they need doing. Theoretically I was dishes every night but in practice I sometimes wait til the next day. We try to split chores, I tend to do more because I'm home more, but some rules are hard and fast, like whoever cooks dinner is not the one who cleans the litterbox that night Sometimes I go into serious cleaning mode on Saturdays and do a bunch of stuff, but I try to avoid this Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without A really good vacuum (I shed like crazy), nature's miracle spray, bleach wipes, paper towels, and windex Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities I like dust busters but mine broke so I use the hose extension on my old vacuum Chores I Love or Hate I loving hate putting clean dishes away because the sound of dishes clanking together is painful for my bitch baby ears. So putting dishes away is my boyfriend's job. He also wants his shirts folded a certain way and I'm not folding poo poo special for him so I just lay his clothes out flat and he can fold them at his leisure Vacuuming sucks because I feel like I never get all my hair out of the carpet and also it likes to get tangled in the vacuum and I have to cut it out with scissors My Cleaning Soundtrack Music Last Podcast on the Left episodes about major American serial killers
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Aug 21, 2015 18:58
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The Nature of My Living Space Two bedroom apartment over a convenience store. I'm not sure the square footage, but it's pretty damned big for how close we are to downtown. Who Lives in There Me, my boyfriend (or simply "the boy") and a male roommate, Roommate Dave. We also have a cat. My Cleaning Responsibilities Everyone in the house has created a little zone where they spend the majority of their time; for me, it's in a weird little office corner in my bedroom; the boy in the living room and Roommate Dave spends it either on the couch in front of the TV (which is also hooked up to a computer), so those zones become solely our own responsibility. Otherwise, me and the boy rotate for the bedroom and whoever is most bored cleans the kitchen. I'm in charge of the bathroom for reasons undetermined. My Cleaning Schedule For some reason, the apartment rarely becomes that dirty, but if I walk into the kitchen and reflexively think "yuck!" off I go. That being said, once a week or so I do those stupid little chores like sweeping, gathering up mail and socks and the like. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without Lysol Wipes (I LOVE THEM), Windex, paper towels, a broom/whisk. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities Borax, magic erasers and scouring pads. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing Music helps. If I need to do a serious clean of a place, I eat a snack beforehand because otherwise any unexpected messes seem so much more annoying. Also: it sounds obvious, but breaking it into steps is easier. Example: remove cans/bottles/cups, then do paper products, then move socks, etc. Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- I loving HATE PUTTING AWAY DISHES. I have no idea why. I don't mind actually DOING them, though. I also enjoy cleaning the bathroom, which may explain why it's usually my job.
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Aug 21, 2015 20:01
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'Sup fellow hater of putting dishes away. For me it's the sound and also the fact that there are so many random pieces of tupperware that don't fit together neatly. If someone else wants to toss them in the cupboard haphazardly I don't care, but having to do it myself is awful. I want neat matching plate sets like in my magazines 
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Aug 22, 2015 05:46
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Same! I hate putting anything away, really -- it's just so tedious -- but getting in the habit of doing it when the problem piles are still small helps a LOT. E/N ahead: As I was cleaning my apartment this weekend, I was thinking about how I grew up in a pretty messy house and my parents always gave me poo poo for how messy I was, but then after I moved out (and my parents divorced and lived in their own places, alone), I realized that they were the causes of most of the mess, not me! I have usually kept my apartments in "ready to receive company" condition, while their separate homes were/are embarrassing for different reasons -- my mom (  ) was a mild-moderate hoarder and never dusted or vacuumed her tiny apartment, and my dad still lives in our family house by himself and also never dusts or vacuums the rooms he uses (never mind the other rooms!), to the point where several rooms literally have cobwebs hanging from the ceilings and walls. I have an eternal, internal image of myself as messy, but it's really not true. Like, just now, I was thinking about how ~horribly dirty~ my apartment is, but....it's just because I didn't have time this weekend to vacuum/straighten the living room or clean the kitchen floor. There are no clutter piles, no dishes in the sink, laundry is put away, surfaces dusted, bathroom is clean....etc. But I can never shake the feeling like I'm doing this whole cleaning thing wrong or inadequately. (That's why I started this thread -- I wanted to learn what people consider to be their normal level of cleanliness and what they do to achieve it.) My father has been away on a long post-retirement vacation since May 1, returning Sept. 8, and his house has remained empty and untouched during his absence. I think it would be nice for him to come home to a nice, clean, dust-less house, so I'm going to do a full cleaning next week -- top to bottom, 1-2 rooms a day so I don't get overwhelmed. Bringing my trusty handheld vacuum, microfiber cloths, and all-purpose cleaner that smells like oranges.  (I also am going to weed his ghastly jungle-like flowerbeds all around his house this week, but that's another issue for another thread.)
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Aug 24, 2015 17:38
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I have 2! I clean one not at all, and the other extremely infrequently. For the one I clean really infrequently, I let the area around the couch get really really full of wrappers and containers from whatever food I eat there and whenever my boyfriend complains about the smell I put it all in garbage bags and take it outside to the dumpster. When I run out of clothes I'll do a load of laundry without organizing clothes by color, weight, or texture. For the one I clean not at all I guess sometimes I'll go there because I don't feel like doing laundry and a lot of my clothes are there.
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Aug 24, 2015 20:58
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The Nature of My Living Space -- House. 2500 sqft. 12 rooms (4 beds, 2.5 baths), plus garage. Who Lives in There -- One dog, one kid, wife, me. My Cleaning Responsibilities -- We share responsibilities. My Cleaning Schedule -- We rotate per day with a light clean (eveyone has a particular room on a particular day), then a hardcore clean once a month or two depending on the room. Laundry is done pretty much every day and we hang dry many of our clothes. We spend about 30 minutes per day, even the kid, with 15 minutes dedicated to each of our assigned rooms so that we don't have to worry about it on weekends. We usually do yardwork on weekends or as needed. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- Spend the money on a good mop and mop bucket. Use bleach or TSP, depending on the surface. Use microfiber cloths instead of dusting polish. Only use polish or whatever on wood when the luster starts to fade. Get a good broom and vacuum. We've had our Dyson for 8-10 years. Well worth the money. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- Floor steamers are nice for quick cleaning. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- Wear gloves. The cleaning chems can seriously dry out your hands. Change out your AC filters often. Squeegees make quick work of windows. Do a little every day instead of alot over two days. Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- Vacuuming. Hate it. Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend -- Don't have any. My Cleaning Soundtrack Music -- Don't have one. Tide fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Aug 25, 2015 |
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Aug 25, 2015 17:41
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The Nature of My Living Space -- House 1600 sq feet. 3 bedrooms 2.5 bath Who Lives in There -- Me, husband, 2 cats My Cleaning Responsibilities -- We pretty much share everything except for 2 things. I HATE dishes so he does them and he HATES litter boxes so I do them. (I think I got the good end of that deal!!) Other than that, either one of us will do the rest if needed. My Cleaning Schedule -- Mostly stuff is as needed. But semi often we have people over (maybe once a week or every other week) and that's the extra bit of pressure we need to really fully clean most things. We pick up trash and do laundry and dishes as needed, several times a week. We sweep and vacuum and wipe down counters and dust before company. Sometimes if we don't have anyone over for a while, the mess will start to accumulate and he and I will take about half the day (really more time than we need) to get our poo poo together. There's really no need for charts or assignments or taking turns because we're both adults who value having a clean space. If you do it regularly it will never take long to get caught back up. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- Broom and vacuum. I can't stand having dusty dirty floors because I like to walk barefoot around the house. And a freshly vacuumed carpet alone can make a room look much cleaner. And Clorox wet wipes. Those get used everywhere in the kitchen and bathrooms. EDIT: Oh! And Nature's Miracle for pet stains. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- I love those little sticky gels you stick in your toilet bowl. It makes the bathroom smell just a little fresh every time you flush and it helps at keeping that gunk from building as quick around the water line. And I like those swiffer dusters, but a paper towel works in a pinch. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- Always vacuum and sweep before dusting. They can kick around more dust and undo the work you did. Straightening the couch pillows, vacuuming and making the bed can also do wonders for a room. Even if the tables are a little cluttered, if the floor, sitting space and/or bed are straight, the room will look tidy. (to a degree) Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- I love vacuuming and I love cleaning the kitchen counters because both of those have such a dramatic impact on the room when I'm done. I love seeing instant results. Buggiezor fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Aug 26, 2015 |
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Aug 26, 2015 14:32
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My solution is to spend too much money on gadgets/sprays/wipes and then just have a maid come through once every other month anyways. I used to think dust was the worst part about liking a clean space, but now it's cooking. I hate oil. Chinaman7000 fucked around with this message at 15:25 on Aug 26, 2015 |
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Aug 26, 2015 15:20
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Buggiezor posted:Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- I love those little sticky gels you stick in your toilet bowl. It makes the bathroom smell just a little fresh every time you flush and it helps at keeping that gunk from building as quick around the water line.
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Aug 26, 2015 15:36
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i like nice words
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My one bane in life is dishes. I loving HATE washing dishes; to the point to where on several occasions I've actually thrown out all of my stuff that was dirty and bought new stuff. I used paper plates and plastic utensils for all meals. I don't even own non-reusable ones. Beyond that I'd say I do well for a bachelor. I rarely need to feel embarrassed about my apartment, and my toilet's generally clean enough to eat off from... Which is good since, again, I hate to clean the dishes.
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Aug 26, 2015 16:26
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I think buying a dishwasher would be cheaper than buying multiple sets of new dishes.
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Aug 26, 2015 16:35
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Anne Whateley posted:What brand/scent do you like? I tried the Scrubbing Bubbles gel stamps awhile back and it was loving disgusting. Every time you went in the bathroom, for weeks, you were almost asphyxiated. Then a couple months later I was all "it couldn't have been THAT bad" and tried it again. It was. I never had an issue with the blue Scrubbing Bubbles ones. But recently I did discover Lysol makes lemon scented ones and I like those quite a bit too.
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Aug 26, 2015 17:11
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Doing the dishes is one chore I don't mind doing at all -- I find it kind of meditative, to be honest (same with vacuuming). Not to say I see a full sink and get excited, but once I get over the initial UGH SO MANY DISHES dread and get the washing up going, it's not painful at all. Singing while you do it really helps. This is true for any household chore: when in doubt, listen to music or sing your own. <---My household tip for enduring life. Buggiezor is right on about the impact vacuuming has on the room's sense-of-cleanliness quotient, and so does making your bed. You could have clothes scattered all over your bedroom, but if your bed is made, your room instantly looks significantly better. BTW, I just picked up four local almanacs from 1922-1925 that include household tips which are still relevant today. (Along with farm tips, garden hints, and little jokes which are so not funny they're adorable. ) I'll scan and post the household tips this week.
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Aug 26, 2015 17:24
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The Nature of My Living Space -- House, ~1,400 sq.ft., 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Who Lives in There -- It's me and my husband, and 4 cats. My Cleaning Responsibilities -- My husband and I share chores for the most part, though there are some divisions; He generally does any of the cleaning related to dust (actual dusting, cleaning off the patio and pool deck, blowing off the driveway), while I do anything related to cats (including vacuuming, cleaning litter boxes) and also pool maintenance. We have an agreement that when one of us cooks, the other cleans (that said, my husband does the bulk of the cooking, hence I do the bulk of cleaning in the kitchen). We equally do laundry, dishes go in the dishwasher, and each have picked a bathroom that we're responsible for. My Cleaning Schedule -- Major clean once a week (everything, ~ 2 hours), minor clean (dust/vacuum) once a week (~ 20 minutes). Cat boxes are cleaned three times per week. Laundry is done throughout the week whenever there is enough to do a load. Dishes are run through the dishwasher either daily or efery other day. Pool maintenance is every few days ~10 minutes. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- Dyson upright vacuum and Dyson stick vacuum. These pull up an amazing amount of dust and dander... my husband and I are actually both allergic to cats and these vacuums make it possible for us to have the cats and not suffer at all with our allergy. Also use Swiffer sweepers and dusters and a Pledge sweeper for upholstered furniture. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- Green Works Digipro brushless blower. Extremely powerful blower with enough cordless battery power to do the entire driveway, patio, and pool deck. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- It's cliché, but if you do little bits of work throughout the week, it takes much less time overall. Saving everything up for one day just makes it a huge day-wrecking project. Also, don't let anything get dirty because you're too lazy to deal with it immediately, it just makes it that much more difficult to actually fix... For instance, if a cat vomits, clean it up immediately with a paper towel... It's easier to clean up wet vomit with a paper towel than it is to scrape dried vomit off a surface. It's easier to wipe up a food spill on a counter immediately than to scrub the counter afterwards to get dried food off. Any pet elimination problems have to be tackled absolutely immediately and thoroughly. Buy enzymatic cleaners and nuke that poo poo (literally) from orbit. Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate -- cleaning the shower/tub. Shower because of the chemicals, tub because of having to get on my knees on the bathroom tile. Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend -- Yard services. Seriously, if you don't like yard work yet insist on owning a house with a yard, get a freakin' yard service. My Cleaning Soundtrack Music -- If you do it right, it doesn't take long enough to warrant turning on any music.
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Aug 26, 2015 18:06
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First of all, huge thanks to whoever mentioned melamine sponges and "The Last Podcast on the Left", my cleaning experience has improved immensely. The Nature of My Living Space I live in a house with two living rooms, two bedrooms, a tiny kitchen and a tiny third room. And a toilet, of course. Also a backyard and a frontyard. Who Lives in There I live with my boyfriend and our three cats. My Cleaning Responsibilities We both share cleaning duties, although I end up doing more of it because uncleanliness bothers me more than it does him. My Cleaning Schedule My boyfriend has a very different working schedule than me, so each of does some cleaning whenever the other one is at work. I tend to clean more on Saturday mornings, although I don't really like it, I'm trying to change that to cleaning a bit every week day and then having the whole weekend free. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without - Vacuum cleaner, because my cats shed a lot - Paper towels, great for almost anything - A couple of these bad boys Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities Karcher window vaccum cleaner. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing don't have any, sorry. Chores I Love or Hate -- I detest gardening, and washing dishes manually (thank god for dishwashers). My Cleaning Soundtrack Music -- Either SGU's podcast or MonsterTalk.
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Aug 28, 2015 16:08
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Rabbit Hill posted:Singing while you do it really helps. This is true for any household chore: when in doubt, listen to music or sing your own. <---My household tip for enduring life. We have a small counter-top grill (think a George Foreman), and cleaning it is a pain. One time while I was cleaning it, I started singing, "Clean, clean, clean! Clean that grill! Clean that gri~ll!" to the tune of "Shake Your Booty." I have to admit it made cleaning the drat thing more fun.
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Aug 29, 2015 00:31
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Cleaning out your dad's house is going to feel so good. Go for it, OP! My biggest advice would be to take off your shoes indoors, never have hairy pets, and don't have permanent carpet anywhere spills happen (dining, living, bath.) We do daily/weekly damage control, but things like dusting bookshelves and trashing old magazines are spontaneous 2-3x a year. Rearranging furniture can be a great opportunity for deep cleaning.
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Aug 29, 2015 07:15
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The Nature of My Living Space -- 1/1 apartment, I'd guess about 850 square feet Who Lives in There -- Me, my husband and one cat My Cleaning Responsibilities -- Our arrangement is straight out of the Eisenhower administration at the moment, because my husband is working full-time and I'm freelancing from home. He mops the floors once a week and cleans the cat box, and I do everything else -- not quite at the point of vacuuming in pearls yet, but pretty close. It's fair. My Cleaning Schedule -- After years of being lovely at housekeeping and getting anxious and overwhelmed, trying to tackle everything at once and doing a terrible job, I finally realized that I needed a schedule. Assigned major tasks to weekdays -- Mondays are for laundry, bathroom gets a thorough scrub on Tuesdays and so on. I do dishes every day without fail (we don't have a dishwasher, yay for Depression-era apartments) and give myself 20 minutes for general tidying every day. Turns out 20 minutes is plenty if it's truly an everyday thing. Weekends are for stray chores that don't need to be done weekly, such as dusting. (Some would consider more frequent dusting a necessity; we don't.) I adopted this method after dedicating a week to thoroughly triaging our stuff and finding a place for everything. This book was an absolute godsend -- it sounds corny as hell and it kind of is, but Marie Kondo's system works surprisingly well to the point that it's almost spooky. I found that once KonMari'd, our place stayed KonMari'd. It's a bandwagon worth getting on, imo. After all that was accomplished, we paid some nice people to come over and clean the bejesus out of the apartment -- starting from a truly neutral state made everything much easier to keep up with. One-time $200 investment, well worth it. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without -- Scrubby cleaner with bleach. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities -- Bon Ami is way better than Bar Keeper's Friend, I don't care what the hipsters say. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing -- Don't let it hit the ground in the first place. Clean as you go, seriously, and train yourself to address minor messes right away, before they have a chance to spawn. This will get easier as time goes on if you're really dedicated to keeping your place nice. Oh yeah, and no shoes in the house!
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Aug 29, 2015 12:19
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The Nature of My Living Space I live in a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. I'm not sure of the square footage. Who Lives in There Me, my husband and our 3 cats. My Cleaning Responsibilities I currently work part time so I do most of the cleaning. My husband's work day plus commute ends up being 11 hours, so he usually spends his evenings relaxing. Most mornings I clean the kitchen and run the roomba, on weekends he usually does laundry and tidies downstairs while I tidy upstairs. We alternate litterboxes every day or two, but have a tendency to fall behind until one of the cats yells at us. We both hate cleaning the boxes. My Cleaning Schedule We don't have one, and now I feel like it's impossible to implement one. I have chronic depression and sometimes let things get more out of hand then I'd like. Equipment/Supplies I Cannot Clean Without I like Method brand cleaning products. They are non toxic and I find they clean really well without making my house smell like a chemical plant. The roomba is really helpful for daily vacuuming, as it gets under the couches and coffee tables, and keeps the cat hair at bay. I use an upright refurbed dyson for stairs and furniture, and the odd deep carpet vacuum. Nature's miracle for cat pukes. Equipment/Supplies I Enjoy Using but Aren't Necessities Wipes, but I feel guilty using disposable products, so I try to use scrubs and towels instead. Any Cleaning Tips I Feel Like Sharing I have none :/ Bonus questions: Chores I Love or Hate I hate mopping. Hate it. My floor has needed mopping for a couple weeks now, and I've been putting it off. I always feel like I hate dishes, but then I turn on music and get into a bit of a trance, and feel really satisfied when the kitchen is spotless. Helpful Cleaning Resources I Recommend Oh god, I wish I had some My Cleaning Soundtrack Music I just throw my ipod on random. I was thinking of having a cleaning person coming in once every 2 weeks to do things like scrub the shower, toilet, dust and mop. Is it worth it? These things I always fall behind with and don't enjoy doing. Do you guys use a company or just an individual you found on kijiji. I don't know if I want a strange person from kijiji coming into my house biweekly..
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Aug 29, 2015 18:59
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Echeveria posted:I was thinking of having a cleaning person coming in once every 2 weeks to do things like scrub the shower, toilet, dust and mop. Is it worth it?
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Aug 29, 2015 19:07
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potee posted:I give an old Brazilian lady $50. Same.
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Aug 29, 2015 19:28
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There are a few smaller companies on Yelp with good reviews. I might give them a try.
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Aug 29, 2015 20:12
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