Home Maintenance: Cleaning, Organizing, Purging and Regular Upkeep

[dademoss]

What I need is a 10 yard dumpster but that will not happen as long as my wife is alive.

I think I can do it with a 20 yd dumpster and crew from Rumpke . Then we can get ready to sell

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I have two younger couples I clean for, they work a lot. They have me every other week to do the basics (dust, vac, mop, bathrooms, kitchen). Both houses were messy when I first started with them. Having the big basics done, both couples have really clean houses now because they keep up on the everyday things, like generally keeping things picked up! So my two cents: having/hiring someone to do the "cleaning" makes the everyday things easier to keep up with!!

It's not that they are keeping up. It's because they get embarrassed and run around the night before, picking up before the cleaning lady gets there to see the mess. Sure beats the ones that didn't.

I cleaned houses for six years in the early 90's while hubby was getting his MSc and PHD.

 

[jazzy]

I love cleaning other people's homes, lol! It is super hard work done right! And yes, I too need some sort of motivation for my own, guess that's why I avoid having company!!

dang girl, yer hired. how soon can you get here? the dust bunnies apparently have turned into raptors and planning a coup or something. leastways thats what my dogs tell me.

 

[Neb]

It's not that they are keeping up. It's because they get embarrassed and run around the night before, picking up before the cleaning lady gets there to see the mess. Sure beats the ones that didn't.

I cleaned houses for six years in the early 90's while hubby was getting his MSc and PHD.

That is exactly what The Princess before visit by the cleaning lady.

Ben

 

[Weedygarden]

It's not that they are keeping up. It's because they get embarrassed and run around the night before, picking up before the cleaning lady gets there to see the mess. Sure beats the ones that didn't.

I cleaned houses for six years in the early 90's while hubby was getting his MSc and PHD.

I've heard people say, "The cleaning lady is coming tomorrow. We have to go home and pick up the house to get ready for her." The cleaning lady cleans, but doesn't necessarily tidy up.

 

[Mountain trapper]

It's not just junk that builds up. Quality stuff builds up too. We have a very fancy oak crib in our basement. Not that a 67 year old has much use for a crib anymore. But it might be used by our kids some day. So we haven't tossed it. I can't imagine what it would cost now, thousands probably.

But we have a large amount of junk that has built up as well. I'm not sure the Super-Soaker Mega Squirt Battle Rifle is something that we still need to hang on to (it's next to the crib).

Right after my daughter was born I had a crib made from solid oak. It had a lot of fancy carvings and was heirloom quality. The ex-c=÷× took it and sold it. It would have been nice to keep it in the family.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Years ago the wife told me that she'd like to have some help around the house. So I imported a Thai girl as a live in housekeeper/dog sitter. I guess that really wasn't what the wife had in mind. Anyway, it ended up working out good. We stayed in touch with her over the years. In fact she's coming out in February to spend a few weeks with us.

 

[Amish Heart]

We hired an amish young lady last August before we were swamped with company. $30 an hr. And she was thorough, but slow. Granted, we have alot of windows to clean, and she did a great job. But all the windows and the rest took two days. That was alot of money.
About putting things in boxes, Weedy...made me laugh. That's what husband does. And they're never gone thru again. Now he is not mobile, was at his desk yesterday, and had two piles of stuff and asked me for a box. Ha Ha. I told him he had a box started from a while ago and I added it to that. He is a box man.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

When I was packing up the farm, I hired the Amish girls as well, and they did the same. They could make a window last all morning.

 

[Weedygarden]

We hired an amish young lady last August before we were swamped with company. $30 an hr. And she was thorough, but slow. Granted, we have alot of windows to clean, and she did a great job. But all the windows and the rest took two days. That was alot of money.
About putting things in boxes, Weedy...made me laugh. That's what husband does. And they're never gone thru again. Now he is not mobile, was at his desk yesterday, and had two piles of stuff and asked me for a box. Ha Ha. I told him he had a box started from a while ago and I added it to that. He is a box man.

I was thinking about his piles, and mine. I do think that a box or bin for a topic that he can just drop whatever documents or papers in that are related would help him to keep like things together, and help you to be able to clean and walk around them.

For me, I too have boxes for dropping certain things in, such as genealogy. Anything relative to genealogy goes into the box until I get it ready to go into a plastic page and into a notebook. I have a bin on a chair that is just for me to collect books in so that I can sort through them and do as I will with them.

Part of what I got rid of last weekend was stuff in boxes in the garage. I put a few boxes in the trunk and then just began putting loose books in there in the small spaces. I ended up breaking down and recycling several boxes. If I did this a few times, spent a few hours in the garage, what a difference it would make. I have done it many times since I retired, and the end is in sight!

 

[LadyLocust]

My house is far from perfect, but one thing I do that helps is: do you remember those old days of the week towels with chores on them? Well, something like that.
Sunday - off
Monday - ironing
Tuesday - kitchen
Wednesday - I call it porcelain Wednesday because that sounds nicer than scrub the toilet and sinks
Thursday - Laundry (Monday is the traditional laundry day, but I found that if I have laundry to do on the weekend, I'll do it so I try to have it done before weekend)
Friday - Floor day (dust/floors etc)
Saturday - off

 

[Weedygarden]

From Sidetracked Home Executives, these are the chores to do daily.

Daily Chores

KITCHEN

Wash dishes or

Fill dishwasher

Empty dishwasher

Clean dishwasher door

Wash pots and pans

Scour sinks

Polish faucets

Sweep and damp mop kitchen floors

Shake kitchen rugs

Wash countertops

Empty garbage

BATHROOM

Clean sink

Clean toilet

Clean tub (?)

BEDROOM

Make bed

MISCELLANEOUS

Feed pets

Prepare meals

Set table

 

[LadyLocust]

From Sidetracked Home Executives, these are the chores to do daily.

Daily Chores

KITCHEN

Wash dishes or

Fill dishwasher

Empty dishwasher

Clean dishwasher door

Wash pots and pans

Scour sinks

Polish faucets

Sweep and damp mop kitchen floors

Shake kitchen rugs

Wash countertops

Empty garbage

BATHROOM

Clean sink

Clean toilet

Clean tub (?)

BEDROOM

Make bed

MISCELLANEOUS

Feed pets

Prepare meals

Set table

I love the fly lady, but the chances of me doing all that everyday are somewhere around 0.0000%.

 

[Amish Heart]

Ha. And I cook so much, that dishwasher is filled and emptied 3 x a day. That's a great list, but didn't include my chores. Part of my problem, I think, is comparing myself to others around here, mostly my cousins. Of course, their homes are not always spotless, and there's always a project going on, and they are not all caregivers like I am, and I don't have babies underfoot. I shouldn't worry about it, but an amish home usually looks clean to me.

 

[Weedygarden]

I love the fly lady, but the chances of me doing all that everyday are somewhere around 0.0000%.

Me, too. But if I sweep and mop the kitchen floor once a week, it is a very good week!

 

[LadyLocust]

Ha. And I cook so much, that dishwasher is filled and emptied 3 x a day. That's a great list, but didn't include my chores. Part of my problem, I think, is comparing myself to others around here, mostly my cousins. Of course, their homes are not always spotless, and there's always a project going on, and they are not all caregivers like I am, and I don't have babies underfoot. I shouldn't worry about it, but an amish home usually looks clean to me.

Do they tend to keep less “stuff?”

 

[Amish Heart]

It's plainer, and usually not as much stuff sitting out. Go on the Amish America site and you can see interiors of homes, and it's pretty accurate. I will say, though, the men do fill up the outbuildings with man stuff. Lots of it.

 

[Weedygarden]

It's plainer, and usually not as much stuff sitting out. Go on the Amish America site and you can see interiors of homes, and it's pretty accurate. I will say, though, the men do fill up the outbuildings with man stuff. Lots of it.

So plainer? Less knick-knacks? Probably no photos? Art work? No electrical anything such as lamps, televisions, radios, kitchen appliances?

 

[Amish Heart]

Less knick knacks. Wall hangings are there, but different. Clocks that play music are popular, and my favorite cousin has a red cardinal theme going on. Where cardinals appear, angels are near. No photos. Electrical plainer shade lamps that don't have a plug, but hook up to a battery. Usually a tall one for a reading lamp. Always some quilts, glider rocker, recliners. No tv, radio. Kitchen appliances are different, but limited. Like what you'd buy at Lehmanns. Propane fridge and stove. Nothing much on the counter tops. They are clean and for prep.

 

[Bluedanube]

We have an organized chaos sort of household. I was in the basement over Christmas for several days doing a full mucking out. We have been here 16 years and it finally got to a point that I was angry every time I went looking for something. We remodeled the kitchen and our master bathroom over the last couple of years and our little barn was stacked with old cabinets and construction materials. My husband found homes with friends for a bunch of it and then did a dump run. That opened up space to get anything that didn’t need a conditioned space out of the house. I then purchased a bunch of racks to get stuff off the floor in the basement and still have mobility in case I need to move things. All my canning stuff is now findable and we have less stacking of the canned goods for easier access. Nothing even close to some of those ocd YouTuber videos where they appear to have 10k square feet of basement to organize everything in, but at least it’s accessible. We do try to keep the upstairs “presentable” with at least a weekly floor cleaning and bathrooms. With animals and multiple large menfolk, it’s not possible to be even close to “pristine”! We do have a mudroom where it’s REQUIRED that they put the coats and outdoor shoes. They can transfer to slippers or flip flops if they want, but the dirt needs to be left out there, otherwise I’d be able to plant crops in the living room! The attached picture is about ⅓ of our basement. It’s a hard working space with canned and dry goods storage, freezers, washer and dryer, water heater, pressure tank and jet pump from the well, and the husbands literal man cave. All that and it’s only 70” to the bottom of the floor joists so all of us have to duck when walking around

 

[Weedygarden]

Ha. And I cook so much, that dishwasher is filled and emptied 3 x a day. That's a great list, but didn't include my chores. Part of my problem, I think, is comparing myself to others around here, mostly my cousins. Of course, their homes are not always spotless, and there's always a project going on, and they are not all caregivers like I am, and I don't have babies underfoot. I shouldn't worry about it, but an amish home usually looks clean to me.

I run my dishwasher a couple times a week. I often hand wash many of my dishes, and certainly the pots and pans get hand washed.

We have an organized chaos sort of household. I was in the basement over Christmas for several days doing a full mucking out. We have been here 16 years and it finally got to a point that I was angry every time I went looking for something. We remodeled the kitchen and our master bathroom over the last couple of years and our little barn was stacked with old cabinets and construction materials. My husband found homes with friends for a bunch of it and then did a dump run. That opened up space to get anything that didn’t need a conditioned space out of the house. I then purchased a bunch of racks to get stuff off the floor in the basement and still have mobility in case I need to move things. All my canning stuff is now findable and we have less stacking of the canned goods for easier access. Nothing even close to some of those ocd YouTuber videos where they appear to have 10k square feet of basement to organize everything in, but at least it’s accessible. We do try to keep the upstairs “presentable” with at least a weekly floor cleaning and bathrooms. With animals and multiple large menfolk, it’s not possible to be even close to “pristine”! We do have a mudroom where it’s REQUIRED that they put the coats and outdoor shoes. They can transfer to slippers or flip flops if they want, but the dirt needs to be left out there, otherwise I’d be able to plant crops in the living room! The attached picture is about ⅓ of our basement. It’s a hard working space with canned and dry goods storage, freezers, washer and dryer, water heater, pressure tank and jet pump from the well, and the husbands literal man cave. All that and it’s only 70” to the bottom of the floor joists so all of us have to duck when walking around

I'd say that it looks really good.

 

[sonya123]

It's plainer, and usually not as much stuff sitting out. Go on the Amish America site and you can see interiors of homes, and it's pretty accurate. I will say, though, the men do fill up the outbuildings with man stuff. Lots of it.

the Amish family that was renting our place before we bought it sure left a huge mess behind. We are still taking stuff to the dump
the neighbors have a lot of stuff in their houses and it didnt appear to be all that clean either when I was in them, except one that was always spotless ( one of the ones that moved this year)

my chores I do every day :
get up feed and water house dogs
make a fire in the kitchen stove ( not in summer )
feed and water sheep and move them to where they are going for the day
feed and water goats and same
feed and water goat bucks and same
feed and water barn dogs
this involves carrying hay and feed around and some water buckets, but husband usually does most of those
he takes care of the chickens
oh forgot: clean the barn if they spend the night in, about 5 wheelbarrows full of crap and used bedding

then I cook lunch ( this takes at least an hour since I cook pretty much everything from scratch)
dishes take about half to an hour depending on what I cook ( no dishwasher)
then I take a break
then projects or garden work in summer
then feed and water for the evening

projects are either real projects or laundry , cleaning or shopping

on Fridays before market I bake bread all day and husband does all the animal care

There is really no time to do unecessary stuff like ironing, cleaning windows or making beds
, I make the bed after I wash sheets once every couple of weeks, that's it
no ironing ever windows got cleaned when we moved in , bathroom gets cleaned when mold starts growing , floor gets cleaned every week at least somewhat ( swept) and the house gets cleaned better when we have company coming
kitchen gets cleaned well before I bake bread

 

[Weedygarden]

the Amish family that was renting our place before we bought it sure left a huge mess behind. We are still taking stuff to the dump
the neighbors have a lot of stuff in their houses and it didnt appear to be all that clean either when I was in them, except one that was always spotless ( one of the ones that moved this year)

my chores I do every day :
get up feed and water house dogs
make a fire in the kitchen stove ( not in summer )
feed and water sheep and move them to where they are going for the day
feed and water goats and same
feed and water goat bucks and same
feed and water barn dogs
this involves carrying hay and feed around and some water buckets, but husband usually does most of those
he takes care of the chickens
oh forgot: clean the barn if they spend the night in, about 5 wheelbarrows full of crap and used bedding

then I cook lunch ( this takes at least an hour since I cook pretty much everything from scratch)
dishes take about half to an hour depending on what I cook ( no dishwasher)
then I take a break
then projects or garden work in summer
then feed and water for the evening

projects are either real projects or laundry , cleaning or shopping

on Fridays before market I bake bread all day and husband does all the animal care

There is really no time to do unnecessary stuff like ironing, cleaning windows or making beds
, I make the bed after I wash sheets once every couple of weeks, that's it
no ironing ever windows got cleaned when we moved in , bathroom gets cleaned when mold starts growing , floor gets cleaned every week at least somewhat ( swept) and the house gets cleaned better when we have company coming
kitchen gets cleaned well before I bake bread

I'd bet you sleep well at night.

 

[sonya123]

I'd bet you sleep well at night.

I take a gummie just in case! LOL

I forgot to list the 'fun" non work things I do regularly: hike up mountain with dog, do yoga and tomorrow we are going swimming again

 

[SouthCentralUS]

Funny this subject came up. Before Christmas last year and this year a lot of my traditional decorations could not be found. The ones I always put out when my children were really young. This year I ordered the red tubs from WM and went upstairs, took all the boxes out of the smaller attic and found the decorations and packed the red tubs. In the meantime, in those cardboard boxes I found a lot of things I had forgotten. And I need to purge. My garage is now stuffed on one side and I still need to go through the bigger attic while I am on a roll.

A few months ago, we got down all the boxes of paperwork and I shredded a lot of income tax papers. I had every tax return we ever filed. To give you a sense of how many years of taxes that was, today is our 52nd wedding anniversary.

 

[backlash]

today is our 52nd wedding anniversary.

Well congratulations.
There aren't many of us that can claim over 50 years married to the same person.

 

[angie_nrs]

I do OK with the housework. I do the basics such as clean off the counters, wash the tables and countertops, vacuum, do laundry, dust, etc. But deep cleaning is not my forte'. I have overhead cabinets that I KNOW need to be dusted, floorboards that haven't been scubbed, carpets to be shampood, heat registers that should be washed, shower to clean, windows that need cleaned, etc. For those things, I need to be in the mood to do them and I hardly ever am. I'm a list person, so if it makes the list, it has a much better chance of getting done.

I don't like clutter, so I TRY and stay on top of that. However, hubby is a slob and does NOT help with the clutter. Ug! He drops everything on the counter when he comes home and it sits there, like screws, nails, tire gauge, truck parts, wires, etc. Drives me nuts. I thought when the kdis moved out it'd be easy to keep the house clean. Yeah, right. I usually have Easter and Christmas dinner at my house, so that's when the carpets get shampoo'd, outside of cabinets get washed, frig gets cleaned out, etc. We don't wear outside shoes in the house but we have dogs, so they are hard on the carpets but they are not allowed on furniture without a blanket in a lap. The small group that comes over for dinner are terrible housekeepers, so I don't have anything to feel all that bad about.

I have two younger couples I clean for, they work a lot.

Bless you for cleaning houses. I would never be able to clean someone else's messes, besides immediate family of coarse. I always thought I'd love to have a cleaning lady, but I'm too private. I couldn't stand the thought of someone being in my house while I wasn't there.

Some stuff like not folding laundry or not making the bed doesn't hurt anything.

Are your clothes always wrinkled? I don't fold underwear, but I match socks and then toss them in the undies drawer. I make the bed only b/c I'm sensitive to wrinkels or anything in the bed like sand. I feel like the princess and the pea in that fable.

I pay the bills right away and toss the junk mail in the stove, done

That is wise. I wish my kid would do that. I think he's had many late fees b/c he doesn't pay attention to his mail. I pay my bills right away too, except taxes. Built up mail on the countertop is clutter that I can't tolerate.

For me, I too have boxes for dropping certain things in, such as genealogy

I have a box that I throw pictures in. It's a rather large box and none of the pics are organized. That box hasn't moved from it's shelf in the basement closet for years. Clearly, I don't look at them, but it's not something I feel like I can toss. My mom gave me about a half a dozen binders of organized pictures with the dates and years printed on them. Most of them even state who is in the picture on the back. I never look at those either.

Ha. And I cook so much, that dishwasher is filled and emptied 3 x a day.

That's one thing we always do after dinner. Immediately after eating, the dirty dishes are loaded into the dish washer, the leftovers are put in the frig, the table and counters are washed off, and the coffee and dog dishes are set to go for the next morning......then we walk the pups. I don't like a dirty kitchen. Although I only have to run the dishwasher about every other day or so.

Yes, cooking and food prep take a lot of time. I didn't even do all that much today for cooking. I got pans and ingredients ready for taco dinner, washed and cut lettuce, and shredded cheese. While I was cutting up the lettuce I made 4 salads for the frig to grab and go. Then I cut and measured out meat from the roast last night to make soup with tomorrow morning. I've got the crock pot and soup mix ready to roll with my morning coffee. Just doing those tasks took up a good chunk of time. I guess I'd rather eat well than to stress about a pristine house.

IF I had motivation to do things at night, I'd get so much more done but it's hard to get motivated when it's dark outside. After dinner cleanup and the dog walk, I'm done. I usually cruise the web and/or grab a book.

 

[Neb]

I do OK with the housework. I do the basics such as clean off the counters, wash the tables and countertops, vacuum, do laundry, dust, etc. But deep cleaning is not my forte'. I have overhead cabinets that I KNOW need to be dusted, floorboards that haven't been scubbed, carpets to be shampood, heat registers that should be washed, shower to clean, windows that need cleaned, etc. For those things, I need to be in the mood to do them and I hardly ever am. I'm a list person, so if it makes the list, it has a much better chance of getting done.

I don't like clutter, so I TRY and stay on top of that. However, hubby is a slob and does NOT help with the clutter. Ug! He drops everything on the counter when he comes home and it sits there, like screws, nails, tire inflator, truck parts, wires, etc. Drives me nuts. I thought when the kdis moved out it'd be easy to keep the house clean. Yeah, right. I usually have Easter and Christmas dinner at my house, so that's when the carpets get shampoo'd, outside of cabinets get washed, frig gets cleaned out, etc. We don't wear outside shoes in the house but we have dogs, so they are hard on the carpets but they are not allowed on furniture without a blanket in a lap. The small group that comes over for dinner are terrible housekeepers, so I don't have anything to feel all that bad about.


Bless you for cleaning houses. I would never be able to clean someone else's messes, besides immediate family of coarse. I always thought I'd love to have a cleaning lady, but I'm too private. I couldn't stand the thought of someone being in my house while I wasn't there.


Are your clothes always wrinkled? I don't fold underwear, but I match socks and then toss them in the undies drawer. I make the bed only b/c I'm sensitive to wrinkels or anything in the bed like sand. I feel like the princess and the pea in that fable.


That is wise. I wish my kid would do that. I think he's had many late fees b/c he doesn't pay attention to his mail. I pay my bills right away too, except taxes. Built up mail on the countertop is clutter that I can't tolerate.


I have a box that I throw pictures in. It's a rather large box and none of the pics are organized. That box hasn't moved from it's shelf in the basement closet for years. Clearly, I don't look at them, but it's not something I feel like I can toss. My mom gave me about a half a dozen binders of organized pictures with the dates and years printed on them. Most of them even state who is in the picture on the back. I never look at those either.


That's one thing we always do after dinner. Immediately after eating, the dirty dishes are loaded into the dish washer, the leftovers are put in the frig, the table and counters are washed off, and the coffee and dog dishes are set to go for the next morning......then we walk the pups. I don't like a dirty kitchen. Although I only have to run the dishwasher about every other day or so.

Yes, cooking and food prep take a lot of time. I didn't even do all the much today for cooking. I got pans and ingredients ready for taco dinner, washed and cut lettuce, and shredded cheese. While I was cutting up the lettuce I made 4 salads for the frig to grab and go. Then I weighed and measured out meat from the roast last night to make soup with tomorrow morning. I've got the crock pot and soup mix ready to roll with my morning coffee. Just doing those tasks took up a good chunk of time. I guess I'd rather eat well than to stress about a pristine house.

IF I had motivation to do things at night, I'd get so much more done but it's hard to get motivated when it's dark outside. After dinner cleanup and the dog walk, I'm done. I usually cruise the web and/or grab a book.

That soooo much like how The Princess does it ( except her pets are floor cleaning robots). She allocates spaces to me like next to my chair but the rest is kept in order.

I have learned...
Don't mess around outside my space
Don't get in her way as she sets life in order
If possible facilitate her efforts

We may have cobwebs in corners and dust on the books but, I feel comfortable in our chaos.

Ben

 

[sonya123]

Are your clothes always wrinkled? I don't fold underwear, but I match socks and then toss them in the undies drawer. I make the bed only b/c I'm sensitive to wrinkels or anything in the bed like sand. I feel like the princess and the pea in that fable.

when I was working in Orlando, my work clothes got hung up on a hanger. Here, we were old stuff, farm clothes etc, and I could care less if I go shopping at the feed store or walmart in a slightly wrinkled thirt or something
most stuff I own doesn't really wrinkle anyway half the clothes today are plastic

there is no sand in the bed btw, dogs are not allowed on the furniture or in the bed, ever

 

[UrbanHunter]

I have been feeling a little taken for granted and today it kind of came to a head. So, I told the wife that I will do 1 thing for her each day, but she has to make a list and she can't add to the list without removing something. I don't expect it to last more than a day or two but I do think it will make her stop and think.