Mine is clean. It's not that big a deal or that hard to do. Why do so many people procrastinate? My partner and I take two to three hours each weekend to double team the place. I clean two bathrooms, kitchen surfaces, do laundry and vacuum. He cleans one bathroom, mops the tile floors, dusts, cleans the porches, and gets the dog hair off the couches and chairs. I love Scrubbing Bubbles. Once a week on the tub and the build up just doesn't build up. It's so easy if you stay on top of it.
During the week, there isn't that much to do. Beds get made first thing in the morning, dishes go in the dishwasher after dinner, we pick up after ourselves, and put our clothes in the hamper as soon as we undress.
I try not to judge, but really have a hard time understanding how things get so out of hand in some of my friends homes. Fess up, Legion Worldies. Are you obsessively clean or does your pad look like a tornado just went through?
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
I have a four year old. Take a wild guess. Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
Tornado here.
Posted by Dev Em on :
I plead the fifth.
Posted by Power Boy on :
my apartment is so filthy it has gained sentience.
Posted by Mattropolis on :
depends on the day
Posted by cleome on :
If you remember Fibber McGee's closet, just imagine that spread all over an 860' one-story house.
Then imagine how happy I'd be if my house were actually as organized as that.
Posted by cleome on :
I should probably add that dirt rarely bothers me, while clutter drives me absolutely bonkers.
Posted by Jerry on :
Hmm. Nobody wants to admit to being obsessive? My mother was truly obsessive. When you walked across her floor she would sometimes follow behind you with a dust mop to clean whatever came off your feet. She and my sister once had a hilarious fight, when mom wanted her to clean the leaves of the house plants with a spray bottle of water and light rag. My sister totally rebelled and is not a good housekeeper.
Regarding clutter - I read an interesting article recently. It said one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to try to organize it by buying plastic tubs. This just leads to clutter inside plastic tubs piled all over the house. If you really want to get organized, you have to reduce. Throw things away, recycle, or donate. I totally agree. Regarding clothes, I try to follow the rule that if I haven't worn it in over a year it's time for it to go.
Posted by cleome on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by Jerry: Regarding clutter - I read an interesting article recently. It said one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to try to organize it by buying plastic tubs. This just leads to clutter inside plastic tubs piled all over the house. If you really want to get organized, you have to reduce. Throw things away, recycle, or donate. I totally agree. Regarding clothes, I try to follow the rule that if I haven't worn it in over a year it's time for it to go.
Oh, Jerry...
Not to flaunt my straight lifestyle in everyone's face, but you don't even wanna' know how many times I've had this discussion with my husband. After awhile, it becomes healthier to replace obsession with obsessive denial. Because who wants to have the same damn conversation over and over again for ten-plus years?
Which is not to pick on the menfolk (straight or otherwise) alone. My female roomie before I moved out of my old place was the biggest clutter fiend I've ever known. It was frightening sometimes.
Posted by Faraway Lad on :
Clean enough to be healthy and cluttered enough to be confortable
Posted by Ram Boy on :
Clean, yet charmingly lived in. My socks on the floor lend a certain touch of comme ci, comme ca. While the overflowing hamper clearly states, "Behold my unwashed bounty!"
Posted by cleome on :
Upon further reflection, I admit that there are certain things I'm very fussy about in terms of cleanliness. I've been known to re-wash glasses and cookware when they don't feel clean enough, for instance. I'm compulsive about keeping copperwear spotless, too; despite the fact that our kitchen is the size of a broom closet and thus even the shiniest dish in history is never going to be sitting out to impress guests.
Posted by dedman on :
Me and my wife are generally disorganized...you know, a book over there, a couple of magazines lying around etc, etc.
However, lately we have been obsessively neat and tidy (we are trying to sell the house) I'm sure once this place sells and we move into the new place it'll be back to the status quo for us.
Posted by cleome45 on :
Update!
Current Empty Beer Boxes Filled With Junk And Sent On To A New Life At Megalo-Thrift Co. (As of the last week in December: )
Eight or Nine, with more in the works.
I made myself get to work on the cleaning today by putting on the butt rock radio station. I don't like butt rock, but since I associate it with being stuck at work, I figured it would get me out of "holiday" mode. (A misnomer, since I don't get paid to take the day off anyway. This tends to harsh one's festive mood, I'm afraid.)
Onward!
Posted by Lard Lad on :
Okay, I give up, Clee--what's "butt rock"? Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
My wife and I put away all the kids toys every night after they go to bed...sometimes it takes 15 minutes. Even though I know we'll do it again the next day, we need that sense of organization and reclaiming our condo. My eldest is finally starting to learn 'clean up time', so maybe this responsibility will shift soon...
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by Lard Lad: Okay, I give up, Clee--what's "butt rock"?
"Classic" rock, LL. You know... Zep and Def and Bob Seger and the rest. Usually about 35-40 songs played over and over and over all day/week/month long. 95.5% White dudes. Once or twice in an eight-hour day you'll get Joan Jett and/or Hendrix, if you're lucky.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I don't wanna talk about it.
Posted by Jerry on :
I took advantage of the extra day off to get some extra cleaning and straightening done. I took down all the light fixtures and cleaned all the dead bug pieces out (gross). Then I got all the CD's in alphabetical order (finally). Listened to the Chili Peppers. Does that count as "butt rock"?
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
I thought the Chili Peppers were sock rock.
Posted by Triplicate Kid on :
Pretty cluttered. We moved end of April, and some stuff still isn't unpacked. Which goes to show something about the amount of stuff we had: a lot of it was rarely used.
Speaking of moving, it's weird how a new house can be both larger and smaller than the old one. Larger in terms of stated square footage, but the old one had an unfinished basement, thus not counted, while the new one has... I'm not sure if you call it a finished basement when it's entirely above ground on one side. So some of the stuff from the old (rarely entered by me) basement has to go in more lived-in areas. Even after that, we have more room, but sometimes inconveniently. Some functions that were in the same room in the old house are now in different rooms, requiring duplicate furniture.
Posted by cleome45 on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by Jerry: I took advantage of the extra day off to get some extra cleaning and straightening done. I took down all the light fixtures and cleaned all the dead bug pieces out (gross)...
The cats think the "baked" moths that I shake out of the fixtures are wasted unless they're pounced on and eaten immediately.
Posted by Jerry on :
Cats are so much fun!
Posted by cleome45 on :
The big foe right now is paperwork. There's a logjam at home, because I have to shred and/or file the old tax crap to make room for 2011's filing.
So... most of 2003 has been shredded and discarded. Part of 2004 can go as well. (Stubs and timecards and other things covered by bank statements.) But 2011 still needs to be sorted/stapled/readied for the closet before 2012's stuff can be properly placed in the file. (I use one of those carry-handle accordion files for everything that shows up in whatever the current year is.)
What a bore. And I've never understood how one stationary box full of old paperwork ends up needing 3-5 shopping bags once it's shredded. No wonder I only got a Cplus in Physics.
Posted by Director Lad on :
I have to be pretty obsessive about keeping my kitchen clean or I get sugar ants all over everything, which is gross. The willpower expended to clean every plate, fork, glass, and pan immediately after use takes away from what's available to maintain the rest of the house, which gets a tidying every month or so.
Ugh, and paperwork. I have a 12-inch high stack of stuff that needs to be sorted and filed and a 24-inch high stack of stuff to be shredded.
Posted by Anita Cocktail on :
Dusty. So dusty.
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by Director Lad: I have to be pretty obsessive about keeping my kitchen clean or I get sugar ants all over everything, which is gross. The willpower expended to clean every plate, fork, glass, and pan immediately after use takes away from what's available to maintain the rest of the house, which gets a tidying every month or so.
Ugh, and paperwork. I have a 12-inch high stack of stuff that needs to be sorted and filed and a 24-inch high stack of stuff to be shredded.
I hear you on the ant issue. I have to keep the dishes under water if I don't feel like cleaning them right away. Also, every damn open bag or container in the pantry has to be sealed inside a ziploc bag or inside another container once it's opened. Gah.
I finally got 2011 out of the way, and half the '12 logjam has been organized and filed. Don't lose hope, DL! If I can do it (eventually), anyone can!
Posted by Anita Cocktail on :
I moved all the empty beer cans out of the living room and into the kitchen.(except for the one I'm using as an ashtray) Baby steps, dears, baby steps.
Posted by cleome45 on :
Buy some duct tape and make yourself some beercan towers. Or switch to bottles and learn glassblowing.
Posted by Anita Cocktail on :
Oh, my. You certainly are a Clever Cathy!
Posted by cleome45 on :
[bows] I just can't figure out how to make it pay...
Posted by Jerry on :
Weekend cleaning is done. The extra project today was washing the baseboards. Labor intensive, but I have to have clean baseboards. It's done. Yay!
Favorite new cleaning products:
Mr. Clean with Febreze, Hawaiian Aloha scent - Pine-Sol, you have been replaced.
Innovera Screen Cleaning Wipes - These are terrific. I got them at Wal-Greens in the electronics section. Pull up wipes for computer screens, television screens, etc. No streaking, no residue, no worry about squirting something on your screen that you just know you shouldn't have as soon you pull the trigger.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
It's fairly common here for even lower-middle income households to have live-in maids. Alas, poverty = cheap labor and most maids work for a minimal salary with free room & board, food and other basic needs.
As a result our house is quite clean. And the maids are part of the family, since they usually act as combination maids/nannies - we call them yaya. The maid who took care of my dad and his siblings is still flown out from retirement by the family whenever we have a major event like a wedding or baptism.
Posted by Spellbinder on :
I've been streaming Style Network's Clean House through Netflix (I love that show). Makes my little bit of clutter seem pretty tame Posted by Kid Charlemagne on :
My apartment usually looks like a tornado hit it, then returned to be sure it had done a proper job.
I owe that line to Len Wein, IIRC. He had Elongated Man say something like that in JLA #113 (original series).
"The Creature In The Velvet Cage" was the story. It was the one where we learned that Sandy Hawkins had been transformed into a silicoid being. The late, great Dick Dillin pencilled it.
I was just beginning my acquaintance with superhero comics. That was only the 3rd issue of JLA I had ever bought, and it introduced me to the multiple Earths, being a JLA/JSA crossover.
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