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Here's a bit of an odd question today: Have your cleaning habits changed this year? For example, for those of you who are cleaning your own homes for the first time in a while, are you finding that you enjoy it (or parts of it) more than you expected you would? Are some things being cleaned less often than they would have before the days of social distancing (showers, tubs, floors), or are they being cleaned more because you're home all the time?
For those of you who are out and about in stores and other places, do you have new cleaning systems to keep your home free of outside germs? We haven't talked about keeping a clean house in a while, so let's discuss…
For my $.02, we've had a cleaning professional since my older son was old enough to lick the shower. (Which he did! It was gross! Stop that, child!) I kind of assumed I would always have a cleaning service with kids in the house. But my younger son is old enough now that he's not licking the shower anymore (most of the time, at least), and this year I'm finding that I kind of enjoy cleaning — seeing something go from dirty to clean, having time to listen to a podcast or music.
I'm also realizing that the time we spent “cleaning for our cleaning person” was almost equal to the time I'm spending actually cleaning the things that matter to me — having one moment in time when all counters were clear for wiping, floors for vacuuming/mopping, and beds for changing sheets was kind of a tall order for my family. (We're messy folk, and I've had bad experiences with cleaning people in the past doing their own organizing, like the time I found my huge knife amidst the spatulas.)
At this point I'm thinking we may do a semi-regular clean (ever 6–8 weeks? once a quarter?) when we get back to “normal”… but we're considering ourselves high risk for the moment, mostly because of my blood-clotting disorder, so “normal” may be a while away for us. Thankfully my husband is generally handling the kitchen and vacuuming so I'm just on bathroom and sheets duty for the most part (although I feel like I am always Chief Organizer, but hey).
{related: green cleaning products that actually work}
Readers, how about you? Are you eager to resume whatever system you had in place back in February or so, or do you think your current system will stick? Are you finding any great tips or hacks to share with others?
(My tip, if you have wild monkeys who leave toothpaste and hand soap all over the bathroom counters: Wipe the soap off with something other than your cleaning sponge before you spray the area with your cleaning spray and attack with your cleaning sponge — otherwise it'll bubble up and you'll be wiping the counters for hours. Ask me how I know.)
Ah yes, and we're also back to spraying the showers with Daily Shower (affiliate link) and using a squeegee on our glass door (we like this one).
What are your best cleaning habits and tips, ladies?
Stock photo via Stencil.
ME
I live alone (well, two dogs who shed a lot) in a two bedroom apartment and finally started using professional cleaners about 16 months ago. It was a lifesaver, especially when I started working on my master’s degree so my time was spent either with work or school. My condo building currently does not allow in non-emergency services and I miss my cleaners so much!
While I do clean at home now, it’s tough to figure out the most time-efficient way. For example, doing a room once a week, or doing a big cleaning all at once. My dogs shed a lot. Once they can safely come back, I cannot wait for my professional cleaners again!
Airplane.
My cleaning person reached out to me when we annouced yellow phase in my city and she came back this week and we are back to every two weeks. I was SO GRATEFUL. I also have a dog and he sheds a lot. Plus, laundering towels and linens – AMAZING. Now that I had to spend a few weeks without professional cleaning, I am even more sure that it would be so inefficient to clean myself – she can clean the entire house so much more efficiently than I can.
ME
I’m glad your cleaning person was able to return! The dog hair struggle is real!
I was seriously searching for articles on the most efficient way to clean a house, but wasn’t finding anything good. Someone needs to write that blog in case there’s another shutdown!
pugsnbourbon
I’ve heard Ask a Clean Person tossed around as a resource. I haven’t checked it out myself but I’ve been meaning to.
Anon
I run the roomba more often and I also bought a shark cordless pet pro thing based on a recommendation here for when I want to immediately sweep something up, mostly for the kitchen.
I’m bringing in more cut flowers so there are more petals to keep up with.
The kitchen gets cleaned a couple of times a day but still looks disastrous most of the time because all of use are constantly using it (4 in household, two teens, two parents.)
My kids clean the bathrooms both weekly and weakly.
Dusting is hit or miss to be honest.
Anon
I liked your “weekly and weakly” bit. :-)
AttiredAttorney
In before times, we had professional cleaners come once a month to do a deep clean of our two bedroom condo with us handling smaller tasks in between (kitchen counters, vacuuming, etc). Now, each weekend we tackle different “big” cleaning chores (toilets, showers, bathroom mirrors) based on need. With the two of us home all the time, it seems like we need a lot more cleaning, which makes sense. Our awake hours used to be more than 50% spent at the office, so our bathroom usage used to be higher out of home too. Also, we have area rugs that shed slightly, and now that we’re walking on them more, the fuzz is everywhere. The most notable difference for my has been the frequency with which we run the dishwasher – it’s every night now. We used to run it maybe 3x week (because now we’re not eating out as much, taking weekday breakfasts “to go” by eating off a paper towel during a commute, washing lunch dishes at the office, etc).
pugsnbourbon
OMG the dishwasher. I get that we are eating every single meal at home but holy moly, there are only two of us.
I used to think that I could someday forgo a dishwasher if needed … that’s changed now.
Edna Mazur
Agree the dishwasher thing is no joke. We are a family of five (2, 5, and 6 year olds) and I ran the dishwasher three time yesterday. Granted a little bit of that was catch-up and I did some baking, but still. Once a day used to be about perfect.
anon
I’m actually able to stick to a cleaning schedule because I’m home during the day and not cramming everything into the evening hours! We have four people and a cat, so it’s rarely spotless, but our house is looking pretty darn good all things considered.
We’ve had cleaners coming in every 2 weeks for a few years now; they’ve been on hiatus since mid-March. I miss it in some ways, but I’m reminded that I don’t actually hate cleaning when I have the time to do it.
anne-on
It’s taken me this long into quarantine, but I am finally giving myself permission to skip the deep cleaning chores and only clean as much as my normal cleaners would. That sounds insane, but for example, I’d dust the wood furniture, notice it was streak-y/water-stained and then spend time stripping/and oiling it. Or that the marble counter tops weren’t getting clean because yup, time to re-seal them, or properly scrubbing down the grease accumulated on my kitchen cabinets (so.much.sticky.grease). It’s our home, so I feel like I WANT our things to be well cared for and clean…but it was driving me (and my family) insane that the weekly cleaning became the weekly spring cleaning.
I try to break it up into sections – the ‘easy’ rooms on Friday night (office/dining room which just need dusting/vacuuming), rest of the upstairs on Saturday, and rest of the downstairs on Sunday. I also came to the very frustrating realization that our cleaners had been spraying Clorox as an ‘all surfaces cleaner'(?!?) and did irreparable damage to metal fixtures and some shades/curtains. So I’ve been repairing/replacing those items (I have BIG opinions on metal polishing compounds now). There is a lot of satisfaction is seeing shiny surfaces and neat floors but oh my gosh does it take SO much time…
CountC
My house is dirtier because I hate cleaning and my cleaning person can’t work yet based on my county’s restrictions – hopefully soon! I do the bare minimum to not gross myself out, but my floors have not been truly cleaned in a while.
HousecounseI
I rather like the instant gratification of vacuuming cat fur off my dark wood floors, and I was rather pleased with myself to discovery I COULD keep my house clean. However, spending half my Sunday to do a deep clean was just not fun.
Seventh Sister
Yeah, it takes me a good three hours on the weekend and it also makes me resent the slobs I live with, I mean my beloved family. They generally do pick up after themselves, but it’s still pretty frustrating.
Drowning in Fur
Does anyone have a small, cordless handheld vacuum they like? Cat fur seems to accumulate on our hardwood stairs more than anywhere else in the house, and I’m finding our regular vacuum awkward to maneuver (staircase is a U shape so having to go around corners). Something that gets into the crevices but won’t immediately die from all the fur balls would be ideal.
Squiggles
Probably won’t help but I use a Bissell carpet sweeper. I only have a carpet runner in the middle of wood steps with a curve at the bottom. It is great for the kitty litter he tracks up 2 flights of stairs (how?). I seem to shed as much as he does and it picks up both my hair and his.
For my basement steps there really isn’t a plug so I needed something cordless. And I am horrible at charging items that aren’t my phone so it is a decent stop gap.
Rebecca in Dallas
We have had a monthly cleaning service for years. We paid ours in March but told them not to come (this was just before our county went into shelter-in-place), our county has just started easing restrictions but we don’t feel comfortable having them come back just yet. Plus since we are working at home, it’s not really convenient for us right now, we’d have to have us and our dog out of the house for a couple of hours in the middle of a work day. (Remember just coming home to a clean house? I miss that!)
I figured that things would be messier with us home all the time, but honestly it hasn’t been that way! I think because we are home all the time, we’re more likely to just go ahead and clean something rather than ignore it or not notice it. (Note: we don’t have kids, just two adults and four pets.) Plus we can spread out chores and do them in chunks rather than trying to get it all done on a weekend or evening.
Anon
Kat- really surprised being a Factor V Leiden carrier counts as high risk- unless there is a history of clots? Did a physician say you were high risk? Or are you a homozygous carrier? Obviously not something you need to tell us but… I am a carrier also and it’s quite common, so this is probably news to many and wondering if it’s something we should be aware of!
Anonymous
Not Kat, but I’m guessing it’s because they are finding that abnormal micro-vessel blood clotting is a key feature of the damage of COVID-19. It’s part of the reason people have super low oxygen levels or die late in the disease course (on their way to recovery) when they’re younger.
Kat G
I haven’t talked to my doctor about it and don’t have a personal history of clots, but we’re taking every precaution anyway until the clotting around covid is understood much better. I’m in one FVL group on FB and it sounds like folks are getting mixed reports from their doctors when they bring it up.
See, e.g., https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/health/coronavirus-strokes.html
Anon
My cleaning service came back over the weekend and it was absolutely glorious. I know this sounds privileged but I have had a cleaning service my whole life (except for college, where I lived in a dorm with a janitor service) and I don’t even really know how to clean. I know how to keep things tidy, and of course I pick up after myself like if I make a mess while cooking I will wipe it up, but I don’t know how to clean a bathroom at all and I don’t know how to get countertops and floors sparking clean the way a cleaning service does. In my current house, we didn’t even have necessary cleaning supplies like a vacuum. At the beginning of quarantine we spent a lot of money on cleaning supplies (we bought a Roomba which didn’t work very well, so we bought a regular vacuum, etc.) but I could never get my house looking halfway decent. I spend maybe an hour or so tidying up for our cleaners each time they come, but during quarantine I was spending way more time than that cleaning and our house was waaaaay less clean.
Keilexandra
We have a monthly cleaning service and only canceled one month before we decided to have them come back. Neither of us are high-risk so we just went grocery shopping while the cleaners were in the house. (For perspective, we still shop in-person and don’t wipe down groceries when we get home, although we do wear masks and wash our hands immediately.)
For that second month when we skipped the cleaning — oh boy, I really noticed. I like to describe myself as a “neat freak who hates cleaning” because I keep everything neatly organized but I don’t want to actually scrub anything. That means I get a lot of payoff for little additional effort with professional cleaners (my “cleaning for the cleaners” consists of 15 seconds pulling out clean bed linens and maybe another 30 seconds tidying up random stuff on the floor). We basically collected twice as much grime on all surfaces, especially with the increased frequency of cooking / kitchen use. We also bought a Roomba after I was frustrated enough to drag out the old upright vacuum and it died on me mid-session. I’m sure the long-haired cat and long-haired woman (me) don’t help matters :)
Sarah
With more time on my hands during the pandemic, I have definitely found myself spending more time making an effort to make my home clean, especially since my family is home nearly 24/7. I have deep cleaned and decluttered every nook and cranny in my house and it has actually been so nice! I even had a professional carpet cleaner come and clean our carpets and couches. Like you, I’ve been listening to podcasts while I clean and I just hope I can keep up this productivity after everything returns to normal!