How much time do you spend cleaning your house?

[Jerry1]

I would say that we keep our house clean, but not necessarily tidy (we have clutter). Still, it feels like we could spend time every day and still not have a clean house. The main things we spend time on are the kitchen and bathrooms - those are clean, period. But, the rest of the house with dusting, vacuuming, getting under furniture, windows, and of course, the clutter that needs to be moved/taken care of before any of that is done, just seems to be getting to be too much.

Obviously, we could hire help, but I'm wondering, in general, what a reasonable amount of time should be allocated to keep the house clean. Our house is a 1700sqft ranch with 3br and 1.5 bathrooms - so not a large house. How much time do you spend cleaning your house. And, if you hire help, how much do you spend and what do they clean? If not everything, how much time do you spend on what's left.

The bottom line is that I want our house to be cleaner and am thinking it's time to hire help. I'm thinking of someone quarterly coming in and doing a very thorough cleaning as a place to start.

 

[disneysteve]

How much time do we spend? Not nearly enough.

 

[aja8888]

Before my wife died, we had a cleaning service for once a month clean for $90/month. This was for a 2,000 sq, ft. house with two of us living in it.

 

[Aerides]

I could spend far more time than I do, but probably actual "cleaning" maybe a couple hours a week. I'm including vacuuming, floors, dusting, using cleaning products.

That, of course doesn't include the stuff like dishes and cooking cleanup, laundry, things that need to be done as needed.

I always wanted a housekeeper, but could never face the price when working/saving (every two weeks at $90 was the quote 10 years ago).

But now that I'm retired, I don't want to spend the time cleaning my house! Then again, I don't want someone here for a couple hours every two weeks either, and I know DH wouldn't either. If we did it, we'd probably expect to hole up in our shared office and let them clean the rest of the house (it's a 3/2, barely bigger than the OP's).

My Mum (78) is now thinking about it, as she has back issues, so I fully endorse that for her, particularly if that includes changing the bedding.

I don't think you'll be able to hire someone on the regular for quarterly visits, but would need to get a deep-clean service on an ad-hoc basis if that's the schedule you want. Most maid services are smart enough to know that it's a lot more work to clean a house that hasn't been done professionally in a few months.

Much like housekeepers in hotels hate the trend for guests to bypass daily service - it means the room is going to need a lot more time when people check out than if they'd had daily cleanings.

What I really need is a service to come and weed my garden as that is getting harder to face in these long hot wet florida summers.

 

[CaffeineMe]

One way to help keep up with the cleaning is to invest in a decent quality robot vaccum cleaner. I bought an i-life (non-programmable) version on Amazon for about $100 about 4 years ago and it now does all the vaccuming under beds and other low places for me. It works great on tile and hardwood floors and is awesome for getting up dog hair. Just pick up anything on the floor it might get tangled in (charging cords, socks, dog toys) and start it up. Since mine is a cheapie, I have to empty it 2-3 times during a run, but there are some that will empty themselves.
Anyway, for $100 it is soooo worth it. I hate dirty floors. Now I need a robot to dust and all will be well.

 

[Jerry1]

What I really need is a service to come and weed my garden as that is getting harder to face in these long hot wet florida summers.

Isn’t that the truth. The yard work is probably next on my list to think seriously about hiring out. I’m already adjusting the yard to be more mowable. The more I can do on my riding mower (I have an acre lot), the longer I’ll be able to keep from hiring that work out.

 

[Mark1]

But, the rest of the house with dusting, vacuuming, getting under furniture, windows, and of course, the clutter that needs to be moved/taken care of before any of that is done, just seems to be getting to be too much.

Clutter makes cleaning much more work. Most people can't part with their clutter as they really want to have 50 pictures of the grand kids around the house and they just like to fill up every available space with something. DW tells me our house is easy to clean as we have no clutter, and she actually enjoys cleaning it.

I would just BTD and get a cleaner to come in every two weeks.

 

[motley]

I would say that we keep our house clean, but not necessarily tidy (we have clutter). Still, it feels like we could spend time every day and still not have a clean house. The main things we spend time on are the kitchen and bathrooms - those are clean, period. But, the rest of the house with dusting, vacuuming, getting under furniture, windows, and of course, the clutter that needs to be moved/taken care of before any of that is done, just seems to be getting to be too much.

About sums it up for me. I dread the day when I can't do it all as I hate the idea of some stranger bouncing around in my house.

 

[fosterscik]

Completely agree!

One way to help keep up with the cleaning is to invest in a decent quality robot vaccum cleaner. I bought an i-life (non-programmable) version on Amazon for about $100 about 4 years ago and it now does all the vaccuming under beds and other low places for me. It works great on tile and hardwood floors and is awesome for getting up dog hair. Just pick up anything on the floor it might get tangled in (charging cords, socks, dog toys) and start it up. Since mine is a cheapie, I have to empty it 2-3 times during a run, but there are some that will empty themselves.
Anyway, for $100 it is soooo worth it. I hate dirty floors. Now I need a robot to dust and all will be well.

We have a semi-smart Roomba I8 "Bob" that maps our house and does a much better job than our old random walk robot. That combined with self emptying to a disposible bag is a vast improvement. We like this system so much that we only buy furniture that Bob can clean under .
Dust bunnies are a thing of the past. We set up our schedule so that each day Bob cleans the kitchen plus one other area (bedroom, hallway...). We recently built our house with a robot in mind - one level, no carpets (all hardwood or tile) and area rugs in a few places.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

We pay $110 every visit to have someone come every other week and clean. They only clean the kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 1 bedroom, and 2 family/living rooms, and they're usually here 2-3 hours. (I say "only" not to diminish the effort, but because we 3BR, 1BA, and the finished basement shut, so we don't have her clean those.)

We pick up quite a bit before she comes only so she spends more time cleaning and less time prepping. I wipe down various parts of the kitchen and bathrooms as I go, too, since we space out her visits. I don't normally vacuum since she does that.

 

[pacergal]

Probably about an hour or two. Kitchen is cleaned and wiped down daily, We vacuum, clean bathrooms weekly, Surface dust every other week, and other dusting as I see cobwebs!
The big ,deep down cleaning such as washing/vacuuming walls/baseboards, taking down drapes to wash, etc. we get too once a year--should probably be more.
Never move the furniture, just vacuum around and under as best as the vacuum can.
No cats in several years, and current pup is hypo allergenic and doesn't shed, so way less fur than when we were younger.
Our house is tidy, no clutter (that bugs me, so is picked up daily), so it doesn't take long to clean

I am about to the point of getting a house cleaning service. I simply don't get to the cleaning as often as I used too. I can, but I don't want to--lol
.

 

[motley]

Vacuuming walls?

I admit I'm getting bad about vacuuming. I used to do it at least once a week if not more due to the dog, but now that he's gone and it's just me, it's more like every other week. Worst chore ever. Definitely have to look into the roomba thing.

 

[dixonge]

We resisted for quite awhile but now we have a maid clean once a week, 3.5 hours. Cost is $80/mo.

 

[skipro33]

We spend around an hour a day. Our house is usually spotless, always ready for company. It does get cluttered while cooking, stripping the beds, etc., but otherwise, pretty much ready to show within half a day for selling it, right down to the 'junk drawer' in the kitchen. I even straighten my side of the bed after getting up, which is about an hour before my wife does. Clothes are either in the hamper or washed and hung up, never left in the laundry basket. They will sometimes hang an extra day out on the clothesline though if I get lazy and don't bring them in and hang up.
All this started in 2007 after we built our home after a wildland fire wiped ours out. Starting fresh like that, clean slate, we just kept it that way. One rule we have; if we don't use something for 2 years, we put a sticker on it, an orange dot. If it's still there the next year, it goes. Occasionally we'll keep stuff longer, but not often. And occasionally we'll rebuy something we got rid of, but also not often. That really cuts clutter. This includes clothes, shoes, etc. Keepsakes, we do hang onto, but even those are sorted through every couple years as new keepsakes come into being.
Photo of the junk drawer taken moments ago:

EDIT
We have a Roomba that vacuums 3 times a week. We run the big vac maybe twice a month to get deeper cleaning. Rooma is the best cleaning tool ever! We named ours Rosie after the robot from the cartoon show, The Jetsons.

 

[skipro33]

Completely agree!

We have a semi-smart Roomba I8 "Bob" that maps our house and does a much better job than our old random walk robot. That combined with self emptying to a disposible bag is a vast improvement. We like this system so much that we only buy furniture that Bob can clean under .
Dust bunnies are a thing of the past. We set up our schedule so that each day Bob cleans the kitchen plus one other area (bedroom, hallway...). We recently built our house with a robot in mind - one level, no carpets (all hardwood or tile) and area rugs in a few places.

I have the same I8, from Costco I think. The Costco version has the larger sized battery. It also self empties. I buy the consumables off Amazon and while they don't last as long as originals, easy to service. Recently I noticed Roomba was unable to finish chores without going back to recharge 3 times, taking several hours to now do what once took maybe less than 2 hours. I called iRobot about that and they sent me a replacement free under warranty. SWEET! Rosie is back at it today, happily cleaning under the bed, closets, under the couch, double cleaning high traffic areas like entries and kitchen even. She's my gal!

 

[Car-Guy]

House cleaning:
Me 30 mins a week (total) no matter if need or not.
DW 3 to 5 hours a week.

 

[Gumby]

I generally keep the whole house tidy and uncluttered, and keep the kitchen surfaces clean, but we have a cleaning lady come every two weeks to vacuum, dust, scrub everything thoroughly. She spends about four hours cleaning our 2500 sqft. house. If she has a helper that day, they spend two hours. She does a very thorough job, and I pay her $150 per visit.

 

[GoodWishes]

DH and I both clean the house together on the weekends. It takes us about one to two hours depending on which part of the house we are cleaning. Over a few weeks, the whole house gets cleaned.

We also do light cleaning, maybe 20 minutes, every week in the kitchen and bathrooms.

We have no pets and we are both pretty tidy people so the house stays pretty clean.

 

[wrigley]

We spend around an hour a day. Our house is usually spotless, always ready for company. It does get cluttered while cooking, stripping the beds, etc., but otherwise, pretty much ready to show within half a day for selling it, right down to the 'junk drawer' in the kitchen. I even straighten my side of the bed after getting up, which is about an hour before my wife does. Clothes are either in the hamper or washed and hung up, never left in the laundry basket. They will sometimes hang an extra day out on the clothesline though if I get lazy and don't bring them in and hang up.
All this started in 2007 after we built our home after a wildland fire wiped ours out. Starting fresh like that, clean slate, we just kept it that way. One rule we have; if we don't use something for 2 years, we put a sticker on it, an orange dot. If it's still there the next year, it goes. Occasionally we'll keep stuff longer, but not often. And occasionally we'll rebuy something we got rid of, but also not often. That really cuts clutter. This includes clothes, shoes, etc. Keepsakes, we do hang onto, but even those are sorted through every couple years as new keepsakes come into being.
Photo of the junk drawer taken moments ago:
View attachment 52117


EDIT
We have a Roomba that vacuums 3 times a week. We run the big vac maybe twice a month to get deeper cleaning. Rooma is the best cleaning tool ever! We named ours Rosie after the robot from the cartoon show, The Jetsons.

That's the tidiest "Junk Drawer" I've ever seen. I'd show you pictures of mine, but I can't get them open.

Mike

 

[athena53]

No kids, no pets, no clutter, 4 BRs, 3 full baths. Two of the bedrooms are in a living area in the walk-out basement. Week 1: Clean main floor. Dust ceiling/wall corners, spray and dust surfaces, scrub the tub/shower and sink in the bathroom I use, spray and wipe baseboards. Vacuum.

Week 2: Same with lower floor including dusting between beams in basement storage area. Vacuum.

Typically 3 days of cleaning in each week, 45 minutes a day. I periodically weed out stuff I no longer need/use and wipe up messes when they happen.

 

[Gremlin]

That's the tidiest "Junk Drawer" I've ever seen. I'd show you pictures of mine, but I can't get them open.

Mike

I’m a very tidy person but definitely have “junk drawer envy” after that photo!

 

[RetiredHappy]

We have a professional cleaning company come in every 2 weeks to clean for $190 per visit. Usually 2 people come in and spend about 1.5 hours cleaning. They do a pretty decent job.

 

[qwerty3656]

We have a cleaning lady come in

 

[jgrdarrash]

I have a chronic fatigue disease so my cleanliness standards had to go way down. DH and I clean kitchen and 2 baths once a month, Roomba as needed. We hire a house cleaner once a month, 3 hours for $140. I think many in our area will do monthly but not quarterly.

 

[ksr]

I am pretty much a minimalist so have very little clutter. However, I notice that I tend to keep my house cleaner in the winter. I don’t keep up with things like dusting in the summer - I spend more time on yardwork so less inside the house. I clean the kitchen daily, bathrooms and vacuuming about once a week. Other things like dusting are more like when I notice the need.

For a few years when I was working, I paid a housekeeper to clean biweekly. I didn’t mind the cost, but I just didn’t like having someone coming into the house.