How often do you clean the house?

[samiwas]

I've been curious over the past few years how often people clean their houses/apartments/etc. I bring it up because I feel like I am constantly battling dust and stuff in our house.

We live in a three-floor town home. The bottom floor is a garage and a carpeted bonus room, the main floor is all hardwoods, and the top floor is two carpeted bedrooms, and all stairs are carpet.

I swear that within two weeks, you can literally write your name in the dust on our entertainment center. I have a dust mop that I run around the hardwoods every few days, and there is nearly always a pile of bits and the pad is grey from dust. I just can't believe how quickly it piles up.

Then I go to my step-brother's house. He and his wife would have piles of clothes all over the house (including in the bathtub), kitchen counters so full of dishes and mail that you couldn't see the counters, and a dig, yet there's almost no dust on any furniture. I know they don't dust if they can't clean anything else.

I change our air filters every few months, and we even had our ducts cleaned to see if it would help. Didn't seem to do much.

Am I just crazy thinking that we shouldn't have piles of dust every couple of weeks?

 

[Gregg2]

General cleaning weekly, not involving dusting.
Dusting is boring, and it takes a long time if you dust anything that isn't vertical, as I do. (My better half is allergic to dust.) So I break it up. Our house is two stories, 4 bedrooms. I do a section at a time, and only two days per week, total of five sections, so on the third week, only once. After my "day off" I start the cycle the following week. Over a three week span, every room gets dusted. I used to do it daily M-F but found that I wasn't picking up much dust.

How old is your house? Perhaps it's a "leaker". Every building "breathes" and air comes in every crack and crevice, especially as air is exhausted. You can have a pro come and assess your home and do air sealing if it's called for. Perhaps that would keep the dust out a little better.

Our house was built in 2003. It is heavily insulated, and very "tight". Last year, we had a continuously running exhaust fan installed. This helps with air changes, and limits or prevents condensation from building up on the inside of the windows during cold weather.

 

[Apple fanboy]

How often do you clean the house?

I'm not sure. I'll check with the wife!

 

[samiwas]

General cleaning weekly, not involving dusting.
Dusting is boring, and it takes a long time if you dust anything that isn't vertical, as I do. (My better half is allergic to dust.) So I break it up. Our house is two stories, 4 bedrooms. I do a section at a time, and only two days per week, total of five sections, so on the third week, only once. After my "day off" I start the cycle the following week. Over a three week span, every room gets dusted. I used to do it daily M-F but found that I wasn't picking up much dust.

Wow...yeah, I'd love to have this much discipline in it. I have conflicting issues. One is that I like everything clean and orderly and hate dust. The second is that I hate taking the time to do it when I can be productive doing other stuff.

How old is your house? Perhaps it's a "leaker". Every building "breathes" and air comes in every crack and crevice, especially as air is exhausted. You can have a pro come and assess your home and do air sealing if it's called for. Perhaps that would keep the dust out a little better.

This could be a good point. Our house was built in late 2005 and we are the original owners. I do know that it has quite a few "leaks" as I can see daylight through the edges of doors. Maybe that's my next stop.

 

[designs216]

The house gets cleaned about once a week except for things like laundry and dishes which are constantly being washed. Things like dusting usually gets done about every month or so. Ceiling fans get cleaned as needed and HVAC filters get changed every 3 months.

Isn't household dust largely composed of dead epithelial cells? Maybe you shed more than your brother. Most likely his abode is just so repulsive, you just don't notice a little dust.

 

[Happybunny]

My housekeeper does the house twice a week.

My house is from 1793, it has been the family home ever since.
23 rooms of which 6 are bedrooms, four levels, attic used now as storage.
I have no idea why this important, but other posters dated their houses?

 

[samiwas]

Isn't household dust largely composed of dead epithelial cells? Maybe you shed more than your brother. Most likely his abode is just so repulsive, you just don't notice a little dust.

Yes, most dust is skin cells. Ours seems to be some of that, and some fibers...so I assume form the carpets.

My housekeeper does the house twice a week.

We'd love to have a housekeeper. We actually tried one once but didn't like the service and just never tried again. A lot of our friends have housekeeping companies that come by every two weeks or whatever and love it. Thinking about trying it again.

 

[Shrink]

Do what!!??

 

[GoCubsGo]

Bathrooms once a week, the rest of it I don't give a ****. No one is coming over and I have no one to impress.

 

[SMDBill]

We own a cleaning business. What we often find is people either clean routinely or they seem to not clean...ever. Most of our customers pay for bi-weekly cleaning and they do the touch-up cleaning in between visits.

Kitchen counters daily is ideal. That's where your food is prepared and can attract bugs and rodents if not kept clean. Bathrooms at least once a week, including tubs or showers. Vacuum 1x per week, sweep vinyl and wood floors 1-4x per week depending on traffic, pets, etc. Baseboards 1x per month minimum. Dust 1-2x weekly.

Most of it depends on a person's tolerance level for dirt. With infants and toddlers, floors, bathrooms and kitchens need to be kept much cleaner than normal because they touch all of them with their hands and regularly put hands into their mouths. But, some people will say they do the minimum and don't care what others think. It's all up to your standards of living and we're all different so it's largely subjective.

One note...cleanliness should not be about what others think of your home. It should be about keeping it clean to your standards of cleanliness. What others think really isn't important as long as it meets your requirements.

 

[sviato]

Bathrooms, kitchen, vacuuming everything once a week.

 

[calderone]

Daily upkeep.
Weekly deep clean.

1960s, Seattle, Condo, 700 sqft.

One note...cleanliness should not be about what others think of your home. It should be about keeping it clean to your standards of cleanliness. What others think really isn't important as long as it meets your requirements.

I partly agree. If you entertain, there should be a bit more concern. If it is people you know, I'd say one "notch" above your standard. For others two "notches."

Last thing I want is to come hang out at a hoarders place, or someone who is fine with junk all over.

 

[ijohn.8.80]

That's my domain and I do it once a week, dusting, then all floors and the bathroom, but having three teenage boys you would never know! The kitchen is done daily as I'm anal about hygiene and food prep.

 

[designs216]

Bathrooms once a week, the rest of it I don't give a ****. No one is coming over and I have no one to impress.

I guess it's weird, perhaps even OCD, but it puts me at peace when this place is clean and neat. We rarely have visitors except the short variety but I do want to prevent visits from the shortest variety.

 

[shooter03]

That's my domain and I do it once a week, dusting, then all floors and the bathroom, but having three teenage boys you would never know! The kitchen is done daily as I'm anal about hygiene and food prep.

Lol, you said anal!

 

[ijohn.8.80]

Lol, you said anal!

Oh god... I can hear the snickers of Beavis & Butthead now!

 

[Richal]

Just type the wrong word?

 

[GoCubsGo]

I guess it's weird, perhaps even OCD, but it puts me at peace when this place is clean and neat. We rarely have visitors except the short variety but I do want to prevent visits from the shortest variety.

My house isn't messy, I just don't do any real cleaning often. Then again, it could change once I finish the bathroom remodel.

 

[eternlgladiator]

I clean my whole place about once a week. Most things occur on the same night whenever I end up having time and others are ad hoc as I need to do them. I like to stay ahead of the big jobs but I have an 800 sf apartment so falling behind is fairly difficult and when I do it still doesn't take much to catch up.

 

[firedept]

Maid service does our house twice a week (2 people), 4 hours each time. Large home at 2 story, 5 bdrm + office. We have 3 dogs so it needs it. It is amazing how much some breeds of dogs can shed. Furnace filter gets done once a month, due to dogs. Dishes are done after every meal by me. Wife and I both work. Plus wife is in school and I also have a business to run, so never any time for us to do it. We prefer to work on the outside of the house in our garden when we do get spare time.

 

[Gregg2]

This could be a good point. Our house was built in late 2005 and we are the original owners. I do know that it has quite a few "leaks" as I can see daylight through the edges of doors. Maybe that's my next stop.

Well, if you had a good builder a house that new should not be a leaker.

My housekeeper does the house twice a week.

My house is from 1793, it has been the family home ever since. ...
I have no idea why this important, but other posters dated their houses?

Because construction methods have changed. In your case, materials have most likely changed as well. The issue is air infiltration. Older buildings usually have more air and thus dust getting inside.

 

[samiwas]

Bathrooms once a week, the rest of it I don't give a ****. No one is coming over and I have no one to impress.

It's for me. I'm the harshest critic. Like I said though, my procrastination habit often overwhelms my cleaning needs.

I guess it's weird, perhaps even OCD, but it puts me at peace when this place is clean and neat.

Ditto. I am so much happier when my place is clean.

We have 3 dogs so it needs it. It is amazing how much some breeds of dogs can shed.

Oh, I'm sure. I went to a friend's house, where he had three dogs, all of which were heavy shedders. And they didn't clean at all. There were literally piles of hair with pathways through it where they walked from one room to another or to the couch or whatever. It was revolting.

Well, if you had a good builder a house that new should not be a leaker.

Well, yes....IF. Unfortunately, we didn't.

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Thanks for all the info. It does seem like most of you clean about as often as we would need to, so it must not be that out of the ordinary. I just need to figure it out.

 

[hallux]

Single guy here, 1,000 sq. ft. apartment with attached garage. Bathrooms, as needed. Vacuum, every other week or once a month. General cleaning (picking things up, organizing) is always ongoing and never complete. Kitchen, as-needed. Garage is swept 2x a year, or more depending on how much stuff they use on the roads. The complex changes my furnace filter 2x a year I think.

If I'm expecting company I'll make the place neat, but I have one room I'd close off as it's a disaster.

 

[sunnysweet]

Once a week. It is tiring to clean the whole house and I'm planning to clean the house once every two weeks, just hope that it will not get too dirty.

 

[Gregg2]

Once a week. It is tiring to clean the whole house and I'm planning to clean the house once every two weeks, just hope that it will not get too dirty.

Keep your weekly routine, but clean half of the stuff you have been cleaning. Clean the other half the following week. If you do as you propose, the weeks that you clean will be hectic, because on the off-weeks, you will fill that time with something else. Then you'll resent having to clean, and you won't clean everything. If you do as I propose, you'll have "extra" time every week, and fill that with something else, but still have cleaning in your routine.