Poll: Do You Manage to Keep Your Home Tidy?

[Rufous McKinney]

That's funny about you enjoying vacuuming.

I'm extensively trained....Saturdays growing up was: full on the entire place gets vacuumed and Guess Who was largely tasked with that? Plus deploying all the Kirby accessories dusting.

But I'd be singing away, when I vacuumed in the past. I used the Kirby handle as my stand up microphone. And I"d use the Kirby long extension tubes, which can also amplify your voice.

Third Grade Talent Show Winner: I did Just You Wait Henry Higgins on stage, singing and dancing.

Later in life, I vacuumed with Led Zeppelin III on, usually.

Now I don' t hardly ever play any music.

 

[jim777]

Doing little things like sitting down when folding laundry. And sitting down when doing dishes helped me. It just doesn't drain my energy anywhere near as much.

I would have to stand there for like an hour otherwise.

 

[Alvin2]

Nope, stuff piled on top of stuff, and the dust rhinos are getting scary

Dust Lions you mean

 

[maple]

@Tammy it is a Roomba and it is great. You can connect it to your phone via internet (ok, someone else did this for me) so you can start it up from wherever you happen to be resting. It maps out your floor plan so eventually it becomes quite efficient with its path. Also, I have a bottle of spray bleach cleaner in the bathroom so I can just squirt the toilet and it looks much cleaner, even if I don't have the energy to clean it. Wipe the rim with TP and down it all goes. Put a stack of cleaning rags with the cleaner under the sink so I can just swipe something when the moment arises without needing to walk somewhere to get something. Similarly, put a Swiffer in the bedside table...

 

[lenora]

I think we can all benefit from large garbage cans (nice ones) around different rooms. A lot of "stuff" is just garbage, but catalogs and the like take up space.

Roombas are great, clean hardwood and carpets, but they do have to be emptied and I I find ours heavy. My hubby runs it and picks up anything from the floor that the Roomba may eat. All in all, it's good.

Having someone in to clean when things are way past their expiry date is difficult. You may only get 2-l/2 - 3 hrs. out of them, so be prepared. It's better to have them every 3 wks. or so and clean up as you go along, like @Tammy does. Be explicit about what you want done and even at that, it may take "catch up."

I used to do all of the cleaning, but those days are over. It's surprising how much much junk accumulates. Since I generally can't remember why I saved something, I may as well dispose of it immediately.

I shower once/wk. and wash my hair at the same time. Sometimes I'll even managed twice....but not often since my latest fall. Sponge baths help....but not dry shampoos. If someone has found a great one, please give us the name. I use a lot of lotions as my skin gets dry. Yours Lenora

 

[xebex]

I wish I could not care about the mess. I have learnt to let it go a little bit. But it causes me a great deal of stress. I’m a clean and neat freak and for a long while I was just constantly in a stress because everywhere I looked was clutter.

i some times wonder if I have OCD but I don’t do any compulsive behaviours, however maybe my
ME stops me being compulsive, maybe in the past I did compulsive behaviour but wasn’t really aware of it? And now I get anxious and agitated because I can’t fix the mess!

I’d love to know if anyone knew if that was OCD or not.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I wish I could not care about the mess.

it constantly reminds you of how we can't do these really simple things we didn't think twice about, when normal (or in my case, far less ill)

that generates this OCD state.

 

[xebex]

it constantly reminds you of how we can't do these really simple things we didn't think twice about, when normal (or in my case, far less ill)

that generates this OCD state.

Yea it’s like a trauma trigger or something.

I think there a specific type of trauma that affects us. It needs to be named. I’ve always felt I don’t fit the description of PTSD but I’m definitely traumatized from these losses constantly piling up like the clutter in our homes. Every day we lose something or are reminded of something we lost, sometimes we even get it back, only for it to be cruelly ripped from underneath us again. Sometimes I don’t know how I haven’t just imploded.

 

[keepswimming]

I got a robot vacuum. It changed my life and makes it possible to keep the place in good shape.

I recently bought one... Its amazing!

 

[lenora]

Hello @keepswimming....do the new ones have great changes to them? My husband bought a rufurbished one and it really has helped to keep things cleaner. OK, one may still have to do certain things, but for those in between times it's great. Yours Lenora

 

[keepswimming]

Hello @keepswimming....do the new ones have great changes to them? My husband bought a rufurbished one and it really has helped to keep things cleaner. OK, one may still have to do certain things, but for those in between times it's great. Yours Lenora

It's the first one I've ever had so I don't know! It does a great job. I haven't used the big vacuum since which is great to save me some energy!

 

[vision blue]

Kind of like my blood pressure: wild swings. How about the issue of dirt vs mess?

 

[lenora]

A mess can be cleaned up.....and we make certain that it's done at the end of each day. I have more junk than my hubby, and having more storage space doesn't help. I just accumulate more and can even reach it. One forgets what's there.

But tidiness is very important. We do have the roomba and it's a good solution, although heavy for me. Cleaning ladies come once every 3 wks., and we keep it clean in the meantime. If you let things accumulate it's a living nightmare to find anything. Besides, I don't like an untidy house and Rod feels the same way. He helps, so that's great....as a matter of fact, he does most of it.

If you have a good day use it sparingly, but clean up what bothers you the most. Furniture polish just results in a messy job when used often enough. I think it's Endust cloths that are great and pick up the dust easily and can be thrown away. Or you could spray it on a rag and let it dry.

I used to clean everything myself. Gave that up a few years ago and have women who are a bit OCD....which is good in a cleaner. Great Xmas gift for people to give you....but you do have to tidy up before the cleaners come in. Check their job and if it's not properly done, then point it out. (And yes, I get along extremely well with our ladies...sisters, actually.) You soon get used to them and they're a true help. Yours, Lenora

 

[Nacht_Segler]

I don't own much...don't care to, so it is rather (reasonably) easy for me to be neat. I'm also a "neat freak" by nature so, I can only tolerate so much mess. I will not do anything on bad days though. Recently I had a bad day and spent it resting. Since I'm generally neat, there wasn't much catching up to do when I felt better.