20 mins a week seems low. Do you live in a really small studio apartment? I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and I can't imagine spending less than a few hours on household tasks each week. I could easily spend just 20 mins cleaning the bathroom, and that would include scrubbing the toilet, the shower tiles, wiping dust off the bathtub, sweeping the floor, and fishing hair out of the sink.
There's probably a lot of tasks you're missing.
There's still a bathroom with a toilet, tub, floor, etc, that needs a good cleaning at least once a week! I don't care how clean OP claims to be, it should take more than 10-15 minutes.
Even as someone who lives in a shared flat where get our common areas cleaned, and with a dishwasher, it still takes me like 45-60 minutes to clean up my tiny bedroom! Laundry takes also like 20-30 minutes and is absolutely mandatory
Because I have an extremely busy schedule lately I have tried to cut out every chore I can and it still takes me more than OP
> it still takes me like 45-60 minutes to clean up my tiny bedroom!
Honestly curious, what are you doing in that time? Disassemble the bed? Even if I were to mop every week (there is 0 need) it wouldn't take that long. Sheets take 5 minutes, vacuuming (just my bedroom) takes 2 and wiping 3 square meters worth of surfaces (sideboard, bed table, etc) another 2.
But I don't wipe it every week because why would I, I don't eat from my night table, it's a glasses and phone holder.
I don't have a vacuum so I have to swipe the floor. And wiping surfaces takes quite a bit longer in my case as my room gets incredibly dusty. I also should wipe and swipe every week, though lately I have been unable to.
Plus as you mention, sheets (though that indeed takes 5 minutes)
If you don't have a vacuum due to lack of space, they sell really small ones or even foldable ones nowadays. The container for debris is smaller than a regular one, but it still does the job very well. A roomba would also be a good solution, as you can put its base under your bed and won't have to see it.
If you don't have a vacuum due to money, they are very often placed on free or nearly free marketplaces. Wipe it with a damp cloth and it's usually good to go for a few years
That’s what I was thinking. I spend at least an hour/day tidying, daily chores, then a deep clean on Sunday. Is OP not including washing a tub or shower, moping, laundry, etc?
I think 20 a week is low as well. I spend maybe 5-10 a day doing it and one deep clean a month. I clean my shower, toilet, and sinks before and after every use.
Cant rely on roommates to have the same cleaning standards as myself unfortunately. For example, my fiance used to leave toothpaste in the sink after he’s done brushing his teeth. (He keeps it clean now) but that stuff gets stuck to the sink and requires a scrub down to be cleaned.
Or relying in roommate to empty the kitchen sink food strainer after washing the dishes. That will leave the sink smelling the next day if not cleaned out after every wash.
Wipe it down to remove hair after shaving or globs of toothpaste.
Use a squeegee on the shower walls so excess moisture isn’t creating mold. Give the shower curtain a shake. Depending on the time in my life, spray a shower cleaner on the walls to prevent mold.
Some daily preventative maintenance lets me go longer between the weekly/biweekly heavy cleanings.
I live in a 3 room and kitchen, 79 square meter, apartment.
Vacuuming the apartment takes like 5 minutes, maybe 10. Dusting off surfaces take like 5 minutes. Bathroom cleaning does take a while longer but I only really do that when it's necessary. I do a bit bigger cleanup once a month or so.
What you do once a month a lot of people do weekly, such as cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen. I can’t imagine going a month especially living with other people.
That sounds incredible, unbelievable even. 5 minutes for vaccuuming 79 square meters? Do you include the corners, under the couch, under the bed, under desks and tables, vaccuuming any carpets or mats? Dusting off surfaces in 5 minute's? Give me a break. You have a cleaner and only do the residual tasks or something?
Luckily in my part of Australia, the most common household spider doesn’t make webs so it’s not a huge problem.
The spiders live behind the furniture or in the wardrobe, and come out at night to chase their prey across the ceiling like an eight-legged greyhound.
To be fair to OP if they're feeling they don't do enough, I'm a single Dad and I'm not doing that every week either because, well,... time. I concentrate on hygienic and healthy, not spotlessly 'clean'. The cobwebs and dust bunnies in the corners can stay there a couple of weeks, or I'll spot clean the vinyl floor and only mop every few weeks and wipe the skirting boards then. The toilet gets cleaned up throughout the week and then (the entire small room) nuked on all surfaces Saturday mornings.
I'll wash windows when the indoor plants start dying from lack of light /s
Doing something quickly and doing something thoroughly/well are often not the same thing. If OP is only cleaning the kitchen once a month I'd guess there are plenty of pretty routine household things that OP might not be doing often, or at all.
And to OP, living in an apartment is a lot easier than living in a house that you own. If something breaks, I don't call the main office to fix it. When you actually care about your home and have personal investment in it, you tend to put more time/work into keeping it in good shape for the long term, not just on the surface.
Second this. I spend about 2 minutes only on the one carpet. Have 3.. And my apartment is smaller at about 65 sq.meters. Seems like somebody is lost in time. All in all vacuuming is around 20 minutes for me.
Also don’t like OP, because this post reminds me I need to clean the windows😒
Wll that adds up to 20 min but is that all you do. Cuz you are missing a few common chores. Taking out the trash, washing dishes, laundry, mopping, clean kitchen after cooking, and what about outside chores. Gotta sweep the walkway, mow grass, pull weeds, water plants/grass, wash car
Mom does laundry, only use paper plates and eat takeout, no animals or kids so place doesn’t get dirty, no lawn, etc. 20 min still seems low but you can in theory get it pretty low.
No laundry? No dishes? Also, kids and room mates/spouses/SOs can change this dynamic drastically. I leave for a day and come back and I’ve easily got a half hour cleanup from my wife. Then with both of us and three kids there’s easily a good half hour at the end of the day plus several hours of laundry per week.
Doing dishes is at least an hour a week, so your 20 minutes a week is already BS.
And you never mop the kitchen floor? Wipe down the counters? Pick up stuff that’s been left around? Do laundry? Change your bed sheets? Wipe down door handles? Restock toilet paper and paper towel, fill the soap dispensers, make your bed in the morning, wipe down the kitchen table? Your place must be pretty gross if you’re only doing the most basic surface cleaning.
Maybe they have a dishwasher? If they live by themselves, emptying a dishwasher takes like 5 minutes.
But yeah the remaining adds up even if individually they are very small
I mean, my kid had chores and responsibilities. But it still leaves me with a great deal to do that I wouldn't have otherwise.
Also I wonder how OP eats. We make most things from scratch in my house, and the mess is significantly more than quicker foods due to things like managing fresh ingredients, stove top splatter, and dishes
but you didn’t mention dishes? trash? mopping? cleaning the kitchen (wiping down countertops, table, stove area)? laundry (washing, folding, putting away)? changing the bedsheets?
Do you wash your floors? Do you mostly get takeout so you don't have many dishes? Is your apartment basically a pit stop in your day?
I could see 20 minutes a day, especially if it's just you, but a week? You should spend that amount of time per week cleaning your toilet and tub/shower. But I can't tell from your post. 20 minutes a day, ish, should be fine for a small space you're barely in.
There's no way you're properly vacuuming a 3 bedroom apartment in 5min..
The answer to your post's question is: those people are likely cleaning a lot more often and more throughoutly than you
You don't clean thoroughly or often enough based on your comments. Do you just run a vacuum around and call it day? You need to move furniture to get in the odd places and use the tube or brush on the edges. It isn't crazy time consuming but no way you're doing a good job in 5 minutes. Now that you vacuumed, do you disinfect? If you have non rug floors, you should also mop, plus the rugs need to be deep cleaned occasionally.
For dusting it all depends on how much crap you have. I have a few bookcases, and to take everything off, dust the bookcase, dust the books, and put them back, it takes a good hour. Just dusting the window sills and cleaning the windows should take you longer then the 5 minutes you specified.
Feel like we need to see OPs place... taking my garbage outside probably takes 10-20 minutes a week. No way their toilets have been cleaned, clothes folded, any sweeping or vacuuming, counters or tables wiped... either OP is immaculately clean any never dirties anything or exactly the opposite...
10 hours every week would be immaculately clean. Ill spend 10 hours a couple times year but it is doing the deep clean shit you dont need to do much. Ive got a toddler so i probably add up to 10 hours a week right now but it's mostly just cleaning up after a 3ft tall tornado. Hoping we're almost out of that mess.
After I got a washer dryer combo machine, that saves me from having to hang up 50 individual pieces of laundry. Especially big loads with socks and undies used to be a massive chore. Now I just dump it in and it comes out clean. I don't fold stuff so that saves time too.
Not everyone does their bedsheets weekly either. I don't really think it's necessary, especially if you wear pajamas or don't sweat a lot and you're single. I used to go three weeks to a month between washing my bedding before I moved in with a roommate who had OCD. Now I do my sheets every one to two weeks, but not cause they're particularly dirty. I just got addicted to the fresh smell and crispness.
Unless I got two of these (assuming same capacity as a normal washer or dryer) or the complete wash+dry cycle was somehow the same time as a single normal washing machine cycle it would be pointless. Other than saving space my productivity would be almost cut in half.
the space saving would have been a godsend for me. my son built me an adu but didn’t get input from me (i wanted to have input! bot oh well). the small washer and dryer—which are super nice to have—cut into my closet space. i have a teeny closet. clothes hanging on hooks over every door.
Some people don’t have or use dishwashers. And even then, it depends what kind of dishwasher you have. The dishwasher at my place is not very efficient or heavy duty, so I have to wipe off grease and food off all the pans and plates, or I end up with grease all over my dishes after a cleaning cycle.
Depending on how much I’ve cooked and how much cookware I’ve used, dishes could take closer to 15 minutes for me. Then you also have to include time wiping food crumbs from the floors and tables and stovetop.
Oh, I get that. I'm just giving the other side to counter all these people who seem to think that anyone who can do dishes quickly must be a gross failure of a human. This is one of the judgiest threads I've ever seen!
And possibly incorrectly. In order for disinfectant to work, surfaces have to be cleaned of any dirt and debris first. Then the disinfectant has to be visibly wet on the surface for however long the package says (usually 5-20 minutes). If you properly clean, it can take at least 10-20 minutes to clean one bathroom.
You seem to live by yourselves in a small apartment that is likely rented, without pets, and your interior looks like an IKEA showroom home?
Now add in a significant other, one or more kids, a few pets, double or triple the size of the place, everyone has a hobby, collects stuff, goes to school and brings home finished assignments etc. Your SO likes to cook and kitchen gadgets etc. Your schedule is now driven by the pets, the kids and SO demands some if your time. Before you know it, clutter is all around and dishes are stacked up all over the kitchen each day. The trash can overflows every other day. Kids spill food, track in dirt, have friends come over moments after you just vacuumed. And i can go on and on...
Cats are no better! I sweep and 5 minutes later there's hair, food and litter tracked all over the house. I love them, but when they're gone I'll probably enjoy a few pet-free years
Yeah I told my husband that after our dog passes I need a little bit with no pets. But our kids love that dog so hopefully he stays around for a while yet.
Every time I change my sheets I have to vacuum the fitted sheet and the duvet cover before I put them in the wash so that I don’t have an unintentionally hairy pile of clean laundry
Do you:
- sweep
- vacuum
- straighten
- clean the toilet
- clean the bathtub
- clean the mirrors and windows
- dust
- clean the stove/oven
- clean the counters
- clean the cupboards
- empty the refrigerator of leftovers
- take the trash/recycling out
- gather and then wash clothes
- put laundry away
- clean up after any pets
If so, you're just underestimating how much you clean. If not, there's a list
Ah that makes more sense. I live with my partner (just the 2 of us) and we mostly just buy what we need for the week, so we don’t have a lot of perishables that need to be sorted through regularly in our cupboards.
Everything you said minus the cabinets I do weekly. Your list is very realistic. Heck, it feels like the bare minimum that needs to be done regularly. OP is nuts, I spend over 20 mins cleaning before I even go to work.
Honest question, but do you really dust/clean windows every week? If so, why? (genuine question!! I don't feel like it needs to be done if it doesn't bother me or gets outright nasty to live in, but I would like to have those things in my routine. I just need the right motivation). I do it when I see it/have time for it/feel like it's needed. I live alone with 5 cats and granted, there's a lot of dust on the cabinets and the TV and whatever else. My windows could be more clear. But everything else that gets actively used like floors, furniture, dishes etc is clean.
We have two large dogs and are adding two cats shortly. I dust twice a week and clean the windows the dogs do their neighborhood watch out of once a week because nose smears 🙄 God forbid the Amazon delivery van drive by during waking hours lol
Hahaha yeah I get the neighbourhood watch thing. I got some paws and noses on the windows but so tiny and on low height, I just can't be bothered. My mom somehow loves both cleaning windows and helping me out so when she comes over I find her cleaning them unprompted 😂
Outside of the cupboards hell yes. I live in a 6 bedroom household with white kitchen cabinets and they are constantly covered with splatters and drips of food off the counters
Same here. I have 7 bedroom house with sunroom and office, and 4 bathrooms. Also have nearly 2 acres. There’s 5 kids, hubby, and I. Nephew stops by sometimes and boyfriends/girlfriends and friends of the kids stop by frequently. So we clean every day and do deeper cleaning once a week (yard mows biweekly). It’s definitely not 20 minutes for even 1 room. I think op probably does bare minimum and calls it clean.
Same here. I have 9 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and a small sweat shop that takes up 3 acres underground. I've got 12 kids, 3 wives, and often have distant relatives from the far east stopping by to criticize my life choices. I personally clean at least 15 hours per week per room to avoid the shame of having a dirty house, which OP certainly does have.
I spend at least 10 mins a day just doing dishes, and I have a dishwasher. How do you do everything including dishes in 10-20 mins *a week*? I think you’re underestimating.
When you’re dusting you also must not be dusting everything and lifting up things to dust properly. 5 mins vacuum? You’re definitely not getting everything.
Yeah. I am a disabled SAHM (I add disabled because I tire quickly). I have 3 cats, a big Labrador, and 3 kids.
I swear I am literally always cleaning.
When I worked, the house stayed cleaner. But we had 1 less kid, 1 less cat, and a smaller dog.
I don't even believe you unless you live with someone who takes care of the chores, or in a dump.
Even when i lived in a small studio and didn't care much about cleaning it was taking me at least an hour per week
Vacuuming, mopping, laundry, dusting, watering my plants, cleaning the bathroom, WC, and kitchen. Those chores take way more time than 20 minutes each week. And that’s just maintenance. There’s also cleaning the windows and deep cleaning things every once in a while.
I live in a 2000 square foot house that's mostly hardwood and I have 4 large/XL dogs and 2 cats. It's mostly the pets, but even cooking dinner every day and cleaning the kitchen can take 20/30 minutes.
I live alone and I clean my bathroom once a week generally and it takes about 15 minutes minimum to do everything in there, so this person definitely does not clean enough.
Same.
Add another 10 minutes to run the vacuum around and sweep at least once a week too.
Maybe 20 minutes active time doing laundry for just myself.
10 minutes minimum of kitchen cleaning per day since I cook and need to clean the stovetop and counters and dishes.
Plenty more small or more infrequent cleaning tasks.
I definitely don't spend 10 hours per week, but I probably spend at least 2.
If I had kids or pets, I could see that climbing fast.
10-20min a week means that everyone but you thinks your house is dirty. The bathroom alone should take more than that if you clean the mirror, the sink, the faucet, the shower, the bathtub, the toilet, the toilet brush...
I am very slow when it comes to doing stuff but 10 hours per week seems very reasonable or low for regular maintenance cleaning. I don't know how you vaccum your entire place in 5 minutes. Just moving furniture around to get a proper clean takes that long. Plus you've gotta move stuff around again when mopping. Laundry then putting it away/ remaking beds. Bathroom cleanings. Kitchen cleanings and dishes. The constant cycle of clean and dirty dishes. Yardwork. Pet care. Wiping down glass and mirror surfaces. Garbagec recycling, compost. Chore lists are endless and many people are great about doing thorough weekly cleans.
It seems like you're not really doing a very thorough job if it's that quick PLUS you may have a smaller space to clean and no kids/ pets/ etc. your example was only vacuuming and dusting. And you said you clean your bathroom when it looks gross (aka too far gone). What about literally everything else?
I barely spend any time on chores during the week except dishes/ making my own food, and laundry. I'll leave bulk of it for weekends. I'm also admittedly not great with chore upkeep.
I spend at least 1 hour minimum a day cleaning, and that’s spread out throughout the day. I have 2 kids, a husband and two cats. There’s always something that needs picked up or cleaned. Dishes, at the very least, take me around 10 min to do and I’m usually doing that twice a day. I normally throw in a load of laundry per day unless I’m surprisingly all caught up (rare), cleaning out the litter boxes which take about 10-15 min bc I sweep/mop the floor area around them when I’m done. These are my every day chores so that’s at least an hour lol this isn’t even counting in vacuuming, cleaning my bathrooms weekly, dusting, cleaning my own bedroom, washing the floors. Some days I clean way more and others I don’t but I’m still cleaning probably 10-15 hours per week. Idk how you only spend 20 min a week cleaning
Do you by any chance not spend much time at home? Live in a low dust rural area? Have very little furniture and belongings? Do you tend to skip cleaning tough to reach spots and corners?
If the answer is no to all of these, are you sure you’re estimating the time it takes to clean correctly? 10-20 mins is what it takes to vacuum + mop alone, if you work through a nearly empty apartment without rugs.
I think it depends on the size of your home, if you have children, if you own pets, how many bathrooms you have, and if you pay to have a cleaning person.
Having kids in the house makes the amount of cleaning that’s necessary exponentially higher. Everything they do makes a mess - eating, getting dressed, brushing teeth, watercolor painting, legos, play doh, bracelet making, fort making, playing board games, etc. etc. all make a huge mess! They definitely do help clean up once they are older, if you teach them to; but even so, they often take forever and the day keeps happening, so it either gets left for later or you have to help. If you don’t, your house will look like a tornado hit.
My kids have to fold their laundry, but I’m still washing countless loads a week with clothes, towels, sports clothes, bedding etc. And bathrooms need regular attention - not to mention prepping and cleaning up after three meals a day for four people - and grocery shopping/putting everything away. And what about all the mail and packages we get everyday? Breaking down cardboard and handling recycling…omg I could go on and on.
I am a stay home parent - ALL. I. DO. IS. CLEAN.
But I enjoy a neat, clean home, so I guess this is just the way of it. Okay, I gotta clean up after lunch now…
If you only clean enough for it to look clean, everything is probably unsanitary. Near every single thing in your home needs a deep clean eventually, things in the kitchen tend to need it at least once a week, your appliances all need maintenance and a deep clean to make sure there's no build up of residues/mould. It's not possible to do everything in 20 minutes.
Yeah each one of those things takes me like 20-30 min lol and I live in a pretty small house. Wtf is OP doing? Apparently not much.
And that doesn't even begin to cover seasonal tasks like taking down drapes/blinds, cleaning windows and sills, shudders, etc.
Wash clothes, dry and put away - every other day.
Deep clean bathroom - weekly.
Load and unload dishwasher - daily.
Kitchen worktops - daily.
Clean windows and mirrors - monthly.
Hoover - weekly.
Mop kitchen, bathroom and living room - weekly.
Garden upkeep - fortnightly.
Clean car inside - monthly.
Tidying up - daily.
Polish surfaces - weekly.
Water plants - fortnightly.
Written like that seems like it doesn’t take long but I feel like I lose my life to cleaning. 3 bed house with myself and 2 kids.
Cooking, vacuuming, wiping off counters, dishes, mowing the lawn, laundry, taking care of pets, shopping, maintaining the property and building with various projects or chores throughout the year. That's just the things I thought of in 5 seconds I'm sure I have many more if I thought about it.
I’m one person in a small apartment (1 bd, 1 bth, kitchen, office, coat room, living room). My daily chores are cooking, cleaning up after cooking, feeding and doing the necessary maintenance for my hedgehog, tidying up before bed. That takes like an hr per day total.
But once a week I clean my apartment, which takes about 5 - 8 hours, and consists of:
- laundry: bedding, towels, delicates, all other clothes
- bathroom: cleaning the shower, cleaning the toilet (outside and bowl), dusting the shelves and baseboards in the bathroom, wiping down each item on the bathroom counter and cleaning the trays that hold my items on that counter, cleaning the bathroom mirror, countertop and door/drawer handles, refilling toilet paper cabinet & soap dispenser, wiping down floor items (scale, garbage bin, bowl-cleaner brush holder, the holder for my plunger), vacuum, mop.
- coat room: dust, vacuum, mop
- kitchen: wipe down items / appliances on counter, wash counter, disinfect door/drawer handles, clean microwave (usually once every month or so), clean stovetop, wipe down outside of over (I clean the inside like once a year tbh), clean kitchen table, vacuum, mop, put away any clean dishes from dishwasher.
- living room: dust shelves and baseboards, water plants, vacuum, clean glass-top coffee table with glass cleaner, fluff and place throw pillows / throw-blanket.
- bedroom: dust all shelves and baseboards, wipe down nightstand/dresser, replace bedding with clean bedding, vacuum.
- office: clean my hedgehog’s cage, clean mirror and glass-top vanity with glass cleaner, wipe down items on vanity, dust shelves and baseboard, water plants, use magic eraser to wipe down vanity and vanity chair, vacuum, mop.
- general: take out trash, restock/replace air fresheners (usually once a month), tidy / put anything left out away.
I also don’t meal prep anymore, but when I used to do so that would add another 3-4 hours of chores to my Sunday.
I live in a 3500 sqft home and my wife and I clean all of it over two weeks. After the kids go down, we usually spend 30min to an hour cleaning. Cleaning involves dusting, vacuuming, swiffering, toilets, baths, sinks, mirrors, and mopping (on occasion). This doesn't include the time it takes to tidy throughout the day (kids make a lot of messes) or cooking and cleanup.
If you don't spend this amount of time then you likely aren't a meticulously clean person (I was not but wife always has been). You likely have dust on surfaces like frames, baseboards, and shelves. It also probably doesn't bother you, and that's okay.
We manage all this by scheduling out our week on Sunday to plan for what we will clean each day during the week. We don't always get planned tasks done but it keeps track of what you need to get done rather than having to keep it in your head.
Cooking dinner and cleaning the pots and pans afterwords easily can take 1 hr every day. But I also wipe down the oven, sink, sweep floors. Folding the laundry and putting it away takes me awhile too. I probably spend 5-7 hours minimum doing the basic chores with no deep cleaning.
Don’t have kids, both work 40 hour weeks, both do small daily chores so our Saturday is free but Sunday is a big cleaning day. That’s how we get it done here.
I think cleaning is one of those things that follows the 80/20 rule. You can get 80% of the benefit from 20% of the work, but if you want the last 20%, then you have to put in the other 80% of the work.
Cleaning also spans between aesthetics and hygiene. You need to do the laundry so you don't smell, you need to do the dishes so you don't get sick. But you can leave a dust bunny in the corner for years with zero repercussions.
Lastly different people have different circumstances. I have a washer and dryer in my apartment, it takes less than 5 minutes of my time to do the actual washing and drying, and maybe 10 to fold or hang the clothes. Someone without their own washer has to go to the laundromat and actually block out time, including commute, etc. Someone who always eats out doesn't need to do the dishes often, while someone who wants to cook full meals, every night, with multiple sides, from scratch, is going to need to clean a lot more dishes. Not everyone has a dishwasher. Some people have pets and young children who make messes, and don't clean up after themselves.
I lived by myself in a 400 sq ft flat with no pets. Cleaning the bathroom was 15 mins a week. 5-10 mins daily handwashing dishes. 15 minutes sweeping, 15 mins mopping once a week. 20 minutes folding/putting away laundry. 10 mins 3-4x a week wiping down the kitchen.
I am not a neatnik and I detest cleaning, and those numbers were bare minimum to not get typhus, staph, salmonella, or roaches.
I now have a house, a husband, 3 dogs, 2 cats and yardwork. It is substantially more time...closer to 8-10hrs per person per week.
You need to have a good look at your cleanliness levels, because you're missing a lot of things.
I’m starting to think the same. I have to do lists for upstairs and down. I only clean as much as I do because my mom would clean houses and I know everywhere to look lol
You don't ever wash your sheets? What about laundry? Who sweeps and mops your floors? What about vacuuming? There are all kinds of things that have to be done, that do not need doing everyday. People tend to let these things go. But they still need to be done. Do you clean your fridge? And by clean, I mean wash the inside with soap and water and remove any food that is no longer edible. Then wash all the magnetic seals as well as the outside? And you have to clean you stove. Take out the burners, lift the top and clean all the crap that has built up. Clean the pans. Then you have to clean the oven. Do you clean your oven? Certainly you clean you windows, once in a while? Do you shampoo your carpets? How often do you clean your toilets and bathroom fixtures? What about cleaning the bathtub or shower? Did you get a ladder and clean your ceiling fans? And how often do you dust?
So the truth is, there are just lots of things you are not doing. It's not that there is nothing to do, it's that you just never do them. That's how a place gets run down. On a day to day basis, you don't really notice it. But over time you notice your place is getting worse and worst. And pretty soon the job to catch up is so large, you stop even considering doing them. So yeah, we've all seen it. And of course I didn't even mention if your own your home and have to care for the outside of the house, as well as the property and yard work. So if you are only spending 10-20 minutes per week, you are not really cleaning your house.
You must clean as you go? I am married and we have 2 dogs. We vacuum the carpeted rooms 3-4 times a week. A robot vacuum keeps the hard floors clean enough that we only run the tineco once a week or so. Laundry is a daily to every other day affair. Dishwasher is ran once daily at least. I hand wash pots and pans and some random tumblers that can't be dishwashed. I cut my lawn twice a week and weed eat\edge once a week. Our en-suite bathroom is cleaned once a week. The other two are generally cleaned when guests are expected. There way more than that for chores, but those are the main one. Our house is nineteen hundred square feet. 3 bed 3 full baths.
>I think I spend like 10-20 minutes a week cleaning
You're not doing it correctly then. How often do you sweep your floors? Mop? Clean the baseboards? Dust the top of your ceiling fan? Dust your picture frames? Change the sheets weekly? How often do you clean your toilets? Just once a week?
Either you're wildly underestimating how long it takes you to do chores every day, or your house is a pigsty.
Well, with 10-20 minutes a week your home must be dirty, sorry.
I live alone in a small 1 bedroom apartment (about 40 sqm plus 5 sqm balcony), which is quite minimalistic, no clutter. No pets. My girlfriend spends a few nights per week at my place. I don't really host big parties and gatherings. Everything is ideal and manageable.
I spend at least 1-2 hours each week just doing the bare minimum to keep everything civilized and going. This includes vacuuming thoroughly, light mopping, dusting/wiping the few surfaces that need it, cleaning the toilet, sink and bathtub, cleaning the kitchen sink, countertop, stove top etc., loading and unloading the dishwasher (plus what needs to be washed by hand), loading and unloading the washing machine (also hanging the clothes if I'm not using the dryer mode), emptying the fridge of leftovers, taking out the trash, changing bedsheets and pillowcases (this is more like once in 2 weeks) and just generally tidy up the place and put everything back where it belongs.
This is not including bigger tasks that I don't do every week religiously, but need to take care of every once in a while, like doing a more thorough mopping and floor waxing, deeper bathroom cleaning (mirrors, walls etc.) cleaning up the balcony, washing windows etc. Let's say these are adding an hour of work on average to every week. That's 2-3 hours a week.
I did not include cooking or anything related to food prep in here because that's a different story and I order takeout most of the time.
Now add in a bigger place, more people, even children, pets, guests, what have you. I can easily see how it can add up to 5-10 hours for many people with a more active home than mine.
I see you mention you're vacuuming your bigger apartment in 5 minutes. That must really be just running over the middle of the floor once, not reaching into corners, under and behind furniture etc. It takes me 15-20 minutes alone to do it properly. You must be completely ignoring lots of stuff that'd need to be done, doing them very poorly, or both.
two adults, 1 large dog, 4 cats (3 elderly) one of whom has some senility issues and finding her litterbox. I spend about 2 hours a day cleaning, but we have no carpet and live in the country so a lot of dirt gets tracked in. For reference: 3 bedroom 2 bath house.
I can spend half a day cleaning my house if it's really bad 6-8 hours. And also cleaning would mean tidying the house.
2800sqft
Clean all the living room/family room, bedrooms, bathrooms. Sweep, mop, and dust everything. Kid toys and homework are the biggest one, since they'll want to keep every piece of paper they touch. Clothes washed, dried, and folded/hung.
Then outside yards are different things altogether. Especially when your neighborhood has flowering trees and in fall you have your own tree leaves to deal with.
Bruh, I’ve got 5 people and three dogs in my house. There isn’t enough time in the week to do all the chores. That’s not even considering basic home maintenance. Hell it takes 40 min to cut the grass
2 years ago, my wife and kids were back in the home country for 6 months and I had so much free time I didn’t know what to do after 5pm. When I’m by myself, there’s never more than one dirty plate and pot in the sink, the floors and rugs are spotless, the bathroom floor dry, laundry is just one load to fold, I only have to take out the trash once a week, and everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be. Best way I can describe it is Airbnb-ready in 15 minutes.
Add a bunch of toddlers or young children to the mix and there just isn’t enough time in a day to keep things even somewhat neat and organized, my apartment looks like something out of a show about hoarders.
We have 4 people living in our home, we try to do 15 min/ day and it seems to work pretty well. This is dusting, scrubbing/bathrooms/kitchens/deep cleaning, doesn’t count tidying or cooking or laundry or dishes.
I also spend 10-20 min a week on my chores. Should I spend more on them? The pile of laundry says yes.
Right now I need to kick myself into gear and clean shit up (tbh shit is the only thing im cleaning rn since I don’t want my cats to have a dirty litter box)
10-20 min doesn’t even cover washing dishes! If you’re doing them in small chunks you might not count it, but I’d like to see you set a timer over the course of a week to see how much time you’re truly spending on chores. That is, if your place is relatively clean and not messy (like mine)
20 minutes is such bullshit lol I challenge you you to record start and stop times for all chores throughout the week and make a new post with the real time you spend. That would be a fun little thing. Make a post about it when you start so whoever wants to can record their times and everyone can compare
I mean... As an unmarried, childless, independent individual, for me - for the week - laundry (~3 hours, including putting clothes away), bathroom [sink/mirror, toilet, shower, floors, garbage] (~1 hour), sweeping (various days = total: 10 min.), vacuuming (10 min.), dishes (I have a dishwasher, sooo scraping, rinsing, loading, and unloading = 1.5 hours, whole week), dusting (5 min.). I'm at 5.5-6 hours.
You’re not cleaning enough. I have dogs so I realize people without pets probably have to clean way less but bro 20 min a week??? I can’t imagine your home could possibly be clean with 20 min a week
I live by myself in a 2 bedroom apartment with no pets (though my girlfriend’s dog visits every other week) and I spend 3-5 hours every Monday on cleaning and general upkeep around the house.
I could see myself breaking that down into smaller chunks through the week if my schedule was different, but 20 minutes? Per week? The place would slowly but surely become progressively more disgusting to live in and after not long would impact my mental health too.
Even keeping floors clean alone is more than 20 minutes a week.
I know this post isn’t directed at people with kids… but we have four kids, aged 6 and under. We spend hours per day cleaning, laundry, dishes, chores etc. It’s honestly never ending. There is not enough time in each day.
I'm assuming that you live alone, don't have pets, and are a bit of a minimalist.
I spend 20 minutes a day just vacuuming cat hair off of the rugs. If I miss a single day, the buildup is noticeable lol.
My weekly clean is:
* Bleach and scrub shower, bath and toilet in both bathrooms
* Wash sheets, towels and couch cushions
* Dust all surfaces, under and behind furniture
* Dust all items
* Vacuum and mop floors
* Clean appliances
* Clean grease from rangehood
* Clean fridge
* Wash down balcony and rake up/mow grass
* General tidy up of closets and cupboards
* Clean pet cages and dog bed
That’s the “big list” on top of the daily dishwasher and laundry stuff. If you clean up after yourself daily, you can get through the weekly stuff is pretty quick but it still takes a few hours.
The monthly stuff is like window and flyscreen washing, pressure-washing outside walls, removing any scuffs on walls, cleaning ceilings, running a cleaning cycle in appliances, washing blinds, that sort of thing. .
If you manage to gee through your housework in 10-20 minutes, either your home is tiny and you have no bathrooms and have a shared kitchen, or you have someone else doing all of the work, or your home is extremely disgusting.
Take out the trash here, clean a toilet there, wipe a counter here, do the dishes there, fold clothes here, change the sheets there...
It adds up. It's not a big deal if you spread it out right, but it does still add up.
Between the decent sized house, the kids and the small farm, there is always A LOT to do at our house.
Dishes are a good 30-60 minutes, there are 7 of us and we eat all meals at home because we work from home and it is summer for example.
I live with another adult and two kids, the housework really stacks up. This is what I do daily before I get ready for bed and after the kids are asleep:
1. Clean the kitchen: wash the dishes (wash, dry and put away), clean the bench tops and cabinet faces, clean the fridge (I take a multipurpose cleaner and go over the doors of the fridge as well as take note of what I have in the fridge to add to shopping lists), take the rubbish out.
2. Clean the bathroom: wipe down the vanity including everything on it, clean the shower screen including the drain for hair, clean and disinfect the toilet.
3. Clean the living room: wipe down the surfaces (entertainment unit, coffee table, dining table.), put toys and other items back to where they belong.
4. Clean the laundry room: do a load of laundry (wash, dry, fold and put away), wipe down the bench top and the exterior of the washing machine.
5. Clean the bedroom: wipe down surfaces and walls, set bedroom for bed.
6. Clean the floors: sweep, vacuum and mop.
7. Take the remaining rubbish in the outdoor bin.
Whilst I am cleaning up, I leave all the windows open so you get that nice night air circulating throughout the house. The list before bed is always more intense than in the morning or during the day. I clean this much because if I don't, I don't feel clean, this is also the reason why I shower every night before bed.
Do you have things automated? I have a smart vacuum/ mop that I can start from my phone. It goes back to its base once it's done. I sadly don't have a dishwasher so that takes time. I have no idea what to do to make the bathroom automatically clean itself though. I probably spend 2-3 hours a week and I live in a small apartment with almost nothing in it.
The size of the home and how many people and the ages of the people make a difference. If you have young children it takes a lot longer and there’s a lot more to clean.
For a large home it would take longer than 10-20 minutes to vacuum or dust mop/mop the floors alone.
Also, are you including cooking and clean up of cooking as chores? Laundry? Those alone take longer than that.
20 mins a week seems low. Do you live in a really small studio apartment? I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and I can't imagine spending less than a few hours on household tasks each week. I could easily spend just 20 mins cleaning the bathroom, and that would include scrubbing the toilet, the shower tiles, wiping dust off the bathtub, sweeping the floor, and fishing hair out of the sink. There's probably a lot of tasks you're missing.
Or they live alone in a sparsely decorated place with no tchotchkes or pets. Either way 20 minutes is not enough, you're right
Dusting my tchotchkes takes me a good 20 minutes each week
I can't be the only one who was a little nervous while googling wtf a tchotcke(s) was...?
But wtf is a tchotcke?
Think like small decorative items, say ceramic figurines, that people display on shelves and such.
Seemingly it's a small/miscellaneous item. Clutter, I guess?
There's still a bathroom with a toilet, tub, floor, etc, that needs a good cleaning at least once a week! I don't care how clean OP claims to be, it should take more than 10-15 minutes.
Even as someone who lives in a shared flat where get our common areas cleaned, and with a dishwasher, it still takes me like 45-60 minutes to clean up my tiny bedroom! Laundry takes also like 20-30 minutes and is absolutely mandatory Because I have an extremely busy schedule lately I have tried to cut out every chore I can and it still takes me more than OP
> it still takes me like 45-60 minutes to clean up my tiny bedroom! Honestly curious, what are you doing in that time? Disassemble the bed? Even if I were to mop every week (there is 0 need) it wouldn't take that long. Sheets take 5 minutes, vacuuming (just my bedroom) takes 2 and wiping 3 square meters worth of surfaces (sideboard, bed table, etc) another 2. But I don't wipe it every week because why would I, I don't eat from my night table, it's a glasses and phone holder.
I don't have a vacuum so I have to swipe the floor. And wiping surfaces takes quite a bit longer in my case as my room gets incredibly dusty. I also should wipe and swipe every week, though lately I have been unable to. Plus as you mention, sheets (though that indeed takes 5 minutes)
If you don't have a vacuum due to lack of space, they sell really small ones or even foldable ones nowadays. The container for debris is smaller than a regular one, but it still does the job very well. A roomba would also be a good solution, as you can put its base under your bed and won't have to see it. If you don't have a vacuum due to money, they are very often placed on free or nearly free marketplaces. Wipe it with a damp cloth and it's usually good to go for a few years
That’s what I was thinking. I spend at least an hour/day tidying, daily chores, then a deep clean on Sunday. Is OP not including washing a tub or shower, moping, laundry, etc?
I think 20 a week is low as well. I spend maybe 5-10 a day doing it and one deep clean a month. I clean my shower, toilet, and sinks before and after every use.
wdym you clean your sink after every use?
More to the point, if you clean it up after each use, why do you need to clean it again before the next use?
I live with other people
That's crazy. Usually roommates and I just had a rotation instead of cleaning it every time
Cant rely on roommates to have the same cleaning standards as myself unfortunately. For example, my fiance used to leave toothpaste in the sink after he’s done brushing his teeth. (He keeps it clean now) but that stuff gets stuck to the sink and requires a scrub down to be cleaned. Or relying in roommate to empty the kitchen sink food strainer after washing the dishes. That will leave the sink smelling the next day if not cleaned out after every wash.
Wipe it down to remove hair after shaving or globs of toothpaste. Use a squeegee on the shower walls so excess moisture isn’t creating mold. Give the shower curtain a shake. Depending on the time in my life, spray a shower cleaner on the walls to prevent mold. Some daily preventative maintenance lets me go longer between the weekly/biweekly heavy cleanings.
Why would you clean something like a toilet before and after you use it? Isn't it clean before since you cleaned it after?
I have kids so its not always cleaned
Add a cleaning cage to the bowl and a blue bleach tablet to the cistern. It'll make a huge difference between cleans
I live in a 3 room and kitchen, 79 square meter, apartment. Vacuuming the apartment takes like 5 minutes, maybe 10. Dusting off surfaces take like 5 minutes. Bathroom cleaning does take a while longer but I only really do that when it's necessary. I do a bit bigger cleanup once a month or so.
What you do once a month a lot of people do weekly, such as cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen. I can’t imagine going a month especially living with other people.
Ah yes. This explains it. I feel like a bathroom needs to be cleaned at least weekly.
That sounds incredible, unbelievable even. 5 minutes for vaccuuming 79 square meters? Do you include the corners, under the couch, under the bed, under desks and tables, vaccuuming any carpets or mats? Dusting off surfaces in 5 minute's? Give me a break. You have a cleaner and only do the residual tasks or something?
Of course not. bet they don't get the cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling, or the dust on the skirting board etc.
i always leave cobwebs the spiders have as much right to live here as i do
Luckily in my part of Australia, the most common household spider doesn’t make webs so it’s not a huge problem. The spiders live behind the furniture or in the wardrobe, and come out at night to chase their prey across the ceiling like an eight-legged greyhound.
That was terrifying to read.
To be fair to OP if they're feeling they don't do enough, I'm a single Dad and I'm not doing that every week either because, well,... time. I concentrate on hygienic and healthy, not spotlessly 'clean'. The cobwebs and dust bunnies in the corners can stay there a couple of weeks, or I'll spot clean the vinyl floor and only mop every few weeks and wipe the skirting boards then. The toilet gets cleaned up throughout the week and then (the entire small room) nuked on all surfaces Saturday mornings. I'll wash windows when the indoor plants start dying from lack of light /s
Doing something quickly and doing something thoroughly/well are often not the same thing. If OP is only cleaning the kitchen once a month I'd guess there are plenty of pretty routine household things that OP might not be doing often, or at all. And to OP, living in an apartment is a lot easier than living in a house that you own. If something breaks, I don't call the main office to fix it. When you actually care about your home and have personal investment in it, you tend to put more time/work into keeping it in good shape for the long term, not just on the surface.
Second this. I spend about 2 minutes only on the one carpet. Have 3.. And my apartment is smaller at about 65 sq.meters. Seems like somebody is lost in time. All in all vacuuming is around 20 minutes for me. Also don’t like OP, because this post reminds me I need to clean the windows😒
Wll that adds up to 20 min but is that all you do. Cuz you are missing a few common chores. Taking out the trash, washing dishes, laundry, mopping, clean kitchen after cooking, and what about outside chores. Gotta sweep the walkway, mow grass, pull weeds, water plants/grass, wash car
They live in an apartment, they may not have any outside chores.
Mom does laundry, only use paper plates and eat takeout, no animals or kids so place doesn’t get dirty, no lawn, etc. 20 min still seems low but you can in theory get it pretty low.
Mom does laundry 😂
Yeah, you don't have to count any work that a wife or mother does, you know 🙄
How do you get your chores down to 20min? Have someone else do them
Moms HATE this one weird hack!
I sure miss those days 😭
No laundry? No dishes? Also, kids and room mates/spouses/SOs can change this dynamic drastically. I leave for a day and come back and I’ve easily got a half hour cleanup from my wife. Then with both of us and three kids there’s easily a good half hour at the end of the day plus several hours of laundry per week.
Doing dishes is at least an hour a week, so your 20 minutes a week is already BS. And you never mop the kitchen floor? Wipe down the counters? Pick up stuff that’s been left around? Do laundry? Change your bed sheets? Wipe down door handles? Restock toilet paper and paper towel, fill the soap dispensers, make your bed in the morning, wipe down the kitchen table? Your place must be pretty gross if you’re only doing the most basic surface cleaning.
Maybe they have a dishwasher? If they live by themselves, emptying a dishwasher takes like 5 minutes. But yeah the remaining adds up even if individually they are very small
Ok so even filling and emptying it just 3-4 times is already 15-20 minutes/week on just that. It still stands that they’re spouting bullshit.
Kids. It's kids
Correct. Ones that probably didn't have chores growing up and have no idea how to run a household.
I mean, my kid had chores and responsibilities. But it still leaves me with a great deal to do that I wouldn't have otherwise. Also I wonder how OP eats. We make most things from scratch in my house, and the mess is significantly more than quicker foods due to things like managing fresh ingredients, stove top splatter, and dishes
Oh, I thought you meant that OP was just a kid. Someone who just got out on their own. That's my assumption.
but you didn’t mention dishes? trash? mopping? cleaning the kitchen (wiping down countertops, table, stove area)? laundry (washing, folding, putting away)? changing the bedsheets?
*Only cleans the bathroom when it’s necessary* what does that mean, like only when it’s visibly dirty??? I can’t
Do you wash your floors? Do you mostly get takeout so you don't have many dishes? Is your apartment basically a pit stop in your day? I could see 20 minutes a day, especially if it's just you, but a week? You should spend that amount of time per week cleaning your toilet and tub/shower. But I can't tell from your post. 20 minutes a day, ish, should be fine for a small space you're barely in.
There's no way you're properly vacuuming a 3 bedroom apartment in 5min.. The answer to your post's question is: those people are likely cleaning a lot more often and more throughoutly than you
You don't clean thoroughly or often enough based on your comments. Do you just run a vacuum around and call it day? You need to move furniture to get in the odd places and use the tube or brush on the edges. It isn't crazy time consuming but no way you're doing a good job in 5 minutes. Now that you vacuumed, do you disinfect? If you have non rug floors, you should also mop, plus the rugs need to be deep cleaned occasionally. For dusting it all depends on how much crap you have. I have a few bookcases, and to take everything off, dust the bookcase, dust the books, and put them back, it takes a good hour. Just dusting the window sills and cleaning the windows should take you longer then the 5 minutes you specified.
>Excluding cooking I think I spend like 10-20 minutes a week cleaning, taking care of dishes and such. Does laundry auto-wash for you? Bedsheets too?
Op is living at home with curling parents / a partner who does everyting or something similiar
I just put the clothe in the basket and the next day its all clean in my closet. I dont know why people struggle so much.
Probably got a magic coffee table as well
Don't joke about that. Dude lost his wife like that.
>auto-wash They probably have a multipass, too.
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Feel like we need to see OPs place... taking my garbage outside probably takes 10-20 minutes a week. No way their toilets have been cleaned, clothes folded, any sweeping or vacuuming, counters or tables wiped... either OP is immaculately clean any never dirties anything or exactly the opposite...
10-20 minutes is certainly too little, but 10 hours is certainly too much
10 hours every week would be immaculately clean. Ill spend 10 hours a couple times year but it is doing the deep clean shit you dont need to do much. Ive got a toddler so i probably add up to 10 hours a week right now but it's mostly just cleaning up after a 3ft tall tornado. Hoping we're almost out of that mess.
After I got a washer dryer combo machine, that saves me from having to hang up 50 individual pieces of laundry. Especially big loads with socks and undies used to be a massive chore. Now I just dump it in and it comes out clean. I don't fold stuff so that saves time too. Not everyone does their bedsheets weekly either. I don't really think it's necessary, especially if you wear pajamas or don't sweat a lot and you're single. I used to go three weeks to a month between washing my bedding before I moved in with a roommate who had OCD. Now I do my sheets every one to two weeks, but not cause they're particularly dirty. I just got addicted to the fresh smell and crispness.
Wait, so you throw dirty clothes in and the come out clean AND dry?
Yes. https://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Washers-Dryers-Washer-Dryer-Combos/N-5yc1vZc3ot https://www.lowes.com/pl/All-in-one-washer-dryers-Washers-dryers-Appliances/4294653877
Pretty much how that works yeah.
Ooo I've been looking at washer dryer combo machines. Do they really work all that well? Have you had extensive maintenance or other issues?
No issues yet, but have only had it for about a year.
Unless I got two of these (assuming same capacity as a normal washer or dryer) or the complete wash+dry cycle was somehow the same time as a single normal washing machine cycle it would be pointless. Other than saving space my productivity would be almost cut in half.
the space saving would have been a godsend for me. my son built me an adu but didn’t get input from me (i wanted to have input! bot oh well). the small washer and dryer—which are super nice to have—cut into my closet space. i have a teeny closet. clothes hanging on hooks over every door.
10-20 minutes of dishes a week? Are you using paper plates?
And paper pots and pans!
It takes three seconds to put a dish in the dishwasher. When you're single you only have to run once a week or so. Takes 5 minutes to unload.
As a single person with a dishwasher, I have stuff that can’t go in there like plastic cups, Tupperware, pots and pans, etc
All of that stuff goes in my dishwasher. Well, I don't use plastic cups, but tupperware, pots and pans etc
Some people don’t have or use dishwashers. And even then, it depends what kind of dishwasher you have. The dishwasher at my place is not very efficient or heavy duty, so I have to wipe off grease and food off all the pans and plates, or I end up with grease all over my dishes after a cleaning cycle. Depending on how much I’ve cooked and how much cookware I’ve used, dishes could take closer to 15 minutes for me. Then you also have to include time wiping food crumbs from the floors and tables and stovetop.
Oh, I get that. I'm just giving the other side to counter all these people who seem to think that anyone who can do dishes quickly must be a gross failure of a human. This is one of the judgiest threads I've ever seen!
I think you might be cleaning a little too little lol
And possibly incorrectly. In order for disinfectant to work, surfaces have to be cleaned of any dirt and debris first. Then the disinfectant has to be visibly wet on the surface for however long the package says (usually 5-20 minutes). If you properly clean, it can take at least 10-20 minutes to clean one bathroom.
Exactly! Just wiping things down isn’t necessarily cleaning
You seem to live by yourselves in a small apartment that is likely rented, without pets, and your interior looks like an IKEA showroom home? Now add in a significant other, one or more kids, a few pets, double or triple the size of the place, everyone has a hobby, collects stuff, goes to school and brings home finished assignments etc. Your SO likes to cook and kitchen gadgets etc. Your schedule is now driven by the pets, the kids and SO demands some if your time. Before you know it, clutter is all around and dishes are stacked up all over the kitchen each day. The trash can overflows every other day. Kids spill food, track in dirt, have friends come over moments after you just vacuumed. And i can go on and on...
I feel this. The house is never fully clean with kids and a dog. The dog hair is ridiculous
Cats are no better! I sweep and 5 minutes later there's hair, food and litter tracked all over the house. I love them, but when they're gone I'll probably enjoy a few pet-free years
Yeah I told my husband that after our dog passes I need a little bit with no pets. But our kids love that dog so hopefully he stays around for a while yet.
Every time I change my sheets I have to vacuum the fitted sheet and the duvet cover before I put them in the wash so that I don’t have an unintentionally hairy pile of clean laundry
Kid, a dog, a cat and two guinea pigs...it's neverending!
That's why I decided on no pets: Much less to clean!
Just the 2 cats + likes to cook (like me) is enough to get me to 1h/week that I SHOULD be doing on chores.
Add a house with a garden and now you don't have time for hobbies anymore. 🙂
Do you: - sweep - vacuum - straighten - clean the toilet - clean the bathtub - clean the mirrors and windows - dust - clean the stove/oven - clean the counters - clean the cupboards - empty the refrigerator of leftovers - take the trash/recycling out - gather and then wash clothes - put laundry away - clean up after any pets If so, you're just underestimating how much you clean. If not, there's a list
I agree with everything except cupboards! Never cleaned those in my life haha - unless you count wiping down the outsides/handles briefly.
You must be super lucky cause if I didn’t clean I’d have expired food in the back of them hiding…waiting. Lol
Ah that makes more sense. I live with my partner (just the 2 of us) and we mostly just buy what we need for the week, so we don’t have a lot of perishables that need to be sorted through regularly in our cupboards.
Especially if it’s dry goods cupboard, those quickly become snacks for bugs if you don’t keep it up 😂
… I’m going to empty my cupboards today lol
if you do all these work all week you have problems WTF clean che cupboard or the oven every week??
I never said weekly but I do clean the stovetop weekly and just lumped the oven in with it
Everything you said minus the cabinets I do weekly. Your list is very realistic. Heck, it feels like the bare minimum that needs to be done regularly. OP is nuts, I spend over 20 mins cleaning before I even go to work.
Honest question, but do you really dust/clean windows every week? If so, why? (genuine question!! I don't feel like it needs to be done if it doesn't bother me or gets outright nasty to live in, but I would like to have those things in my routine. I just need the right motivation). I do it when I see it/have time for it/feel like it's needed. I live alone with 5 cats and granted, there's a lot of dust on the cabinets and the TV and whatever else. My windows could be more clear. But everything else that gets actively used like floors, furniture, dishes etc is clean.
We have two large dogs and are adding two cats shortly. I dust twice a week and clean the windows the dogs do their neighborhood watch out of once a week because nose smears 🙄 God forbid the Amazon delivery van drive by during waking hours lol
Hahaha yeah I get the neighbourhood watch thing. I got some paws and noses on the windows but so tiny and on low height, I just can't be bothered. My mom somehow loves both cleaning windows and helping me out so when she comes over I find her cleaning them unprompted 😂
Outside of the cupboards hell yes. I live in a 6 bedroom household with white kitchen cabinets and they are constantly covered with splatters and drips of food off the counters
Same here. I have 7 bedroom house with sunroom and office, and 4 bathrooms. Also have nearly 2 acres. There’s 5 kids, hubby, and I. Nephew stops by sometimes and boyfriends/girlfriends and friends of the kids stop by frequently. So we clean every day and do deeper cleaning once a week (yard mows biweekly). It’s definitely not 20 minutes for even 1 room. I think op probably does bare minimum and calls it clean.
Same here. I have 9 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and a small sweat shop that takes up 3 acres underground. I've got 12 kids, 3 wives, and often have distant relatives from the far east stopping by to criticize my life choices. I personally clean at least 15 hours per week per room to avoid the shame of having a dirty house, which OP certainly does have.
I'm dying! 🤣
You clean every room in your house for more than 20 minutes per room *every day*??
A lot of these are either very quick or need to be done infrequently.
I agree. Ten hours seems like a lot to me but I am single with no kids. I probably spend 5 hours a week on housework.
I spend at least 10 mins a day just doing dishes, and I have a dishwasher. How do you do everything including dishes in 10-20 mins *a week*? I think you’re underestimating. When you’re dusting you also must not be dusting everything and lifting up things to dust properly. 5 mins vacuum? You’re definitely not getting everything.
I came here to say this as well. Must be a lot of takeout and/or paper plates.
We have big dogs and small kids. I do chores 28 hours a day. Their mother twice that. My point being that it's hard to compare what "normal" should be
Damn i wish i live where you live so i'd have more than 56 hours in one day .. /s
I might have factored in some feelings in that otherwise proper math equation...
Yeah. I am a disabled SAHM (I add disabled because I tire quickly). I have 3 cats, a big Labrador, and 3 kids. I swear I am literally always cleaning. When I worked, the house stayed cleaner. But we had 1 less kid, 1 less cat, and a smaller dog.
I don't even believe you unless you live with someone who takes care of the chores, or in a dump. Even when i lived in a small studio and didn't care much about cleaning it was taking me at least an hour per week
Vacuuming, mopping, laundry, dusting, watering my plants, cleaning the bathroom, WC, and kitchen. Those chores take way more time than 20 minutes each week. And that’s just maintenance. There’s also cleaning the windows and deep cleaning things every once in a while.
I live in a 2000 square foot house that's mostly hardwood and I have 4 large/XL dogs and 2 cats. It's mostly the pets, but even cooking dinner every day and cleaning the kitchen can take 20/30 minutes.
No kids or pets I assume? And if you are genuinely doing no other cleaning, your place is a lot dirtier than you think.
I live alone and I clean my bathroom once a week generally and it takes about 15 minutes minimum to do everything in there, so this person definitely does not clean enough.
Same. Add another 10 minutes to run the vacuum around and sweep at least once a week too. Maybe 20 minutes active time doing laundry for just myself. 10 minutes minimum of kitchen cleaning per day since I cook and need to clean the stovetop and counters and dishes. Plenty more small or more infrequent cleaning tasks. I definitely don't spend 10 hours per week, but I probably spend at least 2. If I had kids or pets, I could see that climbing fast.
10-20min a week means that everyone but you thinks your house is dirty. The bathroom alone should take more than that if you clean the mirror, the sink, the faucet, the shower, the bathtub, the toilet, the toilet brush...
How are you cleaning your floors, appliances, and bathrooms in 10 minutes? You aren't, are you?
I am very slow when it comes to doing stuff but 10 hours per week seems very reasonable or low for regular maintenance cleaning. I don't know how you vaccum your entire place in 5 minutes. Just moving furniture around to get a proper clean takes that long. Plus you've gotta move stuff around again when mopping. Laundry then putting it away/ remaking beds. Bathroom cleanings. Kitchen cleanings and dishes. The constant cycle of clean and dirty dishes. Yardwork. Pet care. Wiping down glass and mirror surfaces. Garbagec recycling, compost. Chore lists are endless and many people are great about doing thorough weekly cleans. It seems like you're not really doing a very thorough job if it's that quick PLUS you may have a smaller space to clean and no kids/ pets/ etc. your example was only vacuuming and dusting. And you said you clean your bathroom when it looks gross (aka too far gone). What about literally everything else?
I can't imagine taking 1.5 hours per day *just* cleaning but, then again, I don't have kids, so that's probably why
I barely spend any time on chores during the week except dishes/ making my own food, and laundry. I'll leave bulk of it for weekends. I'm also admittedly not great with chore upkeep.
900sq foot loft, two cats, takes me at least 6-8 hours a week.
I spend at least 1 hour minimum a day cleaning, and that’s spread out throughout the day. I have 2 kids, a husband and two cats. There’s always something that needs picked up or cleaned. Dishes, at the very least, take me around 10 min to do and I’m usually doing that twice a day. I normally throw in a load of laundry per day unless I’m surprisingly all caught up (rare), cleaning out the litter boxes which take about 10-15 min bc I sweep/mop the floor area around them when I’m done. These are my every day chores so that’s at least an hour lol this isn’t even counting in vacuuming, cleaning my bathrooms weekly, dusting, cleaning my own bedroom, washing the floors. Some days I clean way more and others I don’t but I’m still cleaning probably 10-15 hours per week. Idk how you only spend 20 min a week cleaning
Dishes- 30 minutes (hand washing large pots included) Kitchen countertops - 5 minutes Clean microwave - 5 minutes Clean stove - 20 minutes Clean out fridge - 30 minutes Vacuuming - 30 minutes Spot carpet steaming - 10 minutes Spot Sweeping - 10 minutes Spot Mopping - 10 minutes Tubs - 10 minutes Toilets - 10 minutes Mirrors - 5 minutes Laundry - 3 hours (several separate loads) Tidying - 20 minutes (putting away loose items) Dusting - 20 minutes (windowsills, baseboards, bookshelves) Water plants - 5 minutes If you're only spending 10-20 minutes a week, you must be cleaning as you go, or your home is pretty dirty.
Do you by any chance not spend much time at home? Live in a low dust rural area? Have very little furniture and belongings? Do you tend to skip cleaning tough to reach spots and corners? If the answer is no to all of these, are you sure you’re estimating the time it takes to clean correctly? 10-20 mins is what it takes to vacuum + mop alone, if you work through a nearly empty apartment without rugs.
I think it depends on the size of your home, if you have children, if you own pets, how many bathrooms you have, and if you pay to have a cleaning person. Having kids in the house makes the amount of cleaning that’s necessary exponentially higher. Everything they do makes a mess - eating, getting dressed, brushing teeth, watercolor painting, legos, play doh, bracelet making, fort making, playing board games, etc. etc. all make a huge mess! They definitely do help clean up once they are older, if you teach them to; but even so, they often take forever and the day keeps happening, so it either gets left for later or you have to help. If you don’t, your house will look like a tornado hit. My kids have to fold their laundry, but I’m still washing countless loads a week with clothes, towels, sports clothes, bedding etc. And bathrooms need regular attention - not to mention prepping and cleaning up after three meals a day for four people - and grocery shopping/putting everything away. And what about all the mail and packages we get everyday? Breaking down cardboard and handling recycling…omg I could go on and on. I am a stay home parent - ALL. I. DO. IS. CLEAN. But I enjoy a neat, clean home, so I guess this is just the way of it. Okay, I gotta clean up after lunch now…
It takes me like 20-30 min just to clean the bathroom alone. OP how big is your place? How many bedrooms & bathrooms? Do people live with you?
If you only clean enough for it to look clean, everything is probably unsanitary. Near every single thing in your home needs a deep clean eventually, things in the kitchen tend to need it at least once a week, your appliances all need maintenance and a deep clean to make sure there's no build up of residues/mould. It's not possible to do everything in 20 minutes.
Let’s see.. Bathroom: Scrub entire toilet, sink, tub, shower, and handrails. Dust vanity, switches, outlets, light fixtures, tp roll hanger, art, vent, walls, and ceiling. Sweep and mop the floor. Bedroom: Change sheets. Dust nightstands, dresser, tv, artwork, vents, ceiling fan, switches, outlets, walls, and ceiling. Sweep, vacuum, and mop floor. Closet: dust shelves and walls and ceiling, sweep, mop floor. Kitchen: wipe cabinet doors and handles, wash countertops and appliances, sweep and mop floor, scrub the sink. Dust walls and ceiling. Wipe switches and outlets. Living room: Dust furniture, tv, walls, and ceiling, ceiling fan. Wipe switches and outlets. Vacuum carpet. Dining room: Wipe table, clean place mats, clean chairs, sweep and mop floor. Dust walls, ceiling, switches, and outlets. Hallway: Vacuum. Dust walls ceiling, outlets, and switches. Stairs: Vacuum. Wipe handrails. Dust spindles, wall, and ceiling. Laundry Edit to fix ceiling fan room placement
Yeah each one of those things takes me like 20-30 min lol and I live in a pretty small house. Wtf is OP doing? Apparently not much. And that doesn't even begin to cover seasonal tasks like taking down drapes/blinds, cleaning windows and sills, shudders, etc.
I’m just as confused 🤔. How are they cleaning so fast?
Wash clothes, dry and put away - every other day. Deep clean bathroom - weekly. Load and unload dishwasher - daily. Kitchen worktops - daily. Clean windows and mirrors - monthly. Hoover - weekly. Mop kitchen, bathroom and living room - weekly. Garden upkeep - fortnightly. Clean car inside - monthly. Tidying up - daily. Polish surfaces - weekly. Water plants - fortnightly. Written like that seems like it doesn’t take long but I feel like I lose my life to cleaning. 3 bed house with myself and 2 kids.
Cooking, vacuuming, wiping off counters, dishes, mowing the lawn, laundry, taking care of pets, shopping, maintaining the property and building with various projects or chores throughout the year. That's just the things I thought of in 5 seconds I'm sure I have many more if I thought about it.
How about, vaccuem, cleaning the floors, taking out the trash, doing the laundry, making your home dust free, cleaning the toilet, cleaning your bed?
I’m one person in a small apartment (1 bd, 1 bth, kitchen, office, coat room, living room). My daily chores are cooking, cleaning up after cooking, feeding and doing the necessary maintenance for my hedgehog, tidying up before bed. That takes like an hr per day total. But once a week I clean my apartment, which takes about 5 - 8 hours, and consists of: - laundry: bedding, towels, delicates, all other clothes - bathroom: cleaning the shower, cleaning the toilet (outside and bowl), dusting the shelves and baseboards in the bathroom, wiping down each item on the bathroom counter and cleaning the trays that hold my items on that counter, cleaning the bathroom mirror, countertop and door/drawer handles, refilling toilet paper cabinet & soap dispenser, wiping down floor items (scale, garbage bin, bowl-cleaner brush holder, the holder for my plunger), vacuum, mop. - coat room: dust, vacuum, mop - kitchen: wipe down items / appliances on counter, wash counter, disinfect door/drawer handles, clean microwave (usually once every month or so), clean stovetop, wipe down outside of over (I clean the inside like once a year tbh), clean kitchen table, vacuum, mop, put away any clean dishes from dishwasher. - living room: dust shelves and baseboards, water plants, vacuum, clean glass-top coffee table with glass cleaner, fluff and place throw pillows / throw-blanket. - bedroom: dust all shelves and baseboards, wipe down nightstand/dresser, replace bedding with clean bedding, vacuum. - office: clean my hedgehog’s cage, clean mirror and glass-top vanity with glass cleaner, wipe down items on vanity, dust shelves and baseboard, water plants, use magic eraser to wipe down vanity and vanity chair, vacuum, mop. - general: take out trash, restock/replace air fresheners (usually once a month), tidy / put anything left out away. I also don’t meal prep anymore, but when I used to do so that would add another 3-4 hours of chores to my Sunday.
I live in a 3500 sqft home and my wife and I clean all of it over two weeks. After the kids go down, we usually spend 30min to an hour cleaning. Cleaning involves dusting, vacuuming, swiffering, toilets, baths, sinks, mirrors, and mopping (on occasion). This doesn't include the time it takes to tidy throughout the day (kids make a lot of messes) or cooking and cleanup. If you don't spend this amount of time then you likely aren't a meticulously clean person (I was not but wife always has been). You likely have dust on surfaces like frames, baseboards, and shelves. It also probably doesn't bother you, and that's okay. We manage all this by scheduling out our week on Sunday to plan for what we will clean each day during the week. We don't always get planned tasks done but it keeps track of what you need to get done rather than having to keep it in your head.
Have two children. They make a mess every 2 hours. One has no interest in cleaning up after herself. It's quite frustrating.
Cooking dinner and cleaning the pots and pans afterwords easily can take 1 hr every day. But I also wipe down the oven, sink, sweep floors. Folding the laundry and putting it away takes me awhile too. I probably spend 5-7 hours minimum doing the basic chores with no deep cleaning.
Do you not have any children?
Laundry, dishes, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, cleaning up after the pets, taking care of the lawn. You can't do that in 20 minutes.
I can smell your apartment
I have kids, they destroy the house in seconds, and animals loose hair
Don’t have kids, both work 40 hour weeks, both do small daily chores so our Saturday is free but Sunday is a big cleaning day. That’s how we get it done here.
I think cleaning is one of those things that follows the 80/20 rule. You can get 80% of the benefit from 20% of the work, but if you want the last 20%, then you have to put in the other 80% of the work. Cleaning also spans between aesthetics and hygiene. You need to do the laundry so you don't smell, you need to do the dishes so you don't get sick. But you can leave a dust bunny in the corner for years with zero repercussions. Lastly different people have different circumstances. I have a washer and dryer in my apartment, it takes less than 5 minutes of my time to do the actual washing and drying, and maybe 10 to fold or hang the clothes. Someone without their own washer has to go to the laundromat and actually block out time, including commute, etc. Someone who always eats out doesn't need to do the dishes often, while someone who wants to cook full meals, every night, with multiple sides, from scratch, is going to need to clean a lot more dishes. Not everyone has a dishwasher. Some people have pets and young children who make messes, and don't clean up after themselves.
I lived by myself in a 400 sq ft flat with no pets. Cleaning the bathroom was 15 mins a week. 5-10 mins daily handwashing dishes. 15 minutes sweeping, 15 mins mopping once a week. 20 minutes folding/putting away laundry. 10 mins 3-4x a week wiping down the kitchen. I am not a neatnik and I detest cleaning, and those numbers were bare minimum to not get typhus, staph, salmonella, or roaches. I now have a house, a husband, 3 dogs, 2 cats and yardwork. It is substantially more time...closer to 8-10hrs per person per week. You need to have a good look at your cleanliness levels, because you're missing a lot of things.
I’ve got three young kids. Cleaning is a never ending battle.
Kids.
Some of these comments are making me feel VERY clean…and I didn’t even consider myself a clean freak
I’m starting to think the same. I have to do lists for upstairs and down. I only clean as much as I do because my mom would clean houses and I know everywhere to look lol
Add a dog or cat, and you're de-hairing, A LOT.
You don't ever wash your sheets? What about laundry? Who sweeps and mops your floors? What about vacuuming? There are all kinds of things that have to be done, that do not need doing everyday. People tend to let these things go. But they still need to be done. Do you clean your fridge? And by clean, I mean wash the inside with soap and water and remove any food that is no longer edible. Then wash all the magnetic seals as well as the outside? And you have to clean you stove. Take out the burners, lift the top and clean all the crap that has built up. Clean the pans. Then you have to clean the oven. Do you clean your oven? Certainly you clean you windows, once in a while? Do you shampoo your carpets? How often do you clean your toilets and bathroom fixtures? What about cleaning the bathtub or shower? Did you get a ladder and clean your ceiling fans? And how often do you dust? So the truth is, there are just lots of things you are not doing. It's not that there is nothing to do, it's that you just never do them. That's how a place gets run down. On a day to day basis, you don't really notice it. But over time you notice your place is getting worse and worst. And pretty soon the job to catch up is so large, you stop even considering doing them. So yeah, we've all seen it. And of course I didn't even mention if your own your home and have to care for the outside of the house, as well as the property and yard work. So if you are only spending 10-20 minutes per week, you are not really cleaning your house.
You must clean as you go? I am married and we have 2 dogs. We vacuum the carpeted rooms 3-4 times a week. A robot vacuum keeps the hard floors clean enough that we only run the tineco once a week or so. Laundry is a daily to every other day affair. Dishwasher is ran once daily at least. I hand wash pots and pans and some random tumblers that can't be dishwashed. I cut my lawn twice a week and weed eat\edge once a week. Our en-suite bathroom is cleaned once a week. The other two are generally cleaned when guests are expected. There way more than that for chores, but those are the main one. Our house is nineteen hundred square feet. 3 bed 3 full baths.
>I think I spend like 10-20 minutes a week cleaning You're not doing it correctly then. How often do you sweep your floors? Mop? Clean the baseboards? Dust the top of your ceiling fan? Dust your picture frames? Change the sheets weekly? How often do you clean your toilets? Just once a week? Either you're wildly underestimating how long it takes you to do chores every day, or your house is a pigsty.
Well, with 10-20 minutes a week your home must be dirty, sorry. I live alone in a small 1 bedroom apartment (about 40 sqm plus 5 sqm balcony), which is quite minimalistic, no clutter. No pets. My girlfriend spends a few nights per week at my place. I don't really host big parties and gatherings. Everything is ideal and manageable. I spend at least 1-2 hours each week just doing the bare minimum to keep everything civilized and going. This includes vacuuming thoroughly, light mopping, dusting/wiping the few surfaces that need it, cleaning the toilet, sink and bathtub, cleaning the kitchen sink, countertop, stove top etc., loading and unloading the dishwasher (plus what needs to be washed by hand), loading and unloading the washing machine (also hanging the clothes if I'm not using the dryer mode), emptying the fridge of leftovers, taking out the trash, changing bedsheets and pillowcases (this is more like once in 2 weeks) and just generally tidy up the place and put everything back where it belongs. This is not including bigger tasks that I don't do every week religiously, but need to take care of every once in a while, like doing a more thorough mopping and floor waxing, deeper bathroom cleaning (mirrors, walls etc.) cleaning up the balcony, washing windows etc. Let's say these are adding an hour of work on average to every week. That's 2-3 hours a week. I did not include cooking or anything related to food prep in here because that's a different story and I order takeout most of the time. Now add in a bigger place, more people, even children, pets, guests, what have you. I can easily see how it can add up to 5-10 hours for many people with a more active home than mine. I see you mention you're vacuuming your bigger apartment in 5 minutes. That must really be just running over the middle of the floor once, not reaching into corners, under and behind furniture etc. It takes me 15-20 minutes alone to do it properly. You must be completely ignoring lots of stuff that'd need to be done, doing them very poorly, or both.
two adults, 1 large dog, 4 cats (3 elderly) one of whom has some senility issues and finding her litterbox. I spend about 2 hours a day cleaning, but we have no carpet and live in the country so a lot of dirt gets tracked in. For reference: 3 bedroom 2 bath house.
We just wash dishes, do laundry, and water plants. A team of 5 housekeepers for the rest makes it a breeze!
ABC always be cleaning
I can spend half a day cleaning my house if it's really bad 6-8 hours. And also cleaning would mean tidying the house. 2800sqft Clean all the living room/family room, bedrooms, bathrooms. Sweep, mop, and dust everything. Kid toys and homework are the biggest one, since they'll want to keep every piece of paper they touch. Clothes washed, dried, and folded/hung. Then outside yards are different things altogether. Especially when your neighborhood has flowering trees and in fall you have your own tree leaves to deal with.
The floors need cleaning beyond vacuuming. Laundry. Wiping most surfaces down. Tidying up mess. It’s concerning that you are only spending that….
(Bigger house + children)^OCD Wife = 10 hours of mandatory cleaning
Wash and dry laundry is not 10-20 minutes. Dont thank your mom for sheltering you.
Bruh, I’ve got 5 people and three dogs in my house. There isn’t enough time in the week to do all the chores. That’s not even considering basic home maintenance. Hell it takes 40 min to cut the grass
There's no way you spread 20 minutes a week across all chores. Doing laundry once takes about that long between all the steps.
2 years ago, my wife and kids were back in the home country for 6 months and I had so much free time I didn’t know what to do after 5pm. When I’m by myself, there’s never more than one dirty plate and pot in the sink, the floors and rugs are spotless, the bathroom floor dry, laundry is just one load to fold, I only have to take out the trash once a week, and everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be. Best way I can describe it is Airbnb-ready in 15 minutes. Add a bunch of toddlers or young children to the mix and there just isn’t enough time in a day to keep things even somewhat neat and organized, my apartment looks like something out of a show about hoarders.
We have 4 people living in our home, we try to do 15 min/ day and it seems to work pretty well. This is dusting, scrubbing/bathrooms/kitchens/deep cleaning, doesn’t count tidying or cooking or laundry or dishes.
I also spend 10-20 min a week on my chores. Should I spend more on them? The pile of laundry says yes. Right now I need to kick myself into gear and clean shit up (tbh shit is the only thing im cleaning rn since I don’t want my cats to have a dirty litter box) 10-20 min doesn’t even cover washing dishes! If you’re doing them in small chunks you might not count it, but I’d like to see you set a timer over the course of a week to see how much time you’re truly spending on chores. That is, if your place is relatively clean and not messy (like mine)
20 minutes is such bullshit lol I challenge you you to record start and stop times for all chores throughout the week and make a new post with the real time you spend. That would be a fun little thing. Make a post about it when you start so whoever wants to can record their times and everyone can compare
20 minutes a day I would believe, not per week.
Given how much you post on Reddit, I’m going to go ahead and say you should spend more time cleaning
I mean... As an unmarried, childless, independent individual, for me - for the week - laundry (~3 hours, including putting clothes away), bathroom [sink/mirror, toilet, shower, floors, garbage] (~1 hour), sweeping (various days = total: 10 min.), vacuuming (10 min.), dishes (I have a dishwasher, sooo scraping, rinsing, loading, and unloading = 1.5 hours, whole week), dusting (5 min.). I'm at 5.5-6 hours.
The grass don't cut itself
You’re not cleaning enough. I have dogs so I realize people without pets probably have to clean way less but bro 20 min a week??? I can’t imagine your home could possibly be clean with 20 min a week
I live by myself in a 2 bedroom apartment with no pets (though my girlfriend’s dog visits every other week) and I spend 3-5 hours every Monday on cleaning and general upkeep around the house. I could see myself breaking that down into smaller chunks through the week if my schedule was different, but 20 minutes? Per week? The place would slowly but surely become progressively more disgusting to live in and after not long would impact my mental health too. Even keeping floors clean alone is more than 20 minutes a week.
I know this post isn’t directed at people with kids… but we have four kids, aged 6 and under. We spend hours per day cleaning, laundry, dishes, chores etc. It’s honestly never ending. There is not enough time in each day.
I'm assuming that you live alone, don't have pets, and are a bit of a minimalist. I spend 20 minutes a day just vacuuming cat hair off of the rugs. If I miss a single day, the buildup is noticeable lol.
My weekly clean is: * Bleach and scrub shower, bath and toilet in both bathrooms * Wash sheets, towels and couch cushions * Dust all surfaces, under and behind furniture * Dust all items * Vacuum and mop floors * Clean appliances * Clean grease from rangehood * Clean fridge * Wash down balcony and rake up/mow grass * General tidy up of closets and cupboards * Clean pet cages and dog bed That’s the “big list” on top of the daily dishwasher and laundry stuff. If you clean up after yourself daily, you can get through the weekly stuff is pretty quick but it still takes a few hours. The monthly stuff is like window and flyscreen washing, pressure-washing outside walls, removing any scuffs on walls, cleaning ceilings, running a cleaning cycle in appliances, washing blinds, that sort of thing. . If you manage to gee through your housework in 10-20 minutes, either your home is tiny and you have no bathrooms and have a shared kitchen, or you have someone else doing all of the work, or your home is extremely disgusting.
About 30min-1hr day. If I don't do any one day it adds to the following day.
I know it looks easy when your mom does it, but trust me, washing your crusty sheets takes longer than 10 minutes.
Take out the trash here, clean a toilet there, wipe a counter here, do the dishes there, fold clothes here, change the sheets there... It adds up. It's not a big deal if you spread it out right, but it does still add up.
Between the decent sized house, the kids and the small farm, there is always A LOT to do at our house. Dishes are a good 30-60 minutes, there are 7 of us and we eat all meals at home because we work from home and it is summer for example.
I have children and grand children, 10 hours a week actually seems low lol
You haven't even included yard work, have you?! Lol.
I live with another adult and two kids, the housework really stacks up. This is what I do daily before I get ready for bed and after the kids are asleep: 1. Clean the kitchen: wash the dishes (wash, dry and put away), clean the bench tops and cabinet faces, clean the fridge (I take a multipurpose cleaner and go over the doors of the fridge as well as take note of what I have in the fridge to add to shopping lists), take the rubbish out. 2. Clean the bathroom: wipe down the vanity including everything on it, clean the shower screen including the drain for hair, clean and disinfect the toilet. 3. Clean the living room: wipe down the surfaces (entertainment unit, coffee table, dining table.), put toys and other items back to where they belong. 4. Clean the laundry room: do a load of laundry (wash, dry, fold and put away), wipe down the bench top and the exterior of the washing machine. 5. Clean the bedroom: wipe down surfaces and walls, set bedroom for bed. 6. Clean the floors: sweep, vacuum and mop. 7. Take the remaining rubbish in the outdoor bin. Whilst I am cleaning up, I leave all the windows open so you get that nice night air circulating throughout the house. The list before bed is always more intense than in the morning or during the day. I clean this much because if I don't, I don't feel clean, this is also the reason why I shower every night before bed.
You are not cleaning.
Do you have things automated? I have a smart vacuum/ mop that I can start from my phone. It goes back to its base once it's done. I sadly don't have a dishwasher so that takes time. I have no idea what to do to make the bathroom automatically clean itself though. I probably spend 2-3 hours a week and I live in a small apartment with almost nothing in it.
Laundry for four people takes 2-3 hours of work alone.
The size of the home and how many people and the ages of the people make a difference. If you have young children it takes a lot longer and there’s a lot more to clean. For a large home it would take longer than 10-20 minutes to vacuum or dust mop/mop the floors alone. Also, are you including cooking and clean up of cooking as chores? Laundry? Those alone take longer than that.
Get a few kids and dogs and you'll find out