House Cleaning and Hygine

[STEVIEBOY1]

There was an article in the news a few days ago about how often we should clean the house, beds, lights bulbs our clothes and ourselves.

How often do members here do these chores and do you take notice of these surveys etc?

I clean my house by a full dusting once a week and I do the loo and bathroom frequently too although "They" say that the loo should be done daily.
I also go around with the hoover about once a week and wipe down all kitchen surfaces several times a day, I ash the kitchen floor and walls & cupboard outer surfaces weekly too.

They also say bedding should be changed at least once a week and a deep mattress turn and clean every 2 or 3 months I think with hoover tools.

The thing that really caught my attention was that they also said we should go up and dust our light bulbs which seems a bit extreme.

Then there are surveys about how often do you wash/change your clothes and yourselves, and in the summer on a hot crowded train or tube, I don't think that some people can do that very often. (I remember years ago getting on a Circle line train at Kings Cross St. Pancras on a July day and the "whiff" shall we say was awful.)

I am a daily pants, socks and workshirt man.

 

[yorksrob]

I can honestly say, I've never dusted a lightbulb, although I did recently hoover the lampshade.

The late Quentin Crisp used to say that if you left it long enough, the dust would eventually get to a point where it stopped accumulating.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Clothes:

Daily change of:

Vest
Pants
Shirt
Socks

Other items as required.


Bedding:

Probably not often enough, but that's because the wife insists on duvets and it takes an age to change those ( King Size bed... ); I'd change them more often if it was proper sheets and blankets like I used to have. Having said that, we do tuck the duvet in like a blanket and use a sheet below it and a bedspread above it to keep it nice and tight so it's effectively in use like a blanket but with all the hassle of a duvet.


House cleaning:

Don't get me started - she can't even be bothered to close the bathroom door to hoover / wipe behind it when she does do the cleaning. Or move anything else to get to anywhere come to think of it... Cleaning anything other than the immediately visible areas tends to get left to myself or her care agency* :roll:



*This isn't why she has a care agency - she is fully capable of cleaning all those places herself...

 

[Blindtraveler]

I do the loo daily as I like it to be clean. The rest varies a lot to be honest.

 

[LowLevel]

As a shift worker I find I have less time than I'd like to clean. I try and vacuum weekly, I'm a bit of an obsessive about the toilet so that gets done every day. Washing up every day, kitchen surfaces probably less than I should, every few days.

I have at least one, often two showers a day. Socks, underwear, shirt and vest get changed every day (they have to, the shirt is a cheap polyester work one), work trousers vary - every day in summer when I'm sweating buckets on hot trains, less often in winter.

Working with the public I run into plenty of stinkers so I go to some pains to make sure I don't become one myself!

 

[Iskra]

I wear fresh clothes and shower everyday before leaving the house.

I work with food, therefore my kitchen is always spotless, I wipe all the surfaces and hob down everytime I cook.

I try to vac every week.

I do my bedding roughly every 10-14 days, same with my bathrooms.

I work shifts so I do struggle to keep up sometimes and I find it hard to get into a set rhythm as there is no set rhythm to my shift pattern and then sometimes on my days off I end up making up for the lack of social time and not getting round to doing my house chores. Other times, I'll prioritise the house over my social life.

I am going to get a cleaner as of April, just to help me keep on top of things, especially during busy times at work.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I'm more of the opinion that a bit of muck never did anybody any harm. Builds your immune system.

I shower every day, I change underwear and socks every day. I normally alternate 2-3 shirts and trousers throughout the week, depending on the weather- I can get away with it in winter, I can't in the summer. Bedding every couple of weeks. I spray the shower down with cleaner every time I've used it, I wash the bath out before I use it every time, probably give everything else a proper wipe down every couple of weeks. Cleaning the toilet every day? Nah, the chemical output from that would be horrific for the environment. Keep the lid down and don't lick the toilet seat and you'll be reet.

 

[theblackwatch]

Must admit that cleaning lightbulbs is a new one on me! I've lived in my house 20 years and have never done one, and I can't remember my parents doing so either.

Other places get done when I think they need doing. I don't wash up every day - there is little point in washing one knife, one fork, one plate etc...

 

[richw]

I clean as required on appearance. Hoover daily.
Personal hygiene - shower every time I get out of bed before dressing.
Wife does the beds every Thursday like clock work!

 

[NeilWatson]

Dusting light bulbs is a safety issue - a build-up of dust could smoulder when the bulb is energised. I speak from experience after plugging in a lamp that had come out of storage without checking the bulb.......

 

[Bletchleyite]

Dusting light bulbs is a safety issue - a build-up of dust could smoulder when the bulb is energised. I speak from experience after plugging in a lamp that had come out of storage without checking the bulb.......

What are these hot light bulbs of which you speak?

I could understand people keeping incandescent bulbs when CFLs were the only option, but LED now provide an excellent replacement that reduce energy usage and fire risk massively and retain quality of light.

 

[PeterY]

I change my socks once a week, even if they don't need it.

Seriously though I change my socks, pants and shirts everyday and also shower everyday.

Living on my own, housework is done as and when.

 

[RichmondCommu]

The house is cleaned from top to bottom every week although I will confess to having a cleaner! Clothes are changed on a daily basis and suits are rotated. Bedding is changed every week. Dish washer use depends on whether the children are home.

 

[Starmill]

I've got halogen bulbs and a lamp that get so hot they will sear your skin if touched. I'm changing them to LED bulbs when they expire. It seems to be a constant hoover-related battle where you vacuum or sweep and then its immediately dirty again. The whole kitchen feels like it goes through a cycle of nice and clean to filthy and then back again every single day. Laundry is the biggest pain in the arse in winter because nothing dries so the house is covered in damp clothing on hangers. This means having windows open a lot is also neccesary - but I find that is quite good too. I recommend not 'making up' the bed but rather leaving the covers folded over so it gets fresh air and sunlight.

I am definitely not up for this whole cleaning the toilet every day thing though. I'll try to keep it generally clean just by using a wipe, but I'm not bleaching it more than every once in a while!

I often find with my feet that I really feel the need to change my socks more than once a day, so I usually try to pack n+1 pairs of socks where n is the number of days I'm away.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

...I ash the kitchen floor and walls & cupboard outer surfaces weekly too...

In my youth here in Glasgow we were lucky – we could afford sawdust for covering the floors in pubs and butchers' shops. I don't think many people had to use ash as a floor covering.

 

[Calthrop]

The late Quentin Crisp used to say that if you left it long enough, the dust would eventually get to a point where it stopped accumulating.

Living on my own, housework is done as and when.

I live on my own -- similarly, housework done "as and when" -- in practice, not much, until health-hazard conditions are verged on. In the main, I'm greatly of the Quentin Crisp school; though I do, unvaryingly, wash my plates before eating off them. I'm not proud of my slobbish ways -- however, I'm virtually the only person who is impacted thereby.

 

[fowler9]

When I was sadly on a prolonged period on the dole I would, aside from job hunting, clean my exes families house from top to bottom. Her mum would get home from work and do the same again. After a couple of days of watching her do it (cruel I know, I was just baffled as to why someone would do something that didn't need doing) I said that I had done it all already. She carried on doing it so I just stopped and spent longer job hunting. Maybe I am just a rubbish cleaner, ha ha. She is a lovely lady and I'm not knocking her at all, just some people have a routine. Fair enough.

 

[Busaholic]

I think Kim Woodburn is the living embodiment of the idea that obsessing about housework can literally drive you mad (she was the battleaxe half of the 'How Clean is Your House?' duo a while back). Came across her a few years ago interrogating some poor sap in my local Tesco for some TV programme and she is relentless/obsessive. Actually I have a brother who is afflicted with OCD, and a sister who was getting that way until ill health put a limit on it: regrettably, perhaps, I've gone the other way, although I'm meticulous about personal washing and socks/underwear.

 

[fowler9]

Such is life, the world is full of people who look immaculate and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the public because they couldn't have a polite conversation with their own family or run a p**s up in a BBQ.

 

[507021]

I change my clothes and underwear daily, except for jeans which I wear for two or three days before I put them in the wash. I shower every other day, on the days in between those I just have a wash. Now and again I'll have a bath, but that's very rare. I don't think I've had one for a good few months to be honest.

I do most of the housework weekly, usually on a Sunday (except the clothes washing which is done as and when necessary), unless it needs doing again before then for whatever reason. The only thing I don't do is wash the dishes, because it's one job I cannot stand doing.

 

[DarloRich]

One has domestics for this kind of thing. One has no idea how these things happen or when.

 

[Tetchytyke]

One has no idea how these things happen or when.

My wife tells me that we have a self-cleaning bathroom.

I'm impressed. Modern technology.

 

[Howardh]

Fastidious.
I hate dirty/grubby and things being out of place!!

 

[Busaholic]

Fastidious.
I hate dirty/grubby and things being out of place!!

Ah, but what is the place of things, Howard?

 

[Howardh]

Ah, but what is the place of things, Howard?

Somewhere out of the bloody way!!

 

[trainmania100]

I do hope this is up to modern standard
I change my socks and underwear once a day
I change my trousers 3 times per week
I change my shirt every two days
I shower a day, I miss a day, I shower a day, with missed shower days consisting of a thorough face and hair wash. I deodorise at least once per day.
I brush my teeth twice daily, however often after breakfast (aren't i naughty xD) rather than before.
My bed, I fear to share, is changed once per month..
Dusting? Very rarely. I personally like to keep my TV and other hardware clean of dust but in my bedroom there is too much it's not feasible to control.
Toilet i bleach at least once per week, occasionally twice a week but that's my private en suite and working nine til five I rarely use it.
I do hope I havent scared anyone, but I also hope that this has put anyone's mind at resr

 

[najaB]

I brush my teeth twice daily, however often after breakfast (aren't i naughty xD) rather than before.

That makes more sense - the point of brushing your teeth is to clean away any stuck food, etc.

 

[VauxhallandI]

You put bulbs in the ground to grow.

You put lamps in a luminaire to see in the dark

 

[najaB]

You put bulbs in the ground to grow.

You put lamps in a luminaire to see in the dark

And you put pedants on RailUK forums to make nitpicking posts.

 

[Strathclyder]

I shower daily, have a change of t-shirt, underwear and socks every day, brush my teeth twice daily and use a facial scrub once daily (for my chronic acne).

As far as my room goes, I hoover, dust and change my bedding as required. Not the optimal way to go, but I've settled right into it and I ain't about haul myself out of a bedded-in routine lol