Is This Mum's Cleaning Schedule the Hardest You've Ever Seen?

There’s very little likely to outrage a mum’s group more than comparing how clean and tidy their homes are. Some mums claim to have OCD when it comes to keeping things spick and span, while others think a messy home is a sign of a life well-lived. Either way, “how much do you clean your house?” is a subject destined to spark debate.

One mum certainly found this when she posted to a cleaning Facebook group over the weekend with a suggested cleaning schedule. “Does this sound about right?” She asked the group, posting her schedule to the page. The chores were organised into ‘every day’, ‘every week’, ‘every month’, ‘every 3-6 months’ and ‘every year’. 

Bathroom and kitchen surfaces, for example, should be wiped down every single day. She also recommended cleaning the toilet and doing the laundry on a daily basis. Floors should be mopped and vacuumed once a week and while you were at it, she suggested scrubbing the mirrors and the microwave at the same time. 

Once a month jobs were things like dusting blinds and lights, cleaning vents and emptying the vacuum cleaner. Ovens should be cleaned every few months and things like a deep cleaning of upholstery and carpets could just happen once a year. 

Image source: Kidspot

“Life is too short!”

While most people agreed that kitchen and bathroom surfaces should be wiped down regularly, everyone baulked at the prospect of chucking on a load of washing on a daily basis. Not only is it wasting a huge amount of water, but people were also wondering how anyone could possibly get through that many clothes in just 24 hours.

Others just thought the list was flat-out impossible to achieve. “Absolutely not! I work 14-hour shifts!” One woman said. Another chimed in to say she didn’t work 14-hour shifts but was “full time with 3 kids… so I think this list is ridiculous. Not good for the immune system either,” she added.  

Plenty agreed, chiming in with “No way! Life is too short!” and “I just shut the doors and go live a life full of joy!” 

Image source: iStock

The oven cleaning question dividing the internet

Most people actually thought the list wasn’t so much as unrealistic but that the timings were just completely off.

Plenty were divided over when to do the more irregular tasks like fridge and oven cleaning, questioning just how gross things could get if the food was left to fester for months at a time, which, true, but when it comes to neglecting the oven I am guilty as charged. (It doesn’t smell like the fridge, right? It’s easy to forget about!) 

Another added, “If I only cleaned the windows once a month we wouldn’t be able to see out!” while one remarked, “Clearly whoever made this hasn’t got kids. Imagine mopping and hoovering only once a week!”

Image source: iStock

Everyone is different 

The vacuuming once a week thing to me definitely sounds ludicrous. With a kid and a dog there’s no way I get away with doing it that little. And my floor would be growing little yoghurt sub-cultures in less than a day if I didn’t mop straight after breakfast. And I definitely deep clean the carpets and furniture more than once a year.

But I guess the point of the post – and the outrage – is that everyone is different. If you’re a single person or a working couple without gross children and animals traipsing through your house, this schedule is probably OK. And at the end of the day, you’re the one who has to live there so if you’re cool, that’s all that matters. I think this poster had the best response: 

“I use this simple guide to help me:
Does it look dirty? Yes? Clean it. No? Leave it.
Can I be bothered? Yes? Clean it. No? Leave it.”

Now those are true words to live by. 

This article was first published on KidSpot and was republished here with permission.