It’s taken me a while to realise that you don’t ever “finish” cleaning up. I’m probably going to die while there are unwashed dishes that I need to do. There will be dirty laundry that needs doing. I will also have things that I’ve Been Meaning to Get Around To.
Not in a dreary way, but just that this is what it’s like going through life. It helps put things in perspective when I realise I’m not actually capable of finishing all my todos. It’s just a process that you go through while alive.
I go commando because I just have no underwear while wearing two different socks. They will find me keeled over like this eating in a restaurant. Kitchen dirty of course.
I also don’t care.
It’s you! The Unfinished One!
This was very frustrating for me when I went through it. I was in a growing phase, trying to get my life on tracks, and I HATED that I could never have all my clothes I love to wear washed while still being able to wear them. Obvious, I know. But it really wasn’t something I had encountered before, because I never really cared about keeping things tidy.
It’s funny that once you decide you want things tidy, you realize they never truly will be.
You can clean up all the cans, but you will crack another.
You can do all the laundry, you gotta wear it
You can clean the plates, still gotta eat off of them
Just chill, there’s an insurmountable amount of work to have a perfect house. Is that what truly gives you happiness, or is it the untidiness that gives you unease?
And either case, is that truly coming from you or the family/peer pressure?
Great comment, but IMO telling someone to “just chill” almost never has the desired effect.
That is the goal though, so I’m not saying you’re wrong.
It’s neither, honestly. Great question, really.
I’ll be honest: I’m an alcoholic finally doing the work to never touch that shit again. So in that, I’ve been doing a lot of “finding myself”. I’ve been trying to be a bit more conscious of things and to also do a lot less sitting around playing video games and watching YouTube and Twitch. And I’ve found that being in a nice space is really comforting, so I started working on my tidiness. And that’s where I found those things I mentioned.
I wouldn’t say it’s coming from my family, it might not even be coming from me. It feels like a “societal” thing. I hate to use this example, but like Jordan Petersen saying “make your bed”.
I don’t know, I’ve also found myself feeling “worthless” in the dating and sex scene, so it’s also probably coming from there. I think “what girl would want to hangout in a shitty room?”
I got a lot to process lmfao
That is wholesome to hear. And I get you, society has some norms that are actually healthy when you mention it like that: shower frequently and don’t let the house turn into a stinking cave 😃
Good on ya, and remember to be grateful to yourself for the results and actually take a minute to enjoy the outcomes.
I feel this comment intensely. I have no idea where this dissatisfaction comes from, but it was just an invisible part of the lived environment for most of my life, and only now am I realising that we’re chasing something, an end state, that is fundamentally unachievable.
Maybe it’s the video games. I’m waiting for an achievement to pop up so I know I’m finished lol. :P
Yep
I’m in a less is more phase. Consciously not pursuing certain things if it means I can get it with extra effort, and putting that effort into appreciating what I already achieved.
Clean the toilet. Leave for 3 weeks, toilet hasn’t been used. Come back and the bowl is dirty.
The call is coming from in the house.
From the porcelain phone!
You got hard water?
Do your roommates not use it?
The kitchen exists as a place where you can make a mess and quickly clean it up.
Imagine trying to do all the stuff you do in your kitchen, but in your living room or bedroom?
That was my thought. If you take your take out to the couch directly you don’t need to clean the kitchen. #life hack
For years people asked how I kept my house so clean when I lived by myself. I had 2 plates, 2 forks, 2 knives and I kept cooking down to 1 pot. If I was making spaghetti and meatballs (the easy way) I mixed everything in the pot, I made the balls on my plate, heated up the pot, browned the balls on bottom of the pot, cleaned dish while I did it, put browned meatballs on plate, boiled water in the pot, throw in noodles drain water when aldente, add sauce, add spices and throw meatballs back in on low heat until I get the sauce how I like. Put food on plate, eat. Put lid on bowl into the fridge for leftovers tomorrow. 1 plate and fork to clean when done. 2 minutes to clean that and the stove top up. Having more people complicates thjngs
…and folding clothes! That’s how you know you’re alive 😅
Have kids, the floor has to be cleaned every day throughout the house.
Have kids and an incontinent cat, and despair.
I have kids, what is this clean floor you speak of?
exactly. Had the oldest one clean the floors before bed last night and that lasted until they all woke up in the morning.
no thank you
I have just learned to be at peace with a certain amount of squalor.
Only if you want things clean. No one says it needs to be clean but you.
Define “clean”.
I want true cleaning hacks. I just got a dishwasher last week for the first time in my life and it’s a huge time saver. What else is like that? The most common sense of course is putting things away after you use them, and another hack is cleaning the kitchen before bed, but what else? Does wiping down the shower every time I use it help? Should I get a used roomba? Are there any roomba-type-objects that mop? Give me the knowledge please.
When I cook I follow the restaurant kitchen principle of cleaning as you go, meaning constantly clear your workspace and clean your essential tools so they’re immediately ready. When you get an inspiration to cook, nothing deflates it like finding you have 20 minutes of work to do first, or that the special utensil or machine you only have one of needs soaking to get the crusty dried crud off it.
Get one of those car window cleaners, The kind they use at the gas station with the wiper blade on one side and the scrubby sponge on the back. Use it in your shower every time after you shower. Scrubby side first wiper side second. It literally takes 30 seconds to scrub down everything and while it’s never completely clean it never gets groady.
Treat your grout with bleach. Spray the wall wipe the bleach off the tile itself The grout will absorb it a little bit and it’ll keep mold from forming.
If you have a glass shower door you can treat it with rainx the same way you would do your windshield. It’s not get any appreciable muck on it for weeks. It is unfortunately a fair amount of work to apply the Windex properly.
Get stainless steel cleaner to clean stainless steel. It really makes a difference.
The oxalic acid in Bar Keeper’s Friend will remove tarnish from copper with zero effort. It can also remove burned on food to an extent.
If your range hood is covered in grease and dust, pour olive oil all over a paper towel and use that to wipe off you hood first. Then use a soapy rag to clean off the oil.
Slightly damp magic erasers will remove almost anything from painted drywall. You can do the same spot about four or five times usually before it needs to be repainted.
Don’t use a steam mop on luxury vinyl plank. Only use a spray mop and neutral pH cleaners specifically designed for flooring. Definitely not fabuloso.
Remove the baskets from your dishwasher once in a while and scrub the insides down with the magic eraser.
Clean your dishwasher filter every time you run it, or be prepared to replace the pump every other year.
Take your shower heads off and soak them in CLR if they start spraying water in strange directions.
Magic erasers?! Like the ones I used to get at the at supply store?
Melamine foam sponges, like Mr clean brand, but you can source them cheaper if you search around.
The absolute best life hack I have is the 5 minute rule.
If I see something that needs doing I ask one question, “can I do this in less than 5 minutes?” If the answer is yes, I do it.
Over time I’ve realized how many things I used to put off and let pile up because I didn’t have the time and how many of those things take less than 5 minutes, less than 2 minutes.
It’s amazing how many things you can do in basically no time. I used to put off so much, I won’t empty the dishwasher because it “takes too long” takes about 2 minutes. I won’t load the dishwasher because it “takes too long” takes about 2 minutes. The counter is messy but it would take forever to clean it, nope, 3 minutes.
I think it’s a good hack though because it works in 3 different dimensions
- First, and most obvious, you do whatever thing you’ve identified will take less than 5 minutes.
- Second, and less obvious, once you start doing this you find the number of times you need to stop and clean all afternoon going down greatly. It just changes the relationship you have with cleaning (or at least I had with cleaning). Cleaning time used to be this block I would set aside and dread, but now even when I need to stop and do the things that take more than 5 minutes there aren’t 100 5 minus tasks also piled up in the way.
- Third, and maybe least obvious, it helps you really gauge how much work stuff is. I don’t know why I thought unloading the dishwasher was some big ordeal, it takes 2 minutes tops. The longer I use the 5 minute rule the more things I’ve thought to try to see if I can do in 5 minutes. And it’s not like I’m speed running these chores. A lot of the things I put off and let pile up just aren’t that much work if you do them when they need doing.
So that’s my cleaning life hack. It has completely changed the way I think about cleaning. It’s not something I stop and do and dread Saturday because I’ve got to do a big clean of the kitchen. My kitchen is always pretty clean now and on Sunday I spend 30-60 minutes mopping and spraying everything down for a nice squeaky clean.
Living in a nice clean place also rules.
There are mopping robots, I have a Braava by irobot
Be warned: that specific model (M6) cannot clean the inside of corners! I’m sure there are newer (and nicer ones) that can do that, since irobot has been super behind the curve for a long time
On the other hand there are now combo vacuum/mop robots but idk if those mop corners very well since I don’t have one
My best life hack to reduce cleaning time is “no shoes in the house”. This is the easiest thing to do and yet, it seems impossible to tell that to my friends and family when they visit.
Also, do less laundry: your clothes don’t need to be washed each time you wear it.
What about muddy dog feet? 😂 That’s my shoe rule too, and I also second your laundry practice. I’m not sure I’ve ever washed some of the pants I own…
A big drying rack for things that don’t go in the dishwasher. Drying with a towel sucks and is unhygienic.
I’ve been putting things out on a towel when that happens, and putting the towel away after. So far so good, but I haven’t been cooking much recently.
For me it’s just cleaning something somewhat every day that makes the “bigger” cleaning sessions so much easier. Not sure if that’s what you mean but bouts of depression made me ignore things for longer times and it took so much more energy to get it back into shape afterwards.
Like, I’d vacuum the living room while waiting for the water for coffee to boil. As for the shower, once weekly is fine to not have to scrub, but I also don’t have hard water.
Does wiping down the shower every time I use it help
That help tremendously. You should take the habit of clearing and wipe every place you use as you finish using them. You build the habit one place at the time and you never have to scrub more than one time a year max. The key is to clean as it is not dirty, this way it is super easy (just a wipe) and it never have the chance to be dirty.
Robot vacuumes!
Buy a cheapish roborock, even used. The S5 is great
fuck dishwashers, I have a triple drying rack.
How do you ensure that things get clean though?
My current apartment doesn’t have a dishwasher, and I can’t stand it. I can hand wash but I’m not content that the germs all got washed away, and it still feels like I can scrub the whole thing and still have spots left that only show up when the dish dries.
As a lifelong washer by hand, I would call those very clean dishes!
Both is best.
if you ever get a robot vacuum, don’t skimp and try finding a quality one.
i tried a cheap one and its useless.
With kids it’s so much worse. I clean the entire kitchen at least 3 times a day, usually more.
Laundry with three kids… Worst thing ever…
Folding is the worst.
At least with my laundry when I take an article of clothing out of the basket to fold you can tell the volume in the basket is reducing. Each item is large enough that the difference is notable.
But when I take a piece of kids’ clothing out, it’s not noticeably less in the basket. It just feels like an endless amount of clothes.
It IS an endless amount of clothes 😭
You own the kitchen, or the mice own it and you just have a timeshare.
If only Doordash would also clean your kitchen!
You can get them to if you’re clever enough.
TaskRabbit probably would.
A skillful S-tier parent will make their children do all these tasks eventually. I haven’t managed this yet, but I’ve seen parents who have.
It’s an amazing sight to behold. I manage to do it perhaps once a month.
I’m living alone again for the first time since I was 22. I brought back my old ways. I use the same dishes every day, and wash as I go. One fork, one knife, one spoon, a plate, a bowl, a glass, etc. They sit rinsed-off in the sink till I need them, then I quickly wash what I need, and use it, and put it back in the sink.
Much better than filling a dishwasher every few days, then having to run it and put the dishes away.
misread kitchen as chicken and got really confused
well the chicken must be cleaned too
Stop reminding me god damn it
