Are you houseproud?

When I was working full time as a teacher I did 'spring cleaning' every school holiday. When I retired I expected my house to be pristine. It's not, I no longer have time for light cleaning let alone 'spring cleaning"

I have cleaned under and behind the sofa more often ever since we found a dear little mouse living behind it one Christmas. He had a larder, a sleeping area and a bathroom area! Our three cats hadn’t noticed him, they really are quite useless. We moved him out to the garden, behind the shed with some of his food! ??

Standards have slipped over the years - I used to be the nutter who ironed nappies...

You would think that as we age we would get more particular. That doesn't seem to be the case at all. I don't know how (or why) I found the time to do all the things I thought I must do every day.

Only the bits that show usually! My older neighbour has a pristine house and I always come back very ashamed of my skirting boards, hers are stunningly white! The shame usually wears off when I sit and have a cup of tea and get out a good book! Toilets and sinks and kitchens are my priority and the rest is very relaxed!

The secret to dust is just not to move things, I have a dresser covered in China and treasure andthe mantelpiece sports a pottery vase and hydrangea heads, two old bird nests with stones from the beach that look like eggs, a wooden mask from a trip to South America, small terracotta warrior ornament, two wooden book marks from Ushuia, a few shells, an owl candle - only find the need to dust once or twice a year, like looking at these things and remembering being in various parts of the world, rather be doing than dusting.

I Hoover every year whether it needs it or not! My Mother despaired of me when I first attained independent living. She shrugged and said 'well will you at least keep it tidy? That gives the initial impression of clean'. Bless her, I've always tried to practise this and think of her warmly and regularly in that particular context. I do very little in the domestic goddess scene but every now and again I say to myself 'Thank God for visitors!'

Years ago I had a neighbour who ironed all the nappies - thought I was a terrible slut because I didn't!

We have wooden floors so it's really easy to pull the furniture out and hoover underneath. I do it about once a month. When we had a cat there would be fur balls under the chairs. She's been gone a year now so I probably don't need to be pulling furniture out. My mum ironed towels, tea towels and underwear. She loved ironing and couldn't wait to get the things off the line to iron! For some reason I loathe hoovering our bedroom and hardly ever do it.

Also years ago, I saw a 'Household Hint' in one of those women's magazines which said "I never feel I have finished my housework until I have dusted the keyholes with a cotton bud" !! What a sad life she must have lead.

What a relief. I have a hubby and three cats with, predominantly, black fur so the lounge gets vacuumed pretty much daily. Dusting gets dine when I think about it. I do chores when I see and have the energy to do them. I have a vacuum cleaner upstairs and downstairs to make life easier. However, the last thing I would want said on my gravestone would be...her house was immaculate. I'd rather it said she knew how to live and did it successfully.

As long as the kitchen counter is clean and the loo / basin / bath I'm reasonably happy. I'd like to be houseproud but with umpteen GC and a wonderful but messy DH there is no hope in so being. I have to admit to being a teeny bit envious of friends' homes which always seem to be clean and tidy. I do feel a bit ashamed of our mess sometimes but too busy with more interesting stuff to do much about it.

My DM starched and ironed her tea towels! She completely flummoxed the salesman when she was buying her first automatic washing machine by asking at which part of the cycle she could put the starch in.

I started married life trying to emulate some of her domestic mores and was hugely relieved when very early on DMiL gave me permission to abandon them all.

I do have a dirt threshold but on not over fussy. If I kept on top of everything I would lose that feel good factor of having a big clean and chuck out every so often.

This week it was the kitchen drawers, one big bin liner and a box for charity. It was brought on by finally after 12 years OH put the kicking boards on the kitchen units. I manipulated this by calling the areas underneath the Typhus Pit. Job done.

I start off at a disadvantage s my darling husband is probably the untidiest man on Earth. I like "clean & tidy but lived-in" and because I actually enjoy ironing I must admit to ironing my teacloths (not my knickers though). My best friend, whose idea of a relaxing time is clearing out her cupboards, once said that, now aged over 70, she was only cleaning her skirting boards every other month; I had to confess that if mine got done every other year it was a bit of a miracle!

I clean under the sofa maybe once a year, under beds when they have to be moved for some reason (drawers in all so cannot just shove the hoover under). I like the place to be tidy, hate stuff sitting around - cannot do ornaments/photos etc.
I iron what I have to, if I can fold the stuff without worrying about creases that's what happens. My ex in laws had a neighbour, lovely lady, who ironed everything - even the socks!
I do have a good kitchen clean up regularly and of course the shower room/loo.

I am guilty of ironing sheets and underwear because I like smoothness and I find things fit in drawers better . Don't pull out furniture very often just like tidiness but I'm not obsessive .

Absolutely not. Our sofas are so heavy that I wouldn't be able to move them anyway!

I used to be friends with a girl who was excessively house proud. I HATED being in her house. I felt I was making it look untidy just by being there. I always felt like Hyacinth Bucket's nervous next door neighbour. I am sure she felt equally uncomfortable in my home.

I also used to iron everything that wasn't nailed down lol. Kids socks, underwear, towels (towels!!!) - everything.

I have now gone from one extreme to the other, and for the past 15 years, I haven't picked an iron up. I literally iron NOTHING. This came about because I finally realised that ironing everything, only for the kids to shove a pile of beautifully ironed clothing into the bottom of the wardrobe, was really not a good use of my time.

My home is clean enough to be hygienic, dirty enough to be comfortable to be lived in. I have no intention of arriving at the gates of heaven or hell, regretting not having lived in a cleaner house!

Striking the balance between a home and a showroom is quite hard! My MIL was obsessive; she had excellent taste and was clever with colours, flower arranging etc. and her home was stylish and worthy of 'Homes and Gardens'. However nobody was welcome, she didn't like people sitting down and creasing her upholstery and cushions, and any refreshments, given grudgingly, were partaken in the kitchen, standing up!
I try to make a comfortable home that is clean enough to be healthy but scruffy enough to be welcoming and not put people off. We have to hoover a lot as we have a hairy dog, bu the dusting often gets left.

No, how does anyone have the energy. Knew someone who made her husband lie as if dead in bed so he did not rumple the sheets. Save energy for the good things, walking in the woods, languorously making love, painting drawing, ceramics, going out, cooking yummy food, any craft work that takes our fancy, dressing well - whatever floats your boat, the cleaning will be there when we are gone, have fun not servitude.

Thora Hird "Cream cracker under the settee" it was one of those superb monologues about an elderly woman who fell and subsequently died as she tried to clean a picture of her and her late husband as she thought the cleaning methods of her home help weren't up her standard.x

I used to suffer with migraines as a child. Really terrible ones, with sickness, flashing vision, numbness down one side. I would be in a darkened room for around 3 days. My mum would come and get me out of bed so she could make it, then I was allowed back in.

My friend asked me did I use a cushion for my knees when scrubbing floors.?

House cleaned from top to bottom every week. We have a dog and hair gets under sofas, into corners etc so once a week sofas pulled out and vacuumed under. House quite small since we downsized so doesn't take too long to do. I vacuum every day downstairs, again because of dog and flip round with a duster and I keep on top of the washing and ironing. I am extremely houseproud and love to see my home neat and tidy. Still have time to have fun though and spend time with my family and keep up with my hobbies etc. I like to keep up to date with everything. I've always been this way and make no apologies for it.

I embroidered this about 37 years ago and I stand by it today!