Clean it fix it

I caught it a few times but most of it is common sense it just makes me think people are just blooming lazy to let places get in such a state. I don’t watch it now.

Cant believe how able bodied, mentally sound people can live in filth.

I enjoy it, and am now using baking soda and white vinegar, and also cleaning dirty surfaces with a circular motion!
I think I like it because it is non-judgemental, and the team take on simple tasks that can quickly become over whelming if neglected.
The people they help generally have health issues but increasingly the houses, particularly the kitchens, are too small with little storage. I wonder how many of the houses being built so swiftly will be adequate for a family?

I watched it a couple of times maybe a year or two ago. I thought the woman who did the general cleaning was very patronising.

There are many able bodied people, sound minded people who get into this cleaning / hoarding situation.
If you have ever watched other series like this, you will have seen that there is a distinct pattern. All was OK until ... something happened, a death usually.
So it's not laziness, it's the manifestation of other problems. No one wants to live like that.
A bit like homelessness, not a choice but the result of a few poor decisions, life situations.
Goodness how judgemental some posts are.

I’ve only watched one episode and was shocked at the clutter some people live in year in year out. I’d have been demented living with all the clutter. The cleaning methods used were the ones my gran used years ago, as she never liked using chemicals.

The programme frustrates me as many householders just won't help themselves. The one the other day had a mother wanting to clear her sons room as he had a condition where clutter upset him. The first thing the presenters did was get her to clear HER belongings out of his room! Why the hell didn't she already do this!

I agree with Nuttynanna2

My son and DiL are, what can only be described as hoarders.
I've offered many a time to help and have been met with a firm NO from my son, whereas my DiL has actually admitted they need help in organising themselves.

I like Sort your Life Out with Stacey Solomon. I wasn’t a fan of hers but she comes across as genuinely compassionate and caring. Yes, the amount of overbuying is staggering in some cases but the bag history usually reveals a trauma that has been a trigger for this.

I watch it because it helps me. I am someone that has been overwhelmed by the mess my house is in, probably the result of having to maintain it after my divorce. It’s so easy for life to turn into a downward spiral sometimes and if you add an unexpected physical problem on top of it that can affect you mentally, too. I took it for granted that my husband could fix everything etc. Although I do like using the more natural cleaning products that they use in the programme, sometimes you just have to go for the heavy duty stuff.

My ex walked out on me leaving me with two young children and a moderately tidy house. That was 50 years ago and, until 2 years ago, I was drowning in rubbish, paperwork, detritus. My girls are happily married and each lives some distance from me, so were not aware of the problem. But 2 years ago, my eldest daughter came back to live with me after the unexpected death of her husband. She has been a godsend and, without judgement, has helped me sort my life out. I am so grateful to her, I really could not have done it without her. Please don't judge people in this position, you don't know all their circumstances.

Unigran4

My ex walked out on me leaving me with two young children and a moderately tidy house. That was 50 years ago and, until 2 years ago, I was drowning in rubbish, paperwork, detritus. My girls are happily married and each lives some distance from me, so were not aware of the problem. But 2 years ago, my eldest daughter came back to live with me after the unexpected death of her husband. She has been a godsend and, without judgement, has helped me sort my life out. I am so grateful to her, I really could not have done it without her. Please don't judge people in this position, you don't know all their circumstances.

I can understand that. The only people I feel that can help me get on top of my mess are my kids and my ex, because so much of the clutter is due to me hanging on to memories. Exacerbated by the fact that I have very few things from my own childhood and treasure everything I do have.

Yes, too many judgemental people around. My DH is a serial hoarder (some of the stuff he doesn't even know what it is or where it came from), and he fills 3 bedrooms with entirely his things, with the rest of the house also having his stuff. His latest fad is trying out new foods and if liked he buys loads at once. Then he finds something better so the others go unused. The kitchen cupboards (and we have a lot) won't fit any more stuff in. Today he "called in at Tesco for "some butter" and spent £60 on stuff we did not need and do not have room for.

I struggle to keep this 5-bed, 2-bath plus loo, and 5 rooms downstairs clean (if not tidy). Last week he cleaned "his" bathroom cos we were having visitors and I had to clean it again. He seems averse to using hot water and cleaning stuff, preferring a damp, dirty rag. He'd be happy to never put the crockery in the cupboard but leave it out "because it's easier".

His bedroom is also a tip, clothes on the floor cos no room in the (many) wardrobes/drawers, and if I didn't strip his bed once a month he would not bother. Nowadays I even have to remind him to have a shower and have to cut his hair from time to time.

The garage has never held a car but you can barely get in it. Every couple of years I clear out loads and leave certain things for him to deal with. Needless to say they stay and more get added.

We now have three garden sheds but he does no gardening apart from mowing the lawn. Lord knows what is in the two I don't use and woe betide him if he goes near "my" shed. The borders are overgrown, the hedges a disgrace and negotiating the path round the house is downright dangerous.

DH denies that he likes it all like this but says he "hasn't got time to do it" but he has no hobbies or friends, and can sit at the kitchen table for about 4 hours before getting himself a round of toast for breakfast. Needless to say the bread, butter, plate and knife are left in different parts of the kitchen.

We have a table in the breakfast area and it is covered permanently in papers - newspapers, post, empty envelopes, his passport, a calculator, two laptops (one broken) and an empty winebox. The tv controller is under there somewhere.

But everyone thinks he is a "lovely man" and won't even consider that my stories of his behaviour are justified.

I watched it for the first time a couple of days ago. I spent all of the next morning sorting out my spare room. Given how long it took me to do one room, I don’t know how my friends who don’t like cleaning, manage with a cleaner only coming in for 2 hours a fortnight.

I hadn’t realised there was a new series ( I often watch previous series on catchup). Oh joy!

They’ve changed the format. They certainly cram a lot into half an hours programme. I don’t think they’re tied down to doing it in 24 hours either?

I have watched programmes about hoarders . They are totally different and usually have mental health issues often related to trauma of some sort. They can’t be helped in 24 hours.
I’m not being judgmental, just don’t understand the need to be told how to clean a light switch . And why the cleaner makes such a big deal out of it.

The naysayers obviously have no idea of how easily some people get overwhelmed by housework and cleaning. It isn't laziness at all. I find that by the time I finish tidying, the cleaning becomes overwhelming because I can see every little mark and I don't have time or the energy to get rid of all of them.

I've known a few people who were hoarders, in my work life and as friends. I think loss of any kind is what triggers it. The need to replace what, or who they have lost. Of the people I knew one found her husband having an affair, one had a daughter who became bedridden with ME, one divorced, one had a husband who took a new job working away a lot of the time etc. All were living a normal life with an average amount of possessions before the event.
It's very sad.

I have only watched the series about hoarders once as I was intrigued by the lady with the problem having over 600 pairs of shoes. There were piles of clothes and shoes, many still with tags, in every single room. She didn’t work (I doubt she had time given her shopping habit) and her husband was obviously besotted with her and happy to indulge her despite the fact that there was little space to sit down, Lord knows how they managed to get into their bed, and they had to eat from trays as the dining room was chock-a-block. A beautiful and well groomed lady with a seemingly happy marriage and nice children but an obvious and very expensive problem.

It’s simply the norm isn’t it? Automatic.

Sorry wrong thread!!