Mess how much can you tolerate?

Sallywally1, what's 'light polishing'? - I never do that (didn't know lights needed polishing).

I don't do a lot of housework as I can always find something more interesting to do. I'm soon galvanised into action if a visitor is expected, though. I suddenly feel shame so tidy up, damp dust and hoover.

If I notice dirt and grime, I'll (eventually) make a good job of getting things pristine and sparkling - in an obsessively over-fussy way. Then I'll leave it to get bad again. I can't be bothered to keep everything regularly cleaned. There's no sense of satisfaction if I can't see a noticeable difference.

Brigidsdaughter

boodymum67 that's very hard to live with. It's a very flippant response to be told 'not to look at...' when it's something that matters to you ♥️⚘⚘⚘

I sympathise.

I would just like things to be put back in their place!
Makes tidying up so much easier.
Unfortunately I do very little nowadays, so it's up to H who is a hoarder (rainy day mentality), and finds all kinds of muddles easy to live with!
PS I have to hide my scissors and veg peeler because he looses and/or breaks them and doesnt replace!!

House too clean....person is bored or boring! ..... do you realise that when you’re dead someone else will be cleaning those very same rooms you’re cleaning now....we’re all specks oh dust in the cosmos...just passing through.... spend the time you’re given in an uplifting way. Put the dusters away ladies!

When I had a baby, my sister decided she'd 'help'. She was horrified to find our dog asleep on a bed - so stripped all the beds and put on the laundry. 'Where's the spare bedding?' she asked. We didn't have enough spare stuff for six beds!

When I got home, I couldn't find anything, all was tidied away. 'Where does this live? Where does that go?' she wanted to know. Nobody knew. She even took up carpets as there was dust underneath (so?).

I can put up with quite a lot, it seems.
Not that I'm thrilled at it being put to the test.
More like I've lost hope, which in a way is quite freeing.

I can't relax and enjoy myself if the house is a mess.
When my children were young the beds were made and bedrooms dusted- including skirting boards before we came downstairs!
Definitely not so fussy now. However I still like beds made, toilet cleaned, kitchen done after breakfast. Quick vacuun round. Takes an hour between us.
I like my kitchen and bathroom thoroughly clean. But I rarely dust now every 2-3 weeks and polish even less. Its not needed. Inside windows now and again. Too much housework is a waste of valuable limited energy and time.

That's the thing; I seem to spend hours and hours moving piles of stuff from one place to another these days.
I'm sure I did far less when I was fussy.

A rota!!!! Crikey!!!!!

If I see a bit of dirt I will clean it up when I have time or the inclination; but the idea of regular cleaning is completely alien to me. Why would you spend your life doing this stuff?

My Nan used to say "you have to tolerate a peck of dirt before you die." The other one used to look in my cupboards to see if I had cleaned inside. A casual glance round the outside of the cupboards would have saved her the effort!!!

I like to be clean and tidy. At the moment we have just had wood flooring put down in the bedroom and the living room looks like a bombs hit it till we can get it all back together again which won’t be for a couple of hours I am sitting amongst drawers empty cupboards boxes.

I had a kind of rota, before.
It meant that I spent exactly one hour every morning doing housework and 1 extra job such as sorting a cupboard out.

Not necessarily lazy, I do a lot in my community etc and if I kept my house pristine I wouldn't be able to, just because I'm not doing masses of housework ( just keeping it in a reasonably clean and tidy state) doesn't mean I'm lazy, I cook from scratch too

Soniah

Not necessarily lazy, I do a lot in my community etc and if I kept my house pristine I wouldn't be able to, just because I'm not doing masses of housework ( just keeping it in a reasonably clean and tidy state) doesn't mean I'm lazy, I cook from scratch too

Sorry above aimed at overthehill

I'm just a lot more tired than I used to be.
I would think nothing of staying up all night to get things done, now I can barely keep my eyes open after 3PM.

Oh I can tolerate quite a lot of mess, usually of my making. I am sitting here at our 12 foot dining table which is covered end to end in fabrics, threads and sewing paraphernalia, the floor needs vacuuming, there's a mountain of ironing needing doing and I can see dust on the shelves. Am I bothered - No. Most days are like this in our house, until someone says they're coming to visit then I have a blitz on it.

I am quite easy going about being untidy and a bit of dust, but like my bathrooms and my kitchen to be clean.
My daughter says I am a messy cook, and I agree with her, but I do clear up after myself.
I only try for pristine when someone is coming to stay. God it's hard work before they arrive.

My DH and I are both a bit OCD about everything looking clean, tidy and elegant. I use the morning to do a rota of cleaning tasks and have a long walk and then, in the afternoon, I can sit like Lady Muck in my palace and read.

I have a cleaner who is a God send, I like clean, but a bit messy, what I call the lived in look

I like a house to look lived in, clean and basically in order, I do most of the cleaning, no big deal maybe 3 hours a week.
OH, anything goes, never throws anything away so it accumulates. I’d post a photo of her “woman cave” but it would get deleted for obscenity, as long as the door can be closed I’ll live with it.

Tidy? Immaculate. Clean? Ah well.....hopefully the aforementioned tidiness gives that impression but.... so, so.

This is my mantra.

Dust if you must but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture or write a letter
Bake a cake or plant a seed
Ponder the difference between want and need.

Dust if you must, but there's not much time
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb
Music to hear and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there
Sun on your face and wind in your hair.
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain.
This day will not come round again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go – and go you must -
You, yourself, will make more dust

I drive myself totally nuts cos I need the place to be clean & tidy. Everything has to be put away, can't cope with mess. I wish I could be easier going about it all. I have been renovating a house for nearly a year and the rubble, dust, etc has really, really got to me most days. I really need to learn to chill and enjoy my home.

My house is very clean and tidy I don’t like mess or untidiness. Everything has a home and I function much better if I have clean house.

I like a clean, tidy home. My husband has hoarding tendencies and doesn't bother where he puts things although he does like a tidy home. In early lockdown l sorted the hoard and find the best thing for my sanity is to tidy behind him.

Also, l have a cleaner once a week. She does the complete clean which means l only need to do little things (bathroom, toilet and kitchen) inbetween. As l work it is an absolute godsend.

In conversation, someone I once knew, said that whenever she went into anyone's house she made a point of visiting the bathroom. In her own words "I judge people by the state of their bathrooms". Her own looked like something from Ideal Home. Everything matched and there were stacks of co-coordinating towels etc. Just made me nervous when I had to go there. Those words still hang around my head when I'm cleaning my bathroom even though I know she won't be judging me anytime soon.