Plus, one of the bonuses of living in a small house is that it takes a lot less time to clean.
Sure, sometimes I go for my lighter cleaning routine (vacuum, dust, and clean the kitchen and bathrooms only) versus a full-on deep cleaning, but I rarely skip cleaning entirely.
Even though I'm in the minority of people who don't completely loathe cleaning, I still often need some inspiration to stop my relaxing-drinking-coffee-and-surfing-the-internets Saturday routine and start cleaning instead.
That inspiration comes in the form of cleaning and decluttering shows. There's just something about seeing people clear out, clean and fix up a dirty, cluttered home that really makes me want to clean.
First it was Clean Sweep on TLC. Then came Sell This House and Sell This House Extreme on A&E (yes, that was a real estate show, but it still involved clearing out the crap, as well fixing and tidying up things, so it worked for me). Then after both those shows stopped being syndicated, I found Clean House on Netflix.
But then, horror of horrors, Netflix dropped Clean House from its instant streaming service. And Hoarders never really worked for me because those shows seem to be less about helping people clean up and more about finding the grossest houses possible.
I began procrastinating my Saturday morning/afternoon cleaning into the evening and beyond.
Luckily, I found a nice stash of episodes of How Clean Is Your House on YouTube so I can get my fill, for now.
Am I the only one who uses these type of shows as clean-spiration? And, if not, how do you get your fix?
I could sure use some inspiration where cleaning is concerned. The one I really hate is vacuuming. Actually, I should clarify... a quick once over with my cordless upright takes about 15 minutes and is completely painless. It's dragging out the behemoth canister vac with it's power and attachments, moving all of the furniture, tripping over the cord at least a dozen times, wrestling with the hoses, cursing (a lot) yadda, yadda, yadda - that's the part I really hate. Plus, it just takes FOREVER! Seriously, I can't imagine how people do this sort of thing every week... maybe they're just better than I am?
ReplyDeleteAt this point I try to pick one corner of the house to vacuum thoroughly (including dusting, moving furniture, cleaning baseboards, taking the cushions out and vacuuming in all the little crevices, doing the curtains, etc) and then I just do a quick once over vacuuming of the rest. My house is only 900 square feet and just doing that usually takes 3-4 hours. And that doesn't include kitchen, bathroom or anything else! I can't fathom how people do a thorough cleaning every week! They must be stronger than Hercules or something!
Anyhow, if you have any tips for this vacuum-challenged human, I'd love to hear them!
Wow, 3-4hours for vacuuming? Have you ever tried a different vacuum? I'm not as thorough, but it takes me about 45 minutes to sweep my 740 sq ft main floor, plus the basement stairs and a room down there. Now my main floor isn't carpeted, but I still vacuum all of it, plus use the attachments for the baseboards, etc. I use an upright and don't move or vacuum under big furniture like the couch or regularly vacuum the window treatments. If it were me, I'd probably try a lighter routine more often and see how that works for ya.
ReplyDeleteThere's a TV programme on over here at the moment called Obsessive Complusive Cleaners- obsessive person goes to house of messy/heading towards hoarder person and together they declutter and clean house of messy people. The messy person gets a clean house and finds that they don't hate cleaning and tidying that much; the obsessive person realises they can clean less and all will be well. (Well, that's the idea!)
ReplyDeleteI always find that this show motivates me to clean the annoying niggly things that I usually ignore. My usual cleaning regime involves vacuuming the floor, but not moving furniture or vacuuming skirtings....I don't have a regular routine for doing them, I just do it when they look grubby and start to annoy me.
I love any shows that involve decluttering and cleaning- I love the transformation.
Same here, How Clean Is Your House totally inspires me to deep clean. The other night after watching an episode where they tested a dirty toothbrush cup, I immediately got up and cleaned ours.
DeleteThat show sounds interesting. There also is or was one on HGTV Canada called Consumed where they empty overstuffed houses and had people sort through all of their stuff. But it's never made it to the US.
I loved Clean Sweep and How Clean Is Your House! I wish there was a new show to give me a good cleaning and decluttering fix, too. But given the trends, it would have to be an Amish reality show or something...
ReplyDeleteHa! Right. Or maybe Maids of the Atlanta Housewives
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