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Post by wind on Oct 9, 2009 23:48:17 GMT -5
This thread is for everyone who has desqualored and is now working towards keeping things relatively ok-ish.
People who are "near desqualored" are welcome, too!
When I say "desqualored"... storage sheds, attics, garages, and closets etc don't count!
It's wonderful if you've cleaned those spaces, but I don't think having those areas clean is necessary for being "in maintenance".
And hello, desqualorers! You are welcome here, too! Chat with us about maintaining your single zero-degree squalor chair or whatever!
This is just a thread about keeping squalor at bay!
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Post by wind on Oct 10, 2009 0:06:26 GMT -5
My first post to this thread:
The reverse of "it's not dirty, it's just cluttered"
Well, it's not cluttered, everything's just sort of dirty.
Seriously, we're very uncluttered overall. But dirt and grime just builds up everywhere freakishly fast. Spiderwebs and cobwebs. Layers of gunk along baseboards. My kids' toys are usually sorta grimey. Their books do not look like my cleanie friends kids' books look.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
I clean, but everything still gets dirty.
Am I supposed to clean every object in the house twice a month or something?
How does this work?
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Post by brenda on Oct 10, 2009 1:05:44 GMT -5
You have to clean weekly for dirt not to build up in my experience. When I clean everything once a week it is relatively easy to maintain. I don't like cleaning but if I skip a week it is way worse the next.
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Post by wind on Oct 10, 2009 1:44:36 GMT -5
Clean what weekly?
Everything?
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Post by marigold on Oct 10, 2009 2:17:05 GMT -5
This is a perfect thread for me! Most of our place is uncluttered, but I see grime around the stove I am not sure how to get rid of, and there's dust (that I know how to get rid off, it's only I don't do it often enough, I guess). Lime build-up on bathroom tiles, and sinks, grease beneath my benjamin tree (something that falls off its leaves)... Stuff like that.
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Post by Meme on Oct 10, 2009 9:38:10 GMT -5
I try to maintain each room weekly plus laundry - not always a great clean but maintained - I am always amazed how things move about and how clutter gathers- sort of like rabbits---  I have to do a good maintain today to get back to normal- as I was in semi-mode maintain- the bathroom is the one room that needs something done every day- due to teen ager hangs about and being a girl things seem to also multipy- you can do it too once you have a maintaining system- I never go beyond 2 loads of laundry now as then the mountain cannot grow and now that things are maintained- laundry nearly does its self- as it is easy to sort and wash small piles- I was able to cut my loads down to medium loads rather than large- it stays in control this way- there is mostly only me now and part time grand kids and I do their laundry as they have outfits here- as they come and go- |
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Post by Lucky Laura Loving Life on Oct 10, 2009 9:40:46 GMT -5
Dear Peeps,  I did have quite a few of the rooms at zero clutter and then we have recently decided to empty the storage unit.   My house is now a wreck! We have managed to sort through tons of it & I can see we have a small light at the end of the tunnel, but Argh! Between my health issues,my trip to NM and then having D Granddaughter visit for a few days, I am way,way behind in everything. Even though DH & I don't make a bunch of laundry, I have been doing tons since we have been going through all the storage stuff. Mostly it go's to the Goodwill but some has been passed along to DD,DS,DS2,DIL, etc..... Sigh... After reading Memes post I feel hope !!! Bit by bit it will happen. I am just getting exhausted chewing this elephant  Love,Laura & Ford   |
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Post by zen on Oct 10, 2009 10:03:22 GMT -5
I am pretty uncluttered at this point - but Like Lucky Laura above, we too have decided to shake things up and re-address some of the rooms in our basement - the result - madness! It is crazy now, but is getting better, bit by bit. I have areas that are emphatically zero clutter - our master bedroom, my clothing, our main bathroom and supplies etc. I have pretty strict standards as to what i consider clutter as well - if it isn't essential to my own or my family's well being - then it goes - I'm dusty packrat who is morphing into the ocd essentialist  It is so much easier to edit and spruce up the rooms that have been gone over a million times - it is so clear to me now that this is an ongoing project that has no finish line. I keep at it in the rooms that are in maintenance. Maintenance:Kitchen Dining Room Living Room Bathroom Bathroom storage closet Master Bedroom I'm calling my dear step daughter's room the twilight zone - it can be lovely, and it can turn on a dime into a little pack rats nest - basically everything has exploded from the drawers, everywhere. She does pretty well, but needs reminding (along with myself and DH ) to keep up on it. Still Squalorish:Basement - which includes Family room Computer Room All storage areas Laundry area Art storage/supply etc. Garage The front and back porches are not too bad, but could use some attention. As could the yard. I wish the tomatoes would grow as fast as the weeds do. |
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Post by Chris on Oct 10, 2009 10:39:37 GMT -5
Great idea for a thread! Here's where I am at (our home is about 850 square feet of living space which includes one full bathroom): Maintenance: Living room My office (small narrow room formerly the dining room) Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom (with the exception of DHs side of the bed) Guest Bedroom Utility Room  Squalor/Hoarded collections & holy mess: Attic Garage Porch/closet DHs office (middle bedroom) DHs office closet DHs closet Guest room closet I knew this week that I was really more in maintenance than full on de-squaloring when I actually dusted my living room and it's not November yet. There was a possibility of my husbands cousin stopping in and in addition to vacuuming the living room I cleaned all the picture frames and dusted the wood with my favorite (lasts forever) Scott's Liquid Gold Almond Scent wood cleaner. I still have to use lists to keep the basics of maintenance done daily: dishes, laundry, sweeping, cat litter, hot spots like the table and my desk, trash out, etc. I have a very scattered brain and the only way I can keep on track is to list and keep redirecting myself. All the work I've done reducing the number of books I had and selling things we no longer use really helps in the maintenance department too because there is less to worry about and less to clean. The inside of the refrigerator is something that I am even doing better with nowdays. I am cooking less amount wise and dumping leftovers sooner. It helps that in April I was forced to buy a new refrigerator and I still have that "new" feeling about it and want to keep it looking and smelling nice. The non-desqualored areas of our home are p-r-e-t-t-y scary though. And I spend a lot of quality time hauling stuff out and throwing things -- but it was once most of the house that was like that ---- now I feel as if we're more than 1/2 way there. I'll know I have won when I can say that we are ready to move to a new place. Even though I am not sure we/I will move anytime soon it's a long range goal. My DH is now semi-on board with all of this. In the past he was totally against it so that is saying a lot. He even sat down and watched one of the recent hoarding shows on tv with me and he didn't pick on it or make any comments he was very quiet. I think it is dawning on him too (as well as me) where we will be if we don't deal with our *stuff* now. I don't mean to pick on him by bringing up his areas but we are now almost totally segregated in our belongings. Except for the livingroom where we agree on the amount of things and the placement of things. Other that that room it's his and hers separate closets, separate dressers, separate offices you name it. I struggle as much as he does with stuff but I have been more aware of it for longer and working actively to change my acquiring and my keeping -- and to deal with my ADD and OC tenancies. He is older and he has stuff that once belonged to his parents as well as all the "treasures" he's pretty much ever owned. So I mostly concentrate on MY MESS and OUR MESS and I stay OUT of HIS MESS.  I look forward to being able to move more of our areas to the maintenance list. And I know how important it is to maintain the areas that are neat and clean. It's too easy to lose a space back to the clutter again. The utility room is neat and organized. I sold the freezer we were not using and in that big corner placed 2 saw horses with a piece of plywood (nice and clean and neat board) over them to make a big table -- this is where I put stuff I am going to sell or donate. It gets it out of the main part of the house and gives me room to deal with it. Other than one shelf the only other thing in the utility room is the washer/dryer and the 2 laundry baskets. (one has hangers ). |
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Post by sleepymom on Oct 10, 2009 11:07:57 GMT -5
Back when we moved into this house, I made up maintenance charts based on ones I used at work (a childcare facility) for daily, weekly, and monthly chores. I did use these as guidelines for awhile, but life and health interferred and I don`t have them any longer. I think Flylady, or some similar site might have good ideas for these? I think washing every toy in the place was weekly, or maybe monthly, I forget. They did get done more often when we had sick kids in the place. Books mostly stayed nicer when they were put away right away, but they were wiped down if they were dirty and pitched when the binding or pages started tearing.
One thing I`m confused about is washing walls, how often for that? I wash the ones I`ve painted first, but that is 3 rooms out of 7, and not all of those are done yet. The whole house could use a good scrub, but I`m not there yet.
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Post by cosmic1 on Oct 10, 2009 15:29:24 GMT -5
wind, I think I qualify based on your rules Rooms in maintenance: Living Room Dining Room Kitchen Bedroom Office (Medium bedroom actually) Small bedroom Bathroom I do the basics to keep these up weekly, plus I plan to wipe down one room per month - I guess that's called deep cleaning? Which to me, it means, wiping down the walls and wet mopping the floors and cleaning underneath/behind stuff. So, with 7 rooms, that is a 7 month rotation. That should be sufficient for me to keep up with them. Then, twice a year, I should wash the drapes and clean the windows. Once a year, I should clean out the kitchen cabinets and replace the shelf paper. I do have the kitchen and bathroom on a monthly wipe down, so I remember to wipe down the inside of the fridge every month. Yet to be completely desqualored: Walk-up Attic - I have keepers (small), empty boxes to pitch, a pile to sort into donate and pitch (medium sized) and things for the dumpster - such as old storm windows and screens that I don't need since I replaced the windows. Then, it needs to be swept and mopped. Basement - ugh! I have to sweep and wash the floors and walls, clean out all the cobwebs and organize shelves and all my storage, plus clean the washer/dryer, sink and replace the linoleum that the litter boxes are sitting on right now with a new piece. I am afraid of what's underneath the piece they have right now. This is going to be a long and time consuming job over a few months. I also have an old unused refrigerator and dresser that need to go into the dumpster. Junk drawers - I have some in various rooms that need to be addressed. Maybe I'll use the challenges to attack these. Garage - ugh! (again). Lots of stuff to pitch, I'm sure and then re-organize. The last time I cleaned it, I found a petrified squirrel carcass in there. Fortunately, the garage is not attached to the house I still have to complete my book purge, which will be complete once they are out of the house. I cannot deal with having more than one room in disarray at a time because I get overwhelmed, so I'll desqualor one at a time by making one my project for the month. I hate that another room gets messed up while I'm cleaning up another. |
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mardec
New Member
Joined: September 2009
Posts: 12
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Post by mardec on Oct 10, 2009 15:53:45 GMT -5
I'm in maintenance in about 1/2 my home. Rooms in mainenance: Livingroom Kitchen entry Diningroom bathrooms kids rooms. Areas still squalorville: Backyard Master bedroom Basement/garage Closets To maintain, I'm trying to adopt some modified Flylady routines. I've set up a morning and evening routine that are small enough for me to manage. I've set aside a day for cleaning the maintenance areas. I've also set aside 2 days a week to work on de-squaloring the other areas. I'm trying to adopt a "get done what I can" attitude instead of feeling like I'm fighting a losing battle. Laundry is my #1 enemy. I'm trying to do one load a day to keep up with the daily piles and I squeeze in an extra load here and there to try to slowly tackle the backlogged piles hiding around the house. I sort before I wash and am throwing away stained and outgrown clothing. I'm hoping at the end, the amount of clothing and bedding we own is pared down enough that one load a day will keep me on track. It's funny, I've found that I really don't mind the actual CLEANING of a room (dusting, mopping, windows etc). It's the picking up the crap and tidying up before I can get to the cleaning part that I hate. If I can eventually get the tidying up part under control, keeping a weekly cleaning routine shouldn't be a problem for me. Then again, maybe that is just my mind playing tricks on me. |
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Post by brenda on Oct 11, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5
""Clean what weekly?
Everything? ""
Yeah pretty much. Dust all surfaces, wipe down fans, mop all the floors, vacuum entire house, wipe down entire kitchen (I wipe down cabinets once a month), clean all bathrooms, wipe down walls (just the spots that I see not entire wall!)
By doing it weekly it is relatively easy, waiting makes it much worse. I live in the desert so it gets very dusty.
Brenda
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Post by ivorytower on Oct 12, 2009 7:22:28 GMT -5
I suppose I'm in maintenance now. The only clutter is in the storage closet and a couple of drawers. I still let things go for a day or two sometimes but it takes less than two hours to make things reasonably clean and tidy again.
My bedroom needs redecorating and I have some decorating to completely finish in the LR, hallway and kitchen. The bathroom and kitchen are embarrassing because the fittings are old and shabby, the toilet has to be flushed very carefully so as not to make the cracked cistern worse. It will be easy to arrange repairs but I keep putting it off.
I find it hard to judge the state of my own home, I still 'see' the mess and neglect from when it was at its worst, but when everywhere's tidy it feels bright and comfortable.
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Post by shopgirl on Oct 12, 2009 14:22:05 GMT -5
I'm good on laundry, do a load and put away clean clothes almost every day
Good on dishes, run the dishwasher and put away clean dishes every day
Good on keeping kitchen sink, counters and floor clean
Good on daily taking out trash, recycling and redeeming cans
Pretty good on bathroom
Bad on vacuuming and baseboards, DH is good on vacuuming
Bad on dusting venetian blinds and cleaning windows
The spare room still collects stuff in every nook and cranny
The kitchen counters still collect papers and stuff
Working on thinning out my stuff, I'm making progress
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