Do you hate doing housework?

United States
January 24, 2007 3:03pm CST
I loathe it with a purple passion. I really like the feel of the house when it's completely clean, but hate doing the cleaning, so there's always an inner battle before I overcome inertia and get started on the task. This happens every week. Any tips for making it easier to get motivated to clean, and any tips to get the cleaning done quickly?
4 people like this
17 responses
@bonbon664 (3466)
• Canada
24 Jan 07
I hate it too, so, I try to cut out steps whenever I can. Anything that's not nailed down can go to the dishwasher. When I vacuum, I have one of those swiffer dusters (which are great), in my pocket, and dust as I go along vacuuming. I think the worst part is just getting motivated to do it. I've also been know to attach dusters to my shoes to dust the wood floors. I use one of those scrubbing bubbles shower cleaners every day, so, you don't have to clean the shower and/or tub. Put a denture cleaner tablet thingy in the toilet to clean that. Hope that helps.
• United States
24 Jan 07
I might try the denture cleaner tablet trick. You are right, it's the motivation part that's the most difficult.
1 person likes this
• United States
24 Jan 07
You and me both, sometimes music helps me or a pot of strong coffee. LOL, my kids and husband are so messy that it is difficult to get motivated. They pitch in but it's like pulling teeth or they disappear! Hmm, and I wonder why I can't get myself motivated. Great team I have here. LOL
• United States
24 Jan 07
Yes, wouldn't it be lovely if there was a member of the family who loved cleaning wouldn't it? You could then delegate all the work!
• United States
25 Jan 07
I can't believe I forgot my MOM's 10 minute challenge, I'm 41 years old and I still do it! I haven't done it in awhile, cuz I have been lazy. My Mom would put the kitchen timer on for 10 minutes and we would all run around like crazy to see how much we could get done. I did it for years when my kids were younger, now that they older they won't participate.
@mimpi1911 (25464)
• India
1 Feb 07
motivate to clean - cleaning
even i like my house to be very clean, if not all perfect. throughout the week i hardly get any time, shuttling between work and office. but on weekends i make sure to do it and trust me, it feels awfully bad. but i just have to have it clean anyhow. it's difficult though. i play hard core rock and do things in jiffy. inbetween i pamper myself in nce hot coffee and junkies. this gives me immense motivation and spirit keeps me going. thank you
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Feb 07
You are right, it's just got to be done, no matter how bad it feels
• United States
3 Feb 07
I can't say that I loathe house cleaning because I like my home being neat and clean. I will say that there are some aspects of housecleaning I have grown to detest!! I think that dusting and laundry are what I detest the most!! My husband noticed that I needed some help and hired a nice gal to come and clean our home 1 day a week. it has certainly taken a lot of pressure off from getting everything done!!
1 person likes this
• United States
3 Feb 07
Lucky you. I wish I had a cleaner too!
• Grand Junction, Colorado
2 Feb 07
Okay I'm the weird one. I don't hate house work. I really enjoy cleaning my house daily making sure the laundry is done, the beds are made, the dishes are done, counters wiped ect..... I get a great feeling when I look over the house a few hours later and everything is all nice and neat and smelling clean. It is an all day project keeping everything put away with kids, especially with the youngest at 3 who thinks that the whole house is her playground. lol Good luck to you here at mylot.
• United States
2 Feb 07
I love the feel of the house when it's clean too. It's just summoning up the will to do the cleaning that is difficult. I think you put your finger on it when you said it was an all-day project. I think some of us try to do the whole thing in a couple of hours on a Saturday and then get stressed when we find it takes longer.
@cabergren (1181)
• United States
3 Feb 07
I don't actually like the cleaning part, but I also can't stand a dirty house. My husband and I are very clean, but you still have to keep with the dust. We usually do our cleaning on Sundays. We crank up the stereo and it kind of motivates us to get our chores done. And I am also lucky that husband helps me.
1 person likes this
• United States
3 Feb 07
Yes, I dust does accumulate very fast (particularly in the rooms on the top floor. I don't know why).
• China
1 Feb 07
i have the same feelings as you!i often do a plan:the first day,clean the kitch;the second day, clean the water closet and so on.thus,i can finish them.woman should make house cleaned!
• United States
1 Feb 07
Yes, planning would make it all easier. it's not having a plan that makes it feel so overwhelming
• Ireland
25 Jan 07
The word 'housework' is not in my dictionary. I only dust and clean every Monday as this is when I have a couple of my friends over to visit. I take all the bed linen to the laundry where it is washed and ironed, but unfortunately, I have to do the remainder myself. Starting from the end of Feb (I need time to get motivated), I am going to make out a timetable and stick with it. I will tick off the jobs as I do them, so if I don't get to do all of them in one day, I can start with the ones that are not ticked on the following day.
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Jan 07
That's a good idea. The thing about leaving housework is that eventually it gets so far behind it's really painful to sort it out. I too am coming round to the idea that doing a little every day really helps (though it does mean that the idea of having the whole house utterly clean at a single moment goes out the window)
@chanfrado (1157)
• Portugal
1 Feb 07
Sometimes I do like to spend some time doing housework. It helps me to forget bad things that happen in my life.
• United States
1 Feb 07
That's lovely, you are the first person to admit to liking housework. I guess routines can be calming. It's certainly an interesting point of view.
@diansinta (7544)
• Indonesia
18 Oct 08
Hi snowflake5, I hate the some housework too, specially ironing. Its hot. I love doing laundry and play with the bubbles but i don't iron my clothes if it's not necessary. I like doing dishes. I guest im a lazy girl..I fix my bed before going to sleep not after.LOL Happy posting always!! oxoxox'dian from Bali island.
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
25 Jan 07
Here's a tip. Set a timer and say you will do x tasks in this time, you will be amazed how fast you can get done! I read once to pop something in the microwave, then go do something, and I liked the idea so I tried it. I put my dinner in the microwave for 7 minutes, ran around and managed to clean half the house before the timer dinged! It really works. I think a lot of time you get bored and slow down and end up making the chores take longer than they really do. If you just focus on getting it done before dinner dings, or before your favorite show is on, or whatever, you will find you can clean the house from top to bottom in 30 minutes or less :) Hope that helps!
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Jan 07
It's a good idea. I might try it!
@AskAlly (3625)
• Canada
24 Jan 07
I'm no 50's housewife - image of a 50's house wife in a blue dress befitting the era
I try to do a little every day. If I stick to my routinge, I don't ever have a cleaning DAY. It is much easier since our children are grown. However it is not one of my favorite things
• United States
24 Jan 07
I did go through a period where I tried to clean a little every day, but the trouble is, doing it that way means the house is never completely done.
@swapniel (39)
• India
24 Jan 07
we;; i wont say i hate but m quiet reluctant 4 doing housework ,b4 i used to with quiet a zest but slowly i went away frm it n now i can say m totally outta of it, i hardly do ne work n athome its not that m lazy or sort but got other things to do more imp than Housework...wptsay!!!
• United States
24 Jan 07
Can you say more about your zestful period? How did you get to be zestful about cleaning? The rest of us are eager to see if we can magic ourselves into that state of mind!
@katan22 (325)
• Philippines
3 Feb 07
I hate seeing the house dirty too but I don't want to clean the house either. So what my mom did is that she sometimes go to my house just to clean it or I hire some maid to do the cleaning for me.
• United States
3 Feb 07
You are really lucky that your mother helps you!
@diansinta (7544)
• Indonesia
8 May 08
LOL i hate doing iron. I choose clothes that no need to be ironing.
• India
3 Feb 07
No not at all
@tellus (1441)
• Finland
22 Jun 07
i can not really say that i hate house work cause i live alone and there's no other one to do it. so i quess i have no choice... but what i really hate is using vacuum cleaner... if i don't use it and stat washing the floors right away i got this feeling that everything is not nice and clean.. gladly my partment is not so big, so it only take up to 1 hours to vacuum and wash the floos + dusting...