Cleaning Question--Settle a debate

[Cat woman]

In my household one of us thinks that when cleaning it should be done room by room. In other words do all the dusting, wiping surfaces, etc/whatever cleaning that room involves including doing the floors before moving on to the next room/area.

The other person thinks that when cleaning all the dusting wiping surfaces, etc. are done, then move on to the next room /area. When all that cleaning is done then do all the floors in the house at once.

So, how do you do it?

 

[NatureLvr]

I clean one room at a time. The whole house doesn’t usually get done in one day. Inefficient? Maybe, but it works for me

 

[amiga13]

I’m a bit of both. I’m with Person #2 as long as you mean regular rooms (living, family, bedrooms). I clean bathrooms and kitchen like Person #1, one entire room at a time.

 

[Haley23]

I think it's just a personal preference! Honestly, I've tried lots of different ways.

Come cleaning time, I actually really miss my 600 sq. ft. apartment with all cheap surfaces . Back then, I would clean each room in total- there were only 4 (bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room) and each one would take 15-20 minutes. I used to clean on Sundays while doing laundry- the washer/dryer was in a closet in my bedroom- so that was really easy too!

Cleaning my townhouse top to bottom is a 4-5 hour job. Cleaning the whole thing weekly obviously did not last. I've tried so many things since moving here:

1) Every other weekend, cleaning the upstairs on Saturday and downstairs/main floor on Sunday. Felt like I was then spending my weekend on cleaning.

2) Every 2-3 weeks it all on the same day and splitting the house into four "zones" with each one progressively being a smaller amount of work- zone 1 upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms, zone 2- living room and vacuuming the stairs (2 sets) themselves zone 3- dining room and downstairs bathroom zone 4- kitchen.

3) Your second option there- going around and dusting the whole house, cleaning the surfaces, then vacuuming, etc.

What I do currently:

During covid stay at home, I realized I was much happier doing jobs as they looked like they needed it, rather than cleaning all at once. I always thought I'd hate this, but given the amount of time it takes to clean my place all at once, I like it much better. The house still looks reasonably clean all of the time. I realized I didn't necessarily need to clean the whole house just because the toilets needed it, or just because things were looking dusty.

So just a couple of days ago I got out the "carpet vacuum" and vacuumed the living room rug, living room furniture, and the most-used set of stairs. That's all I did because that's all that was noticeably dirty.

Another day I might just dust all of the furniture if it's looking noticeably dusty. Or I'll go around and do the mirrors/sinks and toilets in the bathroom. Or get out the actual broom and just sweep the wood floors.

It doesn't feel so painful that way. The one thing having a bigger house DID help me with is clutter. One, I have way more storage. Two, actually going upstairs for bed got me in the routine of picking up the main floor every night before I went up. Every night before I bed, I pick up any clutter down here. Since I keep up with it, it takes 2-3 minutes at most.

Sometimes I get too busy or lazy and let it all go way too long, and then find myself in a place where I have to just do the "big clean" all at once. But that's maybe every 2 months or so.

 

[Tiamat]

I pay someone. He has higher standards of cleanliness than I have ever aspired to and I don't care what order he does things (although he seems to finish one room before moving on).

 

[Sbkangas5]

I definitely don't think there's a right way, but when cleaning we just do what needs done, regardless of where.

 

[MKat]

I think it might depend on the size of your house. We have a fairly small one story house so I do all the dusting, then all the vacuuming, clean both the bathrooms, then the kitchen. (I would say floors last but I usually pretend mopping doesn't exist and it rarely makes my rotation so I decided not to lie and put it on there. ) I tend to consider mopping and other cleaning things like floorboards, etc. a "when I can't ignore it anymore" job!

I even do both the bathrooms one cleaning product at a time. I do both the toilets, then both the showers/baths, then the sinks and counters, etc. That only changes if there are other people around and I do one of them at a time so one will be available.

I generally keep a pretty tidy house so I don't have to declutter before I start cleaning. When I do declutter I prefer to do that one room at a time.

 

[Summerwillcom]

We have had a rule about it for years.

The rule started years ago with how to make a salad. Some wanted veggies leafy while others preferred veggies chopped finely.
Then it became how to properly clean the bathroom.
The solution to any of these issues, as well as how to clean the house:
Whoever is doing it, does it the way they want it. If you don't like it, do it yourself.
It works for us!
Personally, I like to clean a room at a time.

 

[PEPteach]

I typically do all the dusting at once and all the vacuuming at once. I don't want to keep putting supplies down/away and getting them back out again.

However, I probably clean my downstairs at least double the amount of times that I clean the upstairs as that is more visible when people come over and probably more lived in, with the exception of my bedroom/master bath.

 

[Ruby tunes]

House cleaning

I pay for house cleaning every two weeks. It’s a three person team, and they divide the tasks. Everything gets done at once while I chill with my dog and cat in the garage. I do routine maintenance like sweeping the floors and cleaning the kitchen counters, etc., in between their visits.

It’s worth it to me to pay!

 

[Linda/OH]

cleaning

When I clean, it's room by room. The cleaning supplies for kitchen are way different than for the living room or bathroom. I like when one room is done before moving on.

I notice my cleaning person (once monthly) does everything downstairs, then cleans the floors before moving upstairs while the floors dry. She ends with cleaning all downstairs windows.

I do like the the idea that whoever is doing it , it should be his/her way. There's certainly no wrong way

 

[ZipLine]

I do it both ways depending on what needs to be done. I always clean the bathrooms and kitchen room by room. I may vacuum all the rooms we use at once and then do all the dusting. Sometimes I do room by room depending on what needs to be done in addition to regular cleaning (washing curtains, cleaning windows/sills, decluttering books/magazines, etc.).

 

[Tori58]

It depends on the task. If it's floors, I'm generally going to do all the floors at the same time that require the same type of care. If it's windows, I do them all at the same time. But if it's picking up clutter and dusting, I go room by room. Other than floors and windows, kitchen and bathroom are room by room. I never clean my entire house on the same day unless I am expecting company.

 

[Lilbitkm]

I normally do it room by room though I’ll clean all of the bathrooms at the same time. My robot vacuum was one of the best cleaning investments I made last year, for under $200. I got rid of all my carpet years ago and don’t pull out my large vacuum any longer since getting the robot vacuum.

 

[choppie70]

Both!

I usually clean a different room each day, so I do everything in that room only.

There are times when I need to clean the whole house and that is when I do one task and move room to room.

 

[Keltikmom]

Cleaning question

When I cleaned, it was a bit of a hybrid …. I clean the kitchen all at one time, and then each bathroom separately.

For bedroom(s) and communal areas I would declutter, then dust, then vacuum.

Now I have a housekeeper and don’t have to deep clean very often.

 

[pdxteacher]

Same as Keltikmom—but without the housekeeper.

 

[MissESL]

Cleaning

I do one room at a time. I also do one room a day, plus vacuuming carpeted surfaces. My house is small, less than 1,000 square feet, and there’s not too much to keep clean!

 

[Ima Teacher]

My mom always did the whole house method, so that is how I started doing it, too. Then last year I decided to make myself a schedule and used the whole room method.

Game. Changer.

It has been easier for me to stay on top of things that way.