/ot/ - off-topic

Fellow child of hoarders here, anon. You've got my sympathy. There's tons of basic shit I didn't learn til I moved out because my hoarder parents never bothered to teach me. Shit like cleaning my toilet's u-bend, I had no clue you were meant to do that and toilets weren't supposed to be fucking filthy until I was 18.

I change my pillowcase and sheets at the end of every week (more often if I'm breaking out because of my period just to avoid making it worse). I wash my towels with my sheets, so also at the end of each week.

For litterboxes, I don't have a cat anymore but when I did I changed her litter every day.

>>318650
those clorox wipes are a godsend. having a roll of them on the bathroom counter helps me in keeping it clean, just wipe and let dry. i use those on the toilet seats, sinks, and handles (not the same one obvi). floors depend on how many people go through it daily.

for the kitchen i just use any time i'm waiting for something to heat up to just tidy up.

i have a few towels so i use them for about a week before putting in with laundry. just make sure that you don't leave them crumpled up when wet that makes them nasty and like the anon above, you can wash those with the bedsheets.

litter? i wouldn't know tbh.
i don't have any specific motivation anon sorry. i try not to follow them since i feel like they have a tendency to make me feel guilty? might just be me.

I feel you, anon. I'm also the child of filthy hoarders and even though I've gotten much better, there are still things I'm totally clueless about that most people consider common sense.

>How often should I be washing the towel I use to dry off after showering? Everytime I use it?
Every time is over kill. I'd say every three or four times.
>How often do anons change their pillowcases and bedsheets?
I do mine every two weeks, but I've been told that's a lot and apparently once a month is normal
>How often should I be changing all the litter in the litterbox?
At least once a week
>How often do you wipe down bathroom walls and floors?
Once a month for walls, once every two weeks for floors

The konmari method is good for getting rid of a lot of stuff. I think the book for it is on libgen

>>318650
When I lived in my parent's disgusting hoarder home, my bedroom was a 3-4 and rarely a 5. I moved out a few years ago to live with my current boyfriend that grew up in a very tidy household.

I think the one thing that helped me the most is to not be too hard on myself if I didn't get something done on time or follow an exact routine. Were human and don't have time to obsessively clean everything on the dot. It's about building habits until it becomes a normal part of your life. I think you're on the right track anon and >>318665 has some good guidelines for laundry/bathroom cleaning. If you're having trouble clearing off surfaces like your kitchen counters, make it a habit to do it before or after you do the dishes, even if it's only for five minutes it will make a difference.

Hey anon. Growing up my family never taught me how to do any chores, then I was too depressed in my early 20s to bother, so my place always looked like 5-6. Now through changing my habits and some help from my bf, my house is never past 2, and 2 even has stuff on the floor which I never really have.
What you do daily really depends on your level of paranoia about germs tbh. Washing towels after every shower sounds insane to me but there's no objectivity to these things. If you try a routine for a while you'll develop your own sense of when things should be cleaned. The only thing I do every single day are pick up clutter, put away or clean the day's dishes, and clean and replace my cat's bowls and scoop her litter. My problem was always a small amount of clutter piling and piling into hoards and then becoming too overwhelming to tackle. I do laundry once a week at least and change my pillowcases more frequently than my bedsheets, which i wash idk, once every 3 weeks. I have a lot of multiples of stuff like towels, pillowcases, cat bowls, so even if I don't have time to clean one, I can just replace it and clean it next time instead of letting it get nasty.
I think if you just dive in and pick a schedule to follow, you'll develop an intuition about it that you don't currently have. Maybe you'll wash your sheets once a week but find that they're still really clean looking so you'll change it to 2. Maybe you'll wash your towels once a week but find that they smell mildewy sooner than that so you'll switch them midweek. Your routine should make sense to you so that you're doing it for yourself and your own sense of cleanliness and wellbeing, not following an arbitrary set of rules.

I myself am not very clean, but my mother definitely is, so I'll tell you what she does:

>How often should I be washing the towel I use to dry off after showering? Everytime I use it?
1 x week. Try washing all your towels on the same day each week, so that it becomes a habit.
>How often do anons change their pillowcases and bedsheets?
Every 2-3 weeks, however you prefer. I turn around my pillow and blanket at around "halftime" between those dates.
>How often do you wipe down bathroom walls and floors?
My mother vacuums every day (which is too much I'd say) and wipes once a week. Same for toilets, shower, sinks, bathroom mirrors and the kitchen surface, everything once a week.

I wish you good like in having a nice home, anon!

Might be a bit of a stretch but are you interested in interior design? My room used to be like 2/3/4 when I had unmatching furniture and random junk on the walls and floor and bullshit everywhere. One summer I had the motivation to actually try to create an aesthetic for my room. It's really basic and nothing like the inspo pics, but it does motivate me to keep things tidy. Same with my bathroom. Even just hanging matching towels in it is a small motivation.

>How often should I be washing the towel I use to dry off after showering? Everytime I use it?
I wash mine once a week on laundry day. Make sure you hang it up after showering so it can fully dry out.

>How often do anons change their pillowcases and bedsheets?
I'm admittedly pretty bad about this, but I'm trying to aim for once every 1.5 week or so. I think you can go for longer if you consistently shower before sleeping (I don't).

>How often do you wipe down bathroom walls and floors?
That depends on your bathroom habits. I have to clean the floor a lot more often (every other day or right after styling) bc I shed a lot of hair, and you should probably wipe everything down more often if you flush with the toilet seat up (the flushing ejects fecal matter and bacteria in the air and stuff).

One thing that helps is to clean/tidy up messes/clutter as it happens. I used to be the type to "take care of it later when I have time" and consistently forget, and all the little messes piled up, etc. The little bit of extra effort in that moment is a lot nicer than having to take a whole day or something to work on the mess.

My apartment doesn’t get too bad but I find the best push to clean when I’m feeling demotivated is to invite someone over so that I’m motivated by the potential embarrassment of them seeing my apartment messy. Usually what I do is take sundays to clean and listen to podcasts while I do it, makes it fun almost.

I'm in the middle of tossing everything from my closet i dont wear. Even if i go through the whole 'i might wear this…'
If i haven't worn it in 6 months to a year, it's tossed or donated.

Also, my biggest advice is to wash pots and dishes right away! It takes 5-6 mins and you wont have to worry about it later. Also, it helps to do before a meal so you aren't too tired to do it after.

I really hate a dirty sink. I do have a question about good ways to keep a standing shower clean. I have one with glass walls and it's always getting foggy/dirty.

Maybe for now it's easiest for you to create a very rigid schedule, and maybe do a little too much for now so you can scale back a bit later.

I live with my partner, here's how often we do stuff.

>Laundry
I try to do this before work so I can hang laundry out to dry and don't have to use the dryer. Laundry is around 3 times a week. Clothes I do not wash after every use: Jeans, cardigans, hoodies. These get washed when they don't feel good to wear anymore or get dirty.

>Towels
As soon as they start smelling a little or if they don't smell, around twice a week.

>Bedsheets
We do it once a month on the last weekend, because honestly, it's quite a bit of work.

>Bathroom cleaning
This is also once a month for us. Toilet gets cleaned more often obviously.

>Wiping counters
My partner does this every day after cooking. If you don't cook, try giving it a quick wipe every time you've cleaned it off.

>Tidying/organising
I recommend the Konmari method, because it makes sense: You want everything inside your home to have a set place, and after everytime you used it, you want to return every item to the place it belongs to. You also want similar things together, so no two different places to have clothes, tissues or whatever. This helps a lot with having stuff lying wherever and buying too much.
Every morning before I leave the house I try to put away everything in our living room. If you're messy, this may look a bit daunting, but once you've done it properly it will be easier to maintain.
Cleaning up a little often is a lot easier than cleaning up a mountain of things once a month.

You can do this!

Maybe for now it's easiest for you to create a very rigid schedule, and maybe do a little too much for now so you can scale back a bit later.

I live with my partner, here's how often we do stuff.

>Laundry
I try to do this before work so I can hang laundry out to dry and don't have to use the dryer. Laundry is around 3 times a week. Clothes I do not wash after every use: Jeans, cardigans, hoodies. These get washed when they don't feel good to wear anymore or get dirty.

>Towels
As soon as they start smelling a little or if they don't smell, around twice a week.

>Bedsheets
We do it once a month on the last weekend, because honestly, it's quite a bit of work.

>Bathroom cleaning
This is also once a month for us. Toilet gets cleaned more often obviously.

>Wiping counters
My partner does this every day after cooking. If you don't cook, try giving it a quick wipe every time you've cleaned it off.

>Tidying/organising
I recommend the Konmari method, because it makes sense: You want everything inside your home to have a set place, and after everytime you used it, you want to return every item to the place it belongs to. You also want similar things together, so no two different places to have clothes, tissues or whatever. This helps a lot with having stuff lying wherever and buying too much.
Every morning before I leave the house I try to put away everything in our living room. If you're messy, this may look a bit daunting, but once you've done it properly it will be easier to maintain.
Cleaning up a little often is a lot easier than cleaning up a mountain of things once a month.

You can do this!

I thought I was messy because I'm typically somewhere between a 2 and 3–you can always see the floor and I at least try to mandate piles of clothes into the closet, but I'm disorganized as hell and, really now that I think about it… I never really had dressers and shit until college and I think I always just had chairs/whatever to throw shit on to. Like, it literally baffled me when I learned people hung their jeans up in the closet.



But, my mom was/still is a borderline hoarder. Anytime my dad would bring it up, it'd lead into fights and shit. Therefore, I never really learned how to sort of clean and shit until college and seeing how my roommates would do things. I'm still shit at doing my sheets regularly, though… and now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've washed them since July. Which is bad. I also have a bad habit of not doing dishes until I run out of something I need (bowls or forks mostly). I honestly think I need to live with a roommate because that's what drove me to being clean and organized–the constant thought of 'what if they have someone over and everything looks bad because of me?' looming kept me organized much more than when I've lived on my own because I never have people over lol


I can at least pride myself on never having food-trash left around. It's always circulars, spam mail, and boxes… or, of course, clothes and shoes. But never things that can attract pests or rodents.


I do get on really good cleaning kicks for about a month, but then work picks up or I go into an emotional slump and I slack off/have zero drive. And I think that's my main issue.

Former cleaner, how many in your current household? How many animals?

Towels: twice a week. Wash your face washer/wash cloth with it for convenience.

Sheets: personally weekly, but that’s because husband is sweaty sleeper and there’s two in the bed. Unless they smell, once a month is fine.

Litter:scoop poop ASAP, if one cat and average size litter box, replace all litter at least weekly, or as soon as it looks damp. If there is any smell, replace it twice a week.

Shower/tub: three people use ours a day so I spray and quickly squeegee every second day to prevent a bigger mess. The vanity is daily but you can probably get away with weekly unless there’s lots of use or messy users. Once every couple months everything steamable is steamcleaned.

Kitchen: scraps go out daily to prevent smell, I wipe benches daily but before use is fine. Keep a bunch of paper towels or rags under the sink for spills, clean the sink and taps weekly unless they’re dirty or salmonella exposed. (Eg Raw chicken on your hands and grabbing a tap)

Floors are difficult to say. Depends on traffic and whether you wear shoes indoors, pets, how much dust gets in, etc etc etc.
my house has a v hairy dog and lots traffic, plus I spill a lot of coffee so I vacuum and mop weekly and spot clean spills daily. YMMV. It can be left to monthly.

Etc, doorknobs, lightswitches, and taps get surprisingly gross. You don’t wanna go disinfecting them like crazy, but giving them a wipe down when you’re cleaning the room they’re in will prevent them getting grubby. You know that browny colour they get? It’s largely skin oils and dirt.

It’s a big adjustment but it’s really great to do. Hope you’re proud of yourself your learning to grow anon.

I used to be a 4-5 my whole life up and until a couple months ago and now i'm a 1. I don't really know what happened. I think threads like the confetti club and luna's made me realize how unacceptable my living conditions really are. I got rid of a ton of my clothes. I highly recommend throwing/donating everything you don't both love and wear.

>admitting to living in places at levels above 1
y'all are nasty

>>318916
I used to think so but then I saw how many people were never taught how to clean properly and grew up in places where it was normal for the house to be dirty and messy.

It’s gross but it’s not necessarily laziness so much as a learned behaviour. Full blown hoarders are mentally ill. Gross, but they need help not punishment.

>>318916
No wonder a lot of anons in the unpopular opinion thread thought cleaning your toilet everyday was obsessive

>>318916
ikr, even when I was a depressed 16 y/o hiki my room never got above 2

>>318916
Ikr how does that even happen?

I really feel there should be a few images between 1 and 2. I mean that's quite a leap.

>>318931
Of you don't know how to clean you must be retarded. I think the better thing to say is you were raised to not care about living and filth and you're too lazy to clean because you don't care. You definitely know how to clean.

>>318916
>>318932
>>318937
>>318952
>>318959
Fine, but this is the "how to clean thread" so relax, bitches.

>>318959
People don’t know how to do things they’ve never seen done. I’m the former cleaner from above, so it’s not an issue personally, but I’ve met too many people who straight up did not realise that you need to clean the sink, or to not bunch up wet laundry they’re hanging out, or that dish soap is not a universal cleaner. If nobody you know has ever shampooed a rug, why would you think it’s necessary?
How sheltered are you that you’ve never met someone from a shitty home?

Shit, back then my room was a 1½. My parents were hoarders in denial. I remember once my mom demanded I pick out clothes to give away, when I showed her the pile every article of clothing was "This one? Really? I like to wear it still." or "We can give this to your other family members when they come over." I ended up only giving away 2 things out of like 20. Continue the cycle every year. It all ends up in a pile in my parents room, which looks like a 5, or on the dining room table, which looks like a 6. Untouched for years.

Now that I'm living with my boyfriend, our stuff is at a 2½, 4 at worst, but by that time I start trying to clean up. It used to be at a constant 4 for my boyfriend until I moved in.
I've been slowly buying clothes hampers, baskets, and shelving units from Walmart to organize a few things and it seems to have worked, along with reorganizing the room to have more walking space. One thing that piles up and makes our house look dirtier is just little things like bottle caps, empty water bottles, napkins, and little pieces of plastic that missed the garbage. Also junk mail, holy shit. We get junk mail for my boyfriend's family because they used to live with him, but left the apartment with him after we started dating for a few months. There's stuff from my boyfriend's sister just piled high in our basement, too. She said she'd come and get the items one day, but it's been over 2 years. I'm ready to just throw it all away at this point. The piles of stuff that isn't ours makes us more depressed because it's just taking up space we could be using instead.
We also have a shit ton of boxes that pile up the recycling bin due to ordering items online rather than shopping locally since it's sometimes cheaper.

Alright enough with the blogposting.
Towels: get a new one after 6 to 9 uses. I have muliple towels just in case I don't have time to wash another real quick. I pile the used towels up so I can wash them all together. It's also recommended because mixing them with clothes could make the clothes develop balls of lint.
Bedsheets: once every month or two. It also depends on if I sweat more than usual, I'll start smelling some funky stuff.
Litter box: about every 1½ to 2 weeks. We have 3 cats and 4 litter boxes. It's always good to have one extra box to the total of your cats.
Bathroom walls & floors: KEK probably once every 3 or 4 months.
Advice: I don't have any links, but I'm trying to learn to make a scheduled routine with my cleaning. I make sure to vacuum once every 5 to 7 days. Clean the dishes every 4 days and make sure to put dishes in the sink and not lying around after you're done using them.

>>318650
>>318988

Wash towel after every use. Wash sheets and covers every two weeks.
Clean bathroom+kitchen daily (weak cleaner) weekly (strong cleaner)
Clean floor generally weekly.

I have sensitive skin so I'm a bit horrified by people who use a bath towel more than once, even though that is quite common. I use hand towels as bath towels to save on washing (not that much area to dry to need a full bath towel, they are huge) but leaving it to dry and reusing is unthinkable to me. If you're using a bath towel I can see maybe using it twice, if it didn't get too wet.

I'm quite clean but a little messy, but I am aware mess lowers my mood so I'm trying to be tidier

>>319000
>Wash towel after every use.
mental illness. give one good reason this isn't insane and exorbitantly wasteful

>>319019
not that anon, but i once had a skin disease as a kid where our towels had to be washed after every use for a while

>>319019
This. Only cloth you should be washing everyday is the the thing you use to dry your face with and shower rag/loofa

Hey anon, I feel you on this because I grew up in a home where no one cleaned up or was expected to clean up after themselves. It was so bad that there was a period of a few years where my younger sister and I slept on the sofa when we were young because there was mountains of stuff on our beds. It was definitely a 3 at best and 5 at worst.

I moved out a year ago and I'm struggling to keep things below a 2. But it helps to really analyze what you own and get rid of anything you don't need. You can tell yourself you can sell it, but that adds another layer of complication, so I wouldn't advise it unless it's worth over $100.

Other people have better advice on cleaning, so no need to add my two cents. Best of luck, anon.

I have been helped by minimalism. I am not a complete minimalist - I actually want to have some frivolous stuff in my home just not a lot of junk lying around. There are a lot of videos on Youtube about decluttering and not shopping that can be inspiring.

But one thing I have issue with is paper. Notes, sentimental stuff like cards and letters, old diaries etc.

>>319117
lol ok but that pretty much solidifies anon's point. why would you treat every normal day of your life like you have a staph infection or something

My roommate is bit of a hoarder. She has an obsession with that if something is still usable, it should not be thrown out. She got mad at me for throwing out a $5 piece of rope I needed for a uni class, saying I should have given it to her or donated it. She recently took on a bunch of Halloween decorations that she hardly has the space to store as well. She wishes her room would be more clean, but is unmotivated because of the size of the mess. I believe this kind of behavior is common of people who grew up in poorer households.
I would recommend throwing out shit you never use regardless of the quality it's in, that seems to be the popular advice of all cleaning books as well. Also just to put away stuff when you're done with it, put away laundry when it's done, wash your plate when you're done eating, etc. Then you don't really need to clean much at all because your room never gets dirty aside from dust.

>>318988
my family/mom was the same. She was a closet horder. The inside of our house was pretty barren as if we just moved in but closets and the garade were overflowing and stuffed closed.

The linen closet had hundreds of towels and sheet sets. So in this case we alway used a new towel everyday, a new towel for the floor when we got out. Though i dont think we ever really used the new sheets. Most were the wrong size, pillow cases, scratchy or 30 years old.
She never threw anything out because she would work at the flea market on the weekends and do garage sale. Everything we wanted to get rid of would go in the garage until it sold. She would also go through my brother and Is trash. Which im pretty sure fucked us up a little bit, we would hide things in our room until we could throw them away somehwere else or right before the trashman came.

That being said. My room was normally at a 1.5 but never with trash besides old school papers. My room was mostly clothes i striped off but deemed too clean to wash (overshrts that never touched my skin and jeans.) I use to be a bit OCD and had to shower and put on fresh PJs before even sitting on my bed. I wouldnt let anyone even sit on my bed until they were in fresh clothes. I also cant let dishes besides one or two cups of water sit out and didnt eat in my room. Everything else goes immediately in the sink and rinsed.

For context now, i live with my boyfriend. Hes only home 3/7 days. Him and his family are anti clutter and the messiest it would be would socks and maybe a sweat shirt left on the couch for a night. Now hes okay with leaving dishes overnight.
Towels: 3-6 washes depending how much laundry i have. Always hung up and spread out to dry after every use.
Bedsheets: once every month or two. We have two comforters and i hate changing them. Plus my side will always be double as dirty. I dont wear outside clothes in bed and dont eat in bed unless im sick, and if im sick ill change my bedding.
Litterbox: i havent had a cat in years but scoop anything i see. Change at least once a week.
Bathrooom walls and floors: almost never until i see something. Floors: i vacuum them weekly or biweekly. I mop monthly if anyone misses or anything, i spray down the floor with cleaner and wipe it all because its a smallish square bathroom.
Since my boyfriend comes home after 4 days gone. I always tidy up, which is usually finishing washing pans and pots, picking up clothes from around the house, clearing the dining room table that i use as a desk for computer and homework stuff. Vaccum, clean counters and surfaces and bathrooms. If we have guests i deep clean everything.

For my clothes i deem "can wear again" i have a storage box at the end of the bed that we put folded clothes on. Pajamas we will wear again go under our pillows. I also have a small shoe storage/foot shelf from ikea that i have all my stuffed animals resting on. In the shelf area i have small/medium storage boxes to contain all my random items like wires, makeup pallets, photo books, etc.

>>323033
as an added gross factor.
i had an unusual bra size and since my mom was cheap i often only had one or two bras. I rarely washed then unless they smelled or were visably sweaty. I lost 30lbs and now wear the most standard size or one of them, and have quite a few of them. I rotate them but i still forget to wash them more often than monthly unless i remember sweating. However i go tot he gym 3 times a week and i always wash sports bras afterwards and wear those cotton calvin klein sports bra out of the gym until i shower.

When i first heard there are girls who wash their bras after every use i was mind blown. Especially becuase theys stated they have to finally do laundry because all 15 of their bras were dirty from not doing laundry in two weeks.

How often should i be washing them?

There is an extra room that my mother throws all of her stuff in. It’s awkward because I have been telling her to clean it for ages and she says she will but never touches anything. There are stacks of paperwork, her clothing (even though she has a closet and two dressers to use) and random items she buys and never uses like photo frames and garden decor. It looks worse now than it’s ever been

. My sister used to use the room as her bedroom so the walls are still this awful early 2000s purple color as well. The original intention was to use it as a study when she moved out and then my mom started sleeping in there and all the stuff started piling up. One day I randomly threw a bunch of stuff out, like papers from my middle school that she had saved. I know it’s stuff she’ll never look at but I’m not sure how much stuff I should take out in case it makes her upset. I just want to goodwill everything and repaint the walls if I have a day off.

My apartment is a 2 right now, mostly because its a 200 sq ft studio so any sort of mess no matter what size looks like a disaster. Its because of laziness since it'll take 10 minutes of my day to wash dishes and clear my table, but god my parents did not help me stay tidy. My mother is super sentimental about everything she owns so she never gives stuff away. My parents house is and always will be super cluttered but they're the type who don't care about their own messes, just other peoples. I'm grateful I was taught basic cleaning skills, but man was it fucking annoying living with men and showing them how to be grown ass adults. The most irritating thing for me is when they don't know how to use an iron or fold clothes so they walk around looking like slobs with wrinkly ass clothes. If you can't be bothered hang it up in your bathroom while you take a hot shower so I don't have to be seen with you looking like ass.

I'm not a huge fan of cleaning the bathroom because its gross, but investing in one of those little attachment things in the toilet or the stick one helps loads to keep the bowl clean. I'm pretty lazy so I won't bother to scrub my bathroom but once a month, but I do try to at least spray down the sink, shower, and toilet with cleaner and wipe them ever week or two weeks to cut down on the scum scrubbing. Laundry once a week is a good habit, towels I wash every two weeks because I have multiple, and sheets I wash every 1-4 weeks depending on how sweaty I've been. I wash clothes I've just bought because either from a retail or thrift store its probably been tried on (I use to work at walmart so I know people even try on underwear the sick fucks) and I'm not trusting of everyone elses hygiene habits.

My two favourite things are doing laundry and cleaning the bathroom, I hate everything else. For the bathroom I buy a big ass pack of disposable gloves because if I don't use them I get anxiety and shit. I also get bleach, spray, those little cistern fizzers and inserts and stuff and go all out when I do it.

I also just generally enjoy getting laundry done and putting it away.

My most hated things are kitchen related, taking out bins, scrubbing the kitchen; basically I feel like a kitchen is never fully clean enough so my efforts give me anxiety?? (I have ocd fwiw which helps nothing, if I feel like something can't be cleaned I won't touch it. And the basis for what I think can or can't be cleaned is retarded since I enjoy cleaning the bathroom. Maybe it's because there's food in the kitchen)

I also fucking hate vaccuuming and mopping, Jesus fuck


I highly recommend the app Ourhome to anyone who is struggling with these things, it's blatantly aimed at families with kids to encourage them to do tasks but it really helps my depression to add in my tasks and tick them off.

I've always washed my towels after every use. It's just what my family always did and they weren't clean freaks or anything. Is it just me?

I always wash myself with a face cloth and when I told someone, they were disgusted because it could grow bacteria. I told her it could be washed, then she was aghast because that would mean washing it every day. I explained to her that one can, in fact, own multiple face cloths… I also have a lot of towels.

It's just an extra load of laundry every 1-2 weeks or so, it's not a big deal.

No hoarding problems (anymore), but depression keeps me from cleaning more often than I'd like to admit.

>How often should I be washing the towel I use to dry off after showering? Everytime I use it?
I think every 2-4 uses is ok unless you have a skin disease. If I dry my hair with it I throw it in the wash immediately. If I'm on my period, every use. If you use a washcloth, I hand-wash mine after every use and toss it in the wash with the towel.
>How often do anons change their pillowcases and bedsheets?
Every 2 weeks
>How often should I be changing all the litter in the litterbox?
All of it maybe every 3-5 days, but scoop away the dirty parts every day, ideally multiple times a day.
>How often do you wipe down bathroom walls and floors?
Floors every week, walls maybe every 2 weeks/as needed. Clean the toilet multiple times a week/as needed.

>Some other tips:
Vacuum every (other) day and dust with the same frequency, it's an easy, low-effort way to clean and especially if you have a small apt it gets dusty quickly.
Never leave your laundry until all you have left are the 3 ugly shirts you hate to wear.
Wash your shower curtain every month, they mold and get super gross!
Don't leave shit on the floor or where it doesn't belong. Pick a place for everything, if you can't make room for something, get rid of it or something else.

>Do you have any motivating posts or blogs to share?
Read the life-changing magic of tydying up/watch videos of people cleaning on YT. I did a major declutter almost 3 years ago, most of it I did while watching YouTube videos about minimalism and episodes of Hoarders. Bonus points if you get the book from the library/give it away after reading.

>>323334
I don't think I've ever washed my bathroom walls, or any walls ever. Do you use a tool of some kind or just go scrubbing with a washcloth?

>>323046
Idk about bras, I definitely don't wash them after every use because it's hard to find a good bra, even though my size is pretty standard, and washing them too much might just deteriorate them faster.

I think some article of clothings like bras or jeans can withstand a few days of wear (again, basic smell test though). Maybe because jeans are pretty thick and bras don't touch much skin ? Again I'm not overweight so I can't speak for girls with fat rolls or heavy boobs.

>>318988
I think my mom might be a mild hoarder but nothing too bad. She grew up dirt poor in a very mysoginistic home so now basically she's the only one cleaning stuff (My dad or brothers won't even bother, dunno if they even know how to wipe their own arse). To give you guys an idea, my dad and bros never ever do laundry, cook or clean anything so she constantly has to manage the whole household and of course it's too much for a single person.

I'm glad I'm out of the house but every time I have to spend some holidays at home it drives me bananas. There's so much crap I wanna throw away but it's not even "mine" and just fill up the garage, like very very old kids sized ski boots, broken chairs and whatnot.

Also she won't ever throw away stuff until it literally spew out flames. She still has appliances she got from her marriage gifts list, or those ugly vests with the padded shoulders she'd wear when she started her career.

Like a lot of you I ended up being slightly anal about cleanliness and order and just dream of sneaking back home when they're not there and throw away so much of their crap lol. The house is not even super tiny, it'd be so spacious without all that useless stuff.

>>318650
is this image for real?
Anyone with a room over 2 has a problem.

>>323336
NTA but use sugar soap and a cloth.

>>323719
Yeah, agreed. Cleaning thoroughly is hard imo but tidying up really isn't, it's literally just putting shit away and takes 5 mins every so often.

My mom is a major hoarder and the house was falling apart before I left. My grandma was the same way. It's because of that I'm trying everything to avoid becoming that way. Cooking was so gross because there was just mold and everything. My sister and I tried so hard to help her clean but she'd get upset when we'd try to throw things out. I remember battling with her a lot over things like the cupboard and fridge because she was convinced the food was still good even when she couldn't remember when she bought it.
Now, I live with my boyfriend and briefly visited his house while we were moving. Holy shit, I thought my house was bad but we literally couldn't step past the entrance. I'd say it was a solid 9, maybe even past that from the OP's picture. I just felt so bad.
It's taken a lot but the both of us started working to take care of our apartment. Everyday we take turns cleaning up before bed. Every Sunday, we do a deep clean of the whole apartment. Over time, it feels less like a chore and things don't pile up so they don't take as long to clean. It also feels nice when the windows are open and the apartment is just shining.
My advice is to start slow with something you absolutely must do either before bed or before work. If that thing becomes a habit where you don't need to force yourself to do it, add another if you have time. I started with the dishes and kept adding from there until eventually pretty much the entire kitchen is cleaned before bed.
If you have depression, don't beat yourself up over not being able to clean. If anything, try to treat cleaning as another self help method on par with listening to music or reading.

>>323295
I'm like the opposite with you on this anon because I'm fairly good at keeping the kitchen clean but I hate cleaning the bathroom and toilet. I just can't get past the thought of the feces and urine and body hair (my husband is hairy and sheds a lot) etc. I don't know how to get over my disgust and just get on with it.

Thank you for this thread.
My mom is not a hoarder at all, in fact not so long ago we went through everything we own and gave like half of it away.
But she's extremely messy. She doesn't even clean up toothpaste she spilled on the sink and forgets to wipe down countertops after cooking. She also washes only the inside of all tableware which drives me mad and made me buy my own plates that only I use and wash properly.
I've never been taught how to clean and I never really cleaned, but now I'm coming out of a decade-long depression and realising I live in squalor.
My mom won't clean so I'm supposed to get over my apathy and do it instead. This thread gave me some ideas on where to start.

Also I don't think our toilet has ever been cleaned. I'm kinda scared of cleaning it now.

What do you do with rubber gloves when not using them? I just leave them over the sink when I'm done doing the dishes but it doesn't look neat and it's driving me crazy.

>>324637
Put em in a drawer or where you keep other cleaning supplies maybe?

>>324637
i have a plastic hanger on the inside of my sink cupboard that i store them on to dry.

>>324637
yeah this bugged me forever too. just use a little clip hook or clothespin or magnet if your cabinets are metal and hang them up like this. i think it's the neatest looking way to store them

Wish me luck ladies, I'm about to try and Konmari my monster of a wardrobe. I hate throwing out clothes but it has to be done.

>>335480
good luck anon, keep us updated!

Hi Anon, I also recently moved to live "alone" (with a bf and a cat) and I am trying to be consistent about cleaning habits.
Before I lived with my mom and helped around but it was not as much as my responsability as it is now.
My bf is a bit of a slob but is trying to change that. I see some slow improvement. I told him I need him to pick up after himself, bottles, wrappers etc. So my tip to you is the same that I said to him: if you can do it immediately (takes under than 3 minutes) just do it. After you use a room, pick up the trash and the things you moved, and put them in the right place again.

>How often should I be washing the towel I use to dry off after showering? Everytime I use it?

I wash towels with the sheets once a week.

>How often do anons change their pillowcases and bedsheets?

Once a week.

>How often should I be changing all the litter in the litterbox?

The litter I use is that bigger white grain, so I can get away with scooping the poops everyday but change all the litter every 2 weeks or so. When it starts smelling bad, it's time to change it.

>How often do you wipe down bathroom walls and floors?

I vacuum clean around the living room everyday, but actually wiping is rare.

How often should I be washing the towel I use to dry off after showering?
Once a week. I leave it to sometimes biweekly. Shower daily. I would probably wash them more if I lived somewhere humid. I mean, I'm clean when I dry off, so whatever.

How often do anons change their pillowcases and bedsheets?
Pillowcase every day or two. Sheets every two weeks in winter, sometimes twice a week in summer. I have a couple extra to change out for when I'm too depressed to do laundry immediately.
How often should I be changing all the litter in the litterbox?
I'm gross, I only do that maybe once every three months. Scoop twice a day, vacuum around it, wipe exposed bits with a vinegar paper towel, add fresh as needed.
How often do you wipe down bathroom walls and floors?

Walls hardly ever. Once every three months? Floors, daily or every second day. I vacuum the bathroom floor along with the rest of the floors in the house, since I don't have roommates, I know there isn't pee or anything around the floor. Then I use a steam mop. Yes, that too, all floors, daily. I have long ass hair, cats and a big hairy dog. If I go a day without the tumbleweeds start blowing.
Do you have any motivating posts or blogs to share?
Unfuckyourhabitat is awesome. I also put Hoarding shows on for motivation and it works every time.

>>338401
>>335564
Wait what, you clean your dry off towels only once a week? I clean them after every use.

>>338449
How many fucking towels do you have? I clean mine once a week. I only got one too, but I live alone.
I change my face towel every day though.
Do you change your hand towels after every use too? Tbh that would make sense since no one washes their hands long enough for it to matter.

All of you having issues with towels or the prospect of washing them after every use:

Get thin towels. So much more you can fit into the washer, dry much faster, and allow you to have nice, dry towels all the time. The big plushy hotel style towels are a meme and honestly absorb too much water in the wash, take forever to dry, take too much space, and are a waste of effort.

>>338482
OR instead of a towel use a hairdryer on your body

>>338483
nigger what

>>338487
you're welcome

>>338483

or you could just airdry if you have the time.

>>338499
And if pressed for time, spin around in a circle really fast.

>>318650
The jump from image 1 to image 2 in the OP image is massive.

I grew up in a disgusting household with some examples being: cockroaches falling from the ceiling fixtures onto you while you sleep, animal feces scattered about sometimes accidentally stepping in piles barefoot, laundry room with 2+ feet of dirty laundry piled from wall to wall, dog pee puddles at the base of the furniture legs, sleeping on bare mattresses on the floor and several cigarette smokers smoking inside the home 24/7. Every few months I'd wake up to the kitchen floor crawling with white maggots.

As soon as I got the chance I moved out and now have the ability as an adult to keep my home as clean as I want and it's at about an image 1 or less. I get a lot of compliments from friends and guests about how clean and spacious my home is and that they appreciate it. I spend on average an hour a day as soon as I wake up doing daily chores. The internet was my only resource and I spend a lot of time searching articles on basic etiquette and cleanliness. I genuinely enjoy cleaning and feel very relaxed with everything in it's designated space. But I will always feel paranoid and feel disgusting about myself as a person because of the environment I was raised in. Once in a while I'll have a nightmare that I'm a kid again back in my childhood home lol.

Cleaning thoroughly daily will make you life much easier, routine is important. Tweak little things about your life to make it more efficient, be methodical and don't wait around to do something. thanks for letting me vent friends

>>338506
i'm sorry, anon. that's awful. sounds like neglect. i'm glad you're doing well for yourself now.

My finals just ended and I can’t wait to clean everything that I’ve neglected since August

add me to the list of anons that grew up in a filthy messy home. my mum was a single parent with 3 kids, so I can't blame her, but I could never invite people round or anything. when I got a bit older I started trying to clean the place but my sisters never really cared and it always degenerated quickly again.

my mum did end up decluttering massively, thankfully. she now lives in my sister's house and it's pretty nice, even though the old tendency to piles of magazines, sewing stuff, etc is still there.

I like to keep things tidy and clean as a result - I tend to try to clean things as and when they start to need it rather than having a schedule, so some weeks floors will get done a few times, some only once or whatever, depending. I would say I do a few things every day, be it a wash or a bathroom clean or whatever, and inbetween I might just do the sinks one day, the worktops another, organise a couple of drawers on another, change the beds on another, and so on.

I think our place is anywhere from 80% to 90% clean at any one time usually and that's OK, as it takes enough time just to maintain that. sometimes I wish it could be 100%, but I ain't gonna mop every day, etc.

OH AND I have to tell you about the best thing I bought this year, it is a rubber broom. It cost 5 pounds and it is by far the best thing I've ever tried for the laminate floors and lino we have in this (rented) flat. it gathers hair and fluff and dust better than I've ever managed with the vacuum then mop method.

I don’t even know how I ended up being so messy. Somehow I’ve been like this my whole life.

My mom is really organized to the point of it being kind of an OCD. She literally can’t sit still if there’s anything in my parents’ house that’s not neat and clean. So my room had always been a huge annoyance to her and I was often punished for not cleaning my room. She even every once in a while took a huge laundry basket, put everything that was laying around in my room in it and after she was done dumped it on my bed so I had to clean it up before I could go to sleep.

Ever since I live on my own my living spaces have always been a huge mess and I even had to ask my parents a few times to come over and help me clean up, because I was so overwhelmed by it.
Partially it’s depression and ADD but I’m also really lazy. It upsets me so much because I want it to look neat and clean. I don’t feel comfortable when everything around me is a mess but I just can’t help it. I feel awful.

>>338548
I'm the exact same way, anon. I like having things organized but I somehow just generate chaos all around me. My room has been terribly messy for as long as I can remember. It's not unhygienic, just really cluttered. I tidy up every now and again but it barely seems worth it since crap stacks up all over again right after.
Especially clothes. I have a ton of them and I often throw stuff that I've worn once but doesn't need to be washed yet on chairs and my desk so that I can organize them later. Except I never do and the pile just keeps growing.

moved back in with my dad a few months ago. unmarried guy, late 50s. i pay half rent. everything was cool for a few weeks, then he stopped cleaning up after himself and expects me to do it for him. it's all a lot of little stuff that adds up. dishes piled, dirty counters, trash and clothes left around the living room. i've confronted him a few times, he always says he'll do better but doesn't even try. i refuse to do it for him, but i'm tired of having a dirty house and not being able to have people over. he doesn't seem to care about living in filth. the worst is he went on a trip for a couple weeks and i did clean everything and lived like a king, but he came back and trashed it again.

obviously the answer is move back out, which i'm planning on after i finish school, but does anyone have advice on how to reason with him until then?

Any anons here that have managed to Konmari their belongings? I really need to trash books, clothes and collectibles that no longer make me happy. I plan to give each unread book last chance, if it doesn't grab me and I drop it before finishing, it will go into donation box. I worry most about stuff like plushies and dolls (I want to downsize). It helps a bit that I found the single charity shop in my city (if not country) that accepts donations and sells them to raise money for homeless people. I know that they also hire the homeless in order to help them get back on their feet. I hope that my items at least will be of some use… I know I will still feel guilty about 'abandoning' things and 'failing' them for not appreciating them. I am retarded. I am retarded, I know.

>>440570
I just finished reading 'spark joy' - maybe you could try the whole thing she says of thanking the things you are discarding for all they have done for you? you know, make it solemn. and if they do spark joy then you can keep them, she doesn't want you to get rid of things you really love.

I'm supposed to be moving soon and if so I'll be able to get my stuff out of storge where it's been for a few years. I know I'm gonna have to do a lot of sorting and hoping I can KonMari right from the start.

>>440570
Don't feel bad anon! I understand that "abandoning" and "failing" feeling. I think Marie Kondo's books are good, but I'd also recommend reading them along with "Goodbye Things" by Fumio Sasaki and "The Art of Discarding" by Nagisa Tatsumi. Some of their points contradict each other (mainly on how your thought process should be) but I like to pick and choose things from each of these three books to what I think suits my life and thoughts best.

I did the Konmari method with my clothing, now the problem is finding a place to donate them. For all other misc items, I used approaches from the other two books. I've still got a long way to go in terms of downsizing, but I think I've made really good progress so far!

>>440793
I love Spark Joy but it's so hard to get rid off things when your mind makes you feel bad for them.
I've also read the Konmari manga, it's very cute and inspiring! Good way of reminding yourself the most important points.

>>441087
Thank you so much, kind anon! I will look into those two books. I have managed to drop clothes that I will never wear that I have kept just cause I got them as a gift from my Grandma and Mom. I still feel pretty bad about it, but what's the point of keeping up shirts that are just collecting dust? Maybe someone else will enjoy them more.

I am not sure what to do with parts of my collections that I currently don't love as much. I feel like giving up my G3 ponies, but at the same time I think I will appreciate them more in a few years, when they don't feel as common and modern. They take 1 box under my bed so it's not that much space… I am on the fence.
I do need to get rid of some Barbies, but I don't feel like going through the hassle of selling them to different people…

I need to move to a bigger flat (me and my bf live in a studio and it's not enough), but getting rid of clutter will help as well.

>>441874
Off the top of my head, there's a part in Art of Discarding where Tatsumi says something like thanking clothes or belongings as you get rid of them, because they taught you something. The clothes you got from your grandma and mom that you don't wear? Now you know those kind of clothes aren't your style and you won't go out and buy something like that! Sasaki also says not to feel bad about getting rid of gifts, after all, if you gave someone a gift and it became a burden on them to keep it, wouldn't you rather that person just get rid of it instead? Gifts come from the heart and as long as you appreciate the sentiment, that's all that matters (to me at least). Sasaki said when he got rid of a lot of things, he just took photos of them so he'll at least always have photos of those things (or something like that). That bit always stuck out to me but I've never tried it out in practice.

Definitely get rid of as much unnecessary stuff before moving! Rather than sort later, sort everything out now and the moving process will be super easy.