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Are You a Binge Cleaner or a Daily Tidier?

2-23-09clean.jpg

One of our New Year's Resolutions was to break the binge cleaning habit and start tidying our home daily. We've tried again and again to be vigilant. (If only our place was as tidy as Paola and John's above.) Unfortunately, it's just not happening for us...

 
 

Every Saturday, we end up doing a clean sweep of the apartment, then letting things slide during the week. When the time comes to tidy up at night, the energy's just not there. We're thinking about accepting our habits the way they are, sticking with the Saturday cleaning schedule, and letting go of the desire to be something we're not. Maybe one day we'll break the habit and become good daily tidiers, but for now it seems to be just our of our reach.

We're wondering about the cleaning habits of other readers. Are you a binge cleaner or do you tidy up daily? Has anyone made the leap from messy weekdays to everyday cleaning?

Photo: Paola and John's extremely clean home.

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Comments (72)

100% binge cleaner. Chore charts always seem to disappear...

posted by Ina on February 23rd 2009 at 8:42pm
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Binge cleaner. It doesn't matter how much planning I do to act otherwise.

posted by mpw on February 23rd 2009 at 8:45pm
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Same here. I like things tidy, but I don't like making them tidy. So... it's a real chore. Definitely a binge cleaner.

Trying to be better though. My daughter is crawling around and eating bits of lint. So I've at least started sweeping daily. That helps.

posted by anmar on February 23rd 2009 at 8:49pm
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I'm worse than a binge cleaner. I pay someone to binge clean for me!

posted by LilyC on February 23rd 2009 at 8:51pm
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i'm another Saturday binge cleaner...

posted by rouquinne on February 23rd 2009 at 8:52pm
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I am such a binge cleaner, but I'm trying to come up with a plan. And this is what I've got so far...I call it "sprint cleaning." I clean really fast during the commercials of my favorite shows & it makes me clean better & faster because I want to get done before my show comes on. So, pretty much every nite I'm cleaning for at least an hour & I'm so glad that I do!

posted by unseeneclipse on February 23rd 2009 at 8:52pm
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Binge cleaner most definitely... I wish we even managed to have a "every Saturday" schedule. My boyfriend and I are on more of a "oh, people are coming over... time to clean" thing.

posted by k ran on February 23rd 2009 at 8:53pm
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Binge. But I kick butt when I do!

posted by mjr on February 23rd 2009 at 8:53pm
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Binge. Dishes and litter box everyday, but the rest can wait until the end of the week. I'd rather spend the limited free time I have during the week to be with my loved ones, and use early Saturday, when everyone is asleeep anyway, to get caught up.

posted by hmr on February 23rd 2009 at 8:53pm
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Daily cleaner for my rooms (I call it "maintenance"), but total binge cleaner for closets (ugh)!

posted by wakemeupb4ugogo on February 23rd 2009 at 8:55pm
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Definite binge cleaner. I can't seem to really get on a weekly schedule anymore, either...and I am super-terrible at organizing. One of my friends came over and helped me organize my room a while ago (I'm still stuck in a dorm room), and I was just amazed that it never occurred to me to put my advil, bandaids, neosporin, and vitamin c drops in one place, and my pencils and notebooks in another. Incredible.

posted by seraph on February 23rd 2009 at 9:00pm
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"Every Saturday."

Heh.

Yeah, I could (and should) clean every day -- filthy Los Angeles air depositing black dust on everything, filthy dog depositing black hair all over everything -- but somehow that never seems to happen. I'm with "k ran" in the "company's coming, get out the swiffer" club.

posted by amandacollier on February 23rd 2009 at 9:00pm
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I changed from a binge cleaner to a daily tidier once I bought a roomba. I have to set up for him to clean every day (pull my blinds, so he doesn't get caught on the cords, etc.), and that alone has somehow given me the impetus to tidy up every day. I don't keep the place spotless all the time, and do binge on the excessive cleaning every week or so, but the apt has become much tidier on an average day since I picked him up.

posted by Nucleosynthesis on February 23rd 2009 at 9:02pm
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Too funny. I was taking a break from binge cleaning when this post came up. Still striving for the daily cleaning life-style. I have to believe that there is hope!

When I try to clean daily I probably give up after only about 50% of the house clean. It doesn't take long for it to be completely cluttered again.

posted by margypargy on February 23rd 2009 at 9:14pm
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While things are always kept TIDY in my place...things are only CLEAN when I do the bingey, top-to-bottom clean every two weeks (I'm not going to lie and say I get to it every week). So while I look like a neatnik - I'm actually pretty disgusting =)

posted by nicolethebomb on February 23rd 2009 at 9:14pm
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I'm a binge cleaner, too!! However, like unseeneclipse, I've actually started sprint cleaning and it seems to work. I can have my dishwasher emptied by the time my lunch is reheated!

posted by andrennabird on February 23rd 2009 at 9:21pm
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Both. I'm pathetically OCD, but my home always looks great.

posted by Sydney on February 23rd 2009 at 9:23pm
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As they say in the south... "Bof-um!"

I binge clean about twice a year. Keep things tidy on a daily basis. And have a housecleaner alternate Wednesdays.

I do not like clutter or crap that I don't use. The room above is gorgeous and spare! I love how you get to see the room and the furnishings, and are not distracted by pez collections.

posted by kimg924 on February 23rd 2009 at 9:24pm
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Binge twice a month which takes a full day each time and I have someone that comes twice a month and I do the tidy thing every day. I hate having my kitchen with any spills on the stove or anything out of place which is tough because I love to cook but everything must be spotless after each meal. All of my closets and drawers get cleaned and organized every four months but it still seems like never enough. I hate not having more storage space to organize like the real Virgo I am.. thanks for reading I know I need therapy.

posted by LoriSF on February 23rd 2009 at 9:35pm
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I am right there with nicolethebomb and try to always stay tidy. Unfortunately, my favorite time to clean is after midnight but I live in an old building with wood floors and that would be extremely rude. So my "cleaning" occurs whenever I think about it every few weeks.

posted by sara mc on February 23rd 2009 at 9:37pm
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Binge cleaner

posted by bkk on February 23rd 2009 at 9:42pm
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LoriSF,

Now I know why I'm not friends with any Virgos--they would be mortified if they saw my house (and God forbid they open a drawer or closet!).

Binge housekeeper 2x/month turning a blind eye to clutter and furballs = the only way for this Cancer!

posted by madsarah on February 23rd 2009 at 9:42pm
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Binge.
I swear, it's too tough on weekdays. I'd rather plop down on the couch and watch 'I Love Lucy'. But weekends? I clean.

posted by starckmad2 on February 23rd 2009 at 9:54pm
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Binge with some limited daily neatening.

posted by toniannette on February 23rd 2009 at 10:00pm
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I'm another binger. I'll pick things up during the week (sometimes), do dishes/counters and the litterboxes of course, but there's no time to vacuum and do heavy cleaning during the week.

My weekdays are fairly rushed until after dinner & cleanup, so adding more would be too stressful, on Saturday mornings/afternoons, however, I don't mind cleaning. I have time, can do it at my pace and take breaks if I want. It's much less stressful for me to binge clean, plus the place looks good for the rest of the weekend when I spend the most time at home.

After reading this thread I'm thinking I might need a roomba. Having freshly vacuumed floors daily that require little effort by me would be AWESOME!

posted by Candice on February 23rd 2009 at 10:09pm
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binge cleaner.... i am neater but it's exhausting living with a boyfriend who is just a PIG! and so I am lazy too. one big thing is clothes everywhere. that's our biggest mess. haha.

posted by shaunarama on February 23rd 2009 at 10:22pm
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I'm a recovering binger. I have recently purged alot of possessions due to downsizing and little storage space. It feels so great to have control of my stuff and be organized that I make more effort to keep my place clean. I am now in the habit of not going to bed until everything is put away and mostly clean. Saturday cleaning takes much less time now.

posted by jacasi on February 23rd 2009 at 10:32pm
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Daily until I started working full time again. Now I don't even know if I qualify for binge. :(

posted by Erin Lang Norris/Yellow Canoe on February 23rd 2009 at 10:35pm
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Binge cleaner! Mail and paperwork is the most idfficult to keep up with. I have cancelled most of my catalogs but the charity mail keeps piling up...and my husband won't cancel anything and likes to keep every project on the table ready to pick up any minute. Keep my kitchen clean though!

posted by rowantree on February 23rd 2009 at 10:36pm
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Binge, binge, binge. My mother was always one of those cleaners who was like, "If you put it back when you're done with it, you won't have to clean things up!" but ... that gets SO tedious when there's so many great things to do!!

Unfortunately, my 375 square foot apartment would prefer that I put things back when I'm done with it, because by day 7, it's crying, begging, screaming at me to clean it. The dishes are piled in the sink! There's socks on the floor! There's last Sunday's newspaper still by the chair! The bed's unmade! The counter has STUFF on it!

"Cleeeeeeeeeeeeean meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee," it nags at me, until finally, I give in and spend three hours putting it right again (like I did today). Of course, today's escapade was launched by an AWESOMETASTIC find off of CL.

posted by bfootnovellista on February 23rd 2009 at 11:15pm
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Well, I make a distinction between tidying and cleaning. Tidying is just putting things back in their place. Cleaning is actually cleaning (vacuuming, dusting, wiping, washing, etc). Anyway...

I'm a daily tidier and a binge cleaner.

posted by jyw on February 23rd 2009 at 11:27pm
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BINGE!! If I did this with ice cream I'd be enormous. Every Sunday, all day long (or at least for 4 hours), and no one can be home with me...

posted by miss.lyndsey on February 23rd 2009 at 11:30pm
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I used to be a binge cleaner, but with two kids now I have to be a daily tidier or it gets waaaaay out of hand. Although "tidy" is used loosely, here. I run around in circles trying to keep my house from looking like a hell hole.

I do have to run the dishwasher once a day though or we have no dishes. So no matter what, that gets done.

posted by BambiJo on February 23rd 2009 at 11:55pm
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Binge cleaner, definitely. Mostly because I rarely have enough time between school and work to clean every day. I try, at least, to haul the laundry off of the floor and make the bed on a daily basis, but by the time Friday rolls around my art studio looks like a bomb went off in it.

posted by SputnikSpak on February 24th 2009 at 12:00am
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binge and daily tidier.. jeje

posted by Maroha on February 24th 2009 at 12:08am
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I keep things very tidy and try to do some cleaning every day. I never liked having to do a marathon cleaning session, much easier to do one room every day.

I will say that I try to do it in the morning though. I am too tired to do it at night. I can understand where you are coming from.

posted by Dream Mom on February 24th 2009 at 12:19am
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For some reason I always have the urge to binge clean when I have a lot of school work to do....maybe im more of a procrastinating cleaner...

posted by jesscon0202 on February 24th 2009 at 12:56am
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Interesting, I do that too jesscon0202... I think it's a way to put off actually doing the schoolwork jejeje...

posted by Maroha on February 24th 2009 at 1:08am
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It's a mix - I aim for 'pretty clean' just to prove I don't have OCD.

If it creates an odor, I clean it daily - dish, sink, toilet, and litter box maintenance are all part of my daily routine.

I sweep & mop, vacuum, and dust twice a week.

Mirrors, windows, and glass surfaces are my downfall - perhaps once a month.

posted by JoeyBrill on February 24th 2009 at 1:12am
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I'm a daily tidy-er. I'm a virgo and seeing stuff and clutter everywhere drives me a little crazy. However, I love early Saturday mornings with the sun coming through my windows, music blaring, and going through the whole house for a fresh clean. :)

posted by pikku.sukka on February 24th 2009 at 1:15am
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i like things tidy but if i really don't have time to do it, i end up leaving my space full of clutter. but once i'm done with my work, i clean the clutter however, the dust can never go away. its an annoying thing to do. i clean the dust in the morning and before i sleep theres more than what i cleaned.

posted by Mr. Programmer on February 24th 2009 at 1:53am
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Funny, but when my husband is not around, I am a daily tidier, and since things are more in my control, everything is in its place. I was an almost neurotically tidy kid, and our home was always tidy -- not so in my husband's family.

Normally though, I spend my day running in circles putting things back where they belong... eventually, it feels to futile, too much like the labours of Sissyphus, and I give up. Then it is time for the cleaner to come, and I have to put stuff away so that she can tidy.

The key is to teach my brood to put stuff back where it belongs when they are done with it. But training even a Montessori kid to put away toys is proving challenging... some days it works, others, no.

God I hate cleaning and tidying. If I ever become rich, I will get a housekeeper to do all of that stuff all of the time.

posted by mschatelaine on February 24th 2009 at 2:53am
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lucky me, i have obsessive-compulsive disorder! i spend part of every day "tidying." i put that in quotes, because i and everyone else know my place is spotless to begin with... lol.

posted by Lanni! on February 24th 2009 at 7:38am
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k-ran -- LOL - you just described us here too.

We have managed to try to clean up at least some on the weekend - at least tackle the main rooms. The rest gets done the night before company comes.

Good thing no one can see me when they call to say they are dropping by - it's a very fast sprint through the apartment picking up most of the clutter and tossing it in the spare room and closing the door.

posted by ChrisGal on February 24th 2009 at 7:45am
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I see a trend here. large percentage of binge cleaners on a design website. Has anyone seen the youtube video of the cat riding around on the Roomba?

posted by misslissa on February 24th 2009 at 8:21am
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Sarahc- yup, binge cleaner here too. :( I think my husband and I do the exact same saturday cleanup.

posted by RedMaiko on February 24th 2009 at 8:46am
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I do both. I am such a neat freak that I wear myself out. I pick up and clean at least one big thing (like dust or vaccuum) every night when I get home. On a day off I do some binge cleaning and reorganizing. Gets old, but my house is always spotless.

posted by jessimarie33 on February 24th 2009 at 9:05am
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I used to be a full fledged binge cleaner, then we had two kids. It is impossible to live a sane life with children and not clean up every night. Luckily they are old enough now that they have to pick up their own things :)

posted by shofner on February 24th 2009 at 9:08am
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I learned how to be a daily cleaner through Flylady.net and I absolutely loved it. I'd "polish my sink" every night before bed and "swish & swipe" my bathrooms every morning before work. Then after work I just did one thing for 15 minutes and that's about it. The entire house was eventually spotless and I loved it. That was after being a binge cleaner for 30 years.

Now I live in a construction zone and cleaning is futile, so it's back to the binge. But once I get floors in and we get to unpack our belongings and properly furnish our rooms, I am dying to get back to the daily upkeep.

posted by asinner on February 24th 2009 at 9:20am
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I'm also a daily tidier and binge one day a week. Usually Friday before the weekend. When I see something that needs detailing and I have time, I'll just do that then and there, avoiding too much time in the binging area.

I always thought that house work is the highest killer of women.

posted by click212 on February 24th 2009 at 9:24am
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I used to be a daily cleaner- then I got married and had a kid. There are more important things to do than clean now. I binge clean. Life is too short to worry about clutter - I just worry about things that are smelly or a health hazzard daily!

posted by lorijo on February 24th 2009 at 9:28am
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Nope. Daily cleaner. I'll admit that I occasionally let things slip, but for the most part I manage to keep things pretty tidy.

posted by Cashew on February 24th 2009 at 9:43am
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I tend to do the dishes every other day (unless I have something really saucy or smelly) but I do the majority of my cleaning Sunday afternoons: laundry, scrubbing countertops, sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, and sorting through mail and magazines (things to pay/things to put away/things to be recycled).

posted by Cheryl K on February 24th 2009 at 10:09am
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Definite binge cleaner. Even when I try to clean daily, my partner just won't have a bar of it. Resistance is futile!

posted by MsUnreliable on February 24th 2009 at 10:10am
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Some things must be maintained: the kitchen sink, the commode and tub/shower. Beyond that, binge all the way, and not simply because I'm lazy about the rest. There is nothing quite so satisfying as the exhaustion you feel after making your nest spotlessly clean. Day-to-day puttering takes time away from other things. I draw a parallel to visiting the library every day to read 15, 20 or 50 pages of a book.

posted by 39520expat on February 24th 2009 at 10:15am
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As with exercise, when I get the urge to do it, I go full steam. But I try to clean something every day. Kitchen and bathroom are usually passable. Bedroom and dining table usually look like they've been occupied by an insane person. I've tried following charts, but sometimes it seems so futile! But since I'll be unemployed starting Thursday, I'm thinking my apt will start to look nicer.

posted by atron on February 24th 2009 at 10:19am
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Binge cleaner, constant tidier. I like to make sure the dirty dishes go straight to the dishwasher, the dirty laundry goes in the hamper, the bed is made every morning and things are in their rightful places throughout the house each night. It is much more pleasant to wake up to a tidy home (esp. after one too many glasses of wine the night before) than a messy one! (don't get me wrong - there are always some misc objects around that have no place to go...that's just life.) But I reserve the major cleaning - dusting, mopping, etc - for one day a week unless there is a major need for it more often.

posted by Amanda H. on February 24th 2009 at 10:24am
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I try to clean a bit daily. Though one's tidiness is another one's mess.
I do believe that having my thousands of records in anything but alphabetical and chronological order is a HUGE crime against humanity, but having a few spots on a counter top, or a few dust here and there is nothing to get mad at.
My definition is that I like to live in a place where things are somewhat organized, but I also live in there, so it is bound to be a bit dirty.

That drove my ex girlfriend, and from what I read here, most of you ladies, crazy :)

posted by flobo on February 24th 2009 at 10:39am
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Binge cleaner. And after every time, I say I'm going to tidy up daily, but it never happens.

posted by TrueTex on February 24th 2009 at 10:47am
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Both.

posted by bromeliad on February 24th 2009 at 10:51am
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I push myself even if I'm tired during the week to keep things tidy. Takes no more than 15-20 minutes if you do it everyday. I rest better when my things are neatly put away. On the weekends I like to take it easy and rest in my already tidy home or go out with friends/family to do the fun things I don't have time for during the week.

Major cleaning of the kitchen and bath (and laundry) takes place once a week.

My daughter is a tidier throught the house. Total binge cleaner in her own space.

posted by STYLeyes on February 24th 2009 at 11:15am
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...everyday cleaner. when it comes to closets and the like its binge all the way. i guess if you cant see it theres no need for it to be completely clean and organized. :/

posted by deeboyayay on February 24th 2009 at 11:51am
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Daily, mostly. A little maintenance every day seems logical. I don't scrub the bathroom each day of the week, but you get the idea.

posted by islek on February 24th 2009 at 12:42pm
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i'm a mixture of the two.
i do one 'big' housecleaning every friday on my day off (although my small apartment doesn't take long) involving mopping, vacuuming copious amounts of cat hair, etc., but i tidy up/do dishes/clean litter box on a daily basis.

posted by abigailbelle on February 24th 2009 at 12:52pm
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I am completely OCD about the kitchen and dining table (including fridge and cupboards - especially the spice cabinet). Those get cleaned daily. The rest of the apartment is a binge!

posted by julieleanne on February 24th 2009 at 1:17pm
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It depends. Most weekday nights I don't get home until 5:30-6 and still have to deal with dinner and that often means a quick run to the store so by the time I sit to eat, it's 7-7:30 most nights so most evenings it's do nothing in the cleaning realm, although I may wash the dishes and get the kitchen mostly back to rights but that's about it.

As for vacuuming, mopping floors, I let that slide until I can't stand it and clean those. The bathroom gets hit, toilet and sink whenever I see them getting gross and I will handvac the bathroom floor of loose hair, the tub, probably once or twice a month but outside of the bedroom, the main part of the house is kept mostly picked up and reasonably tidy and organized. I do try to keep my albums in alphabetical order and stuff gets put back in the same place so finding stuff most of the time is not an issue. I have a nice looking main room and that's my incintive to keep it mostly tidy.

Am I perfect? Hell no, but to be succinct, I'm more if a daily tidier for some things and binge on others.

But, about twice yearly, I do a full kitchen scrub down including ceiling if I can, fixtures, appliances, counters, cabinets - all of it for no matter if you have an exhaust fan or not, it all gets dirty from dust and grease if nothing else.

Laundry gets done weekly, the bed when I can do the sheets, perhaps once a month for I have to plug the washers and dryers in my building every time at a $1.50 per wash and dry each.

posted by ciddyguy on February 24th 2009 at 2:07pm
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Is it possible to be both? I think I might be both...

...and that kind of freaks me out.

posted by aoede on February 24th 2009 at 4:03pm
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I'm embarrassed to say, but I am an extreme binger. I'm *so* far behind in cleaning, it's not even funny. I don't know when I'll be able to dig myself out. My problem is multi-layered: I have ADD, I hate cleaning, I get home at 8PM too tired to clean, I live alone (which means I don't have the pressure of trying to keep someone else happy), I start many projects but rarely finish any, I get too much mail and don't know what to do with it, and even though I'm not a hoarder, I purge much too infrequently. The little cleaning that gets done is usually when company comes, but I'm so far behind that I end up throwing stuff in my back bedroom and closing the door (and warning visitors, "don't go in that room!").

/confession

I'm trying to do better, though. I've invited people to my b-day party in 2.5 weeks, and having that deadline will help. My goal is to become more of daily and less of a binge cleaner thereafter.

posted by taritac on February 24th 2009 at 5:07pm
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Binge cleaner here! But I'm getting so tired of spending so much time cleaning on my day off! I really want to get in the habit of spreading out my duties so I can play more on the weekends.

your post just inspired me to get off the internets now and go clean something.

posted by Nicole_F on February 24th 2009 at 8:58pm
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Daily Tidy-er here!! I love inviting people over without any extra work.

posted by asked you first on February 25th 2009 at 12:59pm
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The dishwasher gets emptied/filled every morning while I'm waiting for the coffee to brew, and I try to remember to change the sheets every Monday.

Other than that, it's binge. However, I've been working from home for the last few years, and since housework is one of the less guilt-provoking forms of procrastination, I tend to binge a lot more than I used to. If I'm really trying to avoid work, I can give the illusion of being a tidier.

posted by MollyNYC on February 27th 2009 at 12:09am
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Weekend binge cleaner! Sometimes every other weekend binge cleaner!

posted by So Haute on February 27th 2009 at 11:15pm
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