... I'm guilty of this, and I thought I was the only one. Not every time, but SOME times, when I'm feeling down, but know the house needs some love, I dress a little nicer, do my hair and makeup, and put on red lipstick. Sometimes I wear nice shoes.

Its a motivator, I swear to god. I feel good, and so I go about doing my tasks with a better attitude.

this is very timely, as I just varnished the doors in my hallway wearing a pair of new velvet pants, and received a ration of grief for it! thanks for validating :)

I'm the opposite...I clean in the nude. It's especially interesting for neighbors when I do the windows.

The only time I ever find myself dressed up to clean is when I'm on my way out and I notice something that requires my immediate attention. I'll post a cleaning outfit on my blog soon: www.cogey.blogspot.com

what?

This is funny! I never dress up for cleaning... I always wear old pants et a t-shirt.. without a bra. I have to admit it too, I like to clean nude. It's get so hot sometime, and I sweat a lot, I don't want to ruin nice clothes. What I like is to take a shower after and then, dress up!

Women.

I clean in my undies like a real man.

when i clean, i *CLEAN*.... it's heavy duty, and i get too sweaty to wear anything nice. usually no makeup either, because i hop in my (newly sparkling) shower immediately afterwards.

I always dress up to clean, not in fancy clothes but in cute boy shorts and camis that make me feel sexy. I always put on upbeat music as well, so it's like dancing and cleaning in cute girl-next-door outfits :)

.. I wear a little tiara.. a little sparkle for me as I make the house sparkle a bit more..

Funny, zzipper -- I actually BOUGHT a tiara just for that reason! But I never wear it, I just force myself to get up and begin in whatever I am already wearing, usually jeans or maybe "business casual" slacks and shirts. I have to trick myself into starting then force myself to finish. I hate cleaning!

No, this sounds totally crazy to me--how can you really clean if you're tottering around in heels and wearing clothes that you don't want to get dirty? But to each their own, I guess.

This post reminds me of the Beyonce video that came out yesterday...

http://vimeo.com/11465235

I don't think I ever truly dress down. As for intentionally dressing up to clean..to an extent I think I do - but i make sure its clothing that I dont mind getting a splash of bleach on - so no evening gowns no..but my nice capri's shorts - and a kewl top sure why not??

saer
http://cravenmaven.wordpress.com

I don't dress up...but I do love sipping a cocktail while cleaning.

Yeah....nope. I clean in the grossest clothes I have, usually because when I clean, I REALLY CLEAN. scrubbing, down on the floor grit in my face cleaning. Occasionally I will be all dressed up, waiting for friends to arrive or something and will be furiously tidying up and cleaning but I would much prefer to clean in everything but nice clothes. I mean, I only have so many of them and don't want them to get ruined!

example: once I was scrubbing the countertops (trying to get my grout back to white) before my parents came over, and leaned a bit too close to the counter. Ten minutes later a big chunk of my silk blouse was bleached. RUINED! It's just not worth it!

http://www.abbeycatchat.com

I second lesova. I clean for real. Which means I get pretty sweaty. Though I admit I'm a bit OCD when it comes to keeping the house clean so I may be unusual in this sense.

i clean house wearing my old, ratty nightgowns--then when they get really bad i make them my painting nightgowns

I like modernguy's method of cleaning

t-shirt, undies. Anything else gets in the way. Would never, ever dress up to clean.

Nope, I wear junky clothes. I inevitably splash SOMETHING on my clothes, whether it be greasy water from scrubbing the stove or bleach from the tub (it's very old and bleach is the only thing that even begins to make it look clean). Sacrificial clothing for me, every time.

This looks like another indicator of how seriously-to-the-point-absurdity that we [collectively] are taking the home fetish of this decade.

Cleaning Uniform: Drawstring pajama bottoms, T-Shirt, and flip flops.

this should probably be on PostSecret but... I have a very large, cubic zirconia ring. It has to be about 10 carats (and quite beautiful I must say) with some smaller stones on the sides. I call it my desperate housewives ring. I wear it when I have to do the dishes...which I don't like doing so I put on this ring and pretend my housekeeper just quit and I HAVE to do the dishes. For whatever absurd reason it makes it easier and a lot more fun to do the dishes. And yes I know exactly how gay this is!

I basically go for the hot car wash look, with an apron and bandanna. Skimpy clothes and good music make cleaning so much more fun.

Sometimes I clean after I get back from somewhere nice and don't bother to change. I do tend to have a better attitude about housekeeping when I'm in heels and a dress. It's less like work then.

tin college i bought a super cheap old wedding dress on ebay that i used to put on (in addition to putting on the "cinder-elly" work song the mice sing in the disney film version of cinderella) to clean the house in. the hem of that sucker was filthy by the end of my three years of living in the apartment.

I don't dress up, but I may try it the next time I feel like cleaning...there's a slinky red cocktail dress in the closet that may facilitate this. I do have a trick for getting the house clean if I've been slacking and letting things get a little on the messy side--if you don't do so normally, buy some flowers and display them prominently. Having fresh flowers in the house makes me feel like I need to make the place DESERVING of fresh flowers. Guilts me into cleaning.

I clean my house and bath my puppy in the nude.

I have thought about buying a cute spriingtime dress and some stilettos pumps to clean my house in, but it's a tough task to find cute red pumps in a man's size 10.5.

Maybe I need to try Nordstrom's Rack.

dustin wins!!!!

It depends on what I'm cleaning: just cleaning house, then I top whatever I'm wearing with the official housekeeping tiara (yes, it's the OFFICIAL housekeeping tiara), but if I'm scrubbing the bathtub, then it's definitely done au naturale. The tiara thing started when I was a kid and my mom used to make housework "fun" by pretending we were princesses who'd been kidnapped and forced to clean an ogre's castle (we had tea and cookies... I don't know why an ogre would have allowed that, but hey, it was The Land of Make Believe, right?). The nude bathtub cleaning is as a result of ruining one too many pairs of pants with those scrubbing bubbles...

My fried used to call me Peggy Bundy because I wore little heels even when I gardened. I have since acquired a flip flop fetish. Have them in all colors.

Heck, NO I don't dress up to clean! I get on my hands and knees, scrub, sweat, and gradually shed layers of ratty clothes until the house is sparkling and I am ready for a shower. The best part is getting myself clean and cozy to match. Those are the BEST days.

a Drag Queen once told me that the best way to learn to walk in heels was to wear them while vacuuming. Not that I needed to learn this skill set, but I thought it was amusing.

One time I wore my (brand new at the time) wellies to clean the bathtub, just so I could wear them.

I usually end up cleaning in my pajamas and gradually shedding as I go along. Somehow cleaning while clothed feels so restrictive. I don't want to get them wet!

A friend said I should invest in a lab coat.

My boss does something like this. When her great aunt passed away, she received this frou-frou wide brimmed red velvet hat with large black and red plumes and rhinestones. She figured she'd never have anywhere to wear it out as it was something from the turn of the century, so she blasts some old Charleston kinda music and wears it while vacuming the house. She says it brings her great joy and the right to be a little silly and makes vacuming, her least favourite chore, a heck of a lot of fun.

As an artist, I learned long ago that 1. wearing nice clothes when painting (translation for this post: cleaning) guaranteed you would get paint on them (bleach, dirt) and 2. I don't make enough money to be able to afford to get paint (etc) on my nice clothes. And for simplicity's sake, I clean the shower naked.

I'm also someone who works out in old grungy clothes, not new, look-at-me matching spandex outfits.

Wow. I'm genuinely shocked at how many people dress up and wear tiaras (?) to clean. Shocked.

I get dirty and sweaty when I clean and I don't have enough nice clothes to risk them. I mean, when I come home from work, I have a cleaning routine before I throw on something more comfortable, but when I'm cleaning with purpose, I need to wear grungies.

I am totally doing this tonight. Maybe not heels and a dress, but I feel like a little red lipstick might go a long way.

Fairydogmother--

And that's just the GUYS.

jeffred--

Walking in heels or vacuuming?

And risk ruining my nice clothes with bleach, sweat, grime, or other nastiness?

Not a chance.

Re: "And risk ruining my nice clothes with bleach, sweat, grime, or other nastiness?"

I ask myself that every time I get ready to go to the Eagle.

Well, notsomuch bleach.

I usually clean my shower in the nude or in undies. No point in getting my clothes wet. In fact, I usually stand barefoot in the shower while I clean and use the shower nozzle to spray down the walls. (I use eco-friendly products so I'm not worried about getting chemicals on my skin.) I like to wear a full skirt with pockets while cleaning so that I can move freely & have a place to put stuff that I find but I don't dress up.

I don't generally love the idea of stripping the color out of fabric I love with bleach splatters, or pit stains on nice dresses. Wiping down your kitchen counters in a dress is one thing, but when I'm on my knees scrubbing my bathtub or cleaning the oven, whatever I'm wearing needs to be something I'm okay with ruining.

i think i'm probably the exact opposite of this.

i clean on saturday mornings...my main motivation to get it all done as quickly and efficiently as possible, is to spring out of bed and get to it. i tell myself that i will NOT let myself shower or eat breakfast until it's completely done.

this has been a great way to motivate myself to keep moving and knock it all out. then i have the rest of the morning/afternoon to get cleaned/dressed up and enjoy the day.

this is a great idea and sounds like a lot of fun, but i don't feel like i would be able to motivate myself. if i got all dressed up, i would end up just heading downtown for a drink with friends than cleaning up =)

No one has mentioned the fabulous frilly apron yet! I wear a frilly apron (gathered bodice, full skirt with a ruffle at the hem and a big bow in back!) Since this has a pocket for the duster, a d-ring for hooking the spray cleaner on and two towel loops (one for a rag to scrub with, two for a microfiber to polish with), I'm well prepped for most household chores without needing a bucket of supplies. When I'm scrubbing the bathroom walls I add rubber gloves with an oilcloth ruffle--the ruffle keeps drips from running down my sleeves! I agree that a cleaning "outfit" makes the cleaning seem faster and easier...I love my cleaning apron!

Never tried it with a tiara, but I SO should!

I'm in the grungy clothes group but I'd wear a tiara on top of my bandanna if I had one. :-)

Never thought I'd want to watch men clean their homes but after reading all the comments it sounds very interesting...

I tend to do little cleaning chores when I get home from work, so I have been known to clean in slacks or skirts and heels. But for hardcore cleaning, I like to steal one of my boyfriend's undershirts.

um.. it's my kids' job to clean the house. I work six days a week. I don't know what they wear.

I clean in the nude. Once I've finished cleaning the house I then have a shower.

I love the idea of cleaning Freddie Mercury style though. Maybe I'll have to get myself a stick on moustache. :-)

This is one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. If I had to vacuum wearing high heels it would take like three times as long. And why would you put on a nice outfit when doing a sweaty, dirty task?

I'm wondering if all you dress-uppers would bitch if your partner put on his best suit to change oil on his bike?

Oh god no, that's the dumbest idea I ever heard.

Don't knock it until you've Swiffered in assless chaps and a Burger King crown.

modernguy--

Where do you live??

I have a special work dress that my boyfriend bartered for on my behalf. It's cute enough to wear to the store, and practical for gardening and handiwork (well, the latter I'm assuming– I have yet to do any, really).

See here: http://ourgoods.org/workdress

How bizarre. I'm guessing that the area in front of the mirror gets the best cleaning since this is clearly just a fantasy about being "FABULOUS!" and/or "quirky."

Maybe that's been my issue...if I dressed in my pearls and heels a la June Cleaver... maybe I'd enjoy my housecleaning a little more!

OK, I'm starting to feel like I'm in a parallel universe reading some of these comments. I'm not even sure how to respond--I'm kind of speechless!

That's not a critique, by the way. I don't know what it is. I'm just blown away.

I dress like a total scrub when i'm in my studio, cleaning the house, or digging in the garden. And then i lounge around in the afternoon eating bonbons, har har. But when my husband gets home i do a quick change into something cute and put on the lipstick and pretend to be just finishing the dishes or swiffering; works like a charm ;)

I love to wear light cotton vintage house dresses when I clean. I typically don't let the place get so messy that I'd really work up a sweat but I'll admit we have a roomba and other gadgets that make it pretty easy come cleaning day. Just vacuum the rugs, dust shelves and use my hand-held steam cleaner for just about everything else (counters, windows, stubborn floor spots, etc). I'm not the one who has to clean the toilets in our house though, can't say I would dress up for that.

I'm shocked no one has mentioned the obvious...

Hire a maid, wear what you want. Problem. Solved.

Have to admit to cleaning in the nude as well, painting too. Always finish up by scrubbing the shower then myself. Everything's clean and me too!

I feel much better about humans after reading these posts. Will all of you marry me for a day?

I put on an old white button-down shirt of my boyfriend's, cute undies, and socks a la Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Sunglasses optional. Blast some music and cleaning actually becomes fun.

"Does the mundane and dreaded task of cleaning become more fun when some lipstick and cute shoes are involved?"

Only if he's wearing them.
And cleaning.

where did all the comments go? this is the funniest post ever!

I'm with sst64 as well. Nothing better than a clean house and a clean me. But really prefer some hot guy to clean my house while I eat chocolate and drink wine on my sofa.

i wear my 'safe' (to get dirty/stained/bleached/etc) clothes to clean in but i did buy pink gloves a few months ago. :)