A friend was staying with me the other day and we got into an interesting conversation about cleaning (yes, I realize that sounds like an oxymoron) and I thought I would share a bit of it here. It started out with her commenting on my Mrs. Meyers Lemon Verbena dish soap and how good it smelled. I showed her my stash of cleaning products- all the same brand and scent and explained, I like a tidy apartment, but I have a tough time motivating myself to actually clean it.
The eco friendly products in a fresh scent help because I know not only will I not be inhaling noxious fumes as I scrub down my tiny, poorly ventilated bathroom; once the job is done the entire place always smells amazing. I also crank up the music while I scrub the place down and make a run to the grocery store once it's finished to restock the fridge and pick up fresh flowers and wine… my little reward that, combined with the spotless environment, make the weekly scrub down feel like less of a chore.
My friend, who is newly married, also splurges a bit on her products. Her primary motivation, however, is that her amazing husband routinely does so many of the daily household chores and the deep cleaning is her way of pitching in.
What motivates you to clean? Leave your feedback in the comments below.
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Company.
What inspires me to do a deep cleaning is catching a glimpse of a Hoarders commercial or company coming. Otherwise I rotate cleaning tasks, so something gets done each day, and my weekends aren't consumed with a full house cleaning.
What makes cleaning pleasurable is buying my own basic cleaning products, and scenting them with essential oils (lemon verbena, lavender, bergamot are favorites) along with an iTunes playlist of favorite dance tunes.
1) guests coming; 2) inability to find something and 3) when I realize it's time -- or perhaps a wee bit overdue!
I pretend my mother is coming for a visit. Which is more than a little wierd because she died 27 years ago.
Knowing someone is coming over makes me clean. Sometimes looking around and thinking "what would a stranger think upon walking through the door" will get me cleaning even if no guests are expected.
I rotate duties during the week. Laundry one day, kitchen and bath another. But by far my best purchase has been a Roomba. I see one bit of dust, and I push the button. Having immaculate floors is a great motivation to make the rest of the house match.
Hoarders the TV show.
I have a 'daily chore' list that includes dishes done, bathroom 'surface clean - sink, toilet', and one room swept and dusted. That plus a load of laundry every day or so keeps the place under control.
If you stay on top of picking up after yourself, it isn't hard - but there are days I just want to veg out. On those days, there may be rewards of wine or chocolate involved if I get the list done LOL.
Watching "Hoarders" and inviting people over.
to clean: losing stuff (for my bedroom mostly- the messiest room in the house), company coming (for the kitchen surfaces), for some reason I'm super anal about keeping my living room clean (no clutter, constant war against cat hair.) I think the ONLY thing that motivates me to clean my bathroom is wanting to take a bath instead of a shower occasionally.
while cleaning: rock & roll music! Loud!
my 18-month old... :)
Haha, "Hoarders" does make me want to clean too, but more so to get rid of things. Seeing all the nice apartments on Apartment Therapy makes me want to clean and have a nice looking apartment. But not having a so permanent place and just hand me down/second hand furniture disrupts all that.
the hoarders crew coming!
jk. I agree with the bath thing.. I can't "get clean" in a gross tub.
mostly though I get on spontaneous cleaning sprees because I get anxious with too much crap lying around.
The thing that inspires me most, sadly, is that I really dislike my apartment. The only thing that makes it somewhat bearable is if it's totally clean and organized; but this hardly ever happens.
Working outside of the home. As much as I often find myself wishing I worked from home, few things are better to me than coming home to a clean house. If I keep everything clean & tidy, home really feels like home, my space & a retreat from everywhere else. It's welcoming!
another Hoarders or company coming here!
Definitely watching Hoarders.
Lately, moving has been my inspiration for cleaning. That and I'd really like as much of my deposit back as I can get.
Definitely Hoarders and sadly, I just gross myself out to the point of having to clean. I'm also inspired by other people's pictures on this website and seeing their clean, cool, homes.
Knowing that we all feel a bit more relaxed when it is clean and tidy. And company, of course.
Because a dirty house makes me insane! The fact that there are people who get into an unmade bed every night horrifies me. I wouldn't be able to sleep.
Cat fur "tumbleweeds."
As weird as this sounds, making sure I get enough exercise during the week so I'm not at the point of malaise and being OK with a sink full of dishes or clothes strewn across the floor for "one more night". Keep me from any form of exercise and my house really starts to look like I need a visit from Hoarders...
wacthing hoarders or how clean is your house or extreme house make over... having vistors over... Having my mum over brings a whole different type cleaning!
Sundays have officially become my days to clean and I thoroughly enjoy them. For some reason it just puts me in a good mood and it's nice to start the week with a fresh start. I also think I'm a bid OCD and I agree with cakegirl, I could NEVER get into an unmade bed. My bf thought I was crazy but he's starting to become just as picky!
I'm a sadly messy person and when I lived in my horrifically falling apart old apartment I could easily let things go because it was *such* a crappy place I only let two friends see it before I moved out. Everyone else saw it only on the day I actually left, I hated it so much. However, one day while I was shaving my legs in the shower I slipped, stepped on the bottle of shampoo, and then slipped again. I came out of it with some serious bruises, but no lasting damage. However, I did then immediately clean the heck out of my apartment because I realised that if I'd broken my leg in the shower I would have been mortified for any would-be rescuers to see the full sink of dishes, piles of random laundry strewn about, and pretty much all the awful mess you can imagine.
So that's my motivator... fear and shame.
My allergies and asthma motivate me to clean so I can continue to have a cat. If I don't clean regularly I can't breathe. I also can't stand dirt and clutter.
I cant stand cleaning but the thought of living in a mess is enough of a motivator for me!
vitising AT regularly def helps me be motivated to clean. However, it was easier when my bf and I had one day off together. I had the other day of my weekend off to myself and could take over the house, blast the tunes and have the place spotless. Much harder to do when my bf is watching tv and all I want to do is vacuum. He does help out but I miss my full day of cleaning...as weird as that sounds. It felt so good to have the whole townhouse spic and span. Lately I have been really trying to not let the dishes pile up in the sink and keep laundry to a min. Combined with my previous new habit of making the bed I can stand some clutter.
I love the lines in the carpet/rug after I vacuum. It makes me feel like I'm in a hotel. Oh, and a just-made bed...makes me want to jump on the duvet and take a nap!
Cat allergies.
Oh, not ME, I'm not allergic to my cat.
She, in fact, is allergic to ME!! No I'm not kidding. Our vet says she has dust/human dander allergies.
So I have to dust and hepa-vac regularly. Crazy, no?
What motivates me to clean? When I'm supposed to be focused on something else.
Productive procrastination.
I love the idea of a daily chore list. I do an extensive cleaning every Saturday, basically picking up after myself for the week and it recently dawned on me, I wouldn't have to do this if I just picked up after myself each day! I think I will try the chore list and reward myself for following it.
hoarders!!!
Company, Can't find something, home improvement shows
Like others, 1) company (esp. my mil), 2) bathrooms have to be clean, otherwise I don't feel clean, and 3) here's a new one: ANTS. If our kitchen isn't spotless on a daily basis, the ants win. Consequently, I hate ants.
I can't think or rest in a messy house.
With 2 kids, there isn't enough time or energy for cleaning (tidying and cooking and kid activities eat up most of our hours at home), so we hire a cleaner to come once a week and get everything sparkling clean. Aaaaahhhhh...
Being at home while my husband is out for several hours, say golfing or having a "guys night." Left alone faced with nothing on TV, I'm inevitably going to find myself on a crazed cleaning spree.
Definitely Hoarders (it also makes my want to brush my teeth and scrub myself in the shower).
Sunset sky coming through the windows, cold beer and good music.
REDBULL! (lights a bright hot fire under my ass).
My favorite tv show or movie coming on makes me want to clean so that I can "reward" myself for cleaning by relaxing and watching tv guilt-free because I've done everything that needs to be done.
Having a nosy tattle-tale sister with her own house key.
Going out for the night. You never know who might be coming home with you.
Incense. When the house smells nice, I want it to look nice too.
Company.
One more thing....remembering how grateful and comfortable I felt in someone's clean home. It' really such a treat. Especially if someone gets to use a bathroom that is spotless and cleaner even more so than what they are used to at home.
Having people over! :)
mjs7640 - I love that you clean for your dead mother. That is both sweet and funny at the same time.
In the rare event someone is coming over, I clean. Or if I buy a new pillow or something...that always motivates me to clean up the room. Also, whenever we go to my mother in laws on Sundays, her house is so clean. It always forces me to clean up my house on Monday. :P
Ha... like a few others mentioned, my neurotic self forces me to clean! I am a total nut bucket if the house is out of order, I swear it even makes me less productive at work!!! That and we have a dog walker who comes every day, so it's soooortt of like company and motivates me to keep things at a good standard : )
1) Company. Especially my landlord!
2) Insomnia. If I can't sleep, there is a 100% chance I'm being physically productive.
3) It's Tuesday. Tuesday is the day I have off that my husband does not. So most of the day I try to get things done. That way, when we're both off, we don't have to spend the time cleaning.
4) Telling my husband to pick up his socks. He leaves them everywhere. Once that's done, it doesn't seem like such a daunting task!
I feel like we deserve a clean, quiet, peaceful space; both my husband and I have pretty stressful jobs and need to be able to retreat to a clean, calm, quiet home. So for me, cleaning is almost a sacred process of protecting our home for us.
I have a list of basics that absolutely MUST get done every day: the kitchen, the cat litter, water the garden in the summer, and sweep (a German Shepherd and two cats= lots of hair!).
Other than that, I try to clean for an hour a day, so it never feels overwhelming and I don't have to spend a while day cleaning. Id rather do other things on the weekend!
I get inspired by reading AT, the fact that my mom and dad are my landlords, fancy cleaning products, and the feeling of a nice, clean house :)
it's company for me for sure, if I can't get the desire to clean I throw a dinner party. That way I know I'll have a spotless house come Friday evening ;)
I live in Argentina and here it isn't rude to stop by someone's house without calling first so the constant fear of someone just dropping by unannounced motivates me.
I'm also on the Hoarders train. Today, I vacuumed the couches and the vacuum itself. It was worth it.
Dirt.
Something less desirable (like a uni essay, family phone call, client work...) that needs to be done... Cleaning is the ultimate task in the art or procrastination! Well... that and the knowledge that when it's finished, I can relax in a clean and lovely smelling home...
What products do u use?
I clean best when I'm really angry. I will scrub the crap out of that dirty pan or manhandle the dresser drawers till those clothes won't DARE leave themselves unfolded in a pile on the couch again.... Usually it's a show to get my husband motivated to do his share of the chores, and it works every time.
Company. Simple.
What kind of a question is that? Inspiration and cleaning - how weird is that!
I could not concentrate on this post beacuse of the ,picture with the idea of chalk paint as back splash is incrediable
http://statementpiece.blogspot.com/
mice!
A clean house leads to contentment with what one has materially, however humble. I love, love, love a neat and clean house. If my house is not clean, I go bonker-nuts. I can't deal with a dirty house, ugghh.
@kariwk - I agree so much with you. Everyone deserves a clean home.
First off, I love that kitchen! Second, I have the same dishsoap.
Third- hoarders. Everytime I watch it my house loses clutter and is spotless. When I'm cleaning and feel like taking a break, I watch hoarders on netflix to get myself going again.
I work hard for my humble apartment. I take pride in making it as nice as possible.
having the kind of room mate who cherishes her cleaning supplies enough to have a show and tell used to motivate me (actually my current room mate labeled the pantry goods)
Jokes aside, the fact that my room is not only my sanctuary, but my art studio motivates me. If I can't be at peace, be inspired and be productive, something's got to get cleaned!
I"But by far my best purchase has been a Roomba. I see one bit of dust, and I push the button. Having immaculate floors is a great motivation to make the rest of the house match."
posted by Village
YAY for the roomba, we have one too since easter and we lovelovelove it! the kids even gave him a name and mention him to any stranger who will listen :D
here he is: www.irobot.com
ah and no, I won't get money for this :D :D i just feel that everybody should know how to make their lifes easier! ;)
I was surprised at how many people say "Hoarders" motivates them. We thought we were the only ones!
1) Seeing a spider or spiderweb where the wall and ceiling meet. This leads to vacuuming both the ceilings and walls.
2) The anniversary of my moving in. I think the Landlord might show up at any moment.
3)Hoarders. I don't even watch the show, but wow those commercials are scary! I've donated four car loads of stuff to the thrift store so far this year. I downsized from an apt 4 times larger and psychologically couldn't jetison the stuff during the innitial move.
4) The beautiful apartment photos on this website.