What Are Your Standards of Cleanliness?

elainebadknee

Hi There

I recently met up with an old mate used to hang about with ages ago on facebook and met him for a coffee last weekend.. We had a laugh and he took me to his house afterwards to show me where he lived..
I can honestly say Ive never seen anything to grubby for a long time...The living room had cobwebs and as he was showing me old records, beard of dust was on them, he didnt bother just kept flicking through them (choke)! I had to go to the loo and boy oh boy, it was pitted, the shower curtain was black, as was the grouting and wash-hand basin had a pool of slime where an old soap lay....The kitchen was also no better with old flooring coming to bits under your feet and smelly....
I know i live at home but even when i had my own place it was spotless...Is it just me am i being a snob but thats not acceptable is it....?This is a person who has a good job and has bought this house incidentally, its not rented...

Elainexx

mig

What's being rented got to do with it ? Mig

barbara12

Oh Elaine
Each to his own...I used to be so house proud...then I thought there are more important things in life....

stickywicket

Well said, Barbara!

Elaine, if yours is spotless and his is very grubby, I guess I fall somewhere between the two.

Before the RA really took hold I was much more into cleanliness than I am now. I remember actually taking a decision that, if it was a question of maintaining my current standards and making my husband’s life a misery (as he’d have had to do a lot of the jobs after work and at weekends) then a bit of dust and dirt were acceptable.

I also ended up with not only my own two young sons trailing mud into the house but also their friends. It appeared that the friends’ Mums liked clean houses so they weren’t allowed in theirs during the day in school holidays. (Only in a house with small boys do you end up having to wash the bar of soap before using it :roll: )

The family have all flown the nest now but also my joints have collectively got worse so nothing much has changed.

I would love to have a cleaner, tidier house than I do but sometimes the price is too high. Moderation in all things.

creakyowl

In response to mig. Might it be that many people might be more worried about messing up somewhere they were buying, or owned, than someone else's property?

As part of my job I visit some places you really shouldn't when as immunosuppressed as me. Occasionally I see homes you wouldn't believe!

I think the spectrum of how people live is quite wide! :shock:

Creaky

mig

Yes the spectrum is wide and varied ,but differentiating between owner or Tennant just doesn't seem politically correct,nor can you tar one or the other with the same brush.Mig

applerose

I used to spend a while on the cleaning and tidying but, now, I think there are more important things to do like gardening and spending time with loved ones. The house gets cleaned but not nearly as much I it used to.

I don't think you can say people who live permanently in rented properties are dirtier than people who buy their houses but I used to clean rented houses, for an estate agent, before the new tenants moved in. Some of them were a disgrace, thick with dirt and grease. I think they probably thought it was worth losing the deposit.

joanlawson

There's nowt wrong with a bit of muck, is there? I must say that cobwebs and a dirty loo would be taking things a bit too far for me, but I've always had a fairly relaxed attitude to housework. I gave up trying to keep everything tidy and spotless when my twins were small; it was an impossibility anyway. Now I do what's absolutely necessary, and no more. I usually find that people who have immaculately clean houses tend to be very boring characters in general. I never feel very relaxed or at ease in their houses, and they don't feel like proper homes to me. Give me a bit of dust and muck any time

mig

I think I will ignore this topic now it's getting far too contentious.Mig ps well said Joan

stickywicket

joanlawson wrote:

I usually find that people who have immaculately clean houses tend to be very boring characters in general. I never feel very relaxed or at ease in their houses,

My husband once walked straight through a plate glass door in one such house belonging to some friends. (The glass was so uniformally clean he didn't see it :roll:) and cut his leg quite badly. It has gone down in the family folklore that my first reaction was to bundle him into the downstairs shower crying "Don't bleed on the carpet!"

joanlawson

stickywicket wrote:

joanlawson wrote:

I usually find that people who have immaculately clean houses tend to be very boring characters in general. I never feel very relaxed or at ease in their houses,

My husband once walked straight through a plate glass door in one such house belonging to some friends. (The glass was so uniformally clean he didn't see it :roll:) and cut his leg quite badly. It has gone down in the family folklore that my first reaction was to bundle him into the downstairs shower crying "Don't bleed on the carpet!"

Poor man, but it proves my point that there's nowt wrong with a bit of muck, doesn't it?

My niece gave birth to her first child very suddenly and unexpectedly on her bathroom floor, with her husband having to act as midwife. She is very house-proud, and afterwards her husband joked that the only thing that bothered her was that she might spoil a new bathmat which she'd just bought :roll:

tkachev

I like my home clean and tidy but have had to cut back on a lot of housework and the whole house could do with a lick of paint.

I have to say dirty toilets do get to me!

Elizabeth

marrianne

I cant sit on most public toilets ,I kind of levitate not good for r/a at all ,At home g uess I am averagely clean ,but not very tidy .Marrianne

elainebadknee

Mig

Well ive lived in rented council accomodation and my brother has rented out his house also when he worked abraod....In my flat the communal area was minging, only me and the old man downstairs did the landing/stairs, everything else was left in the way for an obstacle course...My brother's house when he went back to it had mushrooms growing under the bath and they had been drying washing indoors, thus creating a lot of dampness which had to be treated....So in my expereince if its not your own you dont look at it as well and that is just my opinion....

Elainex

mig wrote:

What's being rented got to do with it ? Mig

elainebadknee

I take into account what people are saying about not being able to be as clean as they would like to due to health....Im not a neat freak myself, i have stuff lying around but nothing is as caked in dust or dirt as I saw in this house...Im quite sure it was a health hazard and if I had someone coming round id at least put bleach, the bog brush round the loo and give the sink a wipe round, dont take long!

Elainex

elainebadknee

I dont see it as tarring one or the other...It is well known if its not your own then some people just dont take as much care as another person would...This goes to the workplace as well, the communcal kitchen which can be a health hazard but would you leave your own kitchen like that? It was on Jeremy Vine the other week and im not alone...

Elainex

elainebadknee

I cant levitate, my knee wont let me im afraid! Another thing I dont like is those soft loo seats, they always feel warm n sweaty! URgh!

Elainex

marrianne wrote:

I cant sit on most public toilets ,I kind of levitate not good for r/a at all ,At home g uess I am averagely clean ,but not very tidy .Marrianne

elainebadknee

Applerose

You see id rather leave the rented property happy in the knowledge that id left it in a good state of cleanliness.....Rather than lose my desposit I would leave it in a good state, im not saying immaculate.....I think I am one of those people who does take pride in things and to me its a matter of respect to if its mine or not...

Elainex

applerose wrote:

I used to spend a while on the cleaning and tidying but, now, I think there are more important things to do like gardening and spending time with loved ones. The house gets cleaned but not nearly as much I it used to.

I don't think you can say people who live permanently in rented properties are dirtier than people who buy their houses but I used to clean rented houses, for an estate agent, before the new tenants moved in. Some of them were a disgrace, thick with dirt and grease. I think they probably thought it was worth losing the deposit.

jillyb1

Hubby and I live in rented council flat ; it's comfortable and clean ! Jillyb

lynnmick

i live in a rented council house, i must admit i like cleanliness and my house is always tidy, but i'm not a snob in anyway, i've had many a party and had has many as 50 people in my house at the same time, at the last party in June, and they always respect my house and my possessions and none of them ever feel as if they cant be themselves.

sorry i've just been waylaid by someone on the tv claiming he was abducted by aliens and had an anal probe LOL

lindalegs

I think it's a case of live and let live, we shouldn't judge others by our own standards because no one's right and no one's wrong. It's just that we're all different.

Luv,

tkachev

I think his untidy house would put me off to be honest. I'd be inclined to meet him for coffee but not go to the house although there is always the possibility he might change.

I've lived in council, rented and owned property and I have always had the same standards wherever I live. I think how you live as a child tends to follow you through life. Some people aren't taught the basics, others have had it all done for them and others don't see the point in dusting, cleaning the loo or putting out the rubbish. I've seen some dives in my time.

Elizabeth

elainebadknee

Lynn

Well you hit the nail on the head..Its all about respect and nothing at all with being a snob at all...Dont matter where you live it can still be hygenic....People have differeing standards but what I saw would make Kim n Aggie shreek!!...

Elainex

lynnmick wrote:

i live in a rented council house, i must admit i like cleanliness and my house is always tidy, but i'm not a snob in anyway, i've had many a party and had has many as 50 people in my house at the same time, at the last party in June, and they always respect my house and my possessions and none of them ever feel as if they cant be themselves.

sorry i've just been waylaid by someone on the tv claiming he was abducted by aliens and had an anal probe LOL

elainebadknee

Linda

I dont think I am judging, a bit of mess is fine and all but if youre taking someone back to your home you do make an effort...Be it small or not...I couldnt be dirty, I do my cleaning in spurts.....

Elainex

lindalegs wrote:

I think it's a case of live and let live, we shouldn't judge others by our own standards because no one's right and no one's wrong. It's just that we're all different.

Luv,

elainebadknee

Elizabeth

Yes i totally agree with you that it is how you are brought up wherever you live...I have lived in council rented and privately owned and it seems respect just doesnt seem about as much...I say this as i draw on my own exerpeinces such as:-

People leaving all their shoes (and i mean every pair they owned) in the communal landing stairs and i fell over them..
A security door left off the latch all night when it is secure for a reason (this was done on a constant basis in case people think it was just a one off).
Neighbour was a sports teacher and left all his equipment outside which is (dozen or so footballs in netting), cones for running, and three pushbikes on landing again of communal.
Dropping soiled nappies out of bedroom window and not putting them in the bin for hours.

I cant change my mind im afraid as its just me and had he come round to ours i wouldnt have left the place to rack and ruin weeks beforehand....I dont know if he has a reason for the way the house is, if he has problems i would happily help him get it in a state that is better but as he lives with a woman too i simply dont understand how two people can ignore it....

Elainex

tkachev wrote:

I think his untidy house would put me off to be honest. I'd be inclined to meet him for coffee but not go to the house although there is always the possibility he might change.

I've lived in council, rented and owned property and I have always had the same standards wherever I live. I think how you live as a child tends to follow you through life. Some people aren't taught the basics, others have had it all done for them and others don't see the point in dusting, cleaning the loo or putting out the rubbish. I've seen some dives in my time.

Elizabeth

robertls

Just hope your 'mate' doesn't read this forum........

Or I fear you will be one 'mate' less........

Rob x