Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Helpful Tips Housecleaning tips?

Hey guys/gals. I need help learning to keep my house cleaner. Any hints or tips are hugely appreciated. And I'm looking for mostly cheap/free ideas, not just stuff like "Buy a Roomba." I figure if we all chip in our favorite cripple-friendly cleaning tips we might be able to even put a book together? Like "Handicapped housekeeping" or something fun like that.

Thanks!
Bridge

I've got some tips for people who have bigger kids! I'm trying to think of good ones for people with little tots.

Here's one of my favourites for messy families: the Clutter Box

We had one the whole time the four kids in our house were growing up. They took it in turns to manage the clutter box. At the end of each day, shortly before bed time, the clutter box manager scooped up anything left lying around the primary living areas (not bedrooms or private areas) and put it in the clutter box - shoes, backpacks, papers etc. Everyone, including the parents (us) had to pay to retrieve our things - 25 cents per item. A good clutter box manager could earn quite a bit. Some of the kids were better at managing the clutter box than others and my eldest son was always broke because he was SO messy that he always had to pay a bunch to get his stuff out. My youngest son, being eight years younger than the eldest, had some trouble preventing the eldest from helping himself to his stuff and avoiding paying the youngest. So the youngest would neatly write out lists (great handwriting practice for a little kid) and if Nick didn't pay for his stuff that was on the list, I would deduct it from his allowance and pay it to the youngest!!!

Anyway, kept the living areas tidy for years using the clutter box. There were always a few things left in there that no one wanted to pay 25 cents to get back - pencils, pens, a sock etc. So we had an annual "amnesty" when you could recover anything left over in the clutter box for free and anything not recovered would go in the garbage.

I'll try and think of some of my other tricks and post them here. Let me know if you think the clutter box idea might be useful with your messy teens (or husbands!).

wendy's clutter box reminds me that i use baskets to organize just about everything, and not fancy expensive ones, but the cheap plastic ones found at the dollar store for instead cabinets, drawers, etc and prettier wood ones that i might get for free as a gift with something else in it for those that are out. that way i don't have to necessarily organize everything, but if it makes it to the proper basket, can organize it some other day when i'm more up to it.

wooden or tiled or linoleum floors are easier to keep clean than a carpet when i have a bird. can imagine the same might be true for other pets or even kids as well.

my mom always had us kids help out from the time we were young then take on more responsibility as we got older. i remember a game we used to play, think my mom started it, but remember my sister and me using it as healthy competition in our teens, "who can pick up the most". it made cleaning up fun, or at least as teens, made it fast and less painful. i know bailey is still very young, but if she has a low toy chest, could learn to put her stuff away, if she isn't already, if not now, then maybe soon, as i said, my mom found a way to make it fun for us.

my bed has just sheets and a down comforter, when its hot just the sheets, when really cold some soft throws as well, no tucking, no perfectly neat bed, with the down comforter, can just throw it on top and it hides the messier sheets and covers below pretty well. so much easier to "make" the bed this way when i just throw that comforter on top.

my husband has taught me that a little dust on things is ok. actually he thinks dusting is a waste of time, but i still think it needs to be done, just not nearly as often as i used to. can say that the less "knick knacks" the easier it is to dust. i used to use pledge and paper towels. now with less things out, i can just go over things with a lambs wool duster much faster.

shades are much lower maintenance than blinds or curtains and some rooms where privacy is less of an issue the windows are just left bare, partly cause they are pretty windows, one over the counter in the kitchen, the big bay window in the back sitting room.

laundry: i have not ironed since we moved to upstate NY, the ironing board is still in the barn where we put it when we first moved in. if it needs to be ironed then it doesn't belong in my wardrobe.

i guess a lot of my tips are just finding ways to make things more low maintenance.

Similar to Sue's laundry - if a kitchen item doesn't live through the dishwasher, it doesn't belong in my house either.

I have three kids but getting them to help most of the time is hard, one schizophrenic and one bipolar. I have found that it is easier to vaccumm the wood floors and the tiled ones in the kitchen and bathroom. I offer rewards for them like going to the pool or to play laser tag. I home school the oldest so I have a lot of space that has to be organized, once a week while he is doing an assessment I will go through my shelves. Keeping the kitchen table clean is one of the worst places in my house. As the kids get older it has become easier, when they were young I started them out with simple things. My AS got really bad about 2 years ago and i was glad that I had put in my "time" to teach them how I like things cleaned. I have to remind myself that they are kids and that I need patience.

Sometimes it helps to set a timer, for the little one, say 5 minutes. for older ones, 15. In that time, pick up as much clutter as possible. Have a box or basket for things that belong in another room. It's best to pick up newspapers, junk mail and stuff that goes in the trash first. It's amazing how much better a room can look after just 15 minutes.

One thing that really bothers me, especially when I am hurting, is to crawl out into the kitchen in the morning and look at a mess. I feel better if I put all the dishes in the dishwasher, wipe off the stove-top and counters and clean the sink. Then I toss the used dish towel and dishrag in the laundry and put out nice clean ones. I fix the coffee pot so that it is ready to go in the morning. This usually takes only a few minutes, but it makes a huge difference in the morning.

There is a website that I found a few years ago, www.flylady.com. She has a pretty easy to follow system that I would say becomes routine. I just wish I followed it a lot more than I do.

Thanks for this Im excited to look at it!

Lisa

It's neat that there is a link to SHE on this website! Many years ago, when my children were all at home, I was working full time (and some) and the house seemed to be an endless disaster, I came across their book called "Sidetracked Home Executives" - from PigPen to Palace - or something like that - can't remember the precise name. It was SO helpful.

I also love SHE system and Flylady. I used to have the box of 3x5 cards with jobs and it worked for a while, like everything. Now the only thing I do with Flylady is follow her monthly zones so I give each part of the house at least a little attention every month. This week I changed my sheets, dusted the ceiling fan and started to vacuum.