# Spring cleaning tips for the housework impaired **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595 "2008-03-17T00:11:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/21 "2008-03-17T14:50:57Z")
You can wash walls? Crazy talk! I need a week off work to clean my house the way it needs cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/22 "2008-03-17T14:51:59Z")
It is crazy! I must’ve had a moment. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/23 "2008-03-17T14:53:42Z")
A moment? More than one! Begone, wench! Clearly you’re not truly housework impaired. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/24 "2008-03-17T14:57:56Z")
Passover is late this year. Spring cleaning doesn’t happen until a week or so before Passover- you’ll just have to do it all over again then anyway, so why? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/25 "2008-03-17T14:58:14Z")
That was the only housework I did though! I don’t think I’ve ever dusted… ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/26 "2008-03-17T15:10:59Z")
[QUOTE=Flutterby] I don’t think I’ve ever dusted.. [/QUOTE] I dust on alternate returns of Halley’s Comet. For the record, I did dust in 1985. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/27 "2008-03-17T15:11:15Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] It’s all part of a conspiracy by the vacuum-cleaner-bag manufacturers. [/QUOTE] Indeed! I can’t find bags for my old Regina upright. It’s my belief that the vacuum-cleaner-bag manufacturers are in league with the makers of vacuum cleaners. It’s an international cabal intended to force us to buy new vacuum cleaners when we can’t get bags for the old cleaners. (And as you so astutely pointed out, their performance when full sucks…which is to say, they don’t suck worth a darn.) But, I showed’em what’s what by going industrial - and you can still get filters for my 25-year-old shop vac! And it even cleans up some of the dirt that’s _under_ the carpet, by sucking it right through the nap. ---
**Author:** ![mmouse9799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mmouse9799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmouse9799)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/28 "2008-03-17T15:20:11Z")
:eek: The vacuum is supposed to pick stuff off of the floor? Really? :: goes to amazon to look for a new vacuum :: I’m truly cleaning impaired, but I like things clean, and I’m too poor to hire someone to do it for me. So, about once a month, I try to clean things. That was yesterday. I could theoretically clean the inside of my windows, but I can’t do the outside (I live in a basement apartment with _decorative_ iron bars.) so, why bother with it at all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mmouse9799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mmouse9799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmouse9799)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/29 "2008-03-17T15:22:54Z")
[QUOTE=3acresandatruck] Indeed! I can’t find bags for my old Regina upright. It’s my belief that the vacuum-cleaner-bag manufacturers are in league with the makers of vacuum cleaners. It’s an international cabal intended to force us to buy new vacuum cleaners when we can’t get bags for the old cleaners. (And as you so astutely pointed out, their performance when full sucks…which is to say, they don’t suck worth a darn.) But, I showed’em what’s what by going industrial - and you can still get filters for my 25-year-old shop vac! And it even cleans up some of the dirt that’s _under_ the carpet, by sucking it right through the nap. [/QUOTE] My great-grandmother used the same vacuum cleaner for about 50 years, insisting that they didn’t make vacuums as good as hers anymore. It cost her hundreds of dollars to repair it, but she kept having it repaired instead of getting a new one. She never had a problem finding bags. Sorry for the double post. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/30 "2008-03-17T18:54:03Z")
My roommate and I have been trying to convince ourselves to clean for months and have been failing at it. Now I have a date on Wednesday and I would like to be able to invite them up for a cup of coffee at the end of the evening so we have started setting a timer for 15 minutes and cleaning as much as we can for those 15 minutes every day. It has made a tremendous improvement. Though if my date doesn’t go well and I don’t have to worry about inviting them up again I’m sure it will be back to living like amateur hoarders very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/31 "2008-03-17T20:49:31Z")
Tip: Wait until the cat has barfed \*all \* of whatever-it-was before cleaning the floors. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/32 "2008-03-17T20:59:42Z")
I don’t believe in spring cleaning. I am, however, a firm believer in “clean up a bit (and declutter a lot) before you have visitors” even if the visitor is only the maintenance man coming to fix the toilet. Note: despite the involvement of the only toilet in my apartment in my most recent maintenance request, it was not an emergency and occurred unexpectely on Saturday. My toilet was still flushable, one just had to take the top off the tank to do so. Still, I removed more recyclables to the recycling bin (and trash to the trash bin) than I’d like to admit to, BEFORE I sent in the maintainence request. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/33 "2008-03-17T23:31:22Z")
[QUOTE=Eureka] I don’t believe in spring cleaning. I am, however, a firm believer in “clean up a bit (and declutter a lot) before you have visitors” even if the visitor is only the maintenance man coming to fix the toilet. [/QUOTE] For a visitor I would clean (just as well I rarely have any). Maintenance guys, not so much. I figure they’re probably going to make a mess anyway, so why not wait and clean after they leave? Instead I focus on putting away the stuff I’d just as soon the maintenance guys didn’t see. My underwear, the fungus medications, credit cards and cash (they’re nice guys, but why place temptation in their path?), the books about forensics, the books about explosives, the books about sex… ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/34 "2008-03-18T00:18:34Z")
Well, when I say I “clean” for the maintainence guys, I don’t really mean that I scrub the kitchen floor–though it needs it. I do mean I wash all the dishes, rather than leaving them piled high in the sink, and yes–the clean underwear all got put away. But mostly, I just got motivated to actually get stuff out of my apartment, and somewhat up off the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/35 "2008-03-18T00:42:02Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] **GomiBoy** , the only thing keeping me from having a housecleaner right now is that we can’t afford it. Once we have the money, look out! Some of us are born to clean, and some of us are born to wear house slippers so we can ignore the floors for months on end. [/QUOTE] So _that’s why_ the SO wears houseshoes & gave me some too! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/36 "2008-03-18T04:26:23Z")
[QUOTE=Pixilated] So _that’s why_ the SO wears houseshoes & gave me some too! [/QUOTE] 😃 My husband is in awe of my ability to ignore everything on the floors. In all fairness, I _do_ clean the kitchen and bathroom regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/37 "2008-03-18T04:29:32Z")
Screw spring. And screw housecleaning. Matter of fact, screw you, house, for getting dirty to begin with. And while I’m at it, screw you, too, eyeballs, for having to look at it. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595/38 "2008-03-18T05:20:55Z")
[QUOTE=pbbth] Now I have a date on Wednesday and I would like to be able to invite them up for a cup of coffee at the end of the evening (. . .) Though if my date doesn’t go well and I don’t have to worry about inviting them up again (. . .) [/QUOTE] And you’ll let us know how the group date goes, right? 😃 > [@DellieM](#): > > Failsafe tips for spring cleaning: > > 1. Walk to ATM machine and withdraw $350 We’ve started using a cleaning lady. It costs about $100 a time, but really worth it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spring-cleaning-tips-for-the-housework-impaired/441595.md?page=1)