Experts reveal what you should clean daily, weekly and monthly
<p>What's your cleaning personality? Do you tackle household chores on an as-needed basis, guided by nothing more than your own standards, or do you have a tried-and-true regimen for daily, weekly and monthly tasks?</p>
<p>A team of experts in all things domestic from the UK-based Good Housekeeping Institute (GHI) have come up with a checklist to help us keep our cleaning under control, according to a report in the <em>Daily Mail</em>. Adhering to this schedule promises to keep us living in a civilised and sanitary home, without having to spend hours in rubber gloves splashing bleach around the place once the mess has built up.</p>
<p>The GHI team identified certain tasks that should be done every day, not only to keep your place looking tidy but also to prevent the spread of germs. These jobs include washing the dishes, cleaning the toilet bowl, making the beds, putting clean clothes away and dirty clothes into the laundry basket.</p>
<p>Once a week, you need to look after the vacuuming and dusting, swap out the bath towels and give the bathroom a clean, including washing the toothbrush holder (have you ever looked inside your toothbrush holder? You'll be shocked).</p>
<p>The folks at the GHI would have us washing the windows once a month, along with vacuuming under the furniture, cleaning the blinds and washing (or shaking out) the doormat.</p>
<p>Vacuuming the mattress, dry cleaning duvets, wiping down the inside of the fridge and cleaning the oven can be tackled every three to six months, as needed said the GHI. Once-a-year jobs include clearing the gutters, having the chimney swept and wiping lightbulbs.</p>
<p>A GHI spokesperson told the <em>Daily Mail</em>, "Our cleaning experts are always being asked exactly how often we should clean things — from beds and curtains to hobs and toilets.</p>
<p>"Frankly, housework can feel like a never-ending task, and nobody wants to overdo it. So we created a guide for what to clean when."</p>
<p>Not everyone will agree with the schedule, as it seems to leave lifestyle unaccounted for.</p>
<p>Surely a single working woman doesn't need to clean the toilet every day, while a home with a golden retriever will need to vacuum far more frequently than once a week. At the same time, many families now rely on help from a weekly cleaner, and appliances like robotic vacuums are becoming more commonplace. Some of the more onerous household chores, including oven cleaning and window washing, can be outsourced to independent contractors as needed.</p>
<p>Research published by London-based retail analysts Mintel last year found that just one in three people have a set cleaning schedule. The rest – 62 per cent – say they clean when they have the time; and about four in ten – 42 per cent – say their aim is to do the job as quickly as humanly possible.</p>
<p>Brand and Household Analyst at Mintel, Richard Hopping told the <em>Daily Mail</em>, 'The average amount of time that Brits report spending cleaning their home each week has fallen by half an hour in recent years.' The research showed that the average time per week was down from 4 hours and 39 minutes in 2014 to 4 hours and 7 minutes in 2016.</p>
<p>Mr Hopping said, "The busy lives of today's consumers often get in the way of cleaning routines, which means that the majority clean when they have time rather than pre-planning in advance."</p>
<p>The report also showed that women were still doing the heavy lifting when it comes to household chores. The average cleaning time for a woman was put at 4 hours and 51 minutes - about 90 minutes longer each week than a man.</p>
<p>The Mintel study found cleaning the oven is the task people hate the most. Some 67 per cent of respondents rank it among their top three dislikes along with cleaning the toilet – 47 per cent - and windows – 41 per cent.</p>
<p><em>First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p>
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