"how long for scrub-the-bathroom style cleaning?"

I had the occasion yesterday to ask this question (to myself) when I had to pee at an all-female apartment. Do (some of) you guys, er gals, simply never lift the seat?

I try to perform at least a TP wipedown of the toilet, especially under the seat, every three days or so. Items strewn about is my natural state.

Generally once a week, but always before I'm expecting guest(s).

Clean?!?! I though you just moved when it got too bad!!!

Tidying:
Pretty much daily. I like things to be generally tidy before I go to bed. Note: this does not include stuff like piles of books, more like clothes, shoes, random plates or glasses.

Cleaning:
Kitchen gets the normal clean daily, dishes, counters and stove top wiped. Bathroom gets cleaned weekly (scrub floors, scrub bath, clean toilet, mirror and handbasin), floors swept twice weekly and mopped weekly, kitchen floor scrubbed weekly. That's the sort of normal stuff. Other things as needed. Rooms probably get deep cleaned only 3 or so times a year because we are lazy.

I'm a stickler for a clean toilet. It gets a wipedown after every (standing) use. I slack on cleaning the floors, though. That's usually every other weekend.

Re: the rest of the place, I have to sweep once a week because my cat is a hardcore shedder and the place just gets overrun with orange fur if I don't. I'm not so bad about stuff - I don't own a lot, so it's easy to keep tidy. My worst habit is paper: I have huge unruly piles of the stuff, especially old mail. I usually do a mass purge every few months.

Kitchen surfaces I spray down every few days, as most of the cooking I do involves just boiling water. Dishes are done daily.

The only time I really all-out clean is when people are coming over. By all-out I mean sweeping, mopping, polishing furniture, dusting, shining the mirrors, picking everything up and putting it away, fluffing the pillows kind of clean...the kind that makes the room glow.

The kitchen gets tidied every day (dishes washed, counters wiped down, floors either swept or mopped) but I only clean the inside of the fridge once or twice a year.

Bathroom - unless people are coming over, it's never truly all cleaned at once, but it's usually decent. More like...today I clean the toilet, tomorrow my husband will clean the tub...a couple of days from now I'll wash the bath mat and clean the mirror. Upkeep. That kind of thing. I really hate to make a day of cleaning and prefer to do it in dribs and drabs.

Dishes every day (or at least we try). Tidy up every weekend or so.

Deep-cleaning when we're expecting a lot of guests, or if we ever get into a hardcore cleaning mood (probably about once a month).

I clean the kitchen and the bathroom (10-20 minutes worth of washing and putting away each) every single goddamned day. I hate it, but I hate the mess worse. Even so, either room is hardly sparkling. I do the full-on scrub-down-every-surface and mop the floors only monthly. Sometimes, not even quite then. Next raise, I'm getting a cleaning lady.

I make the bed every morning. I scoop the cat boxes at least once a day and scrub them once a month. I weed through the piles of mail &c a couple times a month. I put away all the clean and dirty laundry weekly. Guy sweeps all the floors at least every other week and we take the anti-cat-fur brush to the area rugs (and upholstery) weekly.

I can't think of the last time I washed the windows or dusted, although I probably did the latter more recently than the former.

We got invited to a picnic at a friend's house a couple of years ago and it scarred me for life...filthiest place I've ever seen. It amazed me that they knew people were coming over, and not one of the 5 people living there cared to clean up. The kitchen would have been closed down by the board of health if it were part of a restaurant. The walls were streaked and caked with old food and splashes and stains, and every available surface was layered with a thin crust of old food and dust, and then piled with dirty dishes and pans. The floor hadn't been cleaned in years. There was a tin of cat food on the floor that had maggots in it.

And they invited 30 people over to eat. Killed me.

I try to keep my kitchen and bathroom clean most of the time. I do a daily cleanup of kitchen and wipe the bathroom down. I clean my fridge often. I'm kind of nuts about that. I vacuum my living area at least once a week. I clean my sliding glass three times a week. It seems I load the dishwasher twice a day.

My front door opens right up into my kitchen and there is a straight shot to my living room. I mainly keep these areas presentable. If I need to close my kid's door or my office I can.

I do slack on the dusting, especially in the bedrooms, which is kind of stupid because this is where we sleep. I will let folded laundry sit in laundry baskets. I stack things in unruly piles. I have a few baskets that I throw things into. There is neither rhyme nor reason. I often cannot find things. But, my house almost always looks "clean" because even though I have baskets and piles there's not many of them and I hardly have any clutter or knick-knacks.

I have a cleaning person come every two weeks. I just started this up again. It helps a lot. It's a luxury, but something we find is worth it. When we have cleaning people, things never get out of hand.

My kitchen is clean before I turn off its light at night.

The toilet gets scrubbed once a week, the bathtub less frequently. I know I should do it more, but it always feels like such a big project and... I'm lazy.

The living area and bedroom get picked up once a week; the office, not so much. Most of the office mess is my partner's, and I can't just be going in and throwing things away that I deem trash - even if it's a crumpled up piece of paper in a corner with other crumpled papers.

It's good to have people over, which we do about. . .twice a quarter? A little less? Seven/Eight Times a year. A must for dusting, etc.

I also stand by the every other year yard sale/purge.

Kitchen and bathroom are key - kitchen I can't let really go more than a day - or two in extenuating circumstances. Bathroom at least every two weeks fully cleaned. I'd like to say I vacuum and change sheets every two weeks, it's close to that. It should be more, it feels so good.

Also trash day. All trash is emptied, the cat box is changed, at least weekly.

What we fail at is putting laundry away. It gets washed, but, like, pre-staged to be put away, but then languishes. Also the managing of paper records, as rhapsodie says.

I'd say my househould is middle of the road in terms of cleanliness, but I also suspect that most people would say that. Just depends what road you are on.

Q: How long if things are strewn about?

A: 2-3 Days

Q: and how long for scrub-the-bathroom style cleaning?

A: ??? explain, please....

(Ok. Once every 6-8 weeks or so.)

Well, that should discourage any potential mecha visitors...

Kitchen: cleaned daily. Although there are currently some crumbs on the stovetop.

Bathrooms: they stay tidy, scrubbed weekly except for the tub & shower - we have one of those spray things that works really well that I use every other day.

Office/desky area: stays semi messy w/ paper piles & mail. I oust junk mail once a week, I try to daily but it piles up sometimes. And there's usually a to-be-shredded stack someplace on my desk.

I vacuum at least twice a week. We have 4 animals and us, and hardwoods, so the hair buildup makes me insane. It doesn't bother my partner much, but I really can't stand tumbleweeds all over the freaking place. The litter box gets cleaned out at least twice a day (we have 2, but 1 gets the lion's share of deposits), and scrubbed and litter changed out once a month.

Towels get changed weekly - sometimes more often for kitchen towels. Sheets every 2 weeks. Community water bowl gets refreshed twice a day and scrubbed once a weekish.

Dusting: not as much as we should. We live in a 100+ year old building that is incessant and unbelievable in its dust production.

Old magazines & newspapers accumulate in almost every room but the kitchen, & get compiled in one place and recycled about once a month.

I also cull books and donate to the library about twice a year.

I really, really hate to vacuum so I always put it off till the floors are crunchy. Bathroom gets scrubbed about every 7 - 10 days, wiped down more often. Tidying up depends on how busy I am/how bad it is. There was a great askMe thread on how long to use a towel, but I'm too lazy to find it. Towels get used at least 2x. The kitchen is kept pretty clean; I usually do dishes while the coffee is dripping. The dog doesn't do his share of dishes, a point of contention.

Apartment gets a full dusting down, vacuum and mopping once a week. The wooden floors get a light wax every 2 weeks. In summer I vacuum more often because we have all the windows open.

Dishes are usually dine after every meal - although when I'm hear by myself I leave my breakfast dishes until lunchtime and do those together. I clean the kitchen as I cook.

Toilet is cleaned just about every day. Bathroom gets a scrubbing every week. We have a "unit bath" which is a typical Japanese set up so I usually scrub it before I shower. It's rainy season now though so I have to do extra mold fighting.

Both balconies have to be hosed down regularly because of the damn pigeons. I usually wash the windows at the same time.

Every week I choose a room to give extra attention to. I move the furniture and make sure the floor is clean underneath. Wash the curtains. Wipe down walls and mop ceiling. Polish both the light fittings and all the switches. This way all those little jobs that build up are done on a regular basis with no extra stress and panic.

I work pretty fast so it takes no more than 3 hours. Sometimes I even split the tasks up over a few days.

I managed to keep this up even when I was 9 months pregnant (apart from the furniture moving) so I find it hard to understand that people can just let things go. I've also always worked full time as well. I like having a place people can walk into at any time without needing to do a pre-visitor panic clean. I admit though that I'm fascinated by people who can't and am addicted to watching How Clean Is Your House (Kim & Aggie rock!)

Cleaning people come every two weeks. Chores are done once a week.

Don't know yet. I'll let you know when it gets done the first time.

Wow, you guys make me feel like a total slob. I straighten up maybe once a week. Bathroom cleaned (not counting tub and floors) about every two weeks. Kitchen (again not counting floors or stove/fridge/etc) every couple days.

Right now our house is Disgusting, especially the floors. It's been at least a month since the kitchen floor was mopped or even swiffered. The rest of the floors have tumbleweeds made out of pet hair along the baseboard. It's really been bothering me so I'm sure it will get done this weekend if not sooner. I was out of town for a week and then sick for 10 days upon my return so there are extenuating circumstances.

I used to be better about cleaning. I actually hate it when things are messy/dirty. But my fiancé isn't much for housekeeping and over the years I've learned there's no changing that. So rather than 1. nag and bitch and moan at him constantly or 2. do all the work myself and feel resentful and angry at him, I guess I've relaxed my standards a bit.

I have been known to invite friends over just to get our asses in gear to clean the house.

Towels get used until they stink (not counting guest towels, of course). We just bought two new sets of sheets so I'm hoping the sheets will be changed more frequently than before. Again, I'm the only one that does the towels/sheets type laundry (we still each do our own clothes) so it doesn't get done as often as I'd like.

Kitchen gets cleaned every day - dishes, wipe down the counters and stove top, that kind of thing.

The entire apartment gets vacuumed every day, or every two days. My cat not only sheds, but tracks litter absolutely EVERYWHERE.

Bathrooms get cleaned every weekend, but it's not a really deep cleaning--more like quickly sanitizing surfaces, wiping off the mirror, that kind of thing.

Piles of clutter are not allowed to accumulate too much, and whatever does accumulate during the week gets cleaned up on the weekend.

Big cleanings are reserved for when people are coming over. Luckily we have people over every one or two weekends, so it works out well. Before people come over I do things like polish the floors, fluff the couch pillows, dust all of the surfaces, etc.

Changing sheets and towels aren't really on a strict schedule. I do laundry at least once every one or two weeks, so there are always clean towels and sheets to switch to. Whenever I decide my bath towel is a little grungy, I just throw it in the laundry and grab a clean one. I probably change the hand towels and kitchen towels about once a week.

Oh, and about the toilet seat issue. I never used to think about that. I'd clean it whenever I was cleaning the bathroom, of course, but probably not as often as I should. There were times that I'd lift it up to clean it, and think to myself, how is it that my husband (or boyfriend, at the time) has been looking at this every day and not decided to clean it? Laziness, I guess. Anyhow, now that I've realized how quickly it gets gross, I clean it more often.