A Completely Regular Girl’s Guide To Keeping A Clean Apartment

I would consider myself a clean person. Not obsessively clean, but the kind of person who doesn’t leave dirty dishes in the sink for long. But even that doesn’t keep me from skipping certain household chores for… a little too long. I’ve always wondered how much other people clean their apartments and homes. When did they learn how often to do it? Did I miss the day in Home Economics where everyone learned how often to vacuum?

Well, here’s how often I, a somewhat lazy girl, actually clean my apartment.

1. Bathtub/Shower

I love baths. I take at least a few a week and because of that, I try to keep my bathtub regularly clean. Especially when I use bath bombs or oils, I notice that a line of residue appears around the rim. I would love to say that I clean it every week, but let’s be realistic — it’s closer to once a month. It’s just so annoying to climb into the tub with your rag and bottle of cleaner.

2.  Tidying

As for clearing counters and general mess, I’m actually an extremely tidy person. I don’t go to sleep with anything in the wrong room. I have little baskets across my apartment to collect odds and ends, and all the baskets get emptied as part of my nighttime routine. Cleaning things up like this allows my apartment to appear very orderly and makes other cleaning much easier because the clutter is out of the way.

3. Vacuum

I am very lucky to have an amazing vacuum that was a hand-me-down from my parents. I use this high tech, fancy vacuum as an excuse to clean my house much less often. Again, I wish I could say this is a weekly chore, but I’m lazy and I prefer sleeping in on Sundays. Once or twice a month seems like often enough for me. A few times a year, I clean out the vacuum filter and empty the canister.

4. Dishes

Now, this is where I’m a little obsessive. I do not let myself go to sleep without emptying my sink of dirty dishes. I used to be awful at this and would leave days and sometimes even a week of dishes in my sink, and I was getting so annoyed at myself that I finally implemented the rule. I always take 5 to 10 minutes after I brush my teeth and take my night medications to take care of my dishes, and I’m much happier. Give it a try if you’re like I used to be and leave dishes around for way too long.

5. Sheets and Towels Laundry

Here’s a confession: I don’t do laundry often enough. I know, I know! It’s important to keep your pillow cases and face cloths clean. Alas, laundry is so boring. I try to do my towels and sheets laundry every week, but realistically, I manage to do it every other week — which is a much better compromise than “never.” This includes towels that I use 3-4 times before throwing in the basket and my single set of sheets and pillowcases.

6. Countertops and Sinks

Let me tell you all a story: I used to work at a very nice coffee shop where we cleaned every single surface multiple times a day. And then I would come home to my awful apartment, look at the dried jam on the counter, and shrug it off. I got so sick of having a perfectly clean workplace and a dirty apartment that I finally told myself that I could use the same work energy to make my place look as neat and tidy as my workplace. So now, I wipe down all my counters, table tops, and sinks at least once a week, but often 2 or 3 times a week. Having everything look much cleaner and be more hygienic makes me very, very happy.

7. Refrigerator and Freezer

I definitely do not clean my fridge and freezer often enough. If there’s no visible spill or mess in my fridge, I could easily go months without cleaning it, which is so, so lazy. It only takes about 10 minutes to pull everything out and wipe it down, but it’s such an annoying chore that I put it off as long as I can. My New Year’s Resolution this year was to get better at doing the “annoying” chores around the house, though, so I would love to move this to at least once a month.

8. Toilet

Can I just say that the Clorox Toilet Wand saved my sanity? And no, this is not sponsored. But I used to hate cleaning my toilet. Using a toilet wand and spray bottle to fling toilet germs around my apartment? Not fun. But with the disposable wand tips which have cleaner already in them, you just wipe down the toilet and then pop it in the trash. No annoying toilet brush, no spray bottle, and no mess. I use these cleaners once every two weeks or whenever I notice stains in my toilet.

9. Dusting

This is a lazy girl confession: I have dusted exactly once in the past year of living in this apartment. I know, I know, it’s probably an awful thing for my allergies and for the appearance of my bookshelves and media stand. I don’t even know how I went that long just watching dust collect. And it probably wasn’t great for my allergies either. This year, my goal is to dust at least twice. Still lazy, but at least it’ll be better than last year.

*****

And that’s all! You can probably tell that one committed day for chores every two weeks is enough to take care of most things. I try to dedicate a couple of Sundays a month to just taking care of my home and that is enough for me. Along with dishes every day, I really don’t mind the way my apartment looks and feels, cleanliness-wise. How often do you clean? Are any of these confessions horrible truths? Am I missing something that I should be doing regularly? Lazy girls of the world, let me know!

Mandy Pura is a 22-year-old who holds two Bachelors in the Arts and has no idea what to do with them. She’s a health-conscious coffee-drinker by day, and a stripper by night. She likes to spend her time doing circus acrobatics, practicing mindfulness, and eating delicious vegan foods.

Image via Unsplash

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