Household chores: favorites, least favorites?

April

We are fortunate to have cleaners who come once a week and do most of the hard stuff, but there are certain tasks I don't ask them to do.

My favorites are:

Vacuuming (cleaners do this for us but we have a small dog who drags in lots of schmutz in his fluff)
Starting the laundry (something's getting clean yet you're sitting around reading a book!)
Ironing super-easy things like cloth napkins; anything trickier and I am both unhappy and unskilled
Stocking the cupboards

My least favorites are:

Folding the laundry and putting it away
Cleaning oven racks

One that I dread but that is extremely rewarding: cleaning the inside of the refrigerator. All those condiments. All the sticky drips of whatever now dried on like Gorilla Glue. The insides of the produce drawers with their mysterious detritus.

How about you?

2 years ago

Off Topic

44 replies

Latest reply was from

Sisi

Veteran

Haha, funny topic April.

Least favorite:
- sweeping the floor
- vacuuming

Favorites:
- ironing
- cleaning a super messy kitchen.

Doing the laundry of course is pleasant. The machine works for you!

2 years ago

Indigoprint

Veteran

I like hanging laundry on the line and do it as often as weather permits sometimes my clothes have frozen!
I do not mind vacuuming but I do not like listening when someone else does it.
Although I want a clean bathroom I hate doing it. Stems from my childhood as that was my chore and my mom would plant dirt to check and see if I was cleaning properly.

2 years ago

April

Veteran

OMG, IP, that's brutal! Remember the mother in Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind-Family books? She would hide 10 buttons in the parlor and the daughters weren't done dusting until they found all ten. Sort of a fun game, sort of a time-wasting hostage situation.

2 years ago

SarahD8

Veteran

Most favorite:
Organizing / reorganizing / editing (what would normally be called "decluttering" but I am trying to move away from that word) literally anything.
Batch cooking, figuring out how to use up odds & ends in the fridge/pantry, etc.

Least favorite:
Cleaning the bathroom, especially the shower
Putting the duvet covers back on

More broadly, basically I love tidying but dislike actual cleaning lol.

Oh and I ADORED the All-of-a-Kind-Family books when I was a kid. I had forgotten about the button game. Remember Henny staining Ella's dress that she wore to a party and then dyeing it with tea?

2 years ago

Jules

Veteran

I consider hanging laundry on an outside line to be a zen activity! But we had to take our line down to make way for a play set and never put it back up. My neighbour does it for certain items even in winter temps, as long as there’s wind and sun…

2 years ago

Cardiff girl

Veteran

I don’t mind ironing,l find it quite meditative but l would happily let someone else do the house work.l prefer the garden!

2 years ago

Indigoprint

Veteran

Just came in from hanging up laundry its sunny and 27 but needed my boots to get to the clothes line!
Loved All of a Kind... when I read it to my daughter...somehow I did not intrepret my childhood experience as a game. I think I recollect me saying something along the lines " well if you are not happy with my efforts you could do it yourself".....I do not particularily remember but that did not go over very well.

2 years ago

LJP

Veteran

Emptying the dishwasher is the most annoying job in the house , as far as I’m concerned . Especially when the kitchen is a mess and there are dirty dishes to be dealt with . I also don’t care for vacuuming which could be a twice - daily job in our house , with two white cats who shed more fluff and hair than I’ve ever witnessed in an animal . It’s never ending and not terribly gratifying .
The vacuuming , that is ;).

I do enjoying reorganizing and tidying and rearranging furniture . I also actually enjoy cleaning the bathroom - can’t explain it .

2 years ago

Minaminu

Veteran

lol April, this is a fun survey!

Favourites:
* hoovering and cleaning the floors
* cleaning and reorganising the kitchen
* Laundry and ironing

Least:
* window cleaning, but only the external part as they are difficult to clean due to their opening and height of the building. Plus, it's raining a bit too often here!

2 years ago

Synne

Veteran

Dishes ranks as no1, simply because getting them done has the biggest impact on how clean my house looks. Another favorite is decluttering! Getting things out of the house (into the trunk of my car....).

I am not familiar enough with deep cleaning to rank favourites or least favorites. I never seem to get past surface cleaning, before it has piled up again. *Sob*.

2 years ago

Irina

Veteran

Favorites:
1. caring for clothes: washing, ironing, small mending, organizing
2. window washing - I do it as often as I can and when weather permits. Can’t stand dirty glass

Least:
1. Washing floors
2. Cleaning oven
3. Vacuuming but fortunately I have a person who does it in our house - my DH

Cooking is 50/50. I do it daily and sometimes I need a break. We buy takeouts or eat out often on weekends.

2 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

COOKING is my favourite. I can cook all day....

I don't mind cleaning, actually!

2 years ago

Bonnie

Veteran

Favorite: Tidying up
Least Favorite: Dusting (so boring)

2 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Favourites

Laundry of all stages from washing to hanging out to folding to ironing etc
Grocery shopping
Cooking (80% of the time)

Least favourite

Ongoing cleaning

Okay

Spring cleaning

Some cleaning tasks are relentless and I dislike them..... eg cleaning the cook top, making the bed....

2 years ago

April

Veteran

YES - Henny spoiling Ella's dress then dyeing it w/tea!

The info I gleaned from that chapter rescued us when DS was here during covid lockdown and trying to complete his last semester of art school. He had to create a garment and dye it without going shopping so we used teabags.

His professor asked right away: "Did you do this with tea?"

2 years ago

April

Veteran

IP, my mother preferred to do housework alone (to get time away from all of us) but then when she did assign a job, would yell that it hadn't been done correctly, though we'd never been taught what "correctly" was.

I remember being quite snarky about it. She told me once to clean up after dinner and after I loaded the dishwasher, I thought I was finished. She thought otherwise and after listening to the tirade, I said, "YOU'RE WELCOME for loading the dishwasher."

Yikes. Amazing that I survived adolescence, given my tendency to mouth off and her tendency to hit.

2 years ago

Runcarla

Veteran

I haven’t been on the computer most of today because I started spring cleaning! Emptied all the kitchen cupboards and wiped them down, etc. and ended with washing the kitchen floor. The cleaning was extended to the family room and kitchen dining nook. The oven will get done overnight on Tuesday and wiped out on Wednesday (sort of self cleaning but I still have to wipe out the ashes.).

I actually like the ‘zone’ I get into when I clean or do home-making activities.

My favourites are anything involving a bucket of soapy water and washcloths (I wear rubber gloves), and sweeping. (I had a fit when DH threw out my special broom used for sweeping sidewalks and patios - even if it was held together with duct tape!). My least favourite is vacuuming (hate the noise). DH does the vacuuming, folds the laundry (I manage the washing/drying/hanging up to dry), and all the ironing. He also does the windows (we have A LOT) inside and out, lawn mowing, snow shovelling, and anything involving the BBQ.

Provisioning is another matter. DH and I shop together now that we are retired. I do the cooking (BBQ the exception). I love baking.

2 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

So, I don't consider cooking a household chore. I like it! I especially enjoy concocting delicious things from scraps of this and that in pantry and fridge. (High five, Sarah DB!) I dislike kitchen waste so get a huge sense of satisfaction from this.

Gardening is also (mostly) pleasure. Depends on the job and how pressed for time I am with other things. But I can easily get into a zone when I am out with the plants.

Like Sarah DB (high five, again, Sarah!) I also like all manner of organizing, arranging, sorting, etc. Tidying, I guess.

I get satisfaction from most household chores (or at least, from having done them, LOL) but I do not look forward to vacuuming, washing the floors, or especially, cleaning the oven.

Because Mr. Suz is retired and enjoys housework (yes!) he does a lot of the indoor jobs, or does them more often than I do. But I do most of the outdoor jobs (garden, shovelling, etc.) It is a role reversal!

We each do one bathroom. I vacuum downstairs, he does the upstairs. I deal with the cat's box. He usually does the windows (though we do share that, too.) He does the laundry because he loves that job. We each do our own ironing. I do the filing/ organizing of papers.

We share the cooking, though at the moment he takes charge of it more often and I tend to be sous chef. But we also divide it by type -- he does the BBQ and I do the InstantPot.

2 years ago

LJP

Veteran

Oh Carla - the special broom ! I had one of those too that I used to sweep the outdoor sidewalks and patios as well as the front and back steps . It was 30 years old , broken , taped together and the bristles were frayed and bent . But it was my favourite broom. When we moved 4 years ago , it mysteriously disappeared. I think my husband was to blame . I’ve never forgotten that and am quite sad about my ratty beloved broom being gone from my life .

2 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Omigosh! The dyeing of the dress with tea! That was just lovely brilliant. But I don’t remember the buttons…

Favourite: Washing dishes by hand. I find that meditative.

Least: Vacuuming. Have to move heavy furniture to do it. I got rid of the whole rug under the bed business because of that and just have runners, lol

Oh and hate taking out the trash. Like 80 steps down to the street. Masses of junk mail to recycle. And terrible neighbours who will put their dog poop in the compost if the bins are moved down the drive before dark. The bins are heavy empty too; rolling them down the hill is dangerous. When I’m really old, I’m gonna just let the neighbours poison the compost.

2 years ago

Olive Green

Veteran

I had a cleaning business getting through school, and everyone hated baseboards with a passion. I’d volunteer for the bathrooms, as generally you can just hose them down and the materials are so practical, just wipe off. Return towels, and wallah!
In my head I design clutter free houses that can be hosed down in every room. Dusting sucks.
I love arranging and organizing things. I love yard work as it looks so loved after a good mow and trim.

2 years ago

April

Veteran

Another devotee of the right outdoor broom here! It matters.

RC, I'm impressed and inspired that you do a real, old-fashioned spring cleaning. I never saw anyone do that (the Laura Ingalls Wilder books don't count) until we moved to Pittsburgh when I was 12. Those ladies took spring cleaning seriously and the kids dreaded it all year.

I think their beliefs about what was required (washing every indoor wall? scouring all the outdoor stairs and sidewalks?) came from the days when Pittsburgh had such terrible air quality that you couldn't hang laundry outside to dry or it would turn black from factory smoke.

2 years ago

RobinF

Veteran

Ugh, I really hate cleaning but I really like it when it's all clean so....

I don't mind organizing and cleaning out closets and drawers - wouldn't say like exactly, but it's a satisfying project. I do enjoy baking, does that count as a chore?

My MIL had nine children and used kitchen clean up time as her peaceful hour, rather than have the kids do it - crazy!

2 years ago

The Cat

Veteran

I am nodding in agreement with several of you.

Favourites:
- Cooking
- Changing bathroom towels and
refilling toilet paper, soap, etc.
- Emptying the dishwasher
- Starting the laundry
- Folding the laundry and putting it
away
- Ironing tea towels etc.
- Vacuuming

Least favourites:
- Cleaning oven racks
- Cleaning the shower
- Ironing large items
- Sweeping the floor and having to remove a variety of floor stains
- Taking down curtains and, in particular, hanging them again after laundry

2 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Favorite cleaning tasks:
- decluttering/organizing
- laundry (I'm a control freak and don't want anyone else doing my laundry, plus I find it a very satisfying task to complete!)

Least favorite:
- cleaning the bathroom, but it's better now that it's only for the two of us. Nothing worse than cleaning the bathroom that two young boys have been using.
- washing windows -- it's satisfying to have it finished, but we have a LOT of windows in this house and some of them are hard to access on the outside. I always find it difficult to get rid of all the streaks.

I didn't used to like cooking because I had zero confidence in my ability in that department. I did like baking though. I've come to enjoy it because I've learned techniques and approaches, and I've gained confidence. I never thought I'd feel this way, but I cannot WAIT to cook again! It's been five months since we had a real kitchen.

OK, the favorite broom reminded me of my mom's gardening shoes. Way back, probably 16+ years ago, when she had her first TIA (mini stroke), while she was in the hospital, my sister and I did some work to make her house more navigable for an aging single person. Part of this involved some basement cleanup. In the process we found a pair of ratty old shoes with the toes busted out and couldn't imagine our very particular, neat mother wearing them, so out they went.

Months later, when gardening season started, she called us to ask if we'd seen her gardening shoes, and we realized our mistake. She was so sad about those darn worn-out shoes, and my sister and I feel bad about it to this day!

2 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Oh, and even though it's not my favorite, I'll take the loading/emptying the dishwasher task every time because my husband just stuffs everything in there willy-nilly and it makes me cringe. I've tried to explain to him how things don't get clean and glasses get broken, etc., but to little avail.

2 years ago

Runcarla

Veteran

Every time I clean kitchen cupboards, I have flashbacks of jr. high home economics class! Cleaning the cupboards was the first lesson, before we got to cook!

2 years ago

April

Veteran

RC, I guarantee you that my mother has never done the sort of cupboard-cleaning you describe, despite being in high school in the 1950s. Her own mother was "a terrible housekeeper" (not my phrase).

Now, my father's mother was from a German farming family of 5 daughters, and she never got to do anything except clean. Her summation of my mother and my mother's sister: "These girls have no training." Ouch.

2 years ago

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