I have a roomba to get rid of 80% every day. I strive to manually vacuum once a week, because the roomba doesn’t do corners and some hard to reach bits. Nor can it do stairs, obviously. After vacuuming I run a steam mop over the floors, which is amazing and SO much faster than regular mopping, without any cleaning agents.

Since its a combination steam mop/hand thing, I also use it for the windows. That’s not on any schedule, just when I think they’re dirty.

I wetwipe the countertop after I make dinner, and I clean it with soap whenever it looks dirty enough to be worth the effort.

Honestly, things like wooden floors can be hand-scrubbed four or five times before being actually clean, but it feel that anything that’s stuck on there after running the steam mop is probably not coming off during normal use, so it qualifies as clean enough.

You’re never going to be sterile; good enough is good enough.

Keep an abundance of cleaning supplies. Soaps and rags in the kitchen and the bathroom. Think about investing in a vacuum and a carpet cleaning machine.

Some people find it easier to do one big push where they clean the whole house in one session; other folks like to do a little bit every day. Figure out which type you are.

Also, check and see what cleaners charge in your area. It might be worth it to have a pro come in and do the work for you. Figure out what your leisure time is worth to you and then compare.

It feels like it’s never actually clean.

Keeping things neat and tidy is literally an endless battle against entropy.

I mean, it’s not like I can get rid of the waterbugs in my eyelashes when I take a shower. Becoming truly “clean” would mean destroying all physical traces of, well, everything. We would have to be made of pure energy to be really “clean.”

I use a crosswave, and it’s disgustingly effective at cleaning floors. It’s basically a self cleaning Swifer wet jet.

I used it on floors that I mopped with a traditional mop twice right before, and the water was dark brown when I finished.

Do you just sweep with a broom? A good vacuum cleaner is a lot more thorough. And if you mopp right after there’s a better chance to get most of the dust.

The other question is where the dirt is ultimately coming from. Most notably rom outside via air movement and shoes, but also consider shedded hair and skin from humans & pets, lints from textiles and any hobbies/activities.

I like to avoid any “dust catcher” objects like carpets or rugs. In the end it’s a tradeoff between how clean you want it to be and how much time you’re willing to invest.

I pay someone to clean once a month. I hate cleaning and it’s worth the $200 to me.

I keep my sink clear of dishes and take out my own trash, but the rest is just stuff I don’t want to do.

I clean the kitchen pretty thoroughly once per week after meal prepping. By thoroughly I mean do the dishes, wipe down the stovetop and counters, clean the sink with dish soap and a sponge, then sweep and mop. During the week I try to clean up small spills and such as I go and load the dishwasher after meals.

For the bathroom, I usually do once per month. Clean the counter, mirror, toilet top to bottom, and shower top to bottom. Sweep and mop.

Living spaces and bedroom I sweep/mop/vacuum once per month and clean tables as needed.

I hardly dust or clean windows. I maybe do that a couple times per year or if it’s particularly filthy.

The general idea for me is to clean regularly and as needed so that nothing is really nasty at any given time. Anything else gets done roughly once per year or on move out.

Beyond that, there’s dusting, cleaning windows, sinks, countertops, bathrooms, and probably things I don’t even consider.

Of all the items you’ve listed, I personally rank floors as the most important to clean, followed by bathrooms, countertops, sinks, windows, and finally dusting. These are in order of which are used more frequently and how easily they’d be noticed. A dirty window (on the outside) is rarely dirty enough to outright block the sunlight, but grime on the floor will be tracked into other rooms, worsening the issue. Bathrooms are used daily, so would bother me if they’re not at least reasonably seemly.

For keep floor clean, the zeroth step is to prevent dirt and grime from coming in at the onset. A shoes-off policy in the home is probably the most substantial in this effort. That’s not to say you have to go barefoot – although I do think it’s quite nice – since indoor slippers or shoes are an option. The next step would be to rip out all wall-to-wall carpet. I have a full rant about the drawbacks of carpet, but it will suffice to say that carpet traps dust and dirt whereas hard surfaces like tile or laminate do not.

After that, you may need to identify what exactly is dirtying your floors. If it’s loose particulate (eg food crumbs), that’s going to need a different solution than if it’s loose hairs, which is different than dust or clothes threads. Crumbs or hair might suggest localized sweeping in the kitchen or bathroom will be most effective, while dust or threads suggest you need to adjust your clothes dryer settings, or your central air system needs a new/different filter.

The thing to keep in mind with all this is that grime does not come from nowhere: there is always a source, and the evidence will lead you to what’s most effective to keep your home maintained.

I have 2 kids under 3…

laughs maniacally

Keeping your house clean is a good thing to do. But it’s easy to stray into obsession territory. There lies madness.

Remember we all have far more visitor microbes in our bodies than our own host cells. Life is dirty. Life is germy. Embrace this.

You don’t need to live in a hoarder hell hole, but the sooner you accept that living is a messy business the more time you’ll have to enjoy actually living. Cleaning tasks should be quick and efficient, not sterilization.

I can’t believe no one has said this… Don’t wear shoes inside the house.

This will dramatically reduce the griminess of your floors.

Its a big commitment. You’ll prioritise shoes you can just slide your feet into, or at least out of. I still have nice boots and stuff but wear them less often.