Another nifty thing I found over at The 50s Housewife Project is an extensive weekly cleaning list. I altered the list to fit my needs, schedule, and family.
Weekly cleaning schedule:
•Monday: This day will be a kind of errand day. I will go do the grocery shopping, go to the post office or library. Anywhere else I need to go that week. After returning home and putting away the groceries I will have the rest of the day to do the mending or any sewing.
•Tuesday: Deep clean the bedrooms and bathrooms. Bed linens are laundered and the floors in the bedrooms are swept, windows in these rooms are washed, bathroom floors scrubbed, and bathroom fixtures shined, bath tubs and toilets are scrubbed and disinfected. Garbage pails are also scrubbed and disinfected.
•Wednesday: Do a deep cleaning of the kitchen, living room, and dining room. In the kitchen the appliances are thoroughly cleaned every week. That's the stove, refrigerator, and any small appliances like the toaster. Windows are washed in all these rooms and the floors are scrubbed spotless. Thorough dusting in each room and replace any fresh flowers in the home.
•Thursday: Wash clothes. Not everyone had an automatic washer so many 50's housewives still had to do this by hand. It was an all-day chore. (I will not be trading out my modern washing machine because I cannot afford to buy a washer just for this experiment. Also, I may have to wash 2 different days as 5 people acquire a lot of dirty clothes!)
•Friday: The day after wash day was always dedicated to ironing. I will iron everything, right down to underwear. Table linens and sheets will be ironed. This will be another all day chore. Let me say here that I HATE (despise, cannot stand, loathe) ironing. Matter-of-fact, I could count the number of times I’ve ironed in my adult life. I do it only when my husband or kids beg me to or I need to iron a hem for sewing. My philosophy has always been “if the dryer can’t get the wrinkles out, don’t wear it!”
•Saturday: Saturdays are for finishing up any loose ends from the week before and doing any preparations for my big Sunday dinner.
•Sunday: Usually this is a day of rest. The only tasks for the day will be a shorter version of the everyday chore list and to prepare a lavish Sunday dinner.
Wowzers! What have I gotten myself into with this project? At least I will have a sparkly, shiny, spotless house when this 2 weeks is up. (even if I'm utterly exhausted and frazzled beyond comprehension).
Hi I just want to say thank you for this list. When start to get overwhelmed this list brings me back down to earth. Knowing there is a way to keep it clean and make it last more than 24 hours. I get away from it but I keep coming back to it. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I would add is Sunday was not a day of rest for Moms the world over in the 50’s. Church was a staple in most people’s lives back then. Can you imagine getting 3-5 budding cherubs ready for Church ON TIME? Then coming home and seeing that their church clothes are put away properly and making a big family dinner all with a smile on your face. Ugh! In the 60’s and 70’s my mom did it for all five of us.
ReplyDeleteForget the high heels and pearls when cleaning. Where did the TV series people come up with that?
ReplyDelete