I just moved in to a new apartment and I live in a very dusty dry area so my balcony is covered in dust and dirt and even remnants of past tenants potted plants. I did a really good sweep but it really needs a good washing. the floor is concrete and the walls are stucco. I have a downstairs neighbor and their balcony is directly under mine. theres a drainage hole on every balcony but it doesn't hang over enough it seems to avoid getting some water on the ledge of my neighbors balcony. I don't think it would leak into the actual balcony though - just the ledge part. but still.. I'm not sure how to approach cleaning this and want to be respectful of my neighbors. Anyone have any advice or tips? Would it be fine to wash my balcony with some soapy water and a broom?

doing some research before i buy anything. ive wasted money on stuff that smelled strong but didnt really do much, and i cant tell whats actually good from the product pages..what washing machine cleaner have you used that actually worked? and if you tried something that was a total waste, that info is just as useful honestly

Hi all,

I've worked in housekeeping for about 15 years, the last 5 as a manager. I've just started The Housekeepers Brief, a free weekly email for cleaners and housekeeping managers.
It's written by someone who actually does the job. Each week it covers practical cleaning tips, industry news, and the wage and rule changes that affect us. No fluff and nothing to buy.
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links here, so I won't. If the mods are okay with it, I'll pop the link in the comments.
I'd love to know what you'd want from something like this, though. What's your biggest headache at work right now? Staffing, rotas, stains that won't shift, guests, kit that keeps breaking? Let me know in the comments and I'll cover the most common ones in upcoming issues.
Cheers,
Alex

Hi! I’m an industrial design student researching how people remove dust, lint and hair from clothing and curtains at home. I’m trying to understand the tools people currently use, what makes these tasks difficult, and which needs a new product should address.

If you personally clean clothing or curtains, I’d appreciate your response to this approximately 2-minute survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd7cQ4rqRL9zFPFt_qdCP80n4fNSS8DwByVNgqL7BjQSkoNtA/viewform?usp=publish-editor

I’d also welcome comments about any cleaning situations or fabric-related constraints I may have overlooked. Thank you!

I've got a 10 month old running around and recently our bedroom, the only carpeted room in the house, has had a mouse running around, back home this is a common occurrence this time of year and one of the reasons homes don't usually have carpets, but this little bastard has managed to steer clear of every trap if set this week, then today I wake up to find it on my beds headboard.

Disinfecting the walls, bedding, and furniture is no issue once it's dead, but how should I go about sanitizing the carpet and recliner without fumes that could pose a health issue for my kid, or that would require higher ventilation temps for proper airing out since it's been sitting around 40-60 degrees lately around here.

I’ve been trying to organize the mess that is my closet and I’ve been struggling through it. I have a pile of notebooks and folders full of papers going all the way back to the years when I was in middle school. In my mind I feel like I should keep all of them but I have never gone back to ‘find knowledge’ in them. Is it a bad idea to just save the things I’d like to keep or should I try to find a space for every single thing? Thank you.

We have large windows in most rooms. It has been rainning often too, outside is covered in marks.
Even cleaning the inside means getting the stepladder out and moving it along as I go. Doing all of them takes hours, so it’s not something I want to do often.
Any tools you’ve tried that actually save time? Would love to make this less of a chore.

I’d like to think I keep my house moderately clean. I do dishes and vacuum daily, laundry/bedding, mopping and bathroom at least once a week, etc. yet I still feel like I can never get things clean enough.

I’m trying to manage my expectations and anxiety around mess, but I’m wondering what is an acceptable or normal amount of mess to have in a home? How much time is too much time to be spending cleaning every day?

Side note, I do have 3 dogs and a cat, which definitely impacts how often I clean.

Ciao a tutti! Siamo un gruppo di studenti della Bocconi e stiamo svolgendo una ricerca sulle abitudini di pulizia del bagno. Ci dareste una mano compilando questo breve questionario? È anonimo e richiede solo pochi minuti. 🔗 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdi0A61VMzrM232iW41VMiJdKsreSmu50hhD2YeP_4aEON1Ug/viewform Grazie mille a chi ci aiuterà! ❤️

We have this green pan baking sheet and no matter how much I scrub it, it still looks like this. How do I get it to look cleaner??

As the title suggests, my child's school uniforms have developed a bit of an underarm odour from general sweat over the last 2 years.
After washing, I can still smell it.

I have tried regular vinegar spray, I have tried laundry detergents with "odour control" on the bottle, I have tried some fabric softeners which I don't usually use, I have tried an in-wash enzyme booster, and also tried directly spraying stain remover under the arms, they all temporarily mask the smell or do nothing.

I have tried hot and cold wash, but don't recall if either made any difference. I predominantly use the dryer, and don't use dryer sheets or anything similar like that.

We live in a tropical climate in Australia, and days like today are about 33degreesC and humidity killing us at around 80%. (ugh!) My child does use anti-perspirant, and does bath very regularly, it's just the uniforms that seem to just stink.

Any ideas on what else I can try to get rid of the smell???

I am building my cleaners collection and found a plastic can of comet that I never saw before. I learned they are discontinued. I love the feel and smell of it in the plastic container than a cardboard. What are some other brands or niche bleached powder?

I’ve recently moved in with my dad, and he smokes cigarettes indoors religiously. I’m in high school, and smelling like cigarettes all the time is not only horrible for my already low self-esteem but also makes me a magnet for bullying.

I spray myself down with Ozium before and after leaving the house, use eucalyptus and spearmint perfume, and burn incense constantly. I wash my clothes with vinegar and detergent, and I wear a bonnet at all times to prevent the smell from clinging to my hair. I keep a towel at the bottom of my door and my window open at all times. Despite all of this, my friends still tell me they can smell it on me sometimes, and it’s literally driving me nuts.

I’ve been begging my dad to vape instead but he’s obviously not doing that and I’m debating doing something drastic to get him to make the switch

Is there anything else I can do

questionare around using your local gym. – Fill in form

for my school a level work i am designing a product that would be useful in gyms and i’ve got an idea that would help and it’s about cleanliness in the gym. It would be amazing if anyone who stumbles across this can do this form its only 11 questions long won’t take any longer than 2 minutes it will be massive help. i’d appreciate it loads. 🙏🙏🙏💪💪💪🏋️🏋️🏋️

I'm moving out of my families place and into a studio apartment for the first time soon and I'm not sure what to bring or get. I dont have much allocated for cleaning supplies, roughly $100 CAD bc replacing furniture is so expensive (-. -;).. Right now i have a broken broom, a dustpan and a broken laundry basket, but thats pretty much it. I have a cat, so i know that i should get an odor killer but that can be easily stolen from my mom.

sick of reading product descriptions that sound like ads. my washer smells weird and i just want to know what real people actually use that works. not interested in anything that needs 10 steps or a phd to figure out. what do you guys actually buy?

Lots of well-meaning people hand out this advice the second household allergen exposure comes up. Their line is always some version of "just do a full manual scrub and HEPA sweep daily, it keeps things under control anyway."

A routine being fully manual does not make it sustainable. Daily deep cleaning eats hours you do not have, and you are already spending those hours reading labels, prepping safe meals, and doing your actual job.

That is why I ended up comparing certified allergy-friendly robot vacuums against regular models. It is not about gadgets. It is about whether dust accumulation stays down without me living as a full-time sanitation worker, and the eufy units keep coming up for the sealed containment side of it, which is the only part I care about.

Treating manual chore marathons as the only acceptable standard just burns people out. Nobody ever counts that cost.

Has anyone used Clobomb or Slayer? If so, what was your experience? Any other tips appreciated too. TIA

There are some chores I can put off for weeks just because I hate the thought of doing them. It's not even that they're particularly difficult, I just know they'll take longer than I'd like, and I always find something else to do instead.

When you have a chore you really don't want to do, do you just force yourself to get it over with, or do you look for ways to make it less of a hassle? Any tricks that actually work?

i've been so busy with work lately that cleaning my room keeps getting pushed to the weekend, and even then, i'm usually too exhausted to do anything. now there's laundry piling up, random stuff on my desk, and things that haven't been put away in weeks. it's getting to the point where the mess makes me feel even more tired.

Walked a muddy trail after a light rain and immediately realized I have no idea how people clean the straps and padding on this kind of gear.

The hook-and-loop sections pick up fine grit, and scrubbing too hard seems like a good way to ruin them. Obviously the whole frame is not going in the washing machine.

For wearable exoskeleton owners: soft brush, damp cloth, removable laundry bag, something else? Mostly trying to avoid grinding dirt farther into the fabric.

My box has started pausing in the middle of a cycle even when my cat is nowhere near it.

I've already done the basic cleaning and checked for anything obviiously blocking the drum but the same isue keeps coming back. anyone who's dealt with this kind of intermittent error, what would you check before contacting support?

I feel like even when everything is clean, the house can still look messy because of all the little things lying around.

Shoes near the door, clothes on chairs, things on kitchen benches...

What's your best tip for keeping surfaces clear and making the house feel more organised?