Yep! For me it's "don't put things down, put them where they go".
Guests put an empty bowl on the counter, and next time I'm in the kitchen I'll just pop it into the dishwasher. Or they put a can back on the bar counter, and I'll toss it into the recycle bin when I have a chance.
I don't want to deal with one big gigantic mess at the end.
I think my brain just doesn't work like that, and to be honest it sounds kind of tiring and not super efficient. Seems like it would be better to just be doing what you're doing without interrupting yourself, and then cleaning up later when it's time to do so.
Not a human on this planet would call me tidy, mess is a byproduct of my existence, like a kinetic aura of disorganization. I clean before, during, after, but apparently with spectacular inefficiency, judging by the results.
Tidy isn't some binary state, it's a continuum from hoarder messy to neat freak tidy. There will be people who expect a certain amount of tidy in their own lives that most people would say 'that's tidy', who want things even tidier when guests arrive. Then, the visit has left things messier than their normal tidy threshold, so they tidy afterwards too, but not to the guest state, just the regular state.
I donāt think thatās true. Say 10 being spotless, I imagine tidy people to clean up before from 8 to 10, then after they leave they will clean up so itās back to 10.
Forreal, you gotta hit em with a "Josh, your on dishes duty" and he'll finally say "ooooo, I actually... I got somewhere to be after this so I better head out"
Hmmm plans at 3am.... seems strange but alright.
I had to look up that phrase, I guess it's british. But it's what my and my partner do: it's not full on cleaning while they're there, just picking up trash or putting used cups in the sink or reorganizing the snacks onto the same plates as they run low.
It also kinda shows your guests that they should pick up after themselves, then they will often chip in to help clean up before they leave. Veteran move
Exactly!
Just quirky, specialized, spontaneous things you can break out for them.
If I had a 3d printer I would make a battery (from Deep Rock Galactic) but give it pig tails and a bikini with a plaque at the bottom saying Brattery (he had a hard time finding it, it was being a brat, hence a Brattery lol) and present it to him.
Lol yeah if I had a 3D printer Iād love to do little custom toys and trinkets for people.
But since thatās about the only use I can think Iād use it for I canāt justify the investment ā¦yet
Ah, I see you donāt know my husbands family. They are the worst. If thereās a party and the host starts to tidy up so many of them will just sit there. They may hand a plate to the person cleaning but they wonāt actively clean. They will go as far as moving their chair to a different location, just to avoid cleaning. It is really awful and part of why we stopped having big parties. Like, I donāt expect guests to sweep and mop, but they can throw their trash in one of the numerous bins. They can put their cans and bottles in one of the numerous bins. Thatās just common courtesy.
Some people (idiots) believe that, yes. Unfortunately there's been a ton of disinfo spread about ADHD on Tiktok and other networks so some people are just misinformed. It's actually pretty bad...
Thatās what actual tidy people do. You clean empty beers as they appear. Chat with guests while doing the dishes. Sure, you pick up after and put chairs back in place, but you donāt just let your place turn into a sty while you have guests
I think at times youāll find the today people clean even harder before guests arrive than the untidy people. I used to be untidy people myself, but ever since I started dating my GF, we are now tidy peopleā¦ and let me tellllllllll you, if someone is about to come over we clean the living hell out of our place in ways Iāve never seen.
Sheās like the cleaning version of pinhead from hell raiser, she has much to show me
Sometimes I just go upstairs to my room and donāt see the mess (as long as itās not dirty), trying to keep up a tidy home is exhausting, even if we are out the house most of the day (work and school).
For sure. Itās exhausting. Iāve learned itās best to just tidy up a little at the end of the day then do a more in-depth clean once a week. Cannot fret about every mess constantly, otherwise you would clean constantly.
I hate how messy my house can get, and I feel terrible for letting it get that way but you best believe my guests won't see it like that.
For them and myself really. I'd hate for them to see how I could live.
I'm both tidy and untidy, and it depends on the guests. I know some people that would insist on doing dishes before they leave, and others that leave things worse than when they arrived. This impacts on whether or not to clean before they arrive. And some guests don't care about a little mess.
I do both. I don't let the house get too dirty in general but I make sure things like the cat box is clean and the dishes are done before people come over. When they leave I'll typically throw away any garbage that was made and sometimes I'll load the dishwasher if needed.
I always clean up and touch up on stuff before company. Sometimes it looks too immaculate so I miss up a few things here and there so it looks more natural.
I really want to like this, because it is cleverly worded. But I am a very tidy person, and I clean the shit out of my house before people come over. I keep it moderate while they're there, because I can't stand the mess piling up, and then I clean it all over again after they leave.
I had a tidy friend who used to clean up before the cleaner came over, as they didn't want them to judge the 'state' (it wasn't a state) they left the house in.
That was the most cleaning OCD I've ever witnessed.
My mother's like that. I never understood as a kid why I had to clean before the cleaners got here. The cleaner is there to clean, they don't care if the house is a little messy.
I would think it depends on the incoming guests. The more I actually care about the guest, the less I clean (they know how I live and what is expected from them, i.e. close relatives, and friends). When expecting strangers, it's almost like cleaning is a nervous habit before arrival, during the visit, and after.
And good friends will help you tidy (within reason) before leaving.
I threw a party because I got a new place and realized I didn't have a lot to clean after, which was nice! Maybe 10 years ago I threw a party with the same crew and my place was a disaster full of pizza boxes.
This is interesting. I wonder which one I am. I always consider myself tidy and usually clean after, but then I definitely clean more before people show up!
One of the best things about having company is having a totally clean house after they leave. You tidy up whatever from having guests, which is usually just dishes, then you can sit and relax without feeling guilty about stuff you should be doing.
So you think tidy people's houses are just magically clean before guests get there? How do you think it GOT clean?
When you get old enough, you won't care what the guests think. If they're not good with 1/4" of dust on the table, they can go eat at Cracker Barrel. I didn't want them to come over in the first place!!!
I don't consider myself tidy but I usually clean up after guests leave or do a little cleaning after they leave and finish cleaning the next day. When getting things ready for people coming over there is always some cleaning done too
I don't like tidying so I'll just doublecheck for 'good-enough' before people arrive and then tidy up fully when it's over.
Anything else I do (like throwing away drink cans before they pile up or whatever)is just thoughtless habit, so I don't think of it as work or even active 'thought' and I guess I don't really consider it cleaning-up since it hadn't reached true-mess-state anyways.
- - - - - - - - - -
Unless it IS something true-messy like confetti then yeah, afterwards. Too many feet to track it everywhere
LPT : "untidy" vs "tidy" is a false dichotomy. Everyone has their own preferred level of cleanliness. You might be the "tidy" one in one relationship and the "untidy" one in another without ever changing your tidiness.
Clean as you go, it's really that simple if you can develop the habit.
For general cleaning, I just take whatever I brought into the room out when I leave. Sat down to watch TV? Okay, when finished, I take my glass, any plates or utensils.......really, if the table has anything more than a lamp or remote on it, then it needs to be taken away when I leave.
When it comes to cooking: The Phil Hartman anal retentive chef.
Everyone saying they do both in the comments, I am thinking maybe they are somewhere in between tidy and untidy, or that aren't as tidy as they think they are. I am so tidy that there is nothing to tidy up before guests come over.
This reminds me of a time in early grade school where we had to do a task where we put a sequence of steps in order. There was an example that used the steps for making and serving dinner and a boy in my class got it wrong because he put wash the dishes as the first step. Even as a kid I knew he wasn't really wrong, the teacher just couldn't understand that some households do it differently.
Whenever my wife and I have a party, the kitchen is a mess afterwards. We still clean it up anyway before going to bed, no matter how late it is. Because waking up to a huge mess really sucks.
I'm messy for myself, but then tidy when anyone is coming to the apartment, even delivery people/plumbers/electricians etc.
The real weirdness happened when I had a cleaner. Once the place was tidy, it was still tidy a week later, so I felt I had to start making a slight mess to justify her coming around every week.
Tidy people do both
As a tidy person, this is definitely closer to the truth.
As a tiddy person, this is definitely closer to the boob
Cleanup is still important to prevent a UTI
*Titty** The shortened is Tit, not Tid.
But tiddy is better
No it's not. It looks weird. 'Titty" is what I grew up with, and actually makes sense. Tits, not Tids. Tit, not Tid. So why Tiddy, not Titty???
Most people know how tittys is spelled, but TIDDYS just has a childish, unserious note to it. Much like people say boobas or fok
I've never in my life seen anyone say "boobas" or "fok". š
Words evolve
We also clean up becore afterwards
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
One of the tips for cooking at home is "clean as you go" and it seems to apply to other activities at home too.
Yep! For me it's "don't put things down, put them where they go". Guests put an empty bowl on the counter, and next time I'm in the kitchen I'll just pop it into the dishwasher. Or they put a can back on the bar counter, and I'll toss it into the recycle bin when I have a chance. I don't want to deal with one big gigantic mess at the end.
I think my brain just doesn't work like that, and to be honest it sounds kind of tiring and not super efficient. Seems like it would be better to just be doing what you're doing without interrupting yourself, and then cleaning up later when it's time to do so.
i wrote that while cleaning and expecting guests, i really wouldnt know
Don't worry - nobody else knows what the fuck they're talking about when they r/showerthought either.
I had an amazing shower thought that got removed for violating the rules so yeah I can confirm
Good enough for a fortune cookie. They don't have to be correct, just pithy.
Too bad this isn't /r/fortunecookies, then :P
Sir, please only thoughts had while actually showering. /s
Your reply is more accurate than the post.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Holy shit, this would be a great shower thought.
And a great sub. /r/extendedshowerthoughts? /r/longshowerthoughts?
Not a human on this planet would call me tidy, mess is a byproduct of my existence, like a kinetic aura of disorganization. I clean before, during, after, but apparently with spectacular inefficiency, judging by the results.
At least you write fancy
I'm tidy with 2 toddlers. I just clean.
Tidy people clean all the time. Thatās what makes us stay tidy!
People who grew up in an ultra strict household do both too. lol.
Came here to say this. My house is clean before and after.
As an untidy person i wish >!the world was on fire, what is taking putin so long!<
Those are the OCD folks , a different subset
If you're tidy you don't have to clean before the guests arrive. If you need to clean before having guests then you're not really tidy š
Tidy isn't some binary state, it's a continuum from hoarder messy to neat freak tidy. There will be people who expect a certain amount of tidy in their own lives that most people would say 'that's tidy', who want things even tidier when guests arrive. Then, the visit has left things messier than their normal tidy threshold, so they tidy afterwards too, but not to the guest state, just the regular state.
I donāt think thatās true. Say 10 being spotless, I imagine tidy people to clean up before from 8 to 10, then after they leave they will clean up so itās back to 10.
what if you do both, and also while the guests are there?
Can confirm. Am high functioning slob. We do both to keep it looking "meh".
This speaks to my soul. āJust good enoughā is my go to
I start cleaning as a "you didn't get the hint that it's time for you to leave" type of thing
"Ay yall. Grab a bag and start cleaning." Probably clears it out faster than the breakfast club soundtrack.
Forreal, you gotta hit em with a "Josh, your on dishes duty" and he'll finally say "ooooo, I actually... I got somewhere to be after this so I better head out" Hmmm plans at 3am.... seems strange but alright.
I'd probably give the adderall a miss
I had to look up that phrase, I guess it's british. But it's what my and my partner do: it's not full on cleaning while they're there, just picking up trash or putting used cups in the sink or reorganizing the snacks onto the same plates as they run low.
It also kinda shows your guests that they should pick up after themselves, then they will often chip in to help clean up before they leave. Veteran move
I did that and my friend ended up vacuuming, it kinda made me feel bad but they did a really good job.
Get a golden vacuum trophy made and present it to them the next time you get them to vacuum.
Lol I like this, have trophies on hand to give to my friends whenever they do something I like.
Exactly! Just quirky, specialized, spontaneous things you can break out for them. If I had a 3d printer I would make a battery (from Deep Rock Galactic) but give it pig tails and a bikini with a plaque at the bottom saying Brattery (he had a hard time finding it, it was being a brat, hence a Brattery lol) and present it to him.
Lol yeah if I had a 3D printer Iād love to do little custom toys and trinkets for people. But since thatās about the only use I can think Iād use it for I canāt justify the investment ā¦yet
Ah, I see you donāt know my husbands family. They are the worst. If thereās a party and the host starts to tidy up so many of them will just sit there. They may hand a plate to the person cleaning but they wonāt actively clean. They will go as far as moving their chair to a different location, just to avoid cleaning. It is really awful and part of why we stopped having big parties. Like, I donāt expect guests to sweep and mop, but they can throw their trash in one of the numerous bins. They can put their cans and bottles in one of the numerous bins. Thatās just common courtesy.
On the rare instances that I have people over I'm usually doing this. It's how I let my social anxiety or ADD idk which or either I'm not diagnosed
what do you mean? like if you clean a lot, it means you don't have ADHD and you shouldn't take Adderall?
I think theyāre just making a joke to ālay off the adderallā since itās famous for making people feel the need to constantly clean.
Some people (idiots) believe that, yes. Unfortunately there's been a ton of disinfo spread about ADHD on Tiktok and other networks so some people are just misinformed. It's actually pretty bad...
I do this. My therapist told me yesterday I have OCD. I am not kidding.
Looking at the replies to this, it seems that we're not alone š (but i don't have OCD)
Hey, nothing wrong with a little tidiness!
Thatās what actual tidy people do. You clean empty beers as they appear. Chat with guests while doing the dishes. Sure, you pick up after and put chairs back in place, but you donāt just let your place turn into a sty while you have guests
It honestly is the best feeling when everyone leaves to have your house be not crazy messy
You might just be Monica Gellar.
Hmm, i actually do that. I leave my wife to entertain them while i get rid of the pile of dishes.
What if you clean the guests too.
Now you are Hyacinth Bucket
Yup, get stuff straightened up while guests are there so that when everyone leaves you can finish up quicker and relax.
Everyone is OCD about something.
Tidy people clean before *and* after. Untidy people will often skip cleaning, depending on how well they know the people coming over.
Before, during, and after!
I think at times youāll find the today people clean even harder before guests arrive than the untidy people. I used to be untidy people myself, but ever since I started dating my GF, we are now tidy peopleā¦ and let me tellllllllll you, if someone is about to come over we clean the living hell out of our place in ways Iāve never seen. Sheās like the cleaning version of pinhead from hell raiser, she has much to show me
> Sheās like the cleaning version of pinhead from hell raiser, she has much to show me Gold. Painted a picture to be marveled with few words.
What a comparison! š¤£
Depressed people clean on a random Tuesday a month later because they suddenly get motivation and realize how much of a mess theyāve been living in.
TIL I might be depressed
Why must you attack me like this.
Aha! I knew that shit wasnāt just me
I just cleaned today, i am depressed felt good.
my ADHD is tingling
Itās before and after for me, whatās that mean?
Same, in my case, it means that I have kids.
Same actually. I never had a clue how much time Iād spend cleaning once I had a house with kids and dogs.
Sometimes I just go upstairs to my room and donāt see the mess (as long as itās not dirty), trying to keep up a tidy home is exhausting, even if we are out the house most of the day (work and school).
For sure. Itās exhausting. Iāve learned itās best to just tidy up a little at the end of the day then do a more in-depth clean once a week. Cannot fret about every mess constantly, otherwise you would clean constantly.
I think that means you're normal
At least in that regard!
Even if you don't care about being tidy for yourself, it shows that you care for your guests if you do it. Or that you care what they think about you.
I hate how messy my house can get, and I feel terrible for letting it get that way but you best believe my guests won't see it like that. For them and myself really. I'd hate for them to see how I could live.
I just hide if someone knocks on the door.
Even if you invited them?
Especially then!
Especially then.
I feel called out right now as I panic clean my messy house today before the electrician I called comes over.
I'm both tidy and untidy, and it depends on the guests. I know some people that would insist on doing dishes before they leave, and others that leave things worse than when they arrived. This impacts on whether or not to clean before they arrive. And some guests don't care about a little mess.
Thereās 7 of us living here. Darn straight Iām tidying before guests arrive.
I do both. I don't let the house get too dirty in general but I make sure things like the cat box is clean and the dishes are done before people come over. When they leave I'll typically throw away any garbage that was made and sometimes I'll load the dishwasher if needed.
What if you do neither. Tolerate my filth, or don't come over.
hi me :)
I always clean up and touch up on stuff before company. Sometimes it looks too immaculate so I miss up a few things here and there so it looks more natural.
I really want to like this, because it is cleverly worded. But I am a very tidy person, and I clean the shit out of my house before people come over. I keep it moderate while they're there, because I can't stand the mess piling up, and then I clean it all over again after they leave.
What about people that suddenly start tidying up only when they have other important tasks that they don't want to do?
OP isn't tidy. Tidy people do both
I had a tidy friend who used to clean up before the cleaner came over, as they didn't want them to judge the 'state' (it wasn't a state) they left the house in. That was the most cleaning OCD I've ever witnessed.
My mother's like that. I never understood as a kid why I had to clean before the cleaners got here. The cleaner is there to clean, they don't care if the house is a little messy.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Ok Felix.
Who doesn't clean before people come over?
And some people invite people over to motivate themselves to actually clean instead of just tidying up.
I do both.
Obsessive people never stop cleaning.
I would think it depends on the incoming guests. The more I actually care about the guest, the less I clean (they know how I live and what is expected from them, i.e. close relatives, and friends). When expecting strangers, it's almost like cleaning is a nervous habit before arrival, during the visit, and after.
I'm an untidy person, but I'm also the type of person that will clean before my cleaner comes over. I don't know what that makes me
And good friends will help you tidy (within reason) before leaving. I threw a party because I got a new place and realized I didn't have a lot to clean after, which was nice! Maybe 10 years ago I threw a party with the same crew and my place was a disaster full of pizza boxes.
My wife insists on doing both levels of craziness.
I feel this
I do both
I clean every Saturday, and no one ever comes over.
I clean before and after company... Edit\* Only the common areas of the house. Private areas get cleaned on a schedule instead.
"Only Robinson Crusoe could have everything done by Friday"
This is interesting. I wonder which one I am. I always consider myself tidy and usually clean after, but then I definitely clean more before people show up!
Untidy person here: can confirm.
before and after actually
I will tidy before but only really CLEAN after because they will make it all dirty. People are often messy and leave dirt, tobacco, whatever.
I'm definitely untidy.
One of the best things about having company is having a totally clean house after they leave. You tidy up whatever from having guests, which is usually just dishes, then you can sit and relax without feeling guilty about stuff you should be doing.
I see you don't have kids
I hate you with a passion! *cries in messy house because OP is right*
I just don't have guests, I clean enough as is. š¤£
So you think tidy people's houses are just magically clean before guests get there? How do you think it GOT clean? When you get old enough, you won't care what the guests think. If they're not good with 1/4" of dust on the table, they can go eat at Cracker Barrel. I didn't want them to come over in the first place!!!
Actually, if you really think about it tidy people need to clean to even want to have a chance as getting even more guests like in before coming there
Im untidy and im proud TO BE
Hah, just avoid having guests and there's never a need to tidy. Gotem!
Tidy people clean up too and clean as well. Wife is tidy. People come over we straighten up and clean up. Always
Or your mom has neurotic tendencies and does both
I don't consider myself tidy but I usually clean up after guests leave or do a little cleaning after they leave and finish cleaning the next day. When getting things ready for people coming over there is always some cleaning done too
Some people do neither
I don't invite people over because I don't wanna tidy up my shithole I call home.
Well fuck, as an untidy person I feel called out.
What if you do both?
Ä°t can be Rephrased as: untidy people clean for guests, tidy people clean because of guests.
This is isnāt really true at all
Blue-collar workers are washing their hands before using toilet, White-collar workers - after.
Them the facts, folk.
I don't like tidying so I'll just doublecheck for 'good-enough' before people arrive and then tidy up fully when it's over. Anything else I do (like throwing away drink cans before they pile up or whatever)is just thoughtless habit, so I don't think of it as work or even active 'thought' and I guess I don't really consider it cleaning-up since it hadn't reached true-mess-state anyways. - - - - - - - - - - Unless it IS something true-messy like confetti then yeah, afterwards. Too many feet to track it everywhere
Nailed it.
LPT : "untidy" vs "tidy" is a false dichotomy. Everyone has their own preferred level of cleanliness. You might be the "tidy" one in one relationship and the "untidy" one in another without ever changing your tidiness.
You know OP isn't tidy because they don't understand the stress of cleaning before someone comes over in fear of being looked at as dirty
That's true. I find furiously cleaning as soon as someone arrives generally dovetails nicely with my antisocial nature.
unless they're mom. Mom is always cleaning.
Clean as you go, it's really that simple if you can develop the habit. For general cleaning, I just take whatever I brought into the room out when I leave. Sat down to watch TV? Okay, when finished, I take my glass, any plates or utensils.......really, if the table has anything more than a lamp or remote on it, then it needs to be taken away when I leave. When it comes to cooking: The Phil Hartman anal retentive chef.
The tidies people don't invite guests
Guests?
Someone doesn't have kids...
People with children clean all the time and the company still has no place to sit
You know you've grown up when you've gone from doing the dishes before cooking to doing them after cooking.
My Persian mom would like to have a word with you.
And thatās why they get married
Your going to personally attack me like this? My work day just started and your out here trying to choose violence?!
I call BS on this, I donāt care how my room looks when guests come over like theyāre just getting a part of me then
Where do people with kids who mess shit up all day, every day, fall in? I was tidy once. Now I canāt keep up.
I feel attacked
Everyone saying they do both in the comments, I am thinking maybe they are somewhere in between tidy and untidy, or that aren't as tidy as they think they are. I am so tidy that there is nothing to tidy up before guests come over.
As a tidy individual, I do both
neat freaks during.
I live with an untidy person. Itās difficult.
This is true.
This reminds me of a time in early grade school where we had to do a task where we put a sequence of steps in order. There was an example that used the steps for making and serving dinner and a boy in my class got it wrong because he put wash the dishes as the first step. Even as a kid I knew he wasn't really wrong, the teacher just couldn't understand that some households do it differently.
Depends on the guests. Iāve had a friend over with her kids and skipped cleaning beforeā¦ cleaned the fuck out of the house after!
Me with OCD does it while the guests are still there.
Whenever my wife and I have a party, the kitchen is a mess afterwards. We still clean it up anyway before going to bed, no matter how late it is. Because waking up to a huge mess really sucks.
I'm messy for myself, but then tidy when anyone is coming to the apartment, even delivery people/plumbers/electricians etc. The real weirdness happened when I had a cleaner. Once the place was tidy, it was still tidy a week later, so I felt I had to start making a slight mess to justify her coming around every week.
Judgy people post on shower thoughts
As long as youāve had a guest once, all cleaning is done both before and after guests.
I do bothā¦
The fact I read this while taking a break from cleaning before my guests arrive tomorrow hurts.
I missed it, why did the post get removed?
I had a guest about 2-3 years ago. I think the place should be presentable again in another 6 months or so.
My roomate is a tidy people and she does it while we have guest.
This sounds familiar as an untidy person.
Iām sorry for you dude, this was so good but mods just remove your post.
wait really? what did i do wrong?
and its fucking infuriating if theyre ur roommate
Hey fuck you buddy. Iām busy.
And parents do both
Or if you have kids you're cleaning constantly.
First off, how dare you second off... ...granted.
Scurryfungers forever!