Setting Standards for the "Clean-Enough" Home

Establish a standard for household cleanliness that suits your family composition, cleaning style and personal preferences.

Excerpted from Houseworks, by Cynthia Townley Ewer
Filed under: Cleaning, Organization, Housekeeping

Set the Right Standard for Yourself

Some families, such as those with crawling babies or immuno-compromised elders, will need to reach for a very high standard of cleaning. Others, such as a clan of healthy young adults, can live quite happily in a home with a more relaxed cleaning style. While nobody advocates ignoring cleaning to the point of health and safety problems, a realistic view of your family’s cleaning standard prevents frustration and helps get the work done faster.

Reach for family agreement on the issue of a cleaning standard. If most household members fall on the "relaxed" side of the equation, there’ll be cleaning trouble if one member pushes for higher standards.

Negotiate a common-sense compromise. Food preparation areas require a high level of sanitation, but a teen’s bedroom poses fewer health and safety concerns. Better to pick cleaning battles carefully, with an eye to general well-being, than fight it out over every speck of dust.