cleaniness is next to godliness; or, why i wash my sheets each Christmas

I am the last of 5 children, so I had a fairly relaxed upbringing. Especially since #4 was a smelly, rambunctious boy who did a good job of wearing Mom out. By the time I was about 11 years old I was responsible for taking care of my own things: making my bed, vacuuming my room, doing my laundry. The only time I remember being directed about laundry was on Christmas Eve when my mom asked us to wash our sheets*. Imagine my surprise when, about 12 years later I noticed my friend's chore chart for her home, which included washing bed sheets every other week.

That's when I realized once a year was probably not an adequate target.

I'm now much more sensitive to the status of our sheets. If they feel just a bit matted and clammy then they are ripe for cleaning. If I can feel a little grit around my feet I know we've gone way too long.

It has made me wonder if there are other common household cleaning items that I am woefully ignorant about. What do most people consider the necessary chores for a house to feel livably clean? How often do people vacuum the main floor...under the the couch...in the closet? To explore this issue further, I've created a little survey below (if the survey looks funky through whatever format you're reading this - for example, on my blog the margins are way off, just follow this link instead).

In a follow-up post, I will run analyses and post results.






*I may mistakenly remember this as happening every year, but it may have only been once but stood out so much that I have expanded the memory.