Share with Cif your top tips for getting family members to clean up after themselves - you could win a £250 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We know that sometimes getting the family to clean up after themselves can be a difficult task, so Cif would like to hear about your top tips.

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Check out the MNers review video here (and check out their feedback here):

So, what are your top tips for getting your family to clean up after themselves? Do you give your DCs pocket money for doing their chores? Or maybe you try to make cleaning fun by starting a 'who can clean the fastest' contest?

Whatever your top tips are, Cif would love to hear about them.

Everyone who adds a comment will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £250 voucher for the store of their choice.

Please note comments on this thread might be used by Cif on their website or on their social media channels: please only add a comment if you're happy for your comment to be used.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

[BornToFolk]

DS (6) is expected to help out as much as he's able to. I don't link this to pocket money - it's just what he's expected to contribute as part of the household. He understands that if he helps me out with chores, then I'll have more free time to play with him. For example, last night after dinner, I asked him to get the washing in while I washed up and then we could both play a game before bed.

His daily chores are to make his bed and draw his curtains in the morning, set the table for dinner and help with the drying up afterwards and he's also expected to clear up after himself.

[ShatnersBassoon]

I say "I'm not a slave, sort this out," a lot. If they don't clean up after themselves, they're disrespecting me and must suffer the consequences

[itisntme]

By encouraging to help with the things they are able to from a young age, so it just becomes something that they do. Getting them to empty the washing machine can be handy as they take so long taking out one item at a time I get chance to do something else (usually washing up) at the same time

[ArcheryAnnie]

"Oi, take your plate out. I'm not your butler." This works fine on my DS.

[HoneyDragon]

Both ds have a milk bottle they decorated, if they tidy up or help with household jars they get a marble. Each marble is worth 25p. They can only cash them in once they've hit £5 worth though.

I expect rooms to be kept tidy enough to Hoover. If it's not moved it gets relocated by me.

[Mabelface]

Now mine are teens, if I ask them to do a job and they moan or don't do it, they get another job landed on top of them. Every time they moan, it's another job. They've pretty much learned to just do the first job and get on with it.

[ovenbun]

We have the 'fifteen minute cleaning frenzy' all run about like mad things cleaning up, then give an hour or so of fun before another frenzy begins it might not be the most thorough method but it's the closest I've come to enjoying cleaning!

[telsa]

bribery pure and simple. Oh and treating mopping and vacuuming like a game still works for 6 year old DS

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

DD1 is 3. I encourage her to clear up after herself by trying to make it as fun as possible. We sing the tidy up song when we put the toys away and she likes figuring out which bin rubbish or recycling goes into. She loads the washing machine, measures out the laundry detergent and programmes the machine. Trying to make it a bit more fun doesn't always work, and I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but right now she enjoys wiping up her own spills and using the dustpan, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

[Spirael]

A few different tactics here... We make sure there's a place for everything. Makes it a lot easier to tidy up if things actually have a place to go! DD1 (3 YO) now tells DH and I off if we don't put our things back where they belong and she takes great pride in putting her things in their places.

Secondly, the ever popular bribery! She has a reward chart and helping around the house moves the marker upwards. When it reaches the top, she gets a special reward of her choosing. (Within sensible limits-!)

Finally, we work together and try to make it fun. It's more enjoyable and rooms get tidied quicker if we tackle them as a team. Also means you can usually avoid your loathed jobs, as someone else likely has a different job as the one they dislike!

[iwantavuvezela]

Gosh I am not sure my "top tips" will help anyone.

My number one tip is now to just state what i want to happen, so i tell my daughter to put her clothes in the wash; put her plate in teh dishwasher and give my partner clear instructins on what i wnat him to do. i wish they would use their own initiative, and when they dont i resort to nagging, muttering under my breath; sighing as i walk into a bathroom or kitchen and starting to speak under my breath,

[popperdoodles]

financial incentives work in the short term but i don't like paying them to do things they should just do anyway. I have clear expectations of what i expect them to do, which is not much, put their dirty laundry in the basket, keep their room reasonably tidy, put cups and dishes in the sink when they are finished. They will get the washing in or tidy the living space if I ask them to but never off their own back but thats ok. Things that really matter like clothes washing, kitchen and bathroom cleaning I do because it needs to be done properly but dusting and hoovering could be done by them.

My top tip is tell them exactly what you want them to do. They are not mind readers and just don't notice dirt and mess unless you point it out specifically and that goes for dh as well as children!

[Snapespeare]

DD(18) puts anything that DS2(14) leaves out in the kitchen in the middle of his bed. Other than that, I nag.

[Blondieminx]

We've always done tidy up time before dinner each night - DD will cheerfully help put away at friends houses too! We've done this since she was 18m. So my tip is start them early & be consistent!

[woodchuck]

I tend to threaten that "Everything will go in a binbag". That does the trick with DCs.regularly we have a Saturday morning clean up, where everyone has to do something - dusting, mopping, bathrooms, vaccing. I let the kids have first pick of the jobs so they at least feel they have some choice in the matter. DH does a lot of the household cleaning (although not to my standards), I often delegate the 'Man Jobs' such as cleaning the oven or using the carpet cleaner to shampoo the hall and stairs carpet. he much prefers jobs he can get stuck into (play to his strengths!) whereas I don't mind so much the monotony of the daily chores.

[sharond101]

ANything not in it's place goes in the bin at 5pm, no exceptions!
If your room isn't clean I'll do it myself but that also means going through your drawers and tidying them too!

[Keepcalmanddrinkwine]

Both DH and I work full time. My children are 11 and 13. I've always expected them to help out so that I don't have to spend all weekend cleaning. If all 4 of us muck in, there's more time for fun activities.

When we do a clean, I try to make the jobs appealing, so cleaning all of the glass with a spray or cleaning the leather sofas with wipes. Thanks to Cif they even like to mop the floors now!

[SweetPeaPods]

Ds is only 1 but we have started making tidying up part of a game. So throughout the day we will put the toys back in the box/bag etc.

[maxpower]

Dh is at home more than I am due to our work patterns so I tell him what things need doing. Then if I speak to him during the day I ask how he's getting along and ahem remind him what needs doing. If it's important I tell him and dd(7) so that she can also remind him (eg if she needs a clean school dress or something). Then I get home and do it myself.

threatening to throw stuff away or clean up myself normally spurs people into action as they know I'll do a 'thorough' job.

[Maiyakat]

DD (2) loves wiping any surface and putting things in the bin. Sadly they're not always things I want to be in the bin...

[CMOTDibbler]

I try to get ds(8) to do all the household jobs that need doing with me or dh - he can load the dishwasher, put a washload on, hoover, mop etc etc and we all take plates out and so on. Cleaning is seen as something we all do

[gazzalw]

Down tools and not wash their clothes if they don't put them in the washbag etc.....harsh but fair....Love the look when they run out of school uniform ....

[bewleysisters]

We put on our tidy-up music: Herbie Hancock's soul bosanova. If that doesn't work I hovver menacingly with a bin bag.

[VestaCurry]

Helping out isn't tied to pocket money. Dc's are 11 and 13 and just over time have known they need to 'do their bit' to keep the house clean and things ticking over smoothly. When they were small I bought them some pincer type things for picking toys up off the floor and used to set a timer to see if they could beat it (they always did, because they were little and the fun aspect motivated them).
Loading/unloading dishwasher, clearing the table, helping to make dinner sometimes, keeping their room clean, running errands are things that have become second nature thankfully.