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25th Mar 2022

I have 9 kids but my house is spotless – there’s no excuse not to clean

Trine Jensen-Burke

woman with nine kids says her house is always clean

Life is too short for this level of cleanliness, surely?

Look – I am all for a clean house, and my children certainly have chores they have to complete and, being Scandinavian, I do appreciate that clean, devoid-of-clutter look Scandinavian homes are famous for.

However, I also have two kids, a job, and a couple of crazy cats and, you know, a life – meaning, my home is far from spotless at all times. And honestly, I can live with it. Mostly because I suspect there will come a day when my floors aren’t longer covered in school art projects and backpacks and Heishi bead bracelets and Lego – and I feel like that day will break my heart a little.

So in the meantime, I try not to worry too much about mess and crumbs around the clock, and instead focus on soaking up the very short season this time of my life with young children is.

However, this is not the case for everyone.

Louise, a UK-based mum of nine(!) says she refuses to let having so many children stop her from keeping her seven-bedroom home absolutely spotless – and reveals she easily spends six hours a day cleaning.

“I easily do it – I keep it spotless… so I just don’t understand why other people can’t do the same… I want people to know there’s always time – and there’s never an excuse not to clean,” Louise said on an episode of Channel 4’s Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners.

She adds:

“I do have everyday life things like appointments, grocery shopping, errands to run and God knows what else – homework etc, etc. But I still manage it.”

“My kids know the house has to be kept clean at all times”

The busy mum reveals she has even roped her nine kids into her cleaning obsession – revealing that she has trained them to keep everything tidy.

“All the kids know how to behave in the house, they know the house has to be kept clean at all times,” she said.

Louise also says she turned one of the bedrooms in their house into a walk-in wardrobe–  to let her keep all of their clothes in order.

“No one is allowed in here – only me. I just think it’s a lot nicer when things are kept tidy,” Louise added.

Louise even uses some of the children’s toys to help her keep their home spick and span.

“I even use some of the kids’ stuff around the house to help me clean. I use one of the little one’s plastic forks,” she explained.

“I put a baby wipe over the end of it and it lets me get in all the gaps around the microwave.”

What do YOU think, mums – anything for a clean house or this all sounds very stressful?