Messy People Describe The Difference Between 'This Is Acceptably Dirty' And 'I Have To Clean Right Now'

Messy People Describe The Difference Between 'This Is Acceptably Dirty' And 'I Have To Clean Right Now'

There is a difference between messy and dirty. The two often go together, but not everybody who is messy is dirty.

Clutter, clothing on the floor, and disorganization are not quite the same as bugs, mold, or other nasty icky things that grow upon neglected possessions. And messy people have their limits.

u/ToastedBreadfruit asked:

Messy people of Reddit, where do you draw the line between "these are acceptable living conditions" and "I should probably tidy up now"?

Here were some of those answers.

Procrastinator Is Here To Save The Day

When there's something else that I REALLY don't want to do... like taxes, I suddenly spring clean. That's the only time furniture is moved to clean everything

It's pretty much exactly like that scene from Black Books, haha

Phoenyx634

Behind The Façade

Whenever company is coming over. Gotta maintain the facade that I'm a clean, tidy individual.

Hobbit_Feet45

Clean like crazy and when they arrive you say: "Sorry about the mess, its just been so busy here lately"

TheRealVahx

Organized Chaos

When i start losing stuff, in my mind so long as i know where everything is or can easily find it, it's not a mess

Picknmixboltz

I feel this so hard. If I know what pile of junk something is in then it's not a mess, but if I can't find something then things are too messy.

RunningRunnerRun

Like we said--even messy people do have their limits. Dirty people....not so much.

Whistle While You Drink

If I look for something I need and have to remove mess in order to get to it. Then I get drunk and clean everything for hours.

jonnysteps

Drunk cleaning with music on is super fun. People always think I'm weird for tidying up immediately after the last party guest has left. I just dance about like a tilt and get it done. Makes the hangover easier in the morning too

VonAshley

Just Til The Time Passes

I usually have a momentary pause and think "this is depressing" I'll then clean up for an hour and think "I hate doing this sh*t, it's close enough now."

Watsis_name

I relate so much to this comment! I'm laughing at the "this is depressing" moment, because you couldn't have worded this any better.

theWildBore

Critical Mess Alert

I don't know, there is a point that I call 'critical mess' where I just have to tidy up. I can't define what 'critical mess' is, but I know it when I see it.

sagetrees

Yeah, I know that feeling! It's all good until it isn't. That's the point where you just go "okay f**k this" and start chucking everything into a garbage bag, piling laundry together, throwing papers into a pile. Like a big tidy-up explosion.

BrashPop

The Distinction Point

Yeah to me there's a firm distinction between messy (my house) and dirty. Messy is the unfolded pile of laundry that permanently exists in a pile in the laundry room.

Dirty is something that's going to start stinking or get sticky or attract bugs. That stuff gets cleaned right away.

WakeoftheStorm

And we, as messy people, can't really explain our ways....our brains are just as messy as our rooms.

You Married A Slob

My daughters online learning desk is in my husbands "man cave". She does all of her zoom classes and homework at this desk. My husband is a bit of a slob. He mostly leaves empty soda bottles laying around.

I didn't realize all these empty bottles were in frame to my daughters zoom classes until her music teacher emailed me and asked if I could clean up the room Because he wants to record the students singing for their choir practice. I was mortified and moved her desk out of there.

bebebaker

Faceplant Magic

When I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and accidentally trip on whatever cluster f**k is covering my entire bedroom floor be it clothes or shoes or textbooks like that one time

zodwa_wa_bantu

Phone Rings, Door Chimes

My line is this: "If company suddenly drops in, how much do I have to tidy up?" If the answer is too much, my living conditions are not acceptable by any means.

Easy_Ad9184

My line is pretty similar. "How would I react to an unexpected visitor at this very moment?"

If the answer is anything beyond mild embarrassment, everything has to be cleaned immediately.

eldestdaughtersunion

So you see, we do have it somewhat together. Just not all the way together. And we probably, truly, never will.

And that's okay too.

What's the line where you know something must be cleaned?

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