40 Times Designers Forgot Things Need To Be Cleaned When Creating Them, As Shared On This Facebook Group

To most of us, cleaning is a chore. Something we do just because we have to. So we try to optimize the process as much as possible. Get it done in the fastest way possible, with the least amount of energy required.

However, some people probably haven't picked up a vacuum cleaner or a dust wand in their entire life.

There's a private Facebook group with a pretty self-explanatory title, called 'Things designed by people who don't have to clean them', and it has about 40,000 members, all sharing pictures of objects that absolutely terrify Monica Geller and Adrian Monk. From an amethyst sink to a dollhouse PC case, continue scrolling and check them out for yourself.

#1 Dollhouse Fishtank

Please don't treat your fish like toys! Goldfish need a 500l tank, and need a group of atleast 6 goldfish. They are intelligent and beautiful animals

The founder of the group, Will Feetham, created it out of his passion for the design world. "We spend most of our time in spaces designed by other humans, and sometimes subtle careless decisions during [the design process and construction processes] cause a huge amount of hassle for the people that use the space," Feetham told Bored Panda.

Currently, the group is private and you have to answer a few political questions to get in. Feetham has had pushback from the applicants about this as the group seems anything but political, however, he believes that the design and maintenance of our spaces are deeply political. "The entire point of 'Things designed by people who don't have to clean them' is that those who design and those who maintain are not the same," he said. "Because we spend most of our time in spaces [designed by others], this disconnect has a huge impact, especially on those who traditionally don't have power in society."

#2 Amethyst Sink

Image credits: Alex Oboikovitz

"Looking at bad design helps highlight the importance of good design, and thinking about who will clean what we design makes us focus on the importance of inclusion in the design process. As a tag group, we can inject a bit of thought about these issues into a lot of different conversations which makes me so happy."

If we were to get specific, Feetham got the idea for the group from a picture of a topographical relief sink modeled after a lake, which he has been told is in the California state library. "It's beautiful, and the concept is both insightful and educational. In the execution, though, the designer didn't consider the people who would have to clean the installation. Clearly, a lot of thought went into the concept, but that thoughtfulness doesn't seem to have extended to maintenance. 'Things designed by people who don’t have to clean them' just popped into my head."

#3 Thanks I Hate It

Image credits: Shawn Tucker

As you could guess, Feetham himself doesn't like cleaning. "As a cisgender man in our patriarchal culture, I have been allowed to do less than my share of household chores at many points in my life," he said. "Equality is deeply important to me, and I have come to understand the many ways, large and small, that the caring and cleaning work that forms the foundation of our daily existence is minimized."

According to him, our society tends to devalue the invisible service class, who are often women and people of color. So they are left to pick up the pieces, literally, and tend to the performative aesthetics of our consumer culture.

Feetham describes the content of the group as design-focused critical analysis. Some of the things that get submitted a lot are carpets in places it shouldn't be, crafts that involve gluing shells and rocks, and impossible to clean windows. "The start of the group was more focused on public infrastructure, but we also have a lot of content about consumer goods and home decor that create a maintenance nightmare."

#4 All Hail The Glow Cloud

Image credits: Ashley Westover

#5 This Pot

Image credits: Ruan Carlo Schneider

#6 Radiator With A Bread Warmer

Image credits: Mary Quigg

#7 *shudder*

Image credits: Maz Penney-Charlton

#8 These Wine Bottles/ Decanters/ Glasses Look Really Cool, But Cleaning Them? Hell No! I'd Probably Used Them Once And Then Threw Them Into A Fireplace Or Something

Image credits: Milla Marguerite

#9 Cutlery Set

Image credits: Laura Jensen

#10 Dollhouse PC

Image credits: Manuela Betti

#11 Broken Ankle Bathtubs, Fantastic

Image credits: Lauren Churchill

#12 Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Image credits: Mateo Euan

#13 Y I K E S

Image credits: Katherine A. Weston

#14 They’re Gorgeous And I Want One, But They Must Be Such Dust Catcher

Image credits: Kerri Kortness

#15 Cute But...

Image credits: Markéta Čonka

#16 Those Poor Books!

Image credits: Manuela Betti

#17 I Love The Idea Of A Volcano Egg Cup As Much As The Next One, But You Will *never* Get All The Gross Crusty Egg Yolk Out Of All Those Crevices

Image credits: Caryn Lopez

#18 This Would Be A Pain In The Butt To Clean, But 11/10 Would Buy Anyway

Image credits: Susan Day

#19 And It's Not Even Cute

Image credits: Megan Moncada

#20 The Opposite Of Mini

Image credits: Jazmyn Ross

#21 That Is The Car Of Someone Who Has Given Up, That Thing Does Not Get Cleaned

Image credits: Sebastián S. Aguilar

#22 1970s Was Such A Cursed Period For Interior Decorating

Image credits: Eamon Ryan

#23 Stunning Fireplace

Image credits: Lulu Titi Johnson

#24 All Those Tiny Eyes

Image credits: Georgia Neave

#25 Stair Handle

Image credits: Danielle Bodza

#26 I Would Have A Very Bad Time Checking If My Nails Are Clean Or Not

Image credits: Hazel Sandi Fernández

#27 Erm...

Image credits: Heather Nicole

#28 A Gift For The Coffee Lover You Also Hate

Image credits: Caitlin Nicole

#29 Mud, Poop Dog, Dirt, Sand...

Image credits: Sarah Azevedo

#30 Those Crevices In The… Whatever That Is

Image credits: Tooru Oikawa

#31 Oh My

Image credits: Amanda Jane

#32 It’s All Beaded

Image credits: Roxy TheRockit Belle

#33 Cursed

Image credits: Maria Júlia

#34 My New 1.5l Snorlax Mug That I Got From Zing. Didn’t Realise It’s Mouth Was A Big Hole

Image credits: Cloey Van Duin

#35 This Is What Happened In Jumanji

Image credits: Carol Tavares

#36 Fluffy Guitar

Image credits: Mateus Vieira

#37 I Hope They Took The Keys Out

Image credits: Lenore Battle

#38 Found In My Local Marketplace

Image credits: Amber Diffey

#39 I Got One Of These For My Daughter. The Hot Liquid Needs To Go Through The Hole Into The Space Between The Outer And Inner Walls Of The Mug. I Have Tiny Bendy Brushes And It’s Still A Nightmare

Image credits: Pascale Nyby

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