Dust in the laundry room

At first I was a bit reluctant to call the laundry room a "room" in the house.  It's tiny, and so I was positive that it couldn't be too dirty or take too long to clean.  I fully intended to lump my cleaning of it in with something else, like the hall closet.  If I'm learning anything about myself during this cleaning frenzy, it's that I'm wrong...a whole lot.  (Isn't it healthy to admit that every now and then?)

Our laundry room is small and doubles as a mud room; we have our access to the garage through it.  We have a side-by-side washer and dryer (not the fancy front-loading kind) with a wire shelf above it.  There's a laundry hamper against the wall, we store our mop and broom behind the door, and there's also a high door opening to our A/C unit.

Action Plan:
1.  Clean light fixture
2.  Rearrange/purge cleaning supplies
3.  Wipe down washer and dryer
4.  Wipe down all doors
5.  Clean baseboards and floor

It's becoming a trend, but...I did not, in fact, clean the light fixture.  I actually had a talk with My Love about this one.  Basically, I'm uncomfortable scaling a ladder when he's not home, especially with the kids running around at the base of it.  I'm all for cleaning the light fixtures that I can easily reach, but I petitioned him to take down all the high ones for me, and...he said yes (because he's fantastic like that).  So at some point in the near future he's going to get all the lights I've missed -- the office, hallway, and laundry room -- and I'm going to give them a good scrub.

I honestly think that rearranging and ordering household items is my single favorite household chore.  Some people like vacuum lines in their carpet; I like seeing neat, orderly rows of "whatever", be it books toys, clothes, or household chemicals.  I removed everything from the shelves and placed it in a logical order; the supplies needed to clean similar rooms went together (i.e., the ammonia, toilet bowl cleaner, and Lysol spray); the things we don't use very often (carpet cleaning solution) went toward the back. Nearly-empty bottles were used and tossed.  Voila, we magically have space on the "cluttered, too-small" shelving!

Wiping down the washer and dryer proved to be the most difficult and tedious task of the day.  For appliances whose entire job is to clean things, they certainly were a mess.  They were mostly coated with an admirable layer of dust, but there was also a significant amount of lint and dog hair in the mix, as well as some drops of laundry detergent from all those times Mini-me has "helped" me do the laundry.  True to form, I started at the top, with a Lysol wipe, and started cleaning.  It's amazing how many nooks and crannies there are in those things, and it's also shocking how many Lysol wipes it took to get them clean.  After cleaning the lint screen (which I do, regularly) and wiping down the outer area, it also occurred to me that I should ask My Love to clean the dryer vent outside.  His to-do list is growing...

When I turned to the garage door, I made good progress until I came to the spot about three feet from the floor where small hands and big, wet noses (from the children and The Beast, respectively) regularly come into contact with it.  There, I encountered smudges, colored spots of all varieties -- likely made by an assortment of unidentifiable food items -- and a few streaks made by eager fingers attempting to open the door to great Daddy as he returns from work.  Again, it was much more trouble than I anticipated, and I ended up scrubbing the door quite vigorously; in fact, I had broken a sweat when I was done with that small area and I needed to take a water break.

My "dirtiest spot in the room" moment happened when I addressed the door leading to the A/C unit.  As I wiped down the surface, I noticed some dust clinging to the top seams; when I opened the door, I found what looked like caterpillars made of dust lining the door and the door frame.  Now, I DO change my air filter, and I wipe down the opening in front of it periodically; I know it's one area of the house that is frequently getting dirty.  However, I obviously don't know much about how an air conditioning system works, and I therefore had no idea that, for some reason, the unit itself sucks in dust and cakes it around all nearby surfaces.  In hindsight, I probably would have done well to clean the door and frame with apple cider vinegar, but the kids were all asleep and I just wanted to have the laundry room DONE, so I made do with my Lysol wipes.

Finally, I swept and was rewarded with a pile of dust, lint, and dog hair.  Next on the agenda should have been to mop and wipe down the base boards, but Baby Boy started to cry about the time I put the broom away.  As I finished changing his diaper, Cuddles started knocking on her door (she can't turn the knob yet) and calling for a "nack" (snack).  While I was holding Baby Boy with one hand and pouring animal crackers with another, Mini-me appeared and asked if it was time to get up.  Sigh.  Yes, everyone can get up.  I'm glad you had a good nap.  I'll finish cleaning the floor after you go to bed...and then I can sleep, too!