There was an old commercial that I remember seeing when I was little; I'm pretty sure it was for Rice Krispies. It had a young girl showing her younger sister/brother how their mother made Rice Krispy Treats, and when the task was done, she wiped her brow in mock frustration and said, in the sweetest little high-pitched voice, "They're finally done!"
That's about how I felt today: a scant (?) two months after starting this great project, I've finally finished...and it's a really fantastic feeling. I think I've grown a great deal as a homemaker; I've learned a lot about how to clean, how often to clean, and when cleaning can wait. Yes, I ended up with a cleaner house, but I also feel like I ended up stronger, wiser, and more patient. I think that's a pretty good set of results, considering I was armed with cleaning supplies and a broom for the past eight weeks and I STILL managed to keep my family fed, clothed, and entertained.
I think my next step is to come up with some sort of schedule for consistent cleaning, so that I don't end up with this kind of overwhelming and drawn-out task before me again (or at least, not in the near future), so I guess that means one more post. Otherwise, friends, thanks for your attention and support for the past few weeks; it's been really fun!
Showing posts with label Windex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Windex. Show all posts
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Baby Boy's Room
I put off cleaning Baby Boy's room until almost the very end of my great endeavor. I really did have a logical reason: it's easiest for me to clean while kids are sleeping, and he sleeps the most often, but I can't clean while he's asleep in his room. Basically, today I took advantage of a rare opportunity: he was awake, but content to play alone in his infant bouncer; the girls were both asleep. Also, it was pretty incredible to see that, once I finally got started, this may have been the lightest cleaning job I've had yet!
Action Plan:
1. Clean light fixture and fan
2. Clean windows and blinds
3. Clean door frames
4. Dust furniture
5. Clean baseboards
6. Vacuum floor
As I started at the top, I realized that Baby Boy's room was probably the cleanest in the house. Why? We painted it right before we moved him in there, which was a short six months ago (only I would call six months "short" in regards to cleaning). Before we painted, we cleaned the entire room, so it was in pretty good shape. I started, as I always do, by washing the light fixture globes and wiping down the fan blades (which I cleaned with ACV).
I moved from there to Windexing the only window in the room and cleaning out the window tracks. Again, it was reasonably clean, which surprised me; I'm not an expert here, but it seems to me that the east/west facing windows have been significantly less dirty than the north/south facing ones. Also, the windows that face the neighbors' house are cleaner, and this particular window fit both criteria. There were no dog nose-prints, no dead spiders or frogs in the tracks, and even minimal outside dirt. Another happy surprise was that the blinds didn't need cleaning at all; Mini-me used to be in that room, and had pulled down her blinds a few months before. We bought new ones (more specifically, she did), and they have been closed and hidden behind light-blocking curtains ever since then.
The dirtiest place in the room ended up being the outside lower surface of the bedroom door. Years' worth of grimy fingerprints had definitely taken their toll, and it took a cloth with ACV, followed by a Lysol wipe, followed by a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, to clean the door to my satisfaction. After that chore, the dust that I wiped off the surface of the frame seemed like nothing.
Again, the furniture was relatively dust-free, and I am seeing a pattern in Baby Boy's room and the girls' room: they have less surface area and less clutter ON the surface area, so there's less dust. It was really quick to clean all his furniture -- like, less than five minutes. Hmm...maybe I should reduce display items in other areas of the house as well, if it's this easy to clean. On second thought, that would mean doing yet another purge of my books, and I don't think I've got the stomach for it...
I finished up by quickly wiping down the baseboards, which, again, were much cleaner than other baseboards in the house have been. I moved all the furniture to do a thorough vacuuming, used the hose attachment to get a few stubborn bugs in a corner, and was done with the entire project in less than an hour (about the time, incidentally, that Baby Boy decided he was tired of being alone and was ready for dinner).
Action Plan:
1. Clean light fixture and fan
2. Clean windows and blinds
3. Clean door frames
4. Dust furniture
5. Clean baseboards
6. Vacuum floor
As I started at the top, I realized that Baby Boy's room was probably the cleanest in the house. Why? We painted it right before we moved him in there, which was a short six months ago (only I would call six months "short" in regards to cleaning). Before we painted, we cleaned the entire room, so it was in pretty good shape. I started, as I always do, by washing the light fixture globes and wiping down the fan blades (which I cleaned with ACV).
I moved from there to Windexing the only window in the room and cleaning out the window tracks. Again, it was reasonably clean, which surprised me; I'm not an expert here, but it seems to me that the east/west facing windows have been significantly less dirty than the north/south facing ones. Also, the windows that face the neighbors' house are cleaner, and this particular window fit both criteria. There were no dog nose-prints, no dead spiders or frogs in the tracks, and even minimal outside dirt. Another happy surprise was that the blinds didn't need cleaning at all; Mini-me used to be in that room, and had pulled down her blinds a few months before. We bought new ones (more specifically, she did), and they have been closed and hidden behind light-blocking curtains ever since then.
The dirtiest place in the room ended up being the outside lower surface of the bedroom door. Years' worth of grimy fingerprints had definitely taken their toll, and it took a cloth with ACV, followed by a Lysol wipe, followed by a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, to clean the door to my satisfaction. After that chore, the dust that I wiped off the surface of the frame seemed like nothing.
Again, the furniture was relatively dust-free, and I am seeing a pattern in Baby Boy's room and the girls' room: they have less surface area and less clutter ON the surface area, so there's less dust. It was really quick to clean all his furniture -- like, less than five minutes. Hmm...maybe I should reduce display items in other areas of the house as well, if it's this easy to clean. On second thought, that would mean doing yet another purge of my books, and I don't think I've got the stomach for it...
I finished up by quickly wiping down the baseboards, which, again, were much cleaner than other baseboards in the house have been. I moved all the furniture to do a thorough vacuuming, used the hose attachment to get a few stubborn bugs in a corner, and was done with the entire project in less than an hour (about the time, incidentally, that Baby Boy decided he was tired of being alone and was ready for dinner).
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Our Nest
Weeks after I cleaned out my closet and scoured our bathroom, I was finally ready to return to finished cleaning the master bedroom. I mentioned before that this would probably be the case; I was much more likely to make the rest of the house presentable. After all, no one sees our little nest but My Love and I.
Action Plan:
1. Clean light fixture and fan blades
2. Clean doors and door frames
3. Clean windows
4. Dust furniture
5. Wipe down baseboards
6. Vacuum floor
I had been a bit reluctant to clean the fan blades because our fan is directly over the bed; I assumed that when I cleaned the blades, showers of dust were going to fall on our comforter and be impossible to remove. When I finally started the job, however, I was again pleasantly surprised at how reasonable the accumulated dust was. I certainly hadn't cleaned it in the past month, but definitely within the past year. A quick wipe with ACV and a trip through some soapy water for the bulbs, and the fixture was done.
When I started to clean the high areas of the room, like the tops of the door frames, Mini-me wandered in and asked to help. Since I was cleaning with ACV, I let her get a washcloth and start wiping down the baseboards for me. It wasn't a very thorough job, but it was certainly a start, and I appreciated that she wanted to be involved!
The door frames were no more or less dusty than I expected, but I again encountered dirty door surfaces. At toddler-level I found crayon marks, fingerprints, scuffs, and discolored flecks. After scrubbing at the particularly stubborn spots for a while, I reached for my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Apparently, though, part of the way it works is to actually remove a tiny layer of the paint...or something. Because I stopped scrubbing to discover several places where the stain was gone, but where I could also see the raw wood of the door peeking through the white paint. Oops. I put the scrubber away and hoped for the best when My Love came home; repainting is his department.
There was nothing more shocking in the windows than I found in any other part of the house; it's a little sad that it no longer surprises me to find a dead frog trapped between the panes of glass. The blinds were particularly dusty, but my current cleaning technique seems to be to buy a new set, so there was nothing to do about them at the moment.
Mini-me had done an admirable job with the baseboards, but her commitment to the job lasted about ten minutes (pretty good for a four-year-old), and I had to finish up for her.
Why is it that I vacuum the bedroom less than any other room in the house? Again, I suppose it's that no one knows except My Love and I. But every time I DO vacuum, I an so enamored of the results that I vow to do it more often. Maybe this time it will stick!
This room also had a special project, which has been in the works for over a week. I wanted to do a thorough cleaning of our queen-sized bed. I removed all the sheets, turned the mattress, sprayed it with a disinfectant (I still haven't tried the baking soda idea I found), washed all the sheets and the dust ruffle, and re-assembled. I was stumped on our down comforter, though. Apparently, they can be washed, but my washing machine was too small, and it seems like an all-day job that would take lots of quarters at a laundry mat. So I decided to splurge and have the thing professionally cleaned...until I discovered it would cost $40! At that point My Love assured me that the comforter was clean enough for his taste, so (after having no blanket on the bed for a week) I caved in and put it back on the bed. Today, my mother brought me a comforter that she and my dad no longer use, and I'm looking forward to updating our bedroom with it.
I'm really enjoying how pleasant it is to have a clean, sweet-smelling bedroom (not that it usually stinks; it just SMELLS clean now!); I wonder how I can make it a priority for the future?
Action Plan:
1. Clean light fixture and fan blades
2. Clean doors and door frames
3. Clean windows
4. Dust furniture
5. Wipe down baseboards
6. Vacuum floor
I had been a bit reluctant to clean the fan blades because our fan is directly over the bed; I assumed that when I cleaned the blades, showers of dust were going to fall on our comforter and be impossible to remove. When I finally started the job, however, I was again pleasantly surprised at how reasonable the accumulated dust was. I certainly hadn't cleaned it in the past month, but definitely within the past year. A quick wipe with ACV and a trip through some soapy water for the bulbs, and the fixture was done.
When I started to clean the high areas of the room, like the tops of the door frames, Mini-me wandered in and asked to help. Since I was cleaning with ACV, I let her get a washcloth and start wiping down the baseboards for me. It wasn't a very thorough job, but it was certainly a start, and I appreciated that she wanted to be involved!
The door frames were no more or less dusty than I expected, but I again encountered dirty door surfaces. At toddler-level I found crayon marks, fingerprints, scuffs, and discolored flecks. After scrubbing at the particularly stubborn spots for a while, I reached for my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Apparently, though, part of the way it works is to actually remove a tiny layer of the paint...or something. Because I stopped scrubbing to discover several places where the stain was gone, but where I could also see the raw wood of the door peeking through the white paint. Oops. I put the scrubber away and hoped for the best when My Love came home; repainting is his department.
There was nothing more shocking in the windows than I found in any other part of the house; it's a little sad that it no longer surprises me to find a dead frog trapped between the panes of glass. The blinds were particularly dusty, but my current cleaning technique seems to be to buy a new set, so there was nothing to do about them at the moment.
Mini-me had done an admirable job with the baseboards, but her commitment to the job lasted about ten minutes (pretty good for a four-year-old), and I had to finish up for her.
Why is it that I vacuum the bedroom less than any other room in the house? Again, I suppose it's that no one knows except My Love and I. But every time I DO vacuum, I an so enamored of the results that I vow to do it more often. Maybe this time it will stick!
This room also had a special project, which has been in the works for over a week. I wanted to do a thorough cleaning of our queen-sized bed. I removed all the sheets, turned the mattress, sprayed it with a disinfectant (I still haven't tried the baking soda idea I found), washed all the sheets and the dust ruffle, and re-assembled. I was stumped on our down comforter, though. Apparently, they can be washed, but my washing machine was too small, and it seems like an all-day job that would take lots of quarters at a laundry mat. So I decided to splurge and have the thing professionally cleaned...until I discovered it would cost $40! At that point My Love assured me that the comforter was clean enough for his taste, so (after having no blanket on the bed for a week) I caved in and put it back on the bed. Today, my mother brought me a comforter that she and my dad no longer use, and I'm looking forward to updating our bedroom with it.
I'm really enjoying how pleasant it is to have a clean, sweet-smelling bedroom (not that it usually stinks; it just SMELLS clean now!); I wonder how I can make it a priority for the future?
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
My apologies
If anyone other than immediate family has used our "guest" (front) bathroom within the past month...I owe you a sincere apology.
I had no idea there was a spider living behind the door, subsisting quite comfortably on the fat crop of bugs in his web. (We're working on getting Mini-me to close the door when she uses the bathroom, so he'd had complete privacy for a while.)
It's news to me that, if you don't wash the storage bag for the bath toys, it will leave a soap scum silhouette on the bathtub wall. (Duly noted; this is a new monthly chore!)
Who'd have guessed that Cuddles enjoys chewing on toothbrushes, and that there were three half-digested toothbrushes stored under the sink on top of the stack of fresh towels? (In the future, they will be stored in a secure location.)
In short...this bathroom needed a lot of attention, and it finally got it tonight after the kiddos went to sleep.
Action Plan:
1. Clean light fixture
2. Clean mirror
3. Clean sink
4. Clean toilet
5. Clean tub
6. Wash all bath toys, rugs, and towels
7. Wipe down baseboards and mop floor
The light fixture was the same kind as the one in the master bath, but smaller, so I made short work of that. After cleaning and re-installing the bulbs and shining the mirror behind them, the light in the bathroom was almost blinding. The bathroom is painted bright orange -- the kids love it! -- and it was sort of like working in a giant highlighter.
Cleaning the sink was no special chore, but I did take a moment to marvel at the amount of pink toothpaste two small girls can manage to affix to a bathroom sink.
It was when I started tackling the toilet that I noticed the full extent of the bathroom's need for attention. The toilet itself wasn't bad; I take pride in cleaning out the bowl and the surface about once a week. However, the floor around it was in rough shape. Here's the thing: the wasted space in the master bath seems to have appeared at the cost of space in the front bath, and it's a tight little room. There's not really room to mop or sweep, so...I just let it go. I'll be brutally honest when I say I can't remember the last time I mopped this bathroom. On the floor and in the corners around the toilet were dust, dog hair, toothpaste drops, dead bugs, tiny rubber bands, toddler hair, sand...the list goes on. Honestly, I was so appalled at my lack of effort in keeping the floor at least moderately clean that I scrubbed it with renewed vigor on my hands and knees. I made three passes: once with ammonia while cleaning the toilet, once with apple cider vinegar, and once with a Lysol wipe for good measure. By golly, that floor sparkled when I was done with it!
I took a break from the floor to address the bathtub. It wasn't horrendously dirty, but it's easy to skip cleaning the tub: if company's coming, I just pull the curtain and save it for later. That said, the scrubbing bubbles did their job well, and after a quick wipe-down (and removal of all toys for a run through the dishwasher) I felt content with my results.
On that note, though, I have a verdict on the scrubbing bubbles: they work, and I'll finish using the can, but I doubt I'll buy any more. After yet another evening enduring a headache caused by the fumes from cleaning, I don't think it's worth it, and I do feel a bit "safer" breathing in vinegar rather than unidentified chemical fumes.
My last task was to wipe out the crevices above and on the door, just as I have in the rest of the house. It was while I was doing that, though, that I happened to glance down and notice the fingerprints and smudges at the three-foot mark. Thinking back to yesterday's experience in the laundry room, I guess I've learned yet another lesson: to get the house really, really clean I need to examine it from the level of a four-year-old. When I knelt down to clean the smudges, I noticed a pretty consistent ring of them around the hallway, which also happens to be one of very few unpainted areas in the house. Another item to add to My Love's to-do list? Or maybe a "vacation" while the kids stay with their grandparents and we spent the weekend painting. It sounds romantic...
I had no idea there was a spider living behind the door, subsisting quite comfortably on the fat crop of bugs in his web. (We're working on getting Mini-me to close the door when she uses the bathroom, so he'd had complete privacy for a while.)
It's news to me that, if you don't wash the storage bag for the bath toys, it will leave a soap scum silhouette on the bathtub wall. (Duly noted; this is a new monthly chore!)
Who'd have guessed that Cuddles enjoys chewing on toothbrushes, and that there were three half-digested toothbrushes stored under the sink on top of the stack of fresh towels? (In the future, they will be stored in a secure location.)
In short...this bathroom needed a lot of attention, and it finally got it tonight after the kiddos went to sleep.
Action Plan:
1. Clean light fixture
2. Clean mirror
3. Clean sink
4. Clean toilet
5. Clean tub
6. Wash all bath toys, rugs, and towels
7. Wipe down baseboards and mop floor
The light fixture was the same kind as the one in the master bath, but smaller, so I made short work of that. After cleaning and re-installing the bulbs and shining the mirror behind them, the light in the bathroom was almost blinding. The bathroom is painted bright orange -- the kids love it! -- and it was sort of like working in a giant highlighter.
Cleaning the sink was no special chore, but I did take a moment to marvel at the amount of pink toothpaste two small girls can manage to affix to a bathroom sink.
It was when I started tackling the toilet that I noticed the full extent of the bathroom's need for attention. The toilet itself wasn't bad; I take pride in cleaning out the bowl and the surface about once a week. However, the floor around it was in rough shape. Here's the thing: the wasted space in the master bath seems to have appeared at the cost of space in the front bath, and it's a tight little room. There's not really room to mop or sweep, so...I just let it go. I'll be brutally honest when I say I can't remember the last time I mopped this bathroom. On the floor and in the corners around the toilet were dust, dog hair, toothpaste drops, dead bugs, tiny rubber bands, toddler hair, sand...the list goes on. Honestly, I was so appalled at my lack of effort in keeping the floor at least moderately clean that I scrubbed it with renewed vigor on my hands and knees. I made three passes: once with ammonia while cleaning the toilet, once with apple cider vinegar, and once with a Lysol wipe for good measure. By golly, that floor sparkled when I was done with it!
I took a break from the floor to address the bathtub. It wasn't horrendously dirty, but it's easy to skip cleaning the tub: if company's coming, I just pull the curtain and save it for later. That said, the scrubbing bubbles did their job well, and after a quick wipe-down (and removal of all toys for a run through the dishwasher) I felt content with my results.
On that note, though, I have a verdict on the scrubbing bubbles: they work, and I'll finish using the can, but I doubt I'll buy any more. After yet another evening enduring a headache caused by the fumes from cleaning, I don't think it's worth it, and I do feel a bit "safer" breathing in vinegar rather than unidentified chemical fumes.
My last task was to wipe out the crevices above and on the door, just as I have in the rest of the house. It was while I was doing that, though, that I happened to glance down and notice the fingerprints and smudges at the three-foot mark. Thinking back to yesterday's experience in the laundry room, I guess I've learned yet another lesson: to get the house really, really clean I need to examine it from the level of a four-year-old. When I knelt down to clean the smudges, I noticed a pretty consistent ring of them around the hallway, which also happens to be one of very few unpainted areas in the house. Another item to add to My Love's to-do list? Or maybe a "vacation" while the kids stay with their grandparents and we spent the weekend painting. It sounds romantic...
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Master Bath: Part A
Our master bathroom is much bigger than is really necessary. Don't take that as a complaint; it just seems to sort of spread in all directions, meaning both that there is plenty of elbow room when My Love and I are both trying to get ready in the morning AND that it took me two days of work to clean it.
We have a double sink, a stand-up shower and large garden tub, a small area that we use like a closet (with no door), and, of course, the toilet. Basically, I divided the bathroom in half and cleaned the east-facing wall on day one and the west-facing wall on day two.
Day 1 Action Plan:
1. Clean light fixture
2. Clean sinks, mirror, and counter tops
3. Clean out under sinks and in drawers and wipe down cabinet and drawer fronts
4. Clean toilet
5. Wipe down all exposed surfaces (toilet paper holder, towel rack)
I don't think I ever noticed the wide assortment of light fixtures in our house until I started on my cleaning spree. Really, it's kind of entertaining to examine each one and figure out how to remove each piece of it. The one in the master bath was particularly engaging. It was a long, think mirror with eight exposed light bulbs on it. Each had to be removed, wiped with ACV, and then replaced. The mirror itself needed cleaning with Windex, but it was difficult to clean around the light sockets. The process took a while, because I had to wait until the bulbs were cool to start; then, I had to wait until they were dry again to re-install them. (I had visions of electrocuting myself with a damp lightbulb...yet another occupational hazard that might pop up during housekeeping.) Also, the edges of the mirror were sharp; My Love had cut his finger once while installing a light bulb a few years ago. Despite the trouble, I got the instant gratification I needed to feel like it was a job well done. The bulbs seemed to have black, burnt spots on them; as it turned out, it was just flambeed dust. Once the dust was removed and the mirror was shined, the bathroom was noticeably brighter.
Cleaning the mirror over our sink is nothing exceptional, except that it's huge. I remember an old Windex commercial; the woman in it said something like, "The more you need to clean, the faster you have to clean." I think she was trying to demonstrate how runny the off-brand was as opposed to the Windex brand, which actually coated the glass surface and didn't run. Well, I AM using generic Windex, and it DOES run all over the mirror as soon as I spray it on. The top of the mirror ends up dry, while liquid puddles along the bottom edge. It eventually gets cleaned, though, and I'm not using any techniques that are different than what my mama taught me, so it's not much to complain about.
Funny story: My Love and I have been married six years this month. For a (very creative) wedding gift, some friends of ours gave us a little plastic tote full of cleaning products. In hindsight, it was inexpensive and useful; I also think it's interesting that I remember exactly who gave it to us, while I have no idea who gave us our toaster or bath towels. Anyway, in that plastic box was an aerosol can of scrubbing-bubbles-type cleaning product. I've never used this type of thing before; I've always been a Comet girl, followed by the spray version after it came out, so this scrubbing bubble can has sat in our laundry room (and the laundry room of our previous home) for years. When I inventoried my cleaning supplies before beginning this endeavor, I found it again, and I figured it really needed to be put to use. The bathroom sinks and countertop were the first thing I used it on, and I was really impressed. This stuff is POWERFUL. I sprayed it on, and literally just had to wipe away the bubbles after a few minutes to reveal a sparkling clean surface. Spoiler: I also used it on our shower, and it worked like a charm there as well. The only drawback I discovered is that it also had a nearly overwhelming smell. Our bathroom is a closed-in space, and the countertops take up a large part of it. I found that I had to spray, then leave the room for a few minutes, then come back to wipe down the surfaces, then leave again while the smell dissipated. I also ended up with a headache, so I had to take another break at the halfway point of Day 1.
I got a great deal of satisfaction out of organizing and purging the drawers and cabinets under the sink. As I mentioned when I cleaned my closet, I'm a very structured, order-loving person, and it was edifying to see neat rows of makeup, hair products, and eyeglass cases. I also threw away a lot of things that were expired. The two biggest culprits for hanging around indefinitely were makeup and sunscreen, both of which, I learned, should technically be replaced every 12 months or so.
About the time I moved to clean the toilet, Mini-me showed up and asked to help. She really has perfect timing; I gave her a Lysol wipe and let her wipe off the fronts of the drawers and cabinets for me.
The last step in today's process was to clean our toilet. Cleaning toilets is one of those tasks that doesn't really bother me. Truth be told, I'd rather clean a toilet than fold laundry any day. Also, when a toilet starts to look visibly dirty, I feel like it's a decent thermometer to indicate that the rest of the bathroom is likely dirty too, so I clean the toilet more often than the rest of the house. I'm a pretty faithful user of Clorox cling or Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, whichever happens to be cheaper; they both do the job.
A quick dusting of the toilet paper roller, the toilet paper holder, and the towel rack, and 50% of my bathroom sparkled; it also smelled clean enough to make up for the other half!
We have a double sink, a stand-up shower and large garden tub, a small area that we use like a closet (with no door), and, of course, the toilet. Basically, I divided the bathroom in half and cleaned the east-facing wall on day one and the west-facing wall on day two.
Day 1 Action Plan:
1. Clean light fixture
2. Clean sinks, mirror, and counter tops
3. Clean out under sinks and in drawers and wipe down cabinet and drawer fronts
4. Clean toilet
5. Wipe down all exposed surfaces (toilet paper holder, towel rack)
I don't think I ever noticed the wide assortment of light fixtures in our house until I started on my cleaning spree. Really, it's kind of entertaining to examine each one and figure out how to remove each piece of it. The one in the master bath was particularly engaging. It was a long, think mirror with eight exposed light bulbs on it. Each had to be removed, wiped with ACV, and then replaced. The mirror itself needed cleaning with Windex, but it was difficult to clean around the light sockets. The process took a while, because I had to wait until the bulbs were cool to start; then, I had to wait until they were dry again to re-install them. (I had visions of electrocuting myself with a damp lightbulb...yet another occupational hazard that might pop up during housekeeping.) Also, the edges of the mirror were sharp; My Love had cut his finger once while installing a light bulb a few years ago. Despite the trouble, I got the instant gratification I needed to feel like it was a job well done. The bulbs seemed to have black, burnt spots on them; as it turned out, it was just flambeed dust. Once the dust was removed and the mirror was shined, the bathroom was noticeably brighter.
Cleaning the mirror over our sink is nothing exceptional, except that it's huge. I remember an old Windex commercial; the woman in it said something like, "The more you need to clean, the faster you have to clean." I think she was trying to demonstrate how runny the off-brand was as opposed to the Windex brand, which actually coated the glass surface and didn't run. Well, I AM using generic Windex, and it DOES run all over the mirror as soon as I spray it on. The top of the mirror ends up dry, while liquid puddles along the bottom edge. It eventually gets cleaned, though, and I'm not using any techniques that are different than what my mama taught me, so it's not much to complain about.
Funny story: My Love and I have been married six years this month. For a (very creative) wedding gift, some friends of ours gave us a little plastic tote full of cleaning products. In hindsight, it was inexpensive and useful; I also think it's interesting that I remember exactly who gave it to us, while I have no idea who gave us our toaster or bath towels. Anyway, in that plastic box was an aerosol can of scrubbing-bubbles-type cleaning product. I've never used this type of thing before; I've always been a Comet girl, followed by the spray version after it came out, so this scrubbing bubble can has sat in our laundry room (and the laundry room of our previous home) for years. When I inventoried my cleaning supplies before beginning this endeavor, I found it again, and I figured it really needed to be put to use. The bathroom sinks and countertop were the first thing I used it on, and I was really impressed. This stuff is POWERFUL. I sprayed it on, and literally just had to wipe away the bubbles after a few minutes to reveal a sparkling clean surface. Spoiler: I also used it on our shower, and it worked like a charm there as well. The only drawback I discovered is that it also had a nearly overwhelming smell. Our bathroom is a closed-in space, and the countertops take up a large part of it. I found that I had to spray, then leave the room for a few minutes, then come back to wipe down the surfaces, then leave again while the smell dissipated. I also ended up with a headache, so I had to take another break at the halfway point of Day 1.
I got a great deal of satisfaction out of organizing and purging the drawers and cabinets under the sink. As I mentioned when I cleaned my closet, I'm a very structured, order-loving person, and it was edifying to see neat rows of makeup, hair products, and eyeglass cases. I also threw away a lot of things that were expired. The two biggest culprits for hanging around indefinitely were makeup and sunscreen, both of which, I learned, should technically be replaced every 12 months or so.
About the time I moved to clean the toilet, Mini-me showed up and asked to help. She really has perfect timing; I gave her a Lysol wipe and let her wipe off the fronts of the drawers and cabinets for me.
The last step in today's process was to clean our toilet. Cleaning toilets is one of those tasks that doesn't really bother me. Truth be told, I'd rather clean a toilet than fold laundry any day. Also, when a toilet starts to look visibly dirty, I feel like it's a decent thermometer to indicate that the rest of the bathroom is likely dirty too, so I clean the toilet more often than the rest of the house. I'm a pretty faithful user of Clorox cling or Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, whichever happens to be cheaper; they both do the job.
A quick dusting of the toilet paper roller, the toilet paper holder, and the towel rack, and 50% of my bathroom sparkled; it also smelled clean enough to make up for the other half!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Can you get carpal tunnel syndrome from overuse of a sponge?
Day 1: Eat-in kitchen
To say that our house has a "breakfast nook" makes it seem much larger and more sophisticated than it really is. When I think of a breakfast nook, I imagine a gazebo-like outcropping of a fifty-year-old home, likely with a window seat, looking out into an immaculate backyard flower garden. Our home is not fifty years old and has no gazebo, window seat, or flower garden. What we DO have is a large kitchen with a bar across the middle of it. On the far side of the bar we have our everyday table and chairs (for my husband, my girls, and myself) and a well-used high chair (for Baby Boy).
I hope I'm not alone in saying that this particular portion of our home is always dirty. Always. Almost without exception. I could sweep it every day (at times I have, actually) and still find unidentifiable crumbs on the floor a short hour later. The sides of the table where the girls sit are sort of permanently encrusted with a combination of peanut butter, pancake syrup, and goldfish crumbs. The Beast does her part at cleaning up large table scraps, but her attentions can't begin to make up for a thorough cleaning.
The Action Plan:
- Take down and wash curtains.
- Clean blinds.
- Wash windows.
- Remove and wash window screens.
- Dust wall art and wine rack.
- Scour clean booster seat and high chair (washing covers as appropriate).
- Clean chairs and table, then polish.
- Empty baker's rack, thoroughly wipe surfaces and drawers, and reorganize contents.
- Wipe floorboards.
- Sweep and mop.
That process took about five hours, with appropriate breaks in the middle for feeding the baby, changing diapers (on Cuddles AND Baby Boy), and fixing snacks and lunches. It wasn't as easy as I expected, and I was unpleasantly surprised at the amount of dirt I removed.
I performed the bulk of my cleaning with apple cider vinegar. A friend had told me that it was a good cleaning agent without the toxicity of ammonia, so I went with it. I had an enormous bottle that would have been appropriate for doing bicep curls; by the end of the morning, it was empty. As I wiped down an area and the water got too dirty, which was often, I'd dump it out and start fresh.
The tracks of the windows may have been the nastiest part of the entire room. Granted, they are sort of on the outside of the house, so what I was wiping up was literally dirt blown in from the back yard. Oh, and a few dead spiders and a small, desiccated frog. I was able to clean the window tracks easily enough, but I ran into a snag when I couldn't figure out how to remove the window screens. This site explained how to clean them, and it sounded pretty straightforward, but I will need to wait until I can get My Love to remove them later. I also cleaned the windows themselves the "traditional" way, with Windex (the generic brand, anyway). I found some advice about cleaning windows with a squeegee here. It sounded smart, but like a lot of work, so I skipped it. As it turns out, Windex really just seems to rearrange the streaks, so I may have to return to the squeegee method anyway.
I washed the curtains, and was appalled at the dust that came off. We hung the curtains (homemade by my mother-in-law) when we moved into the house four years ago. And they haven't come down since. Though they were dusty, it came off easily in the wash.
I also removed the window blinds and tried to give them a good cleaning, using several different methods which I'll detail in another post. Let's just say that it was a complete and utter failure.
Dusting of the light fixtures, wall art, and baker's rack were uneventful, quick, and easy. It's really amazing how much cleaner the room looked after cleaning just those items!
Cuddles's booster seat is perpetually dirty, and I had resigned myself to the face that it would always be that way. However, with diligent effort (and no instruction manual) I figured out how to remove and machine-wash the straps, then scrub the surface with apple cider vinegar followed by a Lysol wipe. It now looks brand-new!
The breakfast room table is significantly older than I am. We got the table when my grandfather passed away, and he's had it as long as I can remember. It's solid wood, but a bit rickety, and the stain has definitely seen better days. One of the most difficult aspects of the table is the drop leafs on each end. Unbeknownst to me, every spill and crumb that could manage it had worked its way into the crevices. When I dropped the leaves, I encountered "gunk" that I had to scrub off with the textured side of my well-used kitchen sponge.
Sweeping the floor didn't turn up anything more interesting than what a mom would find on her kitchen floor on a daily basis. After the sweeping, though, I bit the bullet. After hearing a friend tell me that she used to scrub her kitchen floor on her hands and knees every day (before she had kids, she admitted), I decided I needed to try it at least once in my life. I wiped down the baseboards with my trusty apple cider vinegar; according to this website it's something that should be done weekly. I'm not sure it's every been done. I understandably came up with a lot of dirt. Afterwards I scrubbed the floor with a sponge, hitting the sticky spots that I would normally miss with a mop. And I have to say, the kitchen floor almost sparkled.
I moved all the furniture and curtains back into their places and was proud. The house had that "clean" smell that I craved, and one room was as spic-and-span as I could hope to make it. Today went so well that I have the motivation to continue!
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