My Favorite Things

Remember when I said I was excited to go and buy a new broom?  I'm definitely one of those people who eagerly anticipates a change or upgrade to my daily routine, and a better broom fits into that category.  When I first started cleaning, I surveyed my cache of cleaning products with a bit of dissatisfaction.  I had a mop and broom that I had bought as cheaply as possible when we moved into the house, as well as a shelf full of mostly-empty bottles of cleaning products.  After a quick trip through Target, I am armed with an assortment of goodies that have helped me in my project these past few weeks.  Some of them are particularly great and warrant my valuable endorsement.

Libman Wonder Mop:  For years, I've used one of those large sponges on the end of a stick.  It didn't really fit into my mop bucket, was messy to wring, and always seemed to just smear the dirt around the floor.  My new version is fantastic; it has a handle that allows me to wring it without getting wet hands (and it was simple enough for Mini-me to use, actually).  It looks like an orange octopus that spreads out when it hits the floor, rather than simply rubbing in a single spot.  Also, the head is detachable and washable...genuis!  Cost:  about $10

Libman Large Precision Angle Broom:  My old broom was in sad shape and sported a family of dust bunnies living in its bent and stretched bristles.  The handle had also broken, and left me bending to reach the floor as I swept because I was too cheap to buy a new one.  Since I was buying a Libman mop, I figured I'd go all out and buy a Libman broom too.  I love it (as much as one can love a broom).  The bristles are stiff enough to sweep even tiny dirt particles off the floor, and the dust pan is angled so that they actually sweep into it, rather than getting trapped in a line as I sweep.  One side is angled, so I've been able to sweep easily under my cabinets and between the cabinets and refrigerator.  Cost:  about $10

Pledge:  I know that there are other dusting products, but this was a mainstay in my house when I was growing up, and I love the lemony scent and the way it makes my furniture shine.  Also, Pledge actually traps dust that I wipe, rather than simply allowing it to float around in the air.  Cost:  about $3

Lysol Wipes:  Is there anything that these wipes can't do?  I like that they are simple, portable, and not messy.  Since they are smaller than a cleaning cloth, they can also easily get into small nooks and crannies, like the corner of my vanity or the tiny ledges of cabinet doors.  Pair with a toothpick, and there's nowhere for dirt to hide!  Cost:  about $4

Apple cider vinegar:  I was iffy about using vinegar as a cleaning product, because I wasn't sure if it did any more than make surfaces look clean.  After some research, it appears that a 5% vinegar solution does, in fact, kill bacteria and mold.  That said, I prefer the smell of apple cider vinegar to basic white vinegar.  I have diluted it with water, then used it to clean anything that Pledge, Windex, or a Lysol wipe won't work for:  floors, door frames, window sills.  Cost:  about $3

Scott kitchen sponges:  My favorite sponges for washing dishes and cleaning countertops are the kind that are yellow and absorbent on one side and green and abrasive on the other.  They work well for caked-on food, and the same can be said for sticky spots on the floor or grime atop a kitchen cabinet.  Cost: about $3 for 2

Paper Towels:  I think I've used an entire roll since I started my endeavor on cleaning alone (not including standard kitchen messes).  Though I prefer to use a washable cloth when I can, these seem to work well for cleaning glass and windows.  That said, I have absolutely zero brand loyalty to paper towels.  Do some brands work better than other?  Absolutely; I especially like Bounty Select-a-Size.  However, paper towels are one of those items that can break a week's grocery budget, so I have set the rule that I will not pay more than $1 per roll for them.  There are times I can get Bounty for that much, with a sale and a coupon; if not, the Wal-Mart store brand is good enough for me.  Cost:  $1

Gerber flat cloth diapers:  I had several of these laying around from when Mini-me was an infant and I was experimenting with using them as burp cloths.  As it turns out, they are soft and absorbent and perfect for cleaning.  I've used them for even delicate surfaces, including our TV screen and the exposed light bulbs over our bathroom counter.  I have some old washcloths and towels too, but the diapers are hands-down my favorite cleaning rag.  Cost: about $8 for a dozen

I definitely have used an assortment of other products as well; however, they aren't as consistently used and don't exactly wow me.  I'd say that this is the list I can't live without!

Living room

Day 3:  The Living Room

Our house has what's called an open floor plan.  I'm not entirely sure what that means in architectural terms, but it appears to mean that the common areas -- living room, dining room, and kitchen -- are all basically segments of a single, large room.  It makes our house look bigger, but it also made decorating a bit of a pain.  It also means that my first few days' effort at cleaning the largest part of our house required me to tackle a different portion of the same room each day.

The living room is longer than it is wide, so we have partitioned it off with a couch and a book case.  One side is considered the actual living room, and the other side is our office/play area.  Today, I tackled the living room itself.

Here's the action plan:

1.  Take down and wash curtains

2.  Attempt to clean the blinds AGAIN

3.  Wash insides of windows and window tracks

4.  Clean fan and light fixture

5.  Clean fireplace

6.  Dust all furniture

7.  Vacuum floor

8.  Steam clean carpet

After cleaning the breakfast nook on my first day of work, I knew what to expect with the windows.  When I removed the curtains, I encountered dust and cobwebs.  That didn't particularly please me, but I also wasn't surprised.  A quick trip through the washing machine ended up taking care of the curtains, but I still have yet to find a successful way to clean the blinds.  I earnestly tried to wipe each individual blind piece down with a cloth, but they still didn't come clean.  My Love says that this size blinds cost $5.95 at Lowe's; there may be a few new sets in our future.

Cleaning the fan and lights was an uneventful task except that I was unable to hide the fact that I was climbing something from the kids.  Mini-me stood at the base of the chair and kept up a running dialogue: "Mama, what are you doing?"

"I'm cleaning, sweetie."

"What are you cleaning?"

"I'm cleaning the lights and the fan."

"Oh...how did they get dirty?"

"They just did.  They got dusty, and I need to get the dust off."

"Oh...can I help?"

"No, honey, you're too short."

"But I can climb up on a chair like you and reach them."

"Sweetie, you'd need a bigger chair than this one to be able to reach the lights."

"Well, you could go buy me one."

Eventually, I set she and Cuddles down at the dining room table with some play dough that they had found in an Easter egg hunt at their grandparents' house over the weekend.  They were content to make "crackers", "pancakes", and "pretzels" for the next half hour (at which point, obviously, it was time for lunch).

The "most dirty place in the room" award goes to our fireplace.  I found that incredibly interesting, since it hasn't been used since we moved into the house over four years ago.  It doesn't really get cold enough to need fires around here, and we also don't want to worry with cleaning up ashes or keeping little fingers out of the grate.  I figured I might find some dust in the fireplace, but no real dirt.  Oh, was I wrong!   To begin, I removed a decorative candle stand that we keep in there to keep it from looking stark.  The top few coils were laced with spider webs covered in dust.  As a side note, I abhor spiders.  They make me scream and run the other direction.  I almost stopped cleaning right then, but the fact that the webs were dusty led me to believe that the spider had likely already met his or her demise.  I was correct; I later discovered his/her body underneath a candle that had been lit at Valentine's Day.  As to the task at hand:  I wiped down the candle stand with ACV, which was equally effective at removing dust, spider webs, and ash.  I then wiped down the inside of the fireplace itself.  To my surprise, our flue was open (and I have no idea how it got that way).  I closed the flue, and when I did, a shower of ash fell into the fireplace.  It was actually quite a chore to wipe it all out; when ash gets wet, it simply makes gray and black streaks, so I went through multiple cleaning rags and bowls of ACV in order to get it clean.  My last fireplace task was to dust our screen.  This proved to be the most difficult thing I've done yet other than cleaning the blinds.  Dust particles clung to the mesh screen when I wiped them with the ACV.  I ended up brushing the screen vigorously ("Mama, why are you hitting that?") to dislodge the dust.  That just made the dust float in the air, but I was hoping that whatever surface it landed on would be easier to clean.

A quick pass over the furniture with Pledge and a rag, and I was ready to vacuum.  Yes, again...the Beast had left a trail of dog food crumbs from her bowl to the couch, and the floor looked just as dirty as it had before I vacuumed yesterday.  There was no help from the kids today, as they were busy with peanut-butter-and-local-honey sandwiches (which they would rather than than just about anything else I could make).  And then I paused; in a strange twist of events, steam cleaning the carpets has become My Love's job.  (The one time I tried I left puddles in the carpet.)

It was really pleasant for me to discover that most of the house isn't going to be as dirty as the kitchen was; dusting and vacuuming are chores I actually keep up with pretty consistently, and I'm hopping it will pay off as I work toward having the entire house cleaned at one time.

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:

1. Take down and wash curtains.
2. Clean blinds.
3. Wash windows.
4. Remove and wash window screens.
5. Dust wall art and wine rack.
6. Scour clean booster seat and high chair (washing covers as appropriate).
7. Clean chairs and table, then polish.
8. Empty baker's rack, thoroughly wipe surfaces and drawers, and reorganize contents.
9. Wipe floorboards.
10. 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!