It has been more than a year since I cleaned my area rugs as posted in this article. These rugs never smelled from the ammonia of the pet urine since I cleaned them. I'm so pleased.
I didn't get around to doing it last summer but beginning this summer I am going to take all of my large area rugs and simply wash them outside with cold water from the hose. The plan is to use no soap of any kind and simply "rinse" the dirt away. Then it will take a few days for them to dry hanging over the deck rail. Note to self: check the weather forecast before I do this.
Water does the job quite well and is better for the fibers of the rug and for our health also It just goes to show that sometimes a conservative way of cleaning is much better than using a lot of chemicals. I had to use the store bought cleaner to get the urine smell out, but from now on it is going to be water.
Showing posts with label Cleaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cleaning. Show all posts
February 02, 2014
January 19, 2014
Stretching Dishwasher Detergent
I have a
dishwasher. I didn’t grow up with a
dishwasher nor air conditioning but I find it kind of funny how my parents got
both after I was grown and married.
Maybe it was because my sister and I helped with the dishes and air conditioning
was something that most people in our community didn’t have when I was growing
up.
I do love my dishwasher
for one reason – it tidies up the kitchen pretty quick. I may have a lot of dishes to clean, but
putting them in the dishwasher gets them off the counter and out of the sink
and makes the kitchen look better.
However, if a dishwasher didn’t’ come with the house, I probably
wouldn’t own one.
Dishwasher detergent
can get pretty expensive. I tried store
brands and I tried the homemade recipes.
The store brands worked fine but
was still kind of pricey. The homemade
recipes made my dishes look cloudy and this version didn’t clean them as well.
My solution: combining the name brand with the homemade
version. About every 6 weeks Cascade or
another name brand dishwasher detergent goes on sale for $3.99 for a 75 oz. box
of powder or 75 oz. bottle of the gel version.
I usually have a coupon that I
can use. I can get the store brand for
about $3.00 for the same amount. I have
been mixing the name brand with the store brand to extend it, but lately I have
been mixing a homemade version with the store brand or name brand and I like it
much better.
Here is my version of
Dishwasher Detergent
1 - 75 oz. box of
Dishwasher Detergent (Name brand or store brand, whatever you prefer)
1 cup salt
2 cups of Borax
2 cups of Baking Soda
Mix the above
ingredients together and keep in an airtight container. I use an old ice cream bucket or you could
use two old plastic coffee containers.
I am a believer in
finding the least amount of product to get the same results as using the
recommended amount. I use 1 tablespoon of this mixture in my
dishwasher and I use white vinegar as a rinse agent.
I have seen a recipe on
the internet that includes the salt, borax and baking soda along with a cup of
“Lemi Shine.” The problem is that the
Lemi Shine is over $3.00 for a small container so I felt it wasn’t worth the
price. The cost would exceed the reason
for making my own homemade version of dishwasher detergent.
Once a month I run a
cup of bleach through the dishwasher WITHOUT any dishes in it to clean it
out. I also take a old toothbrush to
clean out the dirt and grime that can accumulate between the door and the seal
of the dishwasher. Baking soda and the
toothbrush works really great.
The result: a cheap version of dishwasher detergent that
does a great job of cleaning my dishes and keeping them spot free AND an
equally cheap version of dishwasher cleaner.
November 06, 2013
On Grandmothering and Keeping House
Posting can be a challenge when you care for an 8 month old 4 days a week. I remember caring for a baby was a lot easier when I was in my 20's than in my 50's.
I have spent this past week catching up on housework. It is hard sometimes to clean my house as I start to make a list of all the things that need to be repaired, painted or replaced and I tend to get side tracked. I think I will start to call myself "building manager."
On Saturday it took me 6 hours to deep clean my living room, entryway, hallway and dining room. Our old house has the original old narrow wooden floors. They aren't sealed. The previous owners put in an in house vacuum system so I use it to vacuum the hard wood floors, but with a dog those floors quickly look furry after a couple of days. So, it was time to not only vacuum but to get down on the floor and clean them.
My mom used to spray her dust mop with a light spritz of soapy water. Then she would dust mop the floor and the dust would cling to the mop. Again, it was a light spritz and she didn't soak the mop. On Saturday I took a cloth and spritzed it with a mist of water and cleaned the baseboards and did the same to my hard wood floors. In a couple of weeks when I have more time I will mop the floors with Murphy's wood oil soap. I also used a separate cloth spritzed with soapy water to wipe down my old upright piano (that I painted a shiny black a few years back).
Dusting, mopping, vacuuming area rugs and working on the hard wood floors, cleaning cob webs off the ceiling and putting clutter away and taking trash out wore me out. But the result was that after 6 hours I had 4 thoroughly clean areas in my down stairs. These rooms are the ones that are most visible from the front door.
Today I vacuumed again (that darn dog fur) and deep cleaned the downstairs bathroom. I don't watch my grandson on Wednesdays, as I need a day off. Tomorrow I can straighten up the den and downstairs bedroom. This is easily done with Ryan playing in the room that I am quickly working on. On Friday my son and his wife have the day off so Ryan won't be at my house and I will spend the day deep cleaning my kitchen.
The end result is that by Friday evening my entire downstairs will have been deep cleaned within a period of one week. Then the challenge will be to keep it up, which I should be able to do by devoting an hour a day to cleaning.
When Ryan is at my house I do a little housework, mostly laundry and some pick up. I can't do much with a little guy crawling around and I find that my day is spent caring for him, playing with him and catching moments of housework when he is napping.
This weekend I plan to tackle the upstairs but I know that it will take two weekends to clean out closets and deep clean. I find that once things are in good order, I want to maintain that order no matter what. It's just getting there and once you do get there, you feel like the queen of your home.
Which brings me to grand mothering. As I stated I watch Ryan Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week. He arrives at 6:30 a.m. and goes home when my son is done teaching for the day. This depends on students staying after school for help, which I think is an awesome thing that he does. So Ryan could be at my house until 4:30 some nights.
I am finding that I am not the normal grandmother. Most grandmothers do not watch their grandchildren as I do. One person told me that no way would she ever be doing what I am doing as she had already raised her children. It's not for everyone and I understand it. However, I am a bit old fashioned and I feel that families need to support each other as much as possible. I also like the idea of Ryan being watched by family members as much as possible.
Childcare is expensive but that is not my primary motivation to watch Ryan. I want Ryan to grow up knowing that he is loved not only by his parents, but by extended family. I also want my son and his wife to have the kind of support that my husband and I never had.
When we were raising our two sons, we did not have parents to help us out. My parents lived in New York and my husband's parents at one time were living in California. Family lived far away and we only had each other. We never had the luxury of grandparents caring for our children a day a week or even when we wanted to go to a movie. We were used to it as it was our normal, but it was difficult many times.
Yes I don't get a lot done many times when I am watching Ryan but I wouldn't trade the time I spend with him. I know that I am helping to raise a confident and happy little boy and when it comes down to it, that is the most important thing I can do right now.
One other thing about grandmothering, when I am caring for Ryan I know my role as his grandmother. If I think he is getting sick, I text his mother about this and let her make the decision if she needs to make a doctor's appointment or if he needs some Tylenol, I know my place. I am on the support team; my son and his wife are the parents and Ryan's primary care givers.
The only way for grandmothering to work is to recognize that you know your place. You have raised your children, but when you become a grandmother you get a second chance to have a powerful impact on a little baby's life.
I have spent this past week catching up on housework. It is hard sometimes to clean my house as I start to make a list of all the things that need to be repaired, painted or replaced and I tend to get side tracked. I think I will start to call myself "building manager."
On Saturday it took me 6 hours to deep clean my living room, entryway, hallway and dining room. Our old house has the original old narrow wooden floors. They aren't sealed. The previous owners put in an in house vacuum system so I use it to vacuum the hard wood floors, but with a dog those floors quickly look furry after a couple of days. So, it was time to not only vacuum but to get down on the floor and clean them.
My mom used to spray her dust mop with a light spritz of soapy water. Then she would dust mop the floor and the dust would cling to the mop. Again, it was a light spritz and she didn't soak the mop. On Saturday I took a cloth and spritzed it with a mist of water and cleaned the baseboards and did the same to my hard wood floors. In a couple of weeks when I have more time I will mop the floors with Murphy's wood oil soap. I also used a separate cloth spritzed with soapy water to wipe down my old upright piano (that I painted a shiny black a few years back).
Dusting, mopping, vacuuming area rugs and working on the hard wood floors, cleaning cob webs off the ceiling and putting clutter away and taking trash out wore me out. But the result was that after 6 hours I had 4 thoroughly clean areas in my down stairs. These rooms are the ones that are most visible from the front door.
Today I vacuumed again (that darn dog fur) and deep cleaned the downstairs bathroom. I don't watch my grandson on Wednesdays, as I need a day off. Tomorrow I can straighten up the den and downstairs bedroom. This is easily done with Ryan playing in the room that I am quickly working on. On Friday my son and his wife have the day off so Ryan won't be at my house and I will spend the day deep cleaning my kitchen.
The end result is that by Friday evening my entire downstairs will have been deep cleaned within a period of one week. Then the challenge will be to keep it up, which I should be able to do by devoting an hour a day to cleaning.
When Ryan is at my house I do a little housework, mostly laundry and some pick up. I can't do much with a little guy crawling around and I find that my day is spent caring for him, playing with him and catching moments of housework when he is napping.
This weekend I plan to tackle the upstairs but I know that it will take two weekends to clean out closets and deep clean. I find that once things are in good order, I want to maintain that order no matter what. It's just getting there and once you do get there, you feel like the queen of your home.
Which brings me to grand mothering. As I stated I watch Ryan Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week. He arrives at 6:30 a.m. and goes home when my son is done teaching for the day. This depends on students staying after school for help, which I think is an awesome thing that he does. So Ryan could be at my house until 4:30 some nights.
I am finding that I am not the normal grandmother. Most grandmothers do not watch their grandchildren as I do. One person told me that no way would she ever be doing what I am doing as she had already raised her children. It's not for everyone and I understand it. However, I am a bit old fashioned and I feel that families need to support each other as much as possible. I also like the idea of Ryan being watched by family members as much as possible.
Childcare is expensive but that is not my primary motivation to watch Ryan. I want Ryan to grow up knowing that he is loved not only by his parents, but by extended family. I also want my son and his wife to have the kind of support that my husband and I never had.
When we were raising our two sons, we did not have parents to help us out. My parents lived in New York and my husband's parents at one time were living in California. Family lived far away and we only had each other. We never had the luxury of grandparents caring for our children a day a week or even when we wanted to go to a movie. We were used to it as it was our normal, but it was difficult many times.
Yes I don't get a lot done many times when I am watching Ryan but I wouldn't trade the time I spend with him. I know that I am helping to raise a confident and happy little boy and when it comes down to it, that is the most important thing I can do right now.
One other thing about grandmothering, when I am caring for Ryan I know my role as his grandmother. If I think he is getting sick, I text his mother about this and let her make the decision if she needs to make a doctor's appointment or if he needs some Tylenol, I know my place. I am on the support team; my son and his wife are the parents and Ryan's primary care givers.
The only way for grandmothering to work is to recognize that you know your place. You have raised your children, but when you become a grandmother you get a second chance to have a powerful impact on a little baby's life.
March 20, 2013
Why I Love Original Blue Dawn Dish Soap
Original Blue Dawn Dish Soap is a major cleaning staple at my house. I use it to get set in grease stains out of clothing, in my recipe for all purpose cleaner and recently I found it removes set it stains in carpet.
My husband and I teach an adult Sunday School class at our church and the room that we use has light blue carpet. Since we have taught this class there has always been this dark, almost black stain on the carpet - about the size of a large coffee can. Every now and then somebody makes a comment about it so last week I took a bottle of Dawn Dish soap to the church in hopes that I would at least get most of the stain out. Wrong!!! It totally removed this stain. All I did was squirt some Dawn soap on the stain and work it in with a clean wet rag. Then I rinsed the rag and got all of the soapy residue out. I was amazed that it was that easy.
You can get a small bottle of Dawn at Dollar General stores for around a $1.00 and many times I see coupons for 25 cents off. When the large bottles are on sale, I stock up as this product is my go to for a lot of things.
Next up on making my cleaning job easier, I purchased one of those pull carts that you use to carry your groceries home from the grocery store. It is a medium sized cart and looks like this:
I purchased this as a birthday gift for myself. This cart holds all of my cleaning supplies plus I put a garbage bag over the handle and load it with trash as I go. I keep this cart loaded and in my basement. When it is time to clean I carry it upstairs and wheel it from room to room in my house as I clean. When I used to dust before, I would set the dusting spray down somewhere and dust and when I would need some more, I couldn't find where I set it down. Now everything goes back into the cart. This has saved me a tremendous about of time and frustration and yes, I loved using birthday party to buy it for myself.
It's the little things that make my life easier that I enjoy. Especially when it means I can cut down on cleaning time so that I get more sewing time.
My husband and I teach an adult Sunday School class at our church and the room that we use has light blue carpet. Since we have taught this class there has always been this dark, almost black stain on the carpet - about the size of a large coffee can. Every now and then somebody makes a comment about it so last week I took a bottle of Dawn Dish soap to the church in hopes that I would at least get most of the stain out. Wrong!!! It totally removed this stain. All I did was squirt some Dawn soap on the stain and work it in with a clean wet rag. Then I rinsed the rag and got all of the soapy residue out. I was amazed that it was that easy.
You can get a small bottle of Dawn at Dollar General stores for around a $1.00 and many times I see coupons for 25 cents off. When the large bottles are on sale, I stock up as this product is my go to for a lot of things.
Next up on making my cleaning job easier, I purchased one of those pull carts that you use to carry your groceries home from the grocery store. It is a medium sized cart and looks like this:
It's the little things that make my life easier that I enjoy. Especially when it means I can cut down on cleaning time so that I get more sewing time.
October 28, 2012
Update on Cleaning my Area Rug
Back in March I wrote about how I was trying to clean a large area rug that had been soiled by our dog. You can view the post here. We were able to get our dog on some medication (Estrogen) and within a few weeks she had been cured of her old age incontinent issues but I had been left with a less than fresh smelling area rug. In the post you can read about what I had tried to do to clean the rug in a frugal way.
Well, the rug dried out completely and then the very hot weather hit our area so we rolled up the rug and stored it in the basement for the summer.
Here is a picture of a portion of the rug. The size is 10 x 8 feet and we have two of these rugs in our living room.
Well, when we brought the rug out of the basement at the end of September I could smell the dog urine immediately. I had my husband and son take the rug outside and drape it over the railing on our deck until I tried to figure out what I could do.
Now when the dog was wetting on the carpet my husband told me at the time that he would buy me a new rug as he wasn't ready to put the dog to sleep. The problem is this rug was purchased 10 years ago and was expensive - $750.00. I knew that it was out of the question to replace this rug and I also knew that I love my husband and I was willing to wait to see if the dog got better.
So now it was September and I had a smelly rug on my back deck and I knew it was ruined and no way could it be used in our home again, at least that is what I thought.
Sometimes the best ideas come from pondering the problem over a period of time. I started to think about all of the spot cleaners, rug cleaners and the detergents and vinegar that I had used over the years to spot clean the carpet. Most of those products leave a residue and end up holding the stain or smell to the carpet. It seemed to me that I needed to get some water on the rug and see if I could just douse it enough to rinse out all of the old cleaning products and see what happened.
I rinsed the rug one half at a time. I just draped 1 half of the rug over the railing and using the garden hose on the jet setting I power sprayed cold water at close range on that rug. Suds streamed off of the rug. I took my time and fortunately I picked a very warm day to do this as I was getting soaked. Then I took the hose to the back of the rug and did the same thing, finishing with a final rinse on the right side of the rug.
The rug sat in the sun for a day and while still damp I poured the following product all over the rug.
I found this product at Wal-mart and it had been recommended by the Vet. The cost was around $6.00 for a 32 oz. bottle. Simple Solution worked better than I ever expected. The urine smell is completely gone. Now, it could be that the rinsing I gave that rug probably got rid of most of it, but Simple Solution took care of the smell.
After I applied the Simple Solution to the rug ( I saturated the rug) I left the rug on the back deck for a week to let the sun do it's magic work too. I knew that the fresh air and sunshine would help refresh the rug.
All in all it took a little over two weeks to complete this process as I was working with a large area rug and I could only clean one half at a time. When we brought the rug in the house the only smell was the light scent of the Simple Solution. I did spray the rug once with Febreze after we had brought it back in the house.
It has been 3 weeks and the rug still smells great. Even when I sit on the carpet I can't smell any urine at all. It truly is a clean rug.
What was the cost of the cleaners? It took 6 bottles of the Simple Solution for a cost of around $36 plus tax. That is a lot cheaper than buying a new area rug.
Here is a picture of a portion of the rug. The size is 10 x 8 feet and we have two of these rugs in our living room.
Well, when we brought the rug out of the basement at the end of September I could smell the dog urine immediately. I had my husband and son take the rug outside and drape it over the railing on our deck until I tried to figure out what I could do.
Now when the dog was wetting on the carpet my husband told me at the time that he would buy me a new rug as he wasn't ready to put the dog to sleep. The problem is this rug was purchased 10 years ago and was expensive - $750.00. I knew that it was out of the question to replace this rug and I also knew that I love my husband and I was willing to wait to see if the dog got better.
So now it was September and I had a smelly rug on my back deck and I knew it was ruined and no way could it be used in our home again, at least that is what I thought.
Sometimes the best ideas come from pondering the problem over a period of time. I started to think about all of the spot cleaners, rug cleaners and the detergents and vinegar that I had used over the years to spot clean the carpet. Most of those products leave a residue and end up holding the stain or smell to the carpet. It seemed to me that I needed to get some water on the rug and see if I could just douse it enough to rinse out all of the old cleaning products and see what happened.
I rinsed the rug one half at a time. I just draped 1 half of the rug over the railing and using the garden hose on the jet setting I power sprayed cold water at close range on that rug. Suds streamed off of the rug. I took my time and fortunately I picked a very warm day to do this as I was getting soaked. Then I took the hose to the back of the rug and did the same thing, finishing with a final rinse on the right side of the rug.
The rug sat in the sun for a day and while still damp I poured the following product all over the rug.
 |
| Simple Solution: Urine Destroyer |
After I applied the Simple Solution to the rug ( I saturated the rug) I left the rug on the back deck for a week to let the sun do it's magic work too. I knew that the fresh air and sunshine would help refresh the rug.
All in all it took a little over two weeks to complete this process as I was working with a large area rug and I could only clean one half at a time. When we brought the rug in the house the only smell was the light scent of the Simple Solution. I did spray the rug once with Febreze after we had brought it back in the house.
It has been 3 weeks and the rug still smells great. Even when I sit on the carpet I can't smell any urine at all. It truly is a clean rug.
What was the cost of the cleaners? It took 6 bottles of the Simple Solution for a cost of around $36 plus tax. That is a lot cheaper than buying a new area rug.
March 28, 2012
The best cleaning scrub
When I was cleaning our shower last week, I decided to abandon what I normally use to get it clean - Mr. Clean Shower Eraser. The main reason - the harsh chemicals and the cost.
So I did some experimenting. The floor of the shower has the rougher surface that the soap scum clings to and it ends up being the hardest part of the shower to clean. Here is what I did. I divided the shower into three sections and cleaned one with baking soda; one with baking soda and salt; and one with Oxy clean - the dry powder.
I was looking for a way to clean the shower without too harsh chemicals but it also had to be easy on my arm. In other words, it should cut through the scum and get the job done without my having to ice my shoulder.
The winner was the baking soda and salt. Baking soda is already a natural safe scrub in itself but alone it took too much scrubbing. The addition of some table salt gave the baking soda more scrubbing power. As to the Oxy Clean, the baking soda did better than it did.
So from now on it is just a sprinkle of baking soda and a sprinkle of salt. It's easy on the environment, easy on my arm and best of it all - it is cheap.
So I did some experimenting. The floor of the shower has the rougher surface that the soap scum clings to and it ends up being the hardest part of the shower to clean. Here is what I did. I divided the shower into three sections and cleaned one with baking soda; one with baking soda and salt; and one with Oxy clean - the dry powder.
I was looking for a way to clean the shower without too harsh chemicals but it also had to be easy on my arm. In other words, it should cut through the scum and get the job done without my having to ice my shoulder.
The winner was the baking soda and salt. Baking soda is already a natural safe scrub in itself but alone it took too much scrubbing. The addition of some table salt gave the baking soda more scrubbing power. As to the Oxy Clean, the baking soda did better than it did.
So from now on it is just a sprinkle of baking soda and a sprinkle of salt. It's easy on the environment, easy on my arm and best of it all - it is cheap.
March 15, 2012
Getting Priorities Straight
I've gotten off track lately on spending and I'm doing everything I can to pull myself back on budget. I have been overspending on groceries because I haven't been planning. When I don't plan, I overspend.
I haven't had time to just sit and plan as I have been spending a lot of time volunteering at my church. I love helping out and being part of something bigger but in the middle of "the fun," I realized that I had neglected home and family. So - time to put things in perspective and put first things first.
I decided to spend this week at home getting things organized and cleaned. As with the rest of the country we are experiencing beautiful weather. When the weather is warm and the sun is out, I look around my house and see the dirt and dust. Time to get at it. I left a note for my family yesterday so that they would be aware that some big time cleaning was going to take place beginning today. In the note I said that they were to beware of loud music being played in the living room and the smell of cleaning fluids would be permeating the air.
I had high hopes and high expectations that were totally unrealistic. But --- I did make some progress.
I am on a quest to really deep clean my house without using a lot of harsh chemicals. The first thing I tackled today was the large area rug in our livingroom. Our labrador retriever had some urinary tract problems a couple of weeks ago and she had a couple of accidents in the same spot. I cleaned them the best I could at the time, but sure enough when the warm weather began this week I could smell the faint smell of doggy urine.
Now this is not a small area rug. It is 11 x 7 feet. Our living room has two of these rugs in it. After doing some research on the web I decided to try the following. I took equal amounts of white vinegar and water and I saturated the area. Vinegar is supposed to neutralize the ammonia in the dog urine. This morning I noticed another area of the rug that kind of smelled so I had two areas to treat. I took a scrub brush and lightly scrubbed this solution into the rug making sure it went to the back side. Then I also saturated the pad underneath with the vinegar solution. The pad isn't very thick at all.
I allowed the area rug and pad to absorb the vinegar solution for about 30 minutes. Then I took a small wet dry vac and vacuumed up as much of the water as possible. By this time the house was smelling a lot like vinegar and I decided it would be best to move the rug outside and let it dry on the back deck.
I started to scrub the pad when I realized that I should just wash it in the washing machine. I had a sample of Tide with Febreze and I decided that today was the day to give it a try. When this was done, it went out on the deck.
When the rug was almost dry I took a box of baking soda and sprinkled it over "the affected area" of the rug and then rubbed it in the carpet. The baking soda is supposed to help make the rug smell fresh and remove the odor. The rug is still outside and I am letting it sit overnight to totally dry out.
The next step in all of this is to vacuum up the baking soda and apply a solution of 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide with 1 teaspoon of Dawn. I'm not sure about this one as I don't want the color of the area rug to be affected. So I may do a variation on this one.
I am considering taking a couple of teaspoons of oxyclean and diluting that in a little bit of water and then adding it to some more Tide with Febreze, diluting it all down and then pouring it on the rug and letting it sit. Then I will scrub it a little and rinse it with my garden hose.
I am hoping that the vinegar and baking soda will have done their trick and then the Oxyclean and Tide with Febreze will finish it. The rinsing of the rug with a garden hose will totally get all of the remnants of baking soda and detergents out of the rug as I don't want these to attract dirt. Perhaps a good final rinse will make the rug smell fresh again.
The jury is out on this one as to if it will work. It's worth a try as I can't have a "smelly" rug in my living room and nothing else seems to work. I bought some really expensive stuff from the Vet but it didn't take care of the entire problem.
The rest of my afternoon was spent washing my hardwood floors in the living room with Murphy's oil soap.
I want to start making more and more of my cleaning products but I still own some store bought products such as the Murphy's oil soap. I am going to use up what I have on hand and then I will start replacing those cleaners with homemade versions.
I haven't had time to just sit and plan as I have been spending a lot of time volunteering at my church. I love helping out and being part of something bigger but in the middle of "the fun," I realized that I had neglected home and family. So - time to put things in perspective and put first things first.
I decided to spend this week at home getting things organized and cleaned. As with the rest of the country we are experiencing beautiful weather. When the weather is warm and the sun is out, I look around my house and see the dirt and dust. Time to get at it. I left a note for my family yesterday so that they would be aware that some big time cleaning was going to take place beginning today. In the note I said that they were to beware of loud music being played in the living room and the smell of cleaning fluids would be permeating the air.
I had high hopes and high expectations that were totally unrealistic. But --- I did make some progress.
I am on a quest to really deep clean my house without using a lot of harsh chemicals. The first thing I tackled today was the large area rug in our livingroom. Our labrador retriever had some urinary tract problems a couple of weeks ago and she had a couple of accidents in the same spot. I cleaned them the best I could at the time, but sure enough when the warm weather began this week I could smell the faint smell of doggy urine.
Now this is not a small area rug. It is 11 x 7 feet. Our living room has two of these rugs in it. After doing some research on the web I decided to try the following. I took equal amounts of white vinegar and water and I saturated the area. Vinegar is supposed to neutralize the ammonia in the dog urine. This morning I noticed another area of the rug that kind of smelled so I had two areas to treat. I took a scrub brush and lightly scrubbed this solution into the rug making sure it went to the back side. Then I also saturated the pad underneath with the vinegar solution. The pad isn't very thick at all.
I allowed the area rug and pad to absorb the vinegar solution for about 30 minutes. Then I took a small wet dry vac and vacuumed up as much of the water as possible. By this time the house was smelling a lot like vinegar and I decided it would be best to move the rug outside and let it dry on the back deck.
I started to scrub the pad when I realized that I should just wash it in the washing machine. I had a sample of Tide with Febreze and I decided that today was the day to give it a try. When this was done, it went out on the deck.
When the rug was almost dry I took a box of baking soda and sprinkled it over "the affected area" of the rug and then rubbed it in the carpet. The baking soda is supposed to help make the rug smell fresh and remove the odor. The rug is still outside and I am letting it sit overnight to totally dry out.
The next step in all of this is to vacuum up the baking soda and apply a solution of 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide with 1 teaspoon of Dawn. I'm not sure about this one as I don't want the color of the area rug to be affected. So I may do a variation on this one.
I am considering taking a couple of teaspoons of oxyclean and diluting that in a little bit of water and then adding it to some more Tide with Febreze, diluting it all down and then pouring it on the rug and letting it sit. Then I will scrub it a little and rinse it with my garden hose.
I am hoping that the vinegar and baking soda will have done their trick and then the Oxyclean and Tide with Febreze will finish it. The rinsing of the rug with a garden hose will totally get all of the remnants of baking soda and detergents out of the rug as I don't want these to attract dirt. Perhaps a good final rinse will make the rug smell fresh again.
The jury is out on this one as to if it will work. It's worth a try as I can't have a "smelly" rug in my living room and nothing else seems to work. I bought some really expensive stuff from the Vet but it didn't take care of the entire problem.
The rest of my afternoon was spent washing my hardwood floors in the living room with Murphy's oil soap.
I want to start making more and more of my cleaning products but I still own some store bought products such as the Murphy's oil soap. I am going to use up what I have on hand and then I will start replacing those cleaners with homemade versions.
January 26, 2012
A recipe and some good old fashioned cleaning advice
This is one of those recipes that makes a good "comfort" type side dish. I'm sure most of you have heard of this one before, but I hadn't made it for awhile and served it last week when we had tacos. It was a hit.
Corn Muffin Casserole
2 eggs
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 - 8 oz. container sour cream
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
Beat the eggs and add the cans of corn. Make sure you drain the whole kernal corn. Add the sour cream and melted butter. Mix well. Stir in the muffin mix.
Grease an 8 x 8 inch casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for between 45 and 55 minutes per your oven. (We all know that our ovens are different.)
This is relatively inexpensive and it is moist and tasty. I know some cooks that sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top, but we like ours without.
I have a friend who recently doubled this recipe and poured it into her crockpot and cooked it on low for around 5 hours and it turned out perfect. I haven't tried it yet, but it is worth a go. The only change that I would make is whenever I make something like macaroni and cheese or stuffing in the crockpot, I lay a paper towel over the top of the crockpot and put the lid on the paper towel. The paper towel does not touch the food, it is held in place by the lid. The steam droplets rise to the top and are absorbed by the paper towel. You may have to change the towel twice, but it works very well.
Now on to some good old fashioned cleaning advice. Are you ready? Pick up as you go, clean up as you go and stop the mud at the door. Then plan two - 3 hour sessions of cleaning each week. This is the way that I am keeping my house clean and in order.
First of all the "pick up as you go, clean as you go and stop the mud at the door" is something that my grandmother always proclaimed. With only the 3 of us living in our home, it was easy to keep the place clean even without doing the pick up as you go, etc. Now with the college students living with us and usually another 2 of their friends showing up during the day or at dinner time, I have changed the game plan.
Please understand that the girls do clean up and pick up after themselves its just that things can get chaotic with other people coming and going during the day, more dishes being used and more people in the house. Soo - I now value the pick up as you go, clean up as you go and stop the mud at the door.
As for the stop the mud at the door -- I really had a problem there. We have two dogs and our backyard has been a muddy mess since last fall. We had a drought last year and our grass all but died which led to a backyard of mud. Now that the snow is melting and we have some unusually warm days ahead of us, our dogs (and people) come into the house with muddy paws or shoes. The large rug by the back door wasn't doing a good job so I went out yesterday and bought a cheap area rug for my kitchen floor. I know, it isn't that pretty but it is functional and I need functional.
Now when a large group of people come in the back door, they can move to the larger rug to wipe their feet and I can easily vacuum up the dirt later. This is easier than constantly mopping a floor. So it may not be pretty, but boy does it save me time.
So I/we pick up as we go, clean as we go (bathrooms and countertops) and we stop the mud at the door. Then I add to this two - 3 hour slots of cleaning or in some cases four cleaning slots of 1 and 1/2 hours (depending on when we have the time clean) to keep the rest of the house in order.
I am a slob and a messy person but I want an orderly home. My home isn't perfectly clean at all times, but it is orderly. This is working for all of us.
Corn Muffin Casserole
2 eggs
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 - 8 oz. container sour cream
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
Beat the eggs and add the cans of corn. Make sure you drain the whole kernal corn. Add the sour cream and melted butter. Mix well. Stir in the muffin mix.
Grease an 8 x 8 inch casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for between 45 and 55 minutes per your oven. (We all know that our ovens are different.)
This is relatively inexpensive and it is moist and tasty. I know some cooks that sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top, but we like ours without.
I have a friend who recently doubled this recipe and poured it into her crockpot and cooked it on low for around 5 hours and it turned out perfect. I haven't tried it yet, but it is worth a go. The only change that I would make is whenever I make something like macaroni and cheese or stuffing in the crockpot, I lay a paper towel over the top of the crockpot and put the lid on the paper towel. The paper towel does not touch the food, it is held in place by the lid. The steam droplets rise to the top and are absorbed by the paper towel. You may have to change the towel twice, but it works very well.
Now on to some good old fashioned cleaning advice. Are you ready? Pick up as you go, clean up as you go and stop the mud at the door. Then plan two - 3 hour sessions of cleaning each week. This is the way that I am keeping my house clean and in order.
First of all the "pick up as you go, clean as you go and stop the mud at the door" is something that my grandmother always proclaimed. With only the 3 of us living in our home, it was easy to keep the place clean even without doing the pick up as you go, etc. Now with the college students living with us and usually another 2 of their friends showing up during the day or at dinner time, I have changed the game plan.
Please understand that the girls do clean up and pick up after themselves its just that things can get chaotic with other people coming and going during the day, more dishes being used and more people in the house. Soo - I now value the pick up as you go, clean up as you go and stop the mud at the door.
As for the stop the mud at the door -- I really had a problem there. We have two dogs and our backyard has been a muddy mess since last fall. We had a drought last year and our grass all but died which led to a backyard of mud. Now that the snow is melting and we have some unusually warm days ahead of us, our dogs (and people) come into the house with muddy paws or shoes. The large rug by the back door wasn't doing a good job so I went out yesterday and bought a cheap area rug for my kitchen floor. I know, it isn't that pretty but it is functional and I need functional.
Now when a large group of people come in the back door, they can move to the larger rug to wipe their feet and I can easily vacuum up the dirt later. This is easier than constantly mopping a floor. So it may not be pretty, but boy does it save me time.
So I/we pick up as we go, clean as we go (bathrooms and countertops) and we stop the mud at the door. Then I add to this two - 3 hour slots of cleaning or in some cases four cleaning slots of 1 and 1/2 hours (depending on when we have the time clean) to keep the rest of the house in order.
I am a slob and a messy person but I want an orderly home. My home isn't perfectly clean at all times, but it is orderly. This is working for all of us.
September 21, 2011
My Biggest Mistakes in Getting Organized & Cleaning
I have a shelf of organization and housekeeping books. The books I refer to the most are the ones that are more the advice type of telling me how to get out a particular stain and so on. These are the old Home Ec style books. The others are books that give advice on how to set up a cleaning or organization schedule.
You might as well save your money. We are all different and everyone has a different housekeeping style. It set me up for failure to try to duplicate what someone else was doing. While I could glean some tips, the bottom line was that what works for someone else didn’t necessarily work for me.
I remember when the first Sidetracked Home Executive books came out in the early 1980’s. I read them because they did address the side tracked issue but I couldn’t keep up with their card system.
A better use of your time would be to sit down with a tablet of paper and ask yourself these questions.
a. How much time do you have to spend on cleaning?
b. Are you a “clean a little bit at a time each day person” or are you a “deep clean once a week kind of person.”
c. Can you delegate some of the tasks to other family members and do you want to do that OR would you prefer to do it yourself to your standards?
From these questions I could see what was realistic for me and what was unrealistic for me. My goal was to have an uncluttered home and relatively clean home that I could maintain. Yes, that is right, that I could maintain and what was realistic for me.
Spending some time writing down a plan that was tailored to my personality and my needs was the best use of my time.
Mistake 2. I went out and bought a bunch of plastic containers before I started doing anything.
You know what it is like. You wake up one day and think “this is the day I will get organized.” So you get in your car and go to the Big Box store and buy a bunch of plastic bins and containers to put stuff in. Save your money.
As you put things away, you will find out very clearly what you need or if you need anything at all. Many times just clearing things out of closets and throwing and giving things away will clear up space. After doing that you may need some plastic bins and tubs and you may find out you don’t need as much as you thought.
Mistake 3. I tried to tackle everything in one day.
I would get “Gung Ho” about cleaning and organizing. You know what it is like, you make an announcement because you are at the end of your rope and decide that you will get your house in order that very day. After an hour you begin to grow a little weary, you lose focus and you start to wane. Many times you are left with a bigger mess because you leave things all over the place (piles that you are going to organize) thinking you’ll get right back to it later.
You didn’t get into this mess overnight and you aren’t going to get out of it overnight. It’s great to be motivated, but don’t go overboard.
Mistake 4. I tried to clean and organize at the same time.
This is much to do at one time and again, it is too overwhelming. It was much better for me to put things away in their proper place and then clean the house. When the house was clean and in order, I could then start to sort through closets and drawers and de-clutter and organize.
What has worked for me?
Again, remember, everyone is different. I cleared off an area of the dining room table for me to work at so I wouldn’t be too distracted by my surroundings. I sat down with a tablet of paper and a cup of coffee and I wrote down my ideas for getting things done. The goal was to have a clean house and maintain it. Then the second goal was to spend time going through all the stuff in my house and decide what would be kept, what would be tossed or given away and what I would need to organize and maintain the stuff.
I cannot do a lot all at once not only because of my chronic back pain, but also because I lose interest. So I came up with a plan to get things done by doing a little bit at a time and delegating things out when I wanted to. Yes, I like things done my way, but there are some things that I don’t mine passing off on someone else.
One thing I have quickly found out is that if I can pick things up at night in the main living areas of the home and then when I get up in the morning everything looks good enough that I feel motivated to get my work done. Even if I need to clean, it is much easier to face it in the morning when everything is put in its proper place.
We are all different and we have special gifts and talents. Time is better spent coming up with your own plan based on your personality and your style of living than to try to replicate someone else’s plan.
It may be frustrating at first to sit down amidst the mess to make a plan, but it will help you out in the long run. You will have a tailored made plan just for you.
Here is my best cleaning and organization secret that I will give you for free. Yes, I could go on t.v. and offer this for $9.95 plus shipping and handling, but today it’s free.
What is this amazing tool? A wire bound notebook. Yes, a 1 subject wire bound notebook that you can get at Walmart for 15 cents during the back to school sales is my secret tool. Keep this notebook in the room that you are cleaning or organizing in order to write down anything that you are remembering to do while you are working. This will free your mind to stay on task because you don’t have to worry about remembering other things. For example, while I am cleaning I will think of things such as the need to fill my prescription for my thyroid medicine or I will think of a gift to give someone for Christmas. When I quickly write these things down in a notebook, then I can stay on task knowing that these thoughts are written down in a wire bound notebook that won’t get lost while I am working.
September 17, 2011
Living in a Messy House - Temporarily
When my kids were young, they loved all of the "Bernstein Bears" books. I still have all of the them in hopes that my grandchildren will enjoy reading them. "The Messy Room" book was their favorite. As I look at the cover picture for the book, I think that the pictures should be reversed for me as I am the one with the messy room.
Over the past month I have been busy taking on new volunteer responsibilities. Perhaps I should give this another name as "responsibilities" gives the connotation of "work" and the idea that I'm not having fun with what I am doing with my time. I am having fun with all of the activities that I am involved in.
The problem is that I have neglected my housework. I have been "putting the fires out" throwing a load of underwear into the wash when we are about out, and thankfully with a full freezer and pantry I have been able to throw a meal together in the last minute until about a week ago.
Last night we ate a frozen pizza for supper as I was too tired to make a homemade pizza. Now, that is not going to kill us and actually it tasted pretty good, but my disorganization has made it's way to the budget. I am over budget in my spending on groceries and a few other places in the budget because I haven't sat down to actually make up much of a grocery list.
Aside from the money aspect it has led to the frustration in my life of trying to find things and just the mental anxiety of living in a home that is messy and disorganized.
I don't like to clean but I love a clean house. How many of us admit this? I want a clean home with the yard work all done and everything put together with those beautiful fall mums in planted pots on the front porch, the yard trimmed and looking good and then when you open the door to the house you look into a livingroom that is clean, uncluttered and inviting. The kitchen is always put together with a few little flowers in a bud vase. The beds are made and everything smells so clean and wonderful.
The house that I know that looks like that is one that is on the market to be sold and has to look like that in case someone stops by at any time to go through it.
So what to do. Today I am decluttering the downstairs of my home. By decluttering I am talking about simply picking up stuff and putting it in it's proper place. The majority of the clutter has been caused by me. I can't blame any other family members. It is mine. I will then spend some time getting as much of my "desk work" done and organized.
My family is willing to help clean if they know what I need them to do. It is easier to give a task to do when things are put away. My husband will vacuum and my son will clean the downstairs bathroom. I will do a quick dusting and then tidy up the kitchen and wash the floor. That is all it will take to bring the house into some order. Then I can organize a deep cleaning day.
I haven't had time to just sit down and get my calendar out and get organized. When I do that, my house and life run so much smoother.
I don't want my days filled with work. I love to have time to sit down in the evening to read or watch a movie on Netflix or to be able to read the blogs that I follow. Life shouldn't be all work, and there are times when you serve frozen pizza for supper or you get take out or hit the fast food restaurant for a quick meal. It won't kill you and because it is rarely done in our house, it is a special treat.
It will just feel good to be able to find a pen when I need it or that stupid to do list that I wrote and I lost and had to start over again two or three times.
March 07, 2011
My House is a Mess
I could use the excuse that my livingroom is messy due to the work I am doing in there, but truth be told, my house is messy from the upstairs to the basement. When one area of my house gets out of hand, it doesn't take long for me to lose the rest of the house. Have you ever experienced this?
About two weeks ago I noticed that I no longer was as sleepy during the day from taking Paxil. It took about 2 months for my body to get used to taking this anti-depressant. I had been taking a nap in the morning and in the afternoon to help me get through my day. Now, I may only need a 10 minute cat nap after I read the morning paper and I don't need anything more.
So, I have been out of the habit of keeping up on housework for over two months. This is what I have noticed. When a house is messy, everyone seems to add to the mess by not doing the normal pick up that they have been doing. For example, dishes get left on the table after lunch or put in the sink, but not put in the dishwasher. Stuff is left around and not put away. I have done my best to keep the main living areas in order, but these areas get cluttered quickly. Also, I have been spending my time picking up other family member's clutter but can I blame them if I am not doing my job and setting an example?
Having a messy and disorganized house, while working on a home project, can take a toll on a family. My family is understanding, but then again - they are guys. So where to begin when you have a messy house? Pick a room and start. I am going to spend today and tomorrow walking around the house putting stuff away, going through stacks of paper and hopefully throwing stuff away. Once the house is decluttered, I will then be able to spend an hour a day for a week cleaning and still have time to work on my livingroom.
We all have those times when you have to let the housework go, but then there comes the point that you just can't handle the clutter and spot cleaning doesn't work anymore and it is time to dig in. Now I hate housework in the first place. If someone could clean my house in exchange for me baking them bread, cookies and doing their laundry, then I would be in housewife heaven. I doubt that is going to happen just like I doubt I will be able to twitch my nose and suddenly my house will be clean and orderly.
November 18, 2010
If dust bunnies were money, I'd be rich
We have a lot of woodwork in our old house and it always seems that wood attracts dust or perhaps dust is more noticeable on wood. I have not deep cleaned my house in a long time. There were so many outdoor projects that were clammering for my time this fall and I had to put off doing a proper cleaning of my house for weeks. I did the "must do" projects such as cleaning bathrooms and the kitchen and I tidied up the rest of the house as best I could. But, my house looked terrible and when people would stop by, I really didn't care and didn't get too embarrassed. It was more important to get those outdoor projects done.
Now that the cold weather has hit Iowa, the time to do "fall cleaning" has arrived in my house. I decided to tackle two rooms at a time and yesterday I picked the diningroom and the hallway. Well, I didn't get very far as it was quite a dusting job and I had some volunteer obligations to attend to. I did get down on my knees and started to dust the mop boards which are about a foot high from the floor and then there is the woodwork that goes around all of the entryways, the pocket doors that stick out a little from the doorways (forever stuck), and of course the crown molding.
This is a picture I took last year during Christmas. It gives you an idea of some of the old woodwork in our house. This is the view from our dining room into our living room. Note the walls in the living room have been stripped of their wall paper and I need to do some plaster repair and painting. Yes, we have lived with it looking like this for a long time. Now I have to get to work and get this project done.
Which brings me to dust bunnies. I love the name - dust bunnies. Perhaps if we called them dust rattlesnakes I would have gotten to this task sooner, but dust bunnies is a warm, fuzzy name. I knew everything was dusty but when I got down on my hands and knees I really saw the herd of dust bunnies.
Normally I vacuum the hard wood floors about twice a week - that is the wood floors that are exposed around large area rugs. However, vacuuming wasn't going to get the job done this time. I was on my hands and knees with a dust rag and I shook the rag out several times. I am a get down on your hands and knees kind of person in order to get the cleaning job done properly. But it does come with its drawbacks. When I am down on my hands and knees I seem to attract the attention of our dog and cat. Our dog came over and stood next to me and was watching me the entire time. Then she laid down next to me and rolled over on her back as if to tell me, "hey, you're down here so you might as well rub my tummy." So I did rub her tummy and then I got her to move into the livingroom.
About that time I realized I had to leave to help with a kids club at church. So, I am starting again today.
I am getting the house into shape this week and next week - but the week after Thanksgiving I will be patching plaster on the living room walls and starting to paint them. I have warned my family that the only Christmas decoration that would be going up this year would be the Christmas tree. I have a lot of painting to do along with removing wallpaper and restaining woodwork in several rooms downstairs and I need to get it done and best of all, I am motivated to get it done.
My family's response was that was fine as long as I did the Christmas baking too. No problem, as I can hardly wait to bake and eat some of those annual homemade goodies.
Now that the cold weather has hit Iowa, the time to do "fall cleaning" has arrived in my house. I decided to tackle two rooms at a time and yesterday I picked the diningroom and the hallway. Well, I didn't get very far as it was quite a dusting job and I had some volunteer obligations to attend to. I did get down on my knees and started to dust the mop boards which are about a foot high from the floor and then there is the woodwork that goes around all of the entryways, the pocket doors that stick out a little from the doorways (forever stuck), and of course the crown molding.
This is a picture I took last year during Christmas. It gives you an idea of some of the old woodwork in our house. This is the view from our dining room into our living room. Note the walls in the living room have been stripped of their wall paper and I need to do some plaster repair and painting. Yes, we have lived with it looking like this for a long time. Now I have to get to work and get this project done.
Which brings me to dust bunnies. I love the name - dust bunnies. Perhaps if we called them dust rattlesnakes I would have gotten to this task sooner, but dust bunnies is a warm, fuzzy name. I knew everything was dusty but when I got down on my hands and knees I really saw the herd of dust bunnies.
Normally I vacuum the hard wood floors about twice a week - that is the wood floors that are exposed around large area rugs. However, vacuuming wasn't going to get the job done this time. I was on my hands and knees with a dust rag and I shook the rag out several times. I am a get down on your hands and knees kind of person in order to get the cleaning job done properly. But it does come with its drawbacks. When I am down on my hands and knees I seem to attract the attention of our dog and cat. Our dog came over and stood next to me and was watching me the entire time. Then she laid down next to me and rolled over on her back as if to tell me, "hey, you're down here so you might as well rub my tummy." So I did rub her tummy and then I got her to move into the livingroom.
About that time I realized I had to leave to help with a kids club at church. So, I am starting again today.
I am getting the house into shape this week and next week - but the week after Thanksgiving I will be patching plaster on the living room walls and starting to paint them. I have warned my family that the only Christmas decoration that would be going up this year would be the Christmas tree. I have a lot of painting to do along with removing wallpaper and restaining woodwork in several rooms downstairs and I need to get it done and best of all, I am motivated to get it done.
This is a picture from last year.
This will be our only Christmas decoration up this year.
My family's response was that was fine as long as I did the Christmas baking too. No problem, as I can hardly wait to bake and eat some of those annual homemade goodies.
September 07, 2010
Spinning My Wheels
When I was a pre-teen there was a popular song called "Spinning Wheel."
For the past week I have been spinning my wheels. You can't be a homemaker, Head of Home Management, CFO of the Homefront or whatever you want to call yourself, without spending some days wondering if you are getting anything done. The key is to get over it and do what you can to get back on track. Nothing, including a home, is perfect all of the time.
The weather is absolutely beautiful here in Iowa. The days have been in the upper 70's and low 80's. The nights have been in the 50's and the weather has finally cooperated so I can be outside and scrape and paint a fence and the house. The problem is that the inside of the house tends to get ignored - meaning it is a mess and also needs cleaned.
How do you get a major project done and still keep up on the regular housework? Well, either you don't sleep all night and work round the clock, you have your family help you (except right now they are equally busy), you let it all go and hope no one drops by or your find the happy medium.
I'm finding a happy medium. Today is cross country meet day which means this afternoon I will be heading out of town to watch my DS run at a meet that my DH also coaches. Since I would only have a morning to be outside working, I have decided that I should instead spend it inside picking up and doing some maintenance cleaning. If I were to let the "downstairs" of our house go another day, there will be big trouble for the rest of the week. I can't find things because of such disorder and it will only make my week worse if I don't tackle it.
I think the surprising thing about this week is that people would look at my being home and make the judgment that my home is always perfectly clean and put together. That would be true if we didn't live in the house.
Working in an office I learned when there was a major project we were working on that we only did whatever else was necessary to keep the office going and focused on the major project. The same is true at home.
So this morning it is a couple loads of laundry, picking up, tidying up the kitchen and bathroom and a quick vacuuming and I should be good to go for the rest of the week.
For the past week I have been spinning my wheels. You can't be a homemaker, Head of Home Management, CFO of the Homefront or whatever you want to call yourself, without spending some days wondering if you are getting anything done. The key is to get over it and do what you can to get back on track. Nothing, including a home, is perfect all of the time.
The weather is absolutely beautiful here in Iowa. The days have been in the upper 70's and low 80's. The nights have been in the 50's and the weather has finally cooperated so I can be outside and scrape and paint a fence and the house. The problem is that the inside of the house tends to get ignored - meaning it is a mess and also needs cleaned.
How do you get a major project done and still keep up on the regular housework? Well, either you don't sleep all night and work round the clock, you have your family help you (except right now they are equally busy), you let it all go and hope no one drops by or your find the happy medium.
I'm finding a happy medium. Today is cross country meet day which means this afternoon I will be heading out of town to watch my DS run at a meet that my DH also coaches. Since I would only have a morning to be outside working, I have decided that I should instead spend it inside picking up and doing some maintenance cleaning. If I were to let the "downstairs" of our house go another day, there will be big trouble for the rest of the week. I can't find things because of such disorder and it will only make my week worse if I don't tackle it.
I think the surprising thing about this week is that people would look at my being home and make the judgment that my home is always perfectly clean and put together. That would be true if we didn't live in the house.
Working in an office I learned when there was a major project we were working on that we only did whatever else was necessary to keep the office going and focused on the major project. The same is true at home.
So this morning it is a couple loads of laundry, picking up, tidying up the kitchen and bathroom and a quick vacuuming and I should be good to go for the rest of the week.
August 28, 2010
Home Projects and Zone Cleaning
All summer it has been too hot and rainy to do much work on the outside of the house and now that fall is just around the corner, I/we feel under a lot of pressure to get some things done. We have joked lately that we should sell the house and move into a two bedroom condo and let someone else do the yardwork. It's been an ongoing joke in that when we are doing yard work we will ask "where is the joy of homeownership?"
Tomorrow afternoon I plan to spend some time going over the calendar for the month of September and schedule some days to be outside scraping and painting the house and the picket fence. When the days are cooler it is much better to be outside anyway.
You just can't get too hard on yourself when you get behind. The house isn't going to fall to the ground if we don't get it painted this year, but we sure would like to try to get it done.
On Thursday I visited with a woman from my church. She retired a couple of years ago and she told me that the first year she was home, she felt kinda lost. She wasn't used to not having a work schedule and it took almost a year to get used to be retired. I identified with what she was saying. It would seem that after one year of being home that I should be further along with projects than I am, but it has been quite an adjustment for me to not have a job outside the home.
Also, I never thought that housework - cleaning, laundry, cooking, grocery shopping and such would take so much time. I knew that being home involved work, but I always thought I should be able to get everything done and kept up. That was a little unrealistic thinking. It's funny how when I was working I envisioned how my home was always going to be moderately clean and in order. I forgot that just as I could get distracted and side tracked at work, the same is true at home.
Something else I learned about myself this year is that I hate to clean. I love to cook, do laundry, sew and work on home projects, but I hate to clean. Yet, I love a clean home. With that in mind, I have been trying to come up with ways to make house cleaning more manageable to me. I cannot clean my entire house in one day. I have back trouble and it is impossible for me to do this without having to be in bed the next day recuperating. Instead I have divided my home into 5 zones. Zone 1 - Kitchen and Den; Zone 2 - dining room, living room, entry way, hallway and downstairs bathroom; Zone 3 - Upstairs bathroom, stairs to the upstairs; Zone 4 - master bedroom, spare bedroom, sitting area (all upstairs); Zone 5 - laundry room, basement family room.
The kitchen takes me the longest to clean so I teamed it up with an easy to clean room, the den. I considered this when I was dividing my house into zones in that I teamed up easy to clean rooms with hard to clean rooms. I calculated that the most it should take me to thoroughly clean each zone is 2 hours and if I take 5 days out of the week to do a zone in the morning, then I should be able to keep up on the house work. Of course each day I tidy up bathrooms and do a general pickup that doesn't take much time and I don't include in the zones.
This is working for me. It would be nice to clean the entire house in one day, but it isn't going to happen so I had to come up with an "easy on my back" cleaning schedule.
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