Cleaning Products

If you have somehow been living under a rock, the US Men's Soccer team played against Belgium yesterday in the first knockout round of the World Cup. They unfortunately lost, but there seems to be a bright future ahead for US soccer. They survived what was called "The Group of Death", tying with Portugal, beating Ghana, and losing to Germany. Then yesterday they lost in an amazing game to Belgium, ending their tournament run. Goalie, Tim Howard, had a record of 16 saves

Despite the loss, there has been a revival of support for U.S. Men's Soccer among American fans. The U.S. game vs. Portugal had 24.7 million viewers, more than the 2013 World Series and 2014 NBA Finals. The team has great talent among it's younger players. The U.S. goal yesterday was scored by 19-year-old Julian Green, mere minutes after he subbed into the game during extra time. It will certainly be excited to watch the U.S. again in four years during the 2018 World Cup. Just because the U.S. did not advance, does not mean you should not keep watching the World Cup! You can find the bracket here. I personally will be rooting for Germany :)   

Today's post will discuss my cleaning regimen, since I've had a few questions about that!

These are the products I have on hand:

Pure Baking Soda, Swiffer Sweeper dry floor pads, Grime Boss dusters, Swiffer Wet floors pads, Pledge Mutlisurface, Green Works Multipurpose Solution, Ammonia, Cleaning Vinegar, Clorox Wipes, Windex Multisurface with Vinegar, a duster, a dish scrubber, microfiber sponges, and vinyl gloves. Missing from this picture is Borax and a Clorox bleach solution spray.

For those of you who don't know me, I am a bit of a clean freak. I like neat, clean spaces. My weekly cleaning schedule looks like this:

Monday - clean kitchen, wash sheets, clean floors, wash bath mats

This is the day I move everything from my countertops to clean underneath, I scrub down the stove top (we have a gas stove), and I wipe down the sink. During the week, I make sure to spot clean any messes I make, but Monday is the deep cleaning day. I also wash our sheets with a little bleach, as well as the bathroom mats. I use Borax in all my laundry loads (about half a cup) and found that it truly does boost the detergent's cleaning ability. We only have two spaces with tile - the bathroom and the kitchen. Both are rather small spaces, so it's not difficult to clean quick with the swiffer. I do have a broom and dustpan for the kitchen since there are more crumbs, etc. in there. 

Tuesday - clean bathroom

I can clean my bathroom in 30 minutes or less. I spray the toilet with the bleach spray and let that sit while I wipe down the countertop and sink with Clorox wipes. Then I clean the toilet with a Clorox Toilet Wand. This is my favorite tool for cleaning toilets! The pads are disposable and clean great if you clean once a week. A 10 pack of replacement pads is about $8, so very inexpensive! Then I use the dish scrubber from the picture above, filled with an equal combination of dish detergent (I have Dawn concentrated) and vinegar. The scrubber makes it really easy to wipe down the walls and we thankfully have a detachable shower head so clean up is simple! In my old apartment, I would bring a large cup into the shower with me and use that to rinse off the walls. 

Wednesday - clean Maple's cage

Today is the first day I am doing this, but I've had guinea pigs before so I think I can manage ;)

I am going to try using puppy training pads as a bottom liner of the cage, since guinea pigs are notorious for having calcium deposits in their urine, which will stain the bottom of their cage white. So I am going to see how well the training pads prevent this from happening.

Thursday - clean floors

I've decided this week to try cleaning the floors twice a week since there always seems to be a decent amount of dirt when I clean once a week. If I find that this second day doesn't make much difference, I will go back to once a week.

Friday - vacuum, dust

The rest of our house is carpeted. A former tenant must have had a dog or cat because although we have been here for 6 weeks, I still vacuum up considerable amounts of animal hair!! Not to mention dirt and dust. The athletics secretary at my former job said she would never have carpets again since once you get any dirt in them, they never will fully clean again.. and I'm beginning to agree with her! I think I wouldn't mind the bedroom having carpet, but the rest of our house can be tile or hardwood when Judah and I find a permanent place :D 

Our house also gets a considerable amount of dust!! But I think that is pretty common everywhere.  The Swiffer Duster makes it super quick and easy to dust though.

Saturday - meal plan

Pretty self explanatory :D Plus, by this time of week, I've already done everything else that needs to be done! Meal planning allows me to figure out what we need for grocery shopping too. 

Sunday - off

This is the day Judah is home so I don't want to spend any time away from him cleaning.

For dishes and laundry, I do those as needed. I probably wash clothes twice a week and then dishes multiple times a day. Since I spend so much time cooking, that inevitably creates lots of dishes!

Now you are probably reading this and think I spend HOURS cleaning our house. Not really. On a daily basis, I spend only 30-60 minutes cleaning. Obviously, laundry is a little more time intensive, but you only need to be around for the loading and transferring, plus the dreaded folding session. 

Finally, three tricks I will leave you with.

Anyone have a blender? Ever notice a gross smell in it after making a few different concoctions in it? Judah and I make smoothies on a near daily basis and about once a week it simply smells not clean, despite washing it. So I put in a tablespoon of baking soda and top it off with vinegar. Let it sit for two minutes, wash it out, and viola! Smells clean and fresh :)

And for those of you who have tough, greasy stains, whether they are on your stove, wall, or floor somewhere. If you take some baking soda, with a drop of dish detergent and scrub that in, it should help lift up the caked-on grease. Our stovetop was GROSS when I moved in. It looked like it hadn't been deep cleaned in a while. I really wish I had taken before and after pictures. Using the baking soda/dish detergent mixture, I was able to remove 99% of the gunk.

Then to clean the stove top grates on a gas stove, simply place them in a ziploc bag with 2-3 tablespoons of ammonia to soak overnight. (Don't inhale around that stuff!!). It helps break down the grease and grime that cakes up on the grates. Then simply hand wash with soap and water and the gunk comes right off. I did that the first week I moved in and six weeks later, I still don't need to!

There you have it folks! How I keep my household spic and span :)

Readers: What is your most-dreaded chore around the house? Are there any tasks you simply refuse to do and make your spouse/children do? ;)