Cleaning Tips/Products

[SuzySunshine]

Ok gang I've had to let our housecleaner go, its just not in the fellowship budget and as stepford-ish as it sounds I haven't cleaned my own house (I mean REALLY cleaned it) in over 2 years. When R was little it just wasn't something I was willing to spend my time doing but now that they are older I fell like I can plus A will be at preschool 3 mornings/week so I'll have a little more time.

So tell me what works for you - the whole house at one time? A few rooms a day?

Favorite products? Especially for floors, most of this house is a laminate bamboo floor - how do I clean it? I've never had hardwood floors??

Then there is the kitchen countertop, its tile - yuck! As much as it looks great with the grout and all it seems like it will be a pain to clean??

Then there is the kitchen sink - I've always had a stainless sink, this one is a white porcelain??

I know this sounds awful, for someone who lived in communal housing in college and did cleaning for 50 I'm so out of practice.

[Michele]

I am terrible at keeping a house. So I bought two books. One is the SHE system. Basically you write every chore on a 3x5 card and then divvy them up through the month (card box, 1-31 dividers, stick each card when it needs to get done - use one color for daily chores, one color for weekly chores and one color for monthly chores). Each day I pull out the cards and do what it says and them refile it for when it gets done again (next day, next week, next month).

As for how to clean, I bought another book that spells everything out. She's over the top germaphobic, but it gives me an extreme and I tailor down to "good enough" for me.

[Michele]

And for me, I'd rather have 10 cards that all relate to cleaning a bathroom, than one card that simply says clean bathroom. I have cards that say "counter tops and sink" and "toilet" and "mirrors" and "vacuum floor" and "mop floor". And honestly most of the time I separate them up over different days. My mom thinks I'm crazy, but she's the type that can just clean an entire room, or several in a day with out thinking about it. I need it all spelled out. It so does not come naturally to me. And I write on the cards which cleaning products and supplies I need to do it.

[DCJenn]

I buy Method products (either at Target or online at soap.com) because they're non-toxic and w/ animals and the dude all over the floors, etc. I feel better.

I just do it as I have time. Vacuuming is a nearly daily thing. I clean the bathrooms on the weekends- or if the tub is nasty from one dirty kid, I'll give it a scrub before the next person uses it. I clean the kitchen as I go. I deal with the mail immediately as it comes in- I actually sort it at the recycle bin outside. (no catalogs enter my home) I make my bed right after I get up- I used to never make my bed but there are too many 4-legged creatures who think it's their bed, too.

Laundry is folded straight out of the dryer because otherwise I never do it. I have a clothes basket per person and their clothes go in it as soon as their folded. Each person is responsible for putting away (or not) their own stuff. I can't care that much.

Jenn

[oceanchild]

We don't have kids or pets, so I can get away with a thorough cleaning every other week. (The kitchen gets cleaned whenever we use it, and we usually deal with clutter more frequently too.) If I'm dilligent and not too distracted I can do the whole thing in about 3 hours, so that's what I aim for. I usually block off some time on a weekend.

I just vacuum or sweep our wood floors. I asked about it when we bought this house, and the general consensus is to mop them occasionally with mostly warm water and a little bit of white vinegar. That happens maybe twice a year for us, and only if DH does it. I loathe mopping. The floors seem to be doing fine without it, ha.

I take wet swiffers to the linoleum from time to time. They'd probably be fine for laminates too.

I like the natural cleaners and choose them based on how they smell. I do keep Lysol on hand for the kitchen, too, since the natural cleaners can't really do germy cleaning.

ETA: We have a white porcelain sink too. I just clean it with the sponge and dish soap. Not perfect, but it mostly works.

[corn poffi]

Michele, I love that method! I totally need to try it out myself. I'm the same way, and would need each task broken down for me.

As for specific products, it's usually Method or Seventh Generation for me. My exceptions are for the linoleum, I use generic PineSol, the toilet, I use whatever is on sale, and about twice a year, I use this crazy strong, horrible chemical called Stay for the tub. Pretty sure using it just twice a year negates all the natural stuff I usually use, but this stuff is pure magic. I'm not sure where to buy it, but I just borrow it from a friend of mine who manages apartment buildings.

[diggitydot]

Here's how we do it:

Stuff done daily
- dishes, counters cleaned (DD1's chores)
- gabage and recycling emptied (DD1's chores)
- sweeping/mopping kitchen and hardwoods (DD2's chores)
- miscellaneous crap picked up from downstairs (DS's chores)
- laundry for 5 people washed and folded (me, constantly)

Weekly
- lawn mowing (DD1's chores)
- weeding (me)
- vacuuming (me)
- dusting (me)
- bathrooms scrubbed/mopped (I do the upstairs, DD1 does the downstairs where all of her hair and make-up crap multiplies at night like Gremlins.)


With our kids being old enough to have chores, they do mostly what they make messy. Including their own bedrooms. I refuse to raise children who are 100% clueless about caring for themselves like DH was before we married. Dude didn't know how to do any basic things like load a dishwasher or wash his own skivvies.

[migirl]

With little kids, I find that breaking it down into smaller tasks over the course of the week works best for me ... as opposed to doing it all at once. So, one day I'll clean the bathrooms, another day I'll vacuum and Swiffer the first floor (we have hardwoods and tile), another day I'll dust, etc. The kitchen I clean as I go, and I try to make sure most of the clutter is picked up and the house is somewhat tidied before I go to bed. I hate waking up to a messy house!!

I use some Method products, but also just buy stuff that's on sale.

[MrsK]

[QUOTE=SuzySunshine;538707]

Ok gang I've had to let our housecleaner go, its just not in the fellowship budget and as stepford-ish as it sounds I haven't cleaned my own house (I mean REALLY cleaned it) in over 2 years. When R was little it just wasn't something I was willing to spend my time doing but now that they are older I fell like I can plus A will be at preschool 3 mornings/week so I'll have a little more time.

So tell me what works for you - the whole house at one time? A few rooms a day?

I have some chores that I do daily (a load of laundry, cleaning the countertops, sinks, and mirrors in the kitchen and bathrooms, making beds, etc. -- similar to what DCJenn does right down to folding laundry out of the dryer), chores that I do weekly (vacuuming, changing linens, dusting, grocery shopping, etc), and others that I do about every 6 weeks (cleaning appliances, decluttering, etc.)

Favorite products? Especially for floors, most of this house is a laminate bamboo floor - how do I clean it? I've never had hardwood floors??

I like Murpheys for wood floors. Some people don't. My go-to cleaner for countertops, mirrors, and the like is a 50/50 water and vinegar spray that I make myself.

Then there is the kitchen countertop, its tile - yuck! As much as it looks great with the grout and all it seems like it will be a pain to clean??

I have tile countertops in my kitchen. I hate them. The grout looked dirty when I moved in and still does.

Then there is the kitchen sink - I've always had a stainless sink, this one is a white porcelain??

My kitchen sink is white porcelian too. Sounds like a nightmare but cleans up very well with Comet and a dobie.

[SoonerTexan]

I like Method Products as well

Favorite products? Especially for floors, most of this house is a laminate bamboo floor - how do I clean it? I've never had hardwood floors??

Method has an awesome squirt and mop hardwood cleaner. I bought a dry mop with a removable microfiber cloth...I just use that and then wash it. I've done the mop and Murphys Oil Soap and it takes 2-3x as long.

For white porcelain sinks, try Bar Keepers Friend. Works like a charm.

[SuzySunshine]

Thanks girls, I appreciate all of the comments and not being judged. I do all of my laundry in one day, once a week. I hate having to do it often so it piles up and then takes one day and I'm done.

Good to know that the floors don't have to be mopped often, I have swiffers and I bought one of those stick vacuums because the way our backyard is the kids trape in a lot of dirt and debris. And I have a dog so I don't have to really worry about food messes.

Michele, I like the sounds of that system I'll have to look into it.

[TigerLily]

I usually clean most things as needed. The kitchen counters get wiped down several times a day usually. I vacuum almost every day. Usually I make the bed every morning.
I also love the method products. I use an all purpose method cleaner for almost everything in the kitchen. Counter tops, sink, microwave, appliances. Unless meat is involved, then I use lysol wipes because I am horrified of raw meat juice. yikes!
I hate mopping, but I probably do it once a week, with mostly warm water and a little bit of vinegar. All floor cleaners I have tried on our laminate floors left streaks and they never looked really clean. Vinegar is amazing because it takes away all of the build up and leaves them shiny and amazing.
I've heard of and briefly checked out a website called Flylady.com. The system works really well for a few friends of mine.

[ladymoreta]

I need to start using the system Michele talked about! I seriously have to be the worst housekeeper ever... Usually I just clean the obvious messes, and save the actual cleaning until the day before people come over. Unexpected guests get an apology.

Unexpected guests get an apology.

Stop that. My mother always said "If you're coming to see me, come anytime. If you're coming to see the house, make an appointment. "

I generally keep the first floor picked up, or at least it gets picked up every night for the toddler-tornado to come through again. I don't do most of the "real" cleaning (my cleaning lady comes every 2 weeks, and I have very low standards for in between as long as things don't LOOK dirty). I clean the kitchen as I go - I also like Method products, but may be switching over to TJ's since we have it now.

I'm also 100% w/Wendy on the kids-helping thing (C - yours are clearly young for most of it). Mattie helps pick up her stuff, throws out her own pull ups, etc. J & Q have many specific chores (scooping poop, feeding dogs, watering garden and flowers, setting the table), and then a general "help when asked". They pick up their room, they put away their folded clothes, they bring their laundry to the laundry room for me, they do a toy pick up at the end of each night, they help empty the dishwasher, etc. I will not raise children who think they get waited on or things magically get put away by some fairy. My kids know where things go in my kitchen better than my husband does.

[Deebs]

Full disclaimer - I do have a cleaning lady (or as many of you know...aka marriage counselor)

BUT, there are some things you can do to really help you out. I put some kind of disinfectant wipe in every bathroom and in the kitchen. It's so much easier to just do a quick when you get a chance if the wipes are right there. I use swiffer dusters and let my kids help - even the 1 year old gets in on this action. For the toys, I have a lot of baskets that the kids can toss things into. It's not what I would prefer, but I had a long talk with myself and told myself that it was better to teach them to put their toys away then do it for them and have it be completely organized. The one year old is in on that, too. I don't make beds unless we're having company over or our house is for sale.