Need some “good housekeeping” info

[lcertuche]

I try to get the mess as soon as it happens but if you don't then we scrub with a magic eraser (generic). I too like to line with foil. I hate to see a dirty stove, right now my teenager made the deal with his dad that he will clean the kitchen every night if we let him stay after school and lift or play basketball. I just noticed Saturday the condition of the back burners and around them. He's been leaving my large pot sit there and I hadn't noticed that he was only cleaning the front of the stove. So now it's taking a lot of elbow grease to get it clean.

 

[tortoise]

@Country homesteader , I have heard that using RainX (for car windshields) on a glass shower door is miraculous for preventing water spotting. Windex works great on bathroom counters too, btw, if you're ever looking to cut your cleaner inventory. Oh! My bathroom is tiny, cheap vinyl stick tile floor. I wipe the floor with windex too. Like I said, I'm a lazy housekeeper. Can't be bothered to keep track of many cleaning products! Or to get more than one out!

 

[tortoise]

I should clarify - I am a lazy housekeeper, but I keep it clean and pretty. Unless I have a project going on, the main living area of my house looks like a magazine spread at least once during each day. I find housekeeping to be very soothing and satisfying.

 

[Country homesteader]

Yes, I agree that cleaning house is very satisfying and it's also a piece of mind. When I clean I start right after my second cup of coffee in the morning and take my time doing it. Sure my house doesn't get really dirty when it's only me and the three cats but when there's others here it never looks like I clean it.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Uh no, I've got to disagree that there is anything enjoyable about cleaning. I like it being done, but I hate it. And I have a 4 year old, 2 dogs (one of whom sheds like mad), and a messy husband so no, my house is not often spotless!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Are ya'll gonna make me admit this? I get up at 5ish every morning. I go out and feed chickens, pigs and goats. I think I'm about to start milking again in the mornings instead of evenings which will add to my list. I go to work from 7:30a until 4:30 / 5:00 M-F (no more Fridays off until next summer) Oh, and I work at least one Saturday a month during the academic year.

I come home and change clothes and go out again to feed/milk/worm/inject/cuss/chase/ goats, horse, pigs, and dogs. Oh - and pick up eggs if there are any. Put out hay if I'm out of round bales. Then I go inside about 7ish and do the same thing for DH. Well...leave out the milking, worming, and the pick up eggs parts, lol! We, hopefully, eat by 8 but sometimes it's 9. Somewhere in the week I run errands, do laundry, buy groceries... that kind of stuff.

So, to make this long story shorter - NO - my house is NEVER clean-clean. Parts of it can be...sometimes even more of it is - but I do not enjoy it. It is simply just about the only thing in my life where there is a little wiggle-room. I can live with a little dust on the furniture for a few days. However - when I do clean I do get obsessed. I can spend hours with the vacuum cleaner. I start at the top and go to the bottom. Top being the ceilings...can't have those spider webs! Bottom being under the furniture for the same reason. I wish the stupid spiders would make up their mind whether they like it high or low...geeze! Throw in yard work on the weekends and there are simply no more hours in the day for anything else.

I try NOT to spend my entire weekend being a slave to these floors and walls. I am more of a slave to the yard and pens...those thing have to be done. It took a long time to develop the ability to ignore some of those things. I WAS that obsessive cleaner when I had kids at home. I was a twice a day vacuumer - every day duster - mopped the floor every day too. Also had that hot dinner on the table at 6p each and every night for probably 20 years.

I'm OVER it - LOL! (just noticed that my long story didn't get any shorter)

 

[Britesea]

Best way I ever had of cleaning the oven was to put a small bowl of ammonia on the top shelf, a large pan of boiling water on the shelf below it, close up the oven and leave it overnight. In the morning, everything wipes clean with a damp rag.

If you catch something boiling over in the oven- before it has actually burnt in- sprinkle salt all over it. It will puff up into a light, crispy something that wipes off easily with your damp rag.

What I have trouble with is the burners on top. I used to wipe them down before I started cooking (can't wipe them down afterwards- they're too hot!) and that kept them clean. Unfortunately, DH and DS didn't do that when I was doing craft show and gone most weekends. By the time I would get home, everything was turned into varnish. I've tried soaking with ammonia, but in an arid environment it dries up before anything softens.

 

[lcertuche]

Our house is never clean either. When you have a housefull of people and critters you just can't have it clean all the time. It helps when everyone goes to school or work because then I can really clean but if anyone is home I don't get as much done. I make my own all-purpose cleaner that saves a lot of money. I got it from "Living on a Dime". Lots of money saving ideas. She also has lots of cleaning/organizing ideas too.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

I do the same as @Britesea , sometimes I use vinegar. While I'm cleaning the bottom, I drop the top trays and anything extra greasy into a bin with ammonia and set it outside. Most of the time it comes off easily.
I always keep ammonia, and vinegar, bleach, baking soda, and salt, and borax, and Dawn dish soap at the house. All are incredible cleaners in different ways and are incredibly cheap compared to the name brand stuff. I rarely buy other cleaners. Yep, if you're using ammonia or bleach turn on the vent, or have an open window, but you need that with a lot of other cleaners anyway.

Thinking on those lines, this might be a great thread for the uses of these common, very affordable items.

Ammonia: great for Windows, grease, and cleaning carpets and upholstery (like arm chair arms)
Baking soda: use in wash, for gentle scrubber, deodorizer, and oh so many other things...
Salt and ice cubes in a coffee pot will remove burnt on coffee (learned this in the Navy...) Dump a few ice chips and salt in the glass pot and swirl... Works great!

Vinegar cleans wash machines, coffee pots, dishwashers (and so much more)
Also a drip of dish soap in vinegar on the counter kills fruit flies.

More ideas, anyone? What are your "dirty little secrets"?

 

[Britesea]

Sanitizers for the house:

Grapefruit seed extract
Works better than hospital disinfectants
Even works against haemophilus influenzae
For a spray: 30 to 40 drops in 1 quart of water and shake.

Vinegar
Kills some germs but not all, and inhibits their growth
For a spray: ½ cup per cup of water, add some lavender essential oil
To make it smell good and increase antibacterial properties

Hydrogen Peroxide
Mix with equal amounts of vinegar to kill Salmonella, shigella and e coli
Can be sprayed directly onto countertops

Tea Tree Oil
Against staph, e coli, shigella and salmonella
For a spray: 2 cups water, ½ tsp liquid soap, 2 tbsp vinegar and 20 drops tea tree oil

Neem Oil
Good sanitizer and insect repellant
Mix neem oil with castile soap and use a few drops to clean counters, or add to water in a spray bottle.

Lavender
1 cup water, 20 drops Lavender essential oil, 20 drops thyme or eucalyptus essential oil and 10 drops tea tree oil