Virginia Real : Call Me Mrs. Clean…

March 13, 2014

My family and friends know that I struggle with housecleaning. (Other than washing dishes…strange as it may seem, that’s like therapy to me.) Part of the reason I don’t like housecleaning is that I don’t see much point in it; as two days later, you’re back where you started from. I like things to be in order, but I don’t mind dust or a little dirt on the floor. The way I see it, there are two kinds of women…cleaners and crafters. Even those women who work outside the home tend to be one or the other. The cleaners keep their house so clean that you could eat off the floor, but they can’t sew on a button. The crafters have beautiful artwork in their houses that they’ve created, but you really don’t want to set foot in their house for fear of catching something. Both of these types of women absolutely have their merits and places in this world. Unfortunately, I’m not a cleaner. I often I wish I fell more into that category and I’m sure Charming would prefer that as well.

I spend most of my time either creating something or thinking about creating something. I do it naturally, I can’t help it, and it’s a drive that’s almost as strong as that which keeps me breathing. When Charming and I make trips to Lowe’s or Home Depot to get materials for house projects, he’ll hang out in, say, the hardware aisle. While he’s weighing the pros, cons, and costs of the different nuts and bolts, I peruse the clearance bins on the end caps to see if there’s anything for under $2.00 that I could turn into something that looks like a million bucks.

On the days when it’s time to clean the bathrooms, I just want to stay in bed. The worst part of bathroom cleaning is that it seems to be full of hair…dog hair, cat hair, people hair. I told Charming that we need to consider buying those “No-No” hair shavers for everybody in the family…dog and cats included. Everybody should be sleek and hair-free in order to make my job of cleaning the bathrooms easier.

Until the day arises when all members of our household are hair-free and I can simply hose down the bathrooms, I have developed a plan that really has helped. When I find I have a few spare minutes, I’ll vacuum a room or use a dust wand to dust off the TV, sofa, and end tables or use the mini-vacuum to vacuum around the wood stove. It’s amazing how a few spare minutes can add up to a cleaner house.

You may recall an earlier post where my cleaning experience in the bathroom was less than stellar. I have since found my own style of bathroom cleaning. Two things are important to me: I want to use as many natural cleaning products as possible and there is no rule that you have to clean everything in the bathroom all at once. I can do whatever I can when I have a few spare minutes. So here’s my method.

I do use natural products that are cheap and readily available to anyone. You can buy everything you need for a clean bathroom at Walmart or almost any grocery store. My “go to” bucket of cleaning products includes: baking soda, borax, white vinegar, and a dishwashing detergent. (I substitute the dishwashing detergent with the laundry detergent that I make, but you can use store bought dish detergent for this if you don’t make your own.) It is important to note that I have mixing utensils that are dedicated only for mixing my cleaning ingredients. I got mine for almost nothing at our local thrift shop.

Special utensils you’ll need for mixing the cleaning solution:

Medium-sized mixing bowl

Whisk (to break up the borax as it’ll sometimes clump together)

Measuring cup

Funnel

Empty squirt-type dish detergent bottle

In the medium-sized mixing bowl add 1 cup Borax, 1 cup white vinegar, and 1 cup detergent. Whisk ingredients to make sure Borax does not clump. Using a funnel, pour the cleaning mixture into the empty dish detergent bottle.

You’ll also need the regular tools to clean with, such as a scrubbing brush, bucket, rubber gloves, etc.

- You can use this liquid mixture to clean shower tiles, tub, and sink (as long as they’re not made of fiberglass).

- For tough stains or soap scum in the shower/tub/sink, squirt the liquid mixture on the surface and then sprinkle baking soda on top of it. Let it sit for about five minutes then scrub with a brush. After scrubbing, rinse the surface with water (a hand-held shower is great for this).

- This liquid mixture can also be used to wipe down the outside surfaces of the toilet.

- I also use the liquid mixture, plus about 1/8 cup of baking soda sprinkled around the bowl of the toilet and then scrub.

This method of cleaning is working well for me, costs way less than commercial cleaners, and is better for the environment. It makes me feel a little better about housecleaning…well, not much, but a little.

My "go to" cleaning supplies.

From right: Borax, detergent (in canning jar), white vinegar,
baking soda (in spice container), and the liquid mixture of
borax, vinegar, and detergent that I put in a squirt bottle. (Don't
be tempted to put this into a spray bottle because the borax
will most likely clog the nozzle, which results in swear words.)