Scrub-a-Dub Dub
The expected sunshine this weekend might have you ready to pull out your picnic blanket or flip flops, but we recommend you stay inside and reach for your less-exciting Eureka. Throw open the windows, shake out your rugs—embrace your inner rubber-glove god/goddess to rid your place of all its winter skeletons (or spiderwebs).
Crank up the iPod, tie up your hair, and with your dust mop at your side, prepare to wage war on winter dust with any or all of these usually-skipped-over tasks:
- Dust/vacuum your baseboards, heating vents, windows sills and bookshelves.
- Get serious about cleaning out your piles of saved magazines and newspapers. Make an inspiration folder for ideas and looks you plan on getting around to, and a keepsake folder for snippets of things you can’t throw out. Then toss your winter stack in the recycling bin.
- Polish your drawer pulls and doorhandles—a quick and easily-overlooked spreader of germs. Make them twinkle. You should also wipe down your light switches and spot-clean your walls.
- Remove each trinket from its proper place and dust everything: shelves, coffee tables, nightstands, mantles, and don’t forget your light fixtures.
- Clean out your closet—know when enough is enough. Donate older items to the Deseret Industries, and put other still-kinda-cute pieces on eBay, or tote them to a new-for-someone-else store like Name Droppers (2350 E. Parleys Way) to see if you can’t rake in a little extra dough for spring shopping.
- Put new sheets on the bed; wash your linens. Pull off your blankets, mattress pads and pillows and run them through the dryer on the “air fluff” cycle. You can also do this with your curtains or drapes.
- Windex everything: all glass surfaces including interior windows and mirrors.
- Clean out the fridge; get rid of all those un-used jars of scary-looking syrups.
- Vacuum, and of course, mop. And then give your sink a good, hard cleaning.
- Replace your furnace filters.
Here are some of our favorite cleaning products for the day-to-day and seasonal scrub-down–the kind that might have even the crankiest cleaner whistling while he/she works:
Lemon oil: The typical furniture-polisher is also great for cleaning tiled bathroom showers and bathroom fixtures.
Method’s Tub and Tile Spray: A tough everyday cleaner with a fresh eucalyptus scent you won’t have to worry about washing off your skin.
Clorox Disinfecting Wipes: Great for occasional bathroom and toilet wipe-ups.
Clorox Clean-Up Spray: Deep down cleaner is the ultimate germ-killer; it is the smell of super clean.
Greased Lightning: Use this for de-greasing appliances, stoves and countertops. We prefer the “Lemon Blast” scent.
Bar Keepers Friend: Especially great for porcelain and stainless steel sinks as well as cast-iron cookware, this product scrubs without scratching unlike powder-form cleansers. Williams Sonoma Kitchen Scrub is also a good option.
Mr. Clean Magic Reach: Great for a day-to-day wipe up, this little guy gets behind awkward and hard-to-reach areas. Though Mr. Clean provides his own wipes, a Clorox wipe will usually do the job, too.
Sprayway Class Cleaner: A truly streak-free cleaner; its foamier consistency makes it easy to see where you’ve scrubbed and what spots you might have missed.
Now, tell us, what are some of your favorite tricks and cleaning products?
March 30th, 2007 at 10:14 am
wow! what a great blog and wonderful resource. I’m so glad you submitted and think the other design-y bloggers will love to discover it as much as I did.
best,
Lynda
http://www.delight.com
http://www.delightfulblogs.com
March 30th, 2007 at 10:41 am
This blog has almost inspired me to get that spring cleaning done….maybe I will think about it tomorrow.
March 30th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Aw, man. This is not my favorite post (haha)…It makes me want to clean, which I dislike but find strangely gratifying once all is said and done. I love Method’s Tub and Tile Spray…Ali, I think you turned me on to it a while ago. Clorox wipes are my all-purpose/favorite/go-to cleaning product. Every few weeks, I wipe my entire house down with them. And I can’t say enough about Bar Keepers Friend. My grandma turned me on to it years ago, and it’s been TLA ever since.
Here’s my one cleaning problem…toilets. Specifically, toilet brushes. I think they are disgusting. Too many germs that I don’t want in my house. Lately, I have been very tempted to try the disposable ones. Has anyone tried them? I’m curious…very curious.
March 30th, 2007 at 11:50 am
All of the household cleaning products by Seventh Generation (www.seventhgen.com) are non-toxic and smell amazing! The lavender dish soap is an all-time favorite.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
spring cleaning, wahoo! thanks for motivating me. buying fun & fabulous new products is always a great way to get geared up for a big project. i am excited and will have to check out Method’s Spray. one of my favorite fresh & clean tool is the downy ball. i love falling asleep in sheets that have a “just-laundered” scent.
March 30th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I loved this…..it is inspiring!!! I love the feel of cleanliness and order.
March 30th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Those Clorox Wipes are perfect for cleaning base-boards… Gets the grime right off. I’m still old fashioned because I love Comet to clean the bathrooms.
But, it’s my closet that needs the most help!
Also, Plato’s Closet is another great place to sell clothes too.
Happy cleaning!
March 31st, 2007 at 8:10 am
I love the list, I am getting started on it right now!
March 31st, 2007 at 6:12 pm
hey jamie anne – i think those disposable toilet scrubber thingers are a god-send. try them.
April 1st, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Oxyclean! To use it is to LOVE it! It’s my best friend ever since it showed me it’s scouring strentgh by removing 10 years of yuck off the bathroom floor of our apartment- in student housing! What could be better?
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:33 am
Love Mrs. Meyers cleaning supplies. I prefer the geranium scent but all are super yummy. Don’t be disgusted by what I’m about to tell you, but I prefer to clean the shower while I’m in it…showering. It’s harder to use this method with the tub. I’m also a big fan of the swiffer and dust once a week since the hand-held swiffer can reach any nook or cranny and it takes no time at all (try to do it while I’m on the phone).
My husband and I make a list on Saturday morning. He seems to work well if I tell him I need two hours of his time and then he’s done. We each pick something off the list until it’s all divvied out and go on our merry way. With this process we can always get our house done in two hours and play the rest of the day. You have to give your men a timeline. So they know the house cleaning won’t drag on all day long.