This was my first week at my part time Housecleaning/part time Stay-At-Home-Mom arrangement. It started off well but by Tuesday I woke up with Mastitis and had to rearrange my schedule so I could be home to get better (I guess one of the new advantages of this job is that I can easily rearrange my schedule and not lose any money for the week, unlike my last job where I had one sick day a month, which was typically used on Josiah, and then after that it was no pay). Josiah also had his first week out of day care, which has actually been a horrid mess because 1. he was getting over a virus, 2. he's teething which means 3. not sleeping, eating, or playing well. The not eating well part is not going very well for me since I desperately need him to nurse so I can get rid of this Mastitis!
There are many things that I have learned about housecleaning this week that I thought I would share. This in now way what-so-ever has ANYTHING to do with the families/homes that I clean for, because lets face it we all have messy homes that need cleaning and we all have battles in keeping our homes neat and tidy. These are just a few things I have learned:
1. Sit criss-cross applesauce (there's my teacher role coming out!) on bumpy tile floors when scrubbing, otherwise your knees will throb!
2. A little goes a LONG way!
*There were times this week that I definitely over-did spraying down showers, sinks, counters and toilets and I had to do a lot more rinsing than necessary.
3. Feather dusters are GREAT for maintaining a dust free home!
*A good dusting polish is a great start for deep cleaning, but to maintain an already neat home a feather duster works really well. I am thinking about getting one myself! We use Swiffer dusters in our home and we go through them so fast that it just seems like a waste of money.
4. Hair in the showers/tubs will ALWAYS put up a fight!
*I just can't figure out how to make cleaning a shower/tub faster when I have to battle hair that sticks to everything! Do I take a vacuum to it for a pre-cleaning sweep? Do I do a wet paper towel wipe down? Or do I start with a general rinsing with water (but then how do I rinse the top halves of the shower when the shower head doesn't move??) It's something I will have to experiment with.
5. To mop or not to mop?
*I am so unsure about the use of mops these days, with all of the germs that get stuck to the sponge I just don't know how clean the floor can REALLY get!? So I've decided that a good ol' fashion scrubbing on your hands and knees with a bucket and a rag is one of the best methods for deep cleaning. A mop that has a removable head and can be cleaned post-use is good for maintaining a clean floor (especially those bumpy tile floors that I referred to earlier!).
6. Eco-Friendly products are great but not everyone likes them.
*In my home I use Green Works products, Norwex products, and some of of my own homemade water/vinegar solution for cleaning my home. However, some people really would prefer to use the "regular" cleaning products simply for peace of mind. 1. because they smell better, and 2. they feel that they actually clean better. So for peace of mind I am willing to use their products because it's their home and know I wouldn't want someone coming into my home and cleaning it with whatever they wanted to use. But, there are some products that I actually enjoyed using this week that are not so Eco-friendly. Like Scrubbing Bubbles is awesome! It smells wonderful and all you do is spray and wipe (so great for showers and tubs!). I also really like Arm N Hammer Multi-Purpose Solution with Febreze. I filled a bucket with water and about a 1/4 cup of this solution and used in on the outside of tubs, floors, bathroom cabinets, and outside of toilets. It was really easy and left rooms smelling really nice. I may take a try at the Arm N Hammer Solution for the floors in my apartment, but not sure if I'll go out of my way to get Scrubbing Bubbles.
So here's my housekeeping question for you: what is the most efficient way to clean a bathroom in under 20 minutes?
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