Tuesday, January 15, 2013

5 Things around the house that lead you to the loony bin that aren't your children, and friendly tips to help fix it

Around the house:

1. Flat Paint
Why oh why would someone ever want to put this on their walls. Wait we did before we had a dog and children. You just can't magic erase any blemishes. Save yourself some future headache and paint with anything BUT flat paint! What I have found that works, but doesn't leave you with those oily looking blobs, is Myers Cleaner. It is a natural cleaner that is sold in a concentrated formula and you dilute it. You need a spray bottle, put 1/4 cup of it in at a time and add water. This stuff is great at cleaning almost everything.

2. Baseboards and Crown Molding
These things just scream "Hello and and all dirt left around the house come and magnetize yourself to me!". I don't know about you, but it just doesn't matter how clean your home can be, but the second you see "yuck" accumulate on the baseboards (which in our house, only takes 30 seconds), it makes me feel like my house is dirty again. So I have tried the Bounce dryer sheet tip you see all over Pinterest and well, if your baseboards and molding aren't as smooth as a baby's behind, you end up with dryer sheet particles, so save yourself the aggravation and just bring out the good ole Dustbuster.

3. Stove Ledges & Hoods
Pointless in my mind. Yes, I love the convenience of not letting little hands play with the buttons and knobs, but come on, we all know it is just a reachable place rather than the ceiling of your kitchen for all the grease and nasties of cooking to gather. So, I tried the absurd tip of wiping it off with cooking oil and voila! It worked and actually makes life a whole lot easier because you only have to do it a couple of times in between cleanings!

4. Tile Grout
I hate it. I have found nothing that will act as a repellant from this getting dirty. I am a freak when it comes to bathing in a place that remotely doesn't look or feel clean. I would rather not bathe! I know no matter which way you look at it it seems gross, but hey, I am the person that left for college, knowing that I was going to have to share a shower (ick by the way) with a CASE of Scrubbing Bubbles! In the past, before children I discovered a cleaner sold only at the Dollar Store called Awesome. You could spray it on walk away for an hr and come back with a toothbrush and a little elbow grease and in 20 minutes you were done. Now with kids, I don't have that hour to wait nor the 20 minutes to scrub. So I came across a "recipe" that works almost as AWESOMELY and takes you're done in minutes. Spray, walk away for 15 minutes, rinse.

7 c. of Hot Water
1/2 c. of Baking Soda
1/4 c. of Vinegar
1/3 c. of Lemon Juice

5. Cleaning the Fridge
Now I am not talking about removal of old food, that has never been a problem for me since, I am an expiration date freak. I know some will argue that it is a sell by date, but nothing is worse than putting non-curdled soured coffee creamer in your morning cup of ever so needed STAT Joe. I am talking about that food particles that accumulate everywhere and well those pesky hairs that if you have critters in your house, you definitely know what I am taking about, sticking to the crevices of the sides/bottoms of your fridge. Cheap and easy fix...That box of Saran Wrap that supposedly sticks to itself that you just can't bear to purge, since you found out its crap! Well it actually sticks to the shelves in you fridge! Boom, clean fridge no scrubbing except for the sides and seals of the door!

These are my main pet peeves! What are yours? I am starting a new quest of moving through the tips and tricks around pinterest that can help with the main cleanings of the house and if they really work or not and how long they last! Today, after I finish cleaning the bathroom, I am going to try the wax paper trick. Hello new science experiment!

1 comment:

  1. Love your expired food rant. Somehow I got that it was directed at me. Let me say I have gotten better....sort of.

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