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House cleaning as a release

Started by LaurieS, October 28, 2010, 11:27:24 AM

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LaurieS

I know I'm not alone on this one, but when I'm feeling stressed, anxious, even happily excited I head for the fridge first.  Ok ok.. I know that's not the right response to life.. so I also clean.  I've noticed that while I clean I can clear my mind and solve all the problems of the world even if my own are still intact. But it does help me to physically release some pent up feelings. 

So the reason for this topic... I was cleaning this morning and tried a new product that I added to my arsenal of cleaning aids.. this stuff was so good that I have to share.. I found it for the best price at Bed Bath & Beyond, it's called Hope's Perfect Glass. It was really streak free and I have a house full of glass furniture.  Anyway I thought I'd share.

I try hard to get the job done right and on the first try when it comes to house cleaning, so if any of you have other household hints or surprising good products, I for one would enjoy hearing about them.  I know this is way off the subject of family dynamics but it is one of my self coping mechanisms.   

Next post... mopping :)

barelythere

Quote from: Laurie on October 28, 2010, 11:27:24 AM
I know I'm not alone on this one, but when I'm feeling stressed, anxious, even happily excited I head for the fridge first.  Ok ok.. I know that's not the right response to life.. so I also clean.  I've noticed that while I clean I can clear my mind and solve all the problems of the world even if my own are still intact. But it does help me to physically release some pent up feelings. 

So the reason for this topic... I was cleaning this morning and tried a new product that I added to my arsenal of cleaning aids.. this stuff was so good that I have to share.. I found it for the best price at Bed Bath & Beyond, it's called Hope's Perfect Glass. It was really streak free and I have a house full of glass furniture.  Anyway I thought I'd share.

I try hard to get the job done right and on the first try when it comes to house cleaning, so if any of you have other household hints or surprising good products, I for one would enjoy hearing about them.  I know this is way off the subject of family dynamics but it is one of my self coping mechanisms.   

Next post... mopping :)

Dear Laurie,
Would you personally come over and shoot me?  Cleaning?  Mopping?  OMG!! KILL ME!! Bed Bath and Beyond is in on the it too??   Woe is me, I have alas lost interest in it!!!  Have to have someone come do it for me.  It never gets all done, it happens all over again.  :'(

LaurieS

QuoteDear Laurie,
Would you personally come over and shoot me?  Cleaning?  Mopping?  OMG!! KILL ME!! Bed Bath and Beyond is in on the it too??   Woe is me, I have alas lost interest in it!!!  Have to have someone come do it for me.  It never gets all done, it happens all over again.

Not only  do I find a certain peace of mind while I'm cleaning, my daughter has developed my habit.. ahhh not my boys so much.  On occasion I do hire out for a little help, but I work along side and usually harder then the lady who is here helping me... all the while  my mind is freed up to think about anything I choose.  I also like yard work and my husband bought me a zero turn mower.. lol.. now I'm in heaven.. You know there could be a logical reason why my DIL doesn't understand me.

barelythere

Quote from: Laurie on October 28, 2010, 12:13:24 PM
QuoteDear Laurie,
Would you personally come over and shoot me?  Cleaning?  Mopping?  OMG!! KILL ME!! Bed Bath and Beyond is in on the it too??   Woe is me, I have alas lost interest in it!!!  Have to have someone come do it for me.  It never gets all done, it happens all over again.

Not only  do I find a certain peace of mind while I'm cleaning, my daughter has developed my habit.. ahhh not my boys so much.  On occasion I do hire out for a little help, but I work along side and usually harder then the lady who is here helping me... all the while  my mind is freed up to think about anything I choose.  I also like yard work and my husband bought me a zero turn mower.. lol.. now I'm in heaven.. You know there could be a logical reason why my DIL doesn't understand me.

:'( :'( :'( 8)

elsieshaye

I love to do dishes by hand.  It's so relaxing.  That's the only domestic thing I actually enjoy, though.  The rest of the house may look like a dump, the cats are sending me hate mail about the state of their litter boxes, I may have no clean clothes left except one sock and an evening gown (this is actually currently true - I hatehatehate doing laundry, and will put it off until the only option is going to work naked; in the past, I've even bought new clothes at Wal Mart rather than do laundry), but my dishes are all sparkling and put away.
This too shall pass.  All is well.

barelythere

Quote from: elsieshaye on October 28, 2010, 02:21:59 PM
I love to do dishes by hand.  It's so relaxing.  That's the only domestic thing I actually enjoy, though.  The rest of the house may look like a dump, the cats are sending me hate mail about the state of their litter boxes, I may have no clean clothes left except one sock and an evening gown (this is actually currently true - I hatehatehate doing laundry, and will put it off until the only option is going to work naked; in the past, I've even bought new clothes at Wal Mart rather than do laundry), but my dishes are all sparkling and put away.

I'm on the floor...HA HA HA!!!!!!! ;D

LaurieS

Oh gosh, I even enjoy doing the laundry.. there really could be something wrong with my world.  I just walked through my house honestly looking for what I hate to do.. baseboards and doors.  In this house I had simplistic baseboards put in and all my interior doors are full frame opaque glass because I like cleaning glass.

I clean quite a bit with Dr. Bronner's Eucalyptus soap, the fragrance of Eucalyptus has a calming effect on the mind.  It's my aroma therapy.

Actually my housekeeping anal tendencies, does create some tension with my ds and dil... my ds said that this is why we've never been invited to her parents home I guess her FOO did not keep a tidy house..  But unless you are living in unsanitary conditions I don't even typically notice, primarily because I'm there for friendship nothing more.   Now I have to go finish up and get dinner going.. Cooking oh there is something I can live without.

barelythere

Quote from: Laurie on October 28, 2010, 03:09:50 PM
Oh gosh, I even enjoy doing the laundry.. there really could be something wrong with my world.  I just walked through my house honestly looking for what I hate to do.. baseboards and doors.  In this house I had simplistic baseboards put in and all my interior doors are full frame opaque glass because I like cleaning glass.

I clean quite a bit with Dr. Bronner's Eucalyptus soap, the fragrance of Eucalyptus has a calming effect on the mind.  It's my aroma therapy.

Actually my housekeeping anal tendencies, does create some tension with my ds and dil... my ds said that this is why we've never been invited to her parents home I guess her FOO did not keep a tidy house..  But unless you are living in unsanitary conditions I don't even typically notice, primarily because I'm there for friendship nothing more.   Now I have to go finish up and get dinner going.. Cooking oh there is something I can live without.

You need not come and shoot me, alas, I am dead. Send the Coroner.  All this Dr. Eucalyptus and calming and dinner.  Are you all eating on the floor?  I suppose you would be.  OMG!

barelythere

Quote from: Laurie on October 28, 2010, 03:50:13 PM
I do partake in the 5 second rule

I think it overpowers you and you have to clean it before the 5 seconds is up.  Yes, yes I do.

kathleen

Great thread, Laurie. 

We moved to large home last year, and recently friends came up from the city, and she said to my husband, "How do you keep all this up?" And he said, "I keep up the yard, and Kay keeps up the house."  And she looked at me and said, "Don't you have to get help with all this space to clean?"  And my husband said, "Forget it.  We tried that decades ago.  After the cleaners left, Kay cleaned it again."  I'm also one of those annoying people who do this in hotel rooms.  I clean it before we use it (bathroom, etc.) and I neaten it before we leave.  Fanatically, when we leave, I collect all towels and place them carefully in the bathtub.  I make sure there is no trash outside the waste baskets.  Drives husband bananas.

I am definitely a neatnik-clean-o-mania Type A borderline-insane-housekeeper personality.  Do I enjoy cleaning?  Love-hate.  I just like the results.  And my dishwasher is my favorite appliance.  I do not like to wash dishes by hand (too messy), although my aunt and cousin loved it.

Where did I get it, my clean-o-mania?  My mother used to clean the attic (or better yet, get me to do it) before dinner guests came. That came after scrubbing down/sanitizing the entire house, including the fireplace.  As a young girl, I noticed that not one dinner guest ever went up to check the attic for dust before or after dinner.  So that, for me, is out now.  I don't clean the attic or garage when people are coming, a major advance.

Years ago I went green after visiting Lancaster, Pa and the wonderful Amish community there.  I learned that Amish women, quite possibly the most meticulous housekeepers ever, only use vinegar and baking soda for cleaning. Chemical cleaners are never allowed in their immaculate homes.  I only use these now.  I buy vinegar in the huge gallon jugs from the grocery store and it goes everywhere.  Floors, washing machine, cleaning the coffee pot.  I even keep spray bottles around the house.  I spray my sheets with vinegar each morning, let it dry and make the bed.  It removes all odors.  I use spray vinegar (straight, no water added) as an air cleaner before guests come.  You almost don't even need baking soda, except for burnt pots.  Vinegar cleans toilets, bathroom sinks, shines fixtures with a dampened rag.  Works wonders with a rinse of sweaters or hand washables in the rinse--just a tablespoon or two.  Also, it will keep your colors stable. Oh, I could go on and on---safe for sceptics---I should work for the people who make vinegar.

Whole books are written about the cleaning properties of vinegar (not to mention, it's so cheap.)  One of my favorites is just to leave a small bowl of it out near the stove after cooking fish.  In the morning, all the fish odor is gone.

I confess: I do use Windex.  Vinegar is just not all that effective on air polluted windows.  Windex is my cop-out from green. 

I do love cleaning results.  But it's not a stress escape for me.  It's not relaxing. That involves building a fire in the woodstove, opening a bottle of cabernet, and contemplating the muse. 

Kathleen


kathleen

Yah yah BT, I know you hate it, don't ever try to keep up with me re. cleaning you will hate me even more,

Kathleen

barelythere

Quote from: kathleen on October 28, 2010, 05:56:42 PM
Yah yah BT, I know you hate it, don't ever try to keep up with me re. cleaning you will hate me even more,

Kathleen

I won't try to keep up.  Really, I won't and I don't hate you. I hope you don't hate me either because I'm beautiful.  I can't help it.  8)

LaurieS

OMG Kathleen.. I recently passed my book of a million things to do with vinegar to my daughter. I know what you mean this stuff is the best.. I keep spray bottles full of undiluted around the house lol I even take vinegar tablets.  I started using vinegar as a substitute for fabric softener in my new HD washing machine.. love the results.  Vinegar, baking soda, boraxo for a lot of my outdoor cleaning, dr bronner's, and now this glass cleaner that I just picked up is about all I use.  I wash my windows rather frequently and found that on the outside if you spray straight or slightly diluted vinegar and squeegee instead of wipe they really sparkle.  But I did break down and bought a product called zero ordor to keep in my bathrooms even vinegar was challenged by my guys.

My husband climbed into the shower the other day and hollered.. Laurie it smells like a darn salad in here.

I too pick up my hotel rooms.. I thought everyone did.

kathleen

Laurie, I, too, have new HD washing machine!  Green clean-o-mania at it's very best!  I'll try the straight vinegar on the windows, tho I'm not hopeful.

My husband too thinks he may have died and become a piece of lettuce in one of my vinegar salads.

Cheers for all the clean spaces in the world,

Kathleen