Cleaning Tips and Tricks

As far as I’m concerned, the tricks can clean themselves.

Like Quentin Crisp said, after 5 (6?) years, the dust doesn't get any worse.

If something LOOKS clean, chances are pretty good it's clean.

The best tool for cleaning the tip is your tongue and some saliva.

As for tricks, I let them use my shower.

1) For a easy floor wash, dunk an old bath towel in hot water with a splash of Lysol. Stand with feet apart on towel and slide around the floor a few times. Follow with an old dry towel and get it extra clean. 2) Drop a dishwashing soap pod or two in the bathtub and fill tub with a few inches of hot water. It helps loosen dirt and gives a start on cleaning.

I do that with old towels, too, the kind you buy in a large pack to wash cars. Then throw it away because Lysol (and floor dirt) in the wash is a no-no.

OP I think you took a wrong turn from Every Woman's Village.

Declutter first. Get rid of all your trash and junk. After that, cleaning is easy.

If you’re completely overwhelmed by cleaning a room, set a timer for 15 minutes and throw yourself into it.

Do something else for a while, then repeat.

Eventually the room will be put in order, and your spirits will lift as you see it take shape.

pay someone

Throw out Venetian blinds, there’s no tricks or any way really to effectively clean them.

I invented the Swiffer in college. Sponge mop and Windex. Squirt, squirt...mop.

This is for your mental health. Clean up as you go along, eg, when you're cooking wash the dishes and cutlery as you use them. You soon get used to it and don't even notice the extra work. Don't let dirty dishes pile up in the sink. Don't leave coffee cups on the bench; put them in the dishwasher or rack instead. Etc etc.

Put a bowl of hot water in the microwave. Zap a couple of minutes until steaming. Leave for half an hour with the door closed. All the grease and food splatters will then just wipe off.

Do a little bit everyday. Then it doesn’t get overwhelming.

And the best way to clean is by prevention. Never let things get really yucky. That’s when it gets to be a really overwhelming thing you dread. And then you never do it and it gets worse. Nip things in the bud. Anything built up, such as rusty toilet bowl needs dynamite to get rid of. Much easier to get rid of slight buildup regularly.

More prevention:

Take shoes off indoors to avoid dirty carpets, and use napkins bib style and sit at a table when eating to avoid stained clothes and furniture. Don’t buy white things that get lots of use. It shows instantly and constantly and is hard to reverse.

Put a leak catching tray under your kitchen sink. Leaks under sinks with water going everywhere and rotting out cabinets, mold, etc.=nightmare.

Stuff like that.

Haha, love you Rescue Chick.

I was in a similar situation years ago, when I was struggling mentally. I signed up to a mailing list run by a cleaning lady known as the "Just do it!" Lady. She sent an email every day reminding you of the specific tasks which needed to be achieved that day, with a bit of a motivational message and some cleaning tips. Over the course of two weeks, following her method, you would clean the house from top to bottom (cleaning high traffic areas more than once, obviously). It was a brilliant idea, and it helped to get me through a rough time.

Since then I've followed the basic plan she laid out. Breaking down your housework into a one- or two-week plan means that nothing is ever overwhelming. Everything is done in a logical order, and you don't miss anything.

Use Lemon Pledge. 🍋

[quote]Like Quentin Crisp said, after 5 (6?) years, the dust doesn't get any worse.

Quentin actually said this, "There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse."

I always miss-quote him, I always say, "There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first 20 years the dirt doesn't get any worse." LOOOL.

I think it depends what you're neglecting or avoiding. If it's vacuuming, cleaning windows, cleaning fingerprints off door frames and light switches, your place will just look grubby. If you don't air it out and have piles of dirty laundry, it will smell. But if the neglect is anything food-related, you are moving into the realm of filth, because ants, cockroaches and rodents will soon be sharing your home. If you are allowing mould to build up, your house will smell, your things will be ruined, and your health will be jeopardised.

Commit to one thing every day. Put on your music for larger jobs. Hire pros 2 times a year for deep cleaning couches, curtains and mattresses and carpet (if you have it). So worth it. We got a once very 2 weeks housekeeper in Romania worth every penny and until then, me and my roommate share chores. I do kitchen and nitty gritty stuff like the inside of the fridge and windows and she does bathroom and floors and dishes.

I sometimes set myself a ‘three item challenge’ to step in a room and improve it in three ways. Examples; dust shelves, pull out some books to donate, file papers or vacuum. It’s over and done in no time and somehow creates a revived energy around the place.

Adderall

You can hide a dirty sink by filling it with dirty dishes.

I always try to wash anything I can while I am cooking. Kind of a goal to get as much rinsed off and into the dishwasher before the food is ready. That way after dinner, I usually only have a few pans to deal with maybe 15 minutes and my place is clean until the nest day as if I had a maid cleaning service.

Every time you leave a room take with you something that doesn’t belong there. NB, this method doesn’t work very well in studio apartments.

Just have your tricks do the cleaning. Assign them a project and let them know they cannot leave until it’s completed.

Get a cleaning spray that you love the scent of. This will encourage you to use it more

R27 - I am a total top and if I told any of my bottoms to do that, I think they would hit me upside the head with a frying pan. What tricks are you finding?

R29 OP is the one who brought up tricks, so my expectations is he wanted to make them part of the process.

Kill two birds with one stone, ask your tricks to vacuum naked.

Have a party and issue all your guests with aprons and various cleaning products.

Dyson cordless vacuum (v7 is a good starting point) encouraged me to vacuum a little bit daily since it's so easy to manipulate.

If you have Instagram, check out Go Clean Co. She is based in Canada and shows regularly how to deep clean various items and spaces in your home. It’s fun to watch and you learn something!

She uses a lot of water, bleach, and powdered Tide to clean. Also bar keepers friend.

There are some days when my brain just can’t get organized. But I clean the kitchen every day because it gets the messiest quickly. I also make my bed every day.

Get a cleaning lady

[quote]Every time you leave a room take with you something that doesn’t belong there. NB, this method doesn’t work very well in studio apartments.

Does it work in the White House?

I only do cleaning stuff when the new season starts. It's bad for your surrounding bacteria if you clean too often. And shower too, do not shower too often.

microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre microfibre

is your friend. you need far less cleaning product and in some instances - no cleaning product.

Also, microfibre can be washed at high temperatures to disinfect. Ive done so for years.

[quote]Quentin actually said this, "There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse."

But nobody wanted to sleep with Quentin Crisp.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "vinegar" yet. Every household hint I've ever seen seems to think that is the answer to everything.

[quote]I'm surprised no one has mentioned "vinegar" yet.

When you do, Mary, Queen of Lysol has her Lysolinas go after you with a spray can in each hand. Fuck that stench-encrusted shit.

Keep things in their proper place.

Within a reasonable extent, keeping things in their place is much more important than keeping things clean.

When you take clothes from the dryer put them away immediately. Don't leave them in the dryer only to days later take them out and put them in put them in a pile to be folded, then a folded pile to be put away, then finally put away out of sight.

At some time before going to bed, gather up any stray drinking glasses or plates, rubbish, clothes, towels, dog toys, books, anything that obviously belongs someplace else and put it where it belongs.

Keeping everything in its place is an easy habit to form, with repetition it becomes an unthinking habit.

Once you are in that habit of keeping things in their proper place, keep your kitchen and bathrooms clean. Find a time every day that's the usual time to empty the dishwasher and load it with dirty dishes, have it ready to push the start button before you go to bed or at some regular time. Keeping these spaces clean is more important than vacuuming under the sofa so don't be slack about it. Once solidly in the habit, start cleaning in short phases discrete areas of the kitchen and bath so that not only are the main surfaces clean but the out of sight things. Expand into other territories on some sort of rotating basis: entry hall, living spaces and circulation areas, bedrooms, ancillary spaces... With these "other territories" you have more latitude to slack off, but a tidy house or apartment and a clean kitchen and bathrooms make a huge difference, the rest are more secondary problems.

Slap faces viciously when appropriate

Bon-Ami!!

Don't fear the leaf blower. If you have tile, wood floors or low-pile carpet, you can open the door and blow dust, dirt and pet hair back to nature without breaking a sweat.

R2 Quentin Crisp liked living alone. "When you find a hair in the butter, you know it's yours."

If you have any plastic that has oily film, clean it with COLD soapy water first. The cold congeals the oil and makes it easier to remove it. Otherwise, you’re just smearing it around.

Also, Barkeepers Friend is a miracle.

Ammonia cleans grease better than anything. It’s cheap as fuck.

Do not ever mix it with bleach, though.

Instead of sending your underwear to the laudromat, while you're the shower wash it with shampoo, rinse while water is running. Hang on rod to dry.l

Another helpful way to approach cleaning is by telling yourself that if a task will take under ten minutes to complete you will just up and do it then and there. No need to wait for a weekend afternoon dedicated to cleaning your house top to bottom. Emptying the dishwasher, taking out the trash, making the bed, putting dirty clothes in the hamper, dusting the Hummel figurines you inherited from Mother—none of these tasks will take more than ten minutes of your time, so just do it and be done with it.

Get a Roomba!

Unfuck Your Habitat is a great source for planning, cleaning tips, motivation.

She recommends the 20/10 method (work 20 minutes/ten minute break) for big jobs.

If you're overwhelmed and have gotten too far behind, I advise just biting the bullet and hiring a cleaning company ONCE to come in and do a deep cleaning.

Then schedule 15 minute time segments into your day - you'd be amazed how much you can get done in 15 minutes - and usually once you get going, you'll continue.

Setting a timer is actually a great motivator.

Pretend to be a dominatrix and get your sub to deep clean your oven and bathroom with a toothbrush. You can even make money this way, as long as you yell at them and call them names.

[quote]but I trust all of you more than most people.

OP, that's your first mistake.

Hire a maid. They're relatively cheap, and obviously you don't like to clean, or you would, so you'll have time to do other things you enjoy more. Life is too short.

I miss my cleaners more than I miss my friends but still not comfortable letting anyone in my house so I have been trying to keep up with cleaning since March.

A schedule helps me. I change my bed on Sundays. Clean kitchen Friday after work, bathrooms on Saturdays.

I’ve also learned there is an order, such as vacuum and mop after dusting, wiping down surfaces, windows.

Laundry tended to get out of hand for a while there. The only way I keep it under control is to live by this principle: laundry is not done until it is folded and put away. I have less laundry since I WFH but I usually do three or four loads a week. I will try to only do one load on a given day so it doesn’t overwhelm me.

My cleaners set up a good technique. Under each sink in the kitchen and bathrooms is a bucket with cleaning supplies for that room, plus a removable, machine washable mop head. I just need to bring the mop handle to each room.

R55---I had a house boy for chores but it's kind of a lot of work.

Does anybody know how to clean the film off of clear shower doors? I tried vinegar/water and the product called Kaboom. They helped a little, but it’s still there. It’s driving me nuts!

[quote] Does anybody know how to clean the film off of clear shower doors? I tried vinegar/water and the product called Kaboom. They helped a little, but it’s still there. It’s driving me nuts!

Make a mixture of 50% white vinegar and 50% blue dawn dish washing detergent, the blue is the strongest. You will probably still need to use a little elbow grease with a scrub brush but that is honestly the best thing I have ever found for cleaning the entire shower. Warming it in the microwave seems to make it a little more effective, you don't want it boiling hot just warm. I put it in an old spray bottle but applying it anyway will work. Don't warm it in the microwave the the spray bottle, mine melted. Once you get them clean with this mixture and a scrub brush you will probably just be able to spray the doors to maintain them.

Some of y’all’s postings are giving me vibes like this.

For shower soap scum- especially if you have tile- toilet bowl cleaner.

Just douse it in the cracks and corners, let it sit for a while, and you can scrub a little with a brush and then rinse it off.

R60, R61, after it's clean get a squeegee like you use to clean a windshield and after every shower squeezee off the water while you're in there. Then no film develops. Supposedly.

[quote] Make a mixture of 50% white vinegar and 50% blue dawn dish washing detergent

Right on cue.

How do you clean old tile? The grout always looks dingy.

R66, move. That's all I've found.

I hate living in old places. They never seem really clean, with the icky grout, dirt ground into the baseboards, etc. I lived in a cute "Victorian" from 1920 and it had real issues.

R66 try R63.

Old grout dissolves with too much scrubbing.

Thanks for the tips I will try them!

Thanks everyone this has been a helpful thread

It’s Sunday, people; let’s get cleaning.

Yeah, it game me some ideas should I ever get off my butt.

Gave.

I need a finger transplant.

[quote] Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. (Adapted from Voltaire, I think.)

Point is, do what you can. If you only have the time / energy to clean the toilet, but not the sink and shower, then clean the toilet.

Get an upright vacuum cleaner that's easy to push & easy to take out then put away. Even if it's not the "best" vacuum cleaner out there.

I had a carpet installer in my apartment once and asked him about vacuum cleaners. He said that people think they need a vacuum cleaner that can pick up bowling balls, but all you need is something that can pick up dust.

I have a cheap-o Eureka vacuum cleaner that I got a long time ago from Kmart. Still working. Easy to take out, easy to put away.

My urologist asks patients to clean just the tips with an alcohol wipe when collecting urine.

Multi purpose e-cloth

I'd like to use those microfiber cloths, but they snag on my hands. My hands aren't rough / calloused. I don't like the feeling of the snagging.

E-cloth isn’t like those kind of microfiber cloths. It’s substantial and the fibers are different.

Thanks, R80.

I agree with the person that said - Declutter. Once you get rid of all the crap you don’t need you will be surprised how quick cleaning will be.

It feels touchable too unlike microfiber cloths

I’ve had a cleaning lady, but the trouble is it takes so much time and effort to get ready for them. By the time I have everything cleaned up and the valuables stashed, I figure I may as well get out the mop and do the rest myself.

I try to use “wait time” productively, like loading/unloading the dishwasher while the coffee brews. I also take my iPad on a little stand and watch some news or program while I empty the dryer and fold towels.

I also think the right brushes help. I have two by the sink and I use them with some hot water and Dawn Powerwash to preclean pots and pans before running them through the dishwasher. I have really simple but durable things white porcelain, stainless steel and purex/duralex tumblers and bowls that can be washed at high temperatures and hold up well.

I use bleach crystals on towels and sheets. I also have a lot of heavy commercial grade kitchen towels and bleach the shit out of them. I have a kitchen hamper for these chef’s towels and that is handy. Also I like the stainless steel pop-up wipes for the gas range and fridge. Looks good. I try not to stack papers anywhere, and keep box cutters handy to break down shipping boxes from amazon.

Also, I had really heavy nylon laundry bags made that have my last name and address and I use them for laundry when I’m in the city (I live part time in nyc and work out west). I try to put all white laundry in the blue nylon drawstring bag and colored clothes in orange ones. It keeps things sorted and helps me avoid “draping” clothes when I change for bed.

I like it when I get someone talking on the phone. I can sort papers and pick up my whole place by the time my ex finishes a story. That’s awesome.

Someone beat me to the classic Quentin Crisp quote. Here's the complete quote, in context:

I live in one room, which has never been cleaned in thirty-five years. Never sweep the place where you live, because after the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse. It's just a question of not losing your nerve. I'm sure I'm right about this. The other day a woman said to me, "No wonder you're nice to everybody! You never do any housework!" So now it transpires that all the women in the world are in a blind rage by half-past ten in the morning. Worn out, I shouldn't wonder, with all that sweeping, dusting, washing up. Now, there's no need to wash up unless you find that you've passed the fish barrier. It works like this: when you're hungry and you look at your plate, and it says, "bacon" you think, "I could eat an egg." And the next day, when your plate says, "egg" you think, "I could eat a fish." But when you've eaten a fish, you have to wash up! I'm only telling you these things so as to set you free from these boring domestic rituals.

Pyrex, not purex

I was researching how to clean an old bath tub. The color of the discoloration indicates the cause and thus the best cleaning solution/procedure. All I remember is yellow, which is the discoloration of my tub. It is caused by body oils and soap. Vinegar is supposed to remove it. I haven't tried it yet. The other colors were red and black.

Dahmer's old apartment?

R88 Red’s probably rust so you need Iron Out.

R88, you can have your tub reglazed, too. I don’t know how they did it, but my SIL had some tradesperson come to her apartment and do it when she was selling her place. Looked good, too.

If you use dryer sheets, when your load finishes drying, clean the lint screen with the just-used dryer sheet. Easy peasy.

Keep a toilet brush and a bottle of toilet cleaner in each bathroom. You'll clean the toilet more often if what you need is handy.

R92, I’ll take yours one further: pour a little bleach or toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet brush holder. It will sanitize the brush between uses. Dump it in the toilet and refresh as needed.

I'm old and am happy for all the time I didn't spend housecleaning and happy for all the time I spent fucking.

I never balanced my checkbook and it never made one bit of difference. Just keep a running total in your head.

I wear lined jackets & blazers a lot and rarely get them professionally dry cleaned. One thing that tides me over is putting a jacket into the dryer, no heat, on the "fluff" cycle. I don't use Dryel or anything like that. I think the centrifugal force removes a lot of the surface debris (dust, etc.).

There’s a reason Amazon is at my house daily. I’m rich enough to just throw away the dirty shit and buy new. If the Republicans don’t give a shit about the earth then fuck all. Also I just open the back door, turn on the leaf blower and walk thru the house blowing the dust right out the door. It didn’t work out well for my Rookwood collection though.

bump

If you have a fabric stain, dampen the item and then heat it on high in the microwave for one to two minutes, Then wash it on high heat and repeat. Finally, dry it in the dryer on high.

This will "heat the stain out" and you will be so glad you followed my advice.

You forgot the last step, R98 >> throw the item out, because you have now set the stain permanently.

R98 is purposely explaining how to ruin clothes. Just in case there are gullible people, wondering.

I go room to room and do a little in each. Start first thing in the morning with a goal to finish by noon. I kick my husband out when cleaning because he gets in the way and we meet up for lunch (he pays)

Marry an OCD clean freak.

R102, more trouble than it's worth.

My parent’s old house had a glass shower door. When it was replaced, the installer told my mom to treat the glass with Rain-X. Get rid of the soap scum first by applying a paste of powdered Tide and letting it sit for about 15-20 minutes. The Rain-X and squeegee will prevent almost all soap scum from accumulating.

Thanks for the tip, R104! The shower doors are my worst cleaning nightmare.