Equipment, Cleaning Products and Tips.

 

As I finish this series of posts on keeping our homes clean with our routines, I thought I'd do one last post with a few extra tips, equipment, supplies I find handy, etc.   My inspiration was something that I was doing this evening following supper.  We'd cooked two food items, and both stuck to the pan pretty badly. 

 

Years ago, Don Aslett, a cleaning expert, shared his tip for cleaning casseroles with burnt messes.  He said he always filled the casserole or pan with hot tap water, then added in some Dawn dish detergent.  Just plain old regular blue Dawn.  Let the dish sit and soak.   The detergent will cause the baked-on mess to lift from the pan and you can clean it more easily without all the hard scrubbing.  Well, it works!  It works on some hard sugary burns as well as with stuck on pasta, etc.

Tonight, while the dishes were soaking, I made John a cup of coffee, wiped off the counters and stove top.  In just the time it took to make a cup of coffee.  Then I went back to the kitchen, started my own cup of coffee and was able to easily scrub the dishes in the sink clean before the coffee was done brewing.  Some baked-on messes may have to sit a little longer, even overnight and you might have to empty and refill again but I've never had a pan NOT come clean with this method except pans that are deeply scorched.

Now I'm talking about when you're cooking custards or have been cooking vegetables and you think the pan is forever ruined.  Well, it's not.  And while the Dawn detergent and hot water soak method won't likely help, there is a help.  Add baking soda to cover the scorched area.  Add hot water and heat gently on the stove.  Once this comes to a gentle boil, the baking soda and hot water start to lift the scorched mess.  When the greater bulk of that is up, I use a stainless-steel pad (not the soapy kind but the coarse pot scrubber sort, to get the rest of the marks off my pan.  You may have to use a bit of elbow grease, but it should all come up rather well.

Let's skip back to Dawn for a moment.  It's now recommended by a few that if you have a grease block you put a bit of Dawn down the drain, follow that with boiling water and let the grease cutting action of the soap help to move that clog along.  John's done this a few times in the kitchen, then used a plunger to ensure the clog is fully broken up.  

Dawn is also excellent for removing grease stains on clothing.  Rarely have we found a grease stain it doesn't work on.  

And please remember that my favorite shower cleaner is a mix of Dawn and Vinegar.  It cuts right through soap scum.   My second favorite is toilet bowl cleaner, Lysol or Clorox, both works equally well.  I'll lay odds a store brand would too.  I just happen to buy mine on a super sale, so these are the brands I have had lately.  It does an excellent job of cutting through soap scum.

My other tip to share today is included in the opening paragraphs.  I said while John's coffee was brewing, I wiped off counters and stove top after supper the other night.  And while my own cup was brewing, I scrubbed those pots.   We are so prone to put off jobs because we THINK they will take longer to do and we're tired.  Often enough, you can do them in just minutes.

I discovered this years ago when I was using FlyLady and doing the fifteen timers.  I timed myself making my bed, from bare mattress to fully made and it took 4 minutes.  4!  I felt like such an idiot when I realized that I'd often put off making my bed when I wasn't changing sheets because it 'took too long', when in fact, it took even less time than making it from scratch with clean sheets.   No, I wasn't working particularly fast at that time, I just happened to glance at the clock as I was done and that's when I realized I'd let four minutes put me off a task that wasn't even an issue!

The fifteen-minute method of cleaning is incredibly helpful if you feel unwell or truly unmotivated.   Just see what you can do in that frame of time.  Often enough, it takes about fifteen minutes to do a full sink of dishes by hand.  If you've kept up fairly well with that task then it's likely you can load dishes, hand wash a few and sweep the floor, too in less than fifteen minutes.  

As for equipment, I don't buy a load of cleaners.  I find baking soda works as well as most powdered cleansers.  Dawn dish detergent will serve a variety of purposes.  Diluted vinegar.  Very diluted bleach (especially if you have older porcelain sinks and toilets).  Be sure to get pure chlorine bleach and not the new bleach.

If you think that bleach is the worst poison, remember that if it is diluted properly, it is safe for general use. I believe the correct dilution is one part bleach ten parts water.  I often dilute it even further.  I seldom will use full strength bleach.  If I do, I make sure to wear a mask, be in a well-ventilated area and work quick.   Do NOT however, mix bleach with Dawn.  Read your label on the Dawn bottle!  Ditto for mixing bleach with dishwasher soap.  

If you seldom use bleach buy a smaller bottle.  You don't need a half gallon if you are using it only occasionally.  Bleach will last a long time.  After a while however the plastic bottle will leak.  Water bottles do the same thing so don't assume it's the fault of the bleach.  Plastic is made to disintegrate over time these days.  It's not meant to last forever, and it doesn't.  The older the bottle, milk jug etc., the more likely it is to spring a leak.  My point is that if you do keep bleach on hand, be aware that it will eventually need to be decanted into a glass jar if you seldom use it.    

I like a stainless-steel scrubber for pots and pans.   Magic erasers are nice for woodwork and upholstery that gets handled a LOT like cabinet doors or walls in children's rooms, etc.  Dishwasher soap, the dry powder sort is a good all-purpose stain remover when put in hot water.  It will also remove paint from hands if you happen to be painting.

I don't typically buy sponges.  I do use the rough green scouring pad.  I find they work very well too on many surfaces.  It's my favorite for cleaning the shower and tub as it really helps strip the last of the soap scum off surfaces.  It's pretty darned good as a pot scrubber too. and for getting into those tiny little divits in a light linoleum floor tile.

 I keep a good supply of dishcloths for the kitchen.  And then I have my true 'rags'.  These may be very well used discarded dish cloths or wash cloths, hand towels or even cut up t-shirts.  I keep one rag especially for oil polishing the furniture.  I have a few of the microfiber cloths that I use for glass and picture frames.

Old English works well.  I have Liquid Gold and it lasts forever.  You can make your own with olive oil and a bit of lemon.  I like the almond scent of Liquid Gold.

I love a Swiffer duster.  I have the extendable one.  It's handy for reaching the tops of bookcases, or ceiling fan blades.  It's a perfect size to fit the blind slats too.  I have the shorter one but keep it in the car.  You can wash the fluffy part of the duster and reuse them.  Just don't put them in the dryer.

These are literally all the supplies I use.  A vacuum, broom, a mop, a dustpan, a bucket for the mop.  Oh, and an old toothbrush to get into those fine grooves.   

Remember that recent studies prove what your great grandmothers already knew: sunshine and fresh air air are two of the best disinfectants/cleaners you can use in a home, aside from good old-fashioned soap and water.  You don't need pricey equipment or expensive cleaners to keep a house clean.  You do need elbow grease, and a willingness to get the work done.

I hope you found this series helpful.  It's been a great reminder to myself to get back into the habit of working my routines!

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