Cleaning

i've becomed so accustomed to having them i think i should put them in the new bathroom, lest i become careless and give the neighbors an eyeful

LL just make sure you get non-adhesive ones, like the kind in Orbit's link

there are adhesive ones also but def def not advised for renters as removal can be tricky

yeah i mean the last time i bought contact paper, it was hella sticky
(it was also like 20 yrs ago)

in other news, i decided to line my fridge with plastic (like this little roll of thin plastic sheeting?) so that i could just clean that instead of stressing about getting stuff on my fridge.

i saw some one direction duct tape
maybe i'll just cover the windows with that

If I were doing a room with a sort of gypsy/romantic feel I would buy a 2nd hand table cloth with the deepest crocheted lace edge I could find, fold it in half diagonally, and drape it over an iron rod as a drapery with the crochet hanging all along the edge in deep folds. And then pin or baste it into position at the backs of the folds where it was hidden.

That is for the dept of interior design thread tho.

i think part of my prob with all of this is that i need pictures
words aren't really helping me

ilx is the best place for these discussions! i'm already inspired!

This is not what I had in mind but I don't hate it:
https://pinterest.com/pin/19984792068131459/

Actually I'm going to go a little drape crazy in the dept int thread, if that's okay? And get it out of Cleaning.

I didn't know about window clings either! Cool suggestion, thanks L. We are lucky in that we have a screen at the base of the widow so the bottom is at least a little private.

That's good for dusting, but there's a point when they get beyond dusty into straight up grimy. I don't think that thing would take care of that.

― carl agatha, Monday, May 6, 2013 2:22 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

These are Grimy as hell. They're . . . they're grey. :( I don't think any sort of duster thing would work. Maybe I will just wait a month until I have more $ and put up some curtains. The ones in my bedroom are new and totally fine but there are four huge windows in the living room and those are all really gross. I tried cleaning them with like windex and a rag and after it took me 10 mins to clean two individual little rows I was like FUCK THIS.

Don't clean them if you don't want to, but if you do want to, I repeat: Put to soak in hot water and ammonia. The greasy black stuff will wipe off.

OK. I might try it out next weekend with one of them just to see how much of a production it is. Will use your tips. :)

Why does no one understand that that gadget is NOT a duster? It's a scrubber. You soak it with hot soapy (ammonia-y) water and scrub several slats at a time.

I just think a duster like that won't work well for scrubbing, sorry.

I can't see hosted images at work so I just saw someone else say it was a duster and went with that. :( I'll look later from home.

lol carl

I can't tell if you're joking.

1. I own a similar gadget
2. My apartment has miniblinds
3. I am a filthy, filthy slob
4. The miniblinds have, at times, become filthy, filthy, and greasy
5. I used the gadget to scrub the filthy, filthy, greasy miniblinds
6. The blinds ceased to be filthy, and became clean

Wherefore, I entreaty you to GFY

go filth yourself

ENBB I think what you really need is a scrubber, maybe one that you can use to clean three or four of the individual blinds at once, not a duster like Jesse has.

Like this one:

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/5104/cleaningblinds.jpg

like a fluffy wolverine

hahahaa omg dying

I have a set of blinds that are vertical and about 15ft long, cover a french window/ unopenable room height windows. Haven't cleaned them since I moved in here several years ago and really don't know how you would.
Would love a better system there and openable windows during the summer. Plus once it gets light in th evening I haven't worked out how you control the glare on th etv screen. Maybe I just need something like a chinese screen or something.
But that was a feature on a place I was offered and not something I had any choice about. Does mean ventilation in this place isn't great during the summer or any other time really.

This thread inspired me to vinegar my windows & wipe my bookshelves today! Grimy blinds remain grimy however.

ENBB I think what you really need is a scrubber, maybe one that you can use to clean three or four of the individual blinds at once, not a duster like Jesse has.

OK, now that I've had a nap, let me tell you: I was soooo sleepy when I read your posts and everyone elses who weren't getting it, and when I read the one above I felt like I was going to tear up out of frustration.

I needed a nap.

lol/sob

I'm sorry I was frustrated and crabby and I killed the thread. Come back.

Once again I have to climb up on a ladder and scrub the bathroom walls of mildew. Stupid bathroom has no exhaust fan, and a tiny little window that we can't open fully because the giant house next door has half their windows facing it.

So once a year in the summer I open all the windows and get a mix of bleach and laundry detergent in a spray bottle and a scrubbing brush and scrub the fuck out of the walls. It's slowly taking the paint off but at this point I could care less.

honestly i'd be afraid of ever having our bathroom remodelled -- pulling off the plaster to find that the entire room is made of mold is what I envision

I've been cleaning out my apartment after moving, and my discovery is that Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is some sort of demonic thing, how does it work.

Also, I started cleaning my blinds for the first time in ages, and I think they looked a lot better when the filth was evenly spread on them tbqh.

mr clean magic erasers are pure sorcery, i love them

THEY ARE THE BEST.

THEY ARE! I can't believe how well they work. I figured they were BS, but they are actually, literally magick.

I'm going to try one of the mop ones on my horrible kitchen floor

I have one left of a four pack, and now I'm not sure which of the many things I can clean are sponge-worthy.

They also work great dry as whiteboard erasers and other dust-laden stuff (*cough* miniblinds *cough*).

lol @ poly

ok so i have lived here for week and a half and outside of regular daily stuff (dishes, wiping countertops, etc) so far we have
swept and mopped all floors 1x
dusted 2x
cleaned stove multiple x (i use it a lot)
cleaned sinks/toilets 1x
cleaned mirrors 1x

this is normal y/n?
it didn't feel that awful

i also used my stupid broom to sweep the front porch/steps because i've seen ladies do that in the movies and it seems like it would keep the leaves and stuff from rotting on the cement, right?

Imo I always want to do that when moving in somewhere new. Then I get too lazy...

I mean I do it once all at once then just as and when and not often enough

i am going to target after i get my hairs cut and i am cleaning the bathroom TODAY

― veryupsetmom

LL, I think that seems reasonable? If anything, I would have ammonia'ed the entire kitchen inside and out by now, every cabinet shelf, but maybe the prev owner had it deep-cleaned for the sale so it was all done for you, which would be awes...?

I hope you put an apron on and tied up your hair in a bandanna/turban while you swept that porch. lol at "my stupid broom".

That seems reasonable, LL. You have to do a lot of cleaning when moving into a new place. How is the moving in coming along? It always takes me about a month and a half to unpack and get things halfway decent.

xp - we think you're reasonable!

It's been 1 week since the cleaning people came and I'm VERY happy to report that the apartment is still clean and orderly! I'll probably have them come again this week. I am cautiously optimistic that this is the beginning of a major turning point!

i'm sure ammonia is a wonderful cleaning product but i can't take the smell. it reminds me of cat urine.

^^^ it just smells like pee to me

moving in is basically complete! d is a tyrant when it comes to getting things in order, so that was done in a few days; my room/office/lounge area is still kind of in disarray but that's ok because it's my area! i can't find anything if everything is put away.

anyway, i feel pretty good about this cleaning! i'm trying to focus on making this a regular part of my life, and this is totally embarrassing, but i am going to put some appts in google calendar to remind me when the next time i should mop will be. i'm saying every 2 weeks? vacuum 1x a week?

while sweeping i did not wear hair in turban or don a cute apron (though i do know where they -- plural -- are) but i did smell like a goat and i wasn't wearing a bra, so at least i got into character a little.

thanks for the kind words -- i need them!

I forget in which thread carl talked about wages for housework, but I was reminded of it by yesterday's NYT editorial:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/opinion/pay-people-to-cook-at-home.html?hp

I am feeling a little better about hiring housekeeping help back in the day when I had a job and stuff. Now S and I are doing a pretty reasonable job keeping our casita in decent shape, even without help.