Time-Saving Cleaning Techniques

[BlestOne]

So, which one of you is coming to clean my house?



MJ

MJ, you and I have the same idea… How do we clean? Dial 1-800-CA clean 4 me


Seriously… anyone who has kids that do chores…and struggles with getting them to do it…Try the 7 minute clean:

1. 
   *]Turn on loud music (the faster the tempo the better)
   *]Kids clean like crazy for 7 minutes
   *]Mom judges to see who has done the most
   *]winner gets a treat… something small like an ice cream sandwich or whatever… if all do a good job…they all get the treat or you can be sneaky like me and tell them we have to have a “clean-off” to see who wins and do another 7 minute clean then declare it a tie and reward both or all… works the first couple of times only…

 

[Convert_in_99]

Any tips for cleaning Pyrex? Mine seem to have a perpetual brownish coating but, I figure its surface is clean, I scrubed the best I could, so, I just use it again hoping it will come cleaner next time. But, it never does, it just gets worse.

I use that non-stick spray every time too. Nothing works. Any ideas?

 

[johannahw]

Hey Everyone, I have a question. The first year after we moved to Reno I developed Stage 4 breast cancer. I underwent 6 months of weekly chemo and 6 weeks of daily radiation treatments. Needless to say not much in the way of housework got done. I was too weak and in a lot of pain much of the time and most of my days were spent lying in bed. As a result my bathroom got pretty bad. It took a good 4 or 5 months after the chemo stopped for me start feeling good again. By the time I got up the courage to clean the bathroom, it took me something like 3 hours to get it done (and it’s a small bathroom). We have one of those plastic tubs (is it call formica?) and I still can’t get it to its original off white color again. There is an underlying shade of grayness I just can’t get rid of no matter what I use or how hard I scrub. There’s some purple stuff on the market called KaBoom and I’ve even tried that to no avail. Anyone got any suggestions on how I can get that gray tinge out of my tub?

 

[tnbella7]

I just have to say in my house I could not live without my Magic Eraser (I have absolutely no idea why is works, but it’s great) and my Shark vacuum (it’s cordless and I use it a least once a day). I have a two year old and a four year old. Oh, and I love my Libby mop (just throw it in the washer). I’m not the best housekeeper, but these really help my life.

 

[CatholicSam]

What a neat thread idea

I really like the idea of designating an “office day”. I think I need to do that! We have a little pile of stuff that is accumulating on top of our shredder (for some reason a child always seems to be sleeping when something needs to be shredded, and I don’t want to risk waking them up with that noise)!

I am a huge fan of being efficient, but sometimes it actually gets the better of me. When I’m not actively “cleaning” and something needs to be put away, I will say to myself “don’t waste a trip to the other side of the house, take it in 5 minutes when you go back there to change the baby!” And then 5 minutes later when I go back there and change the baby… I forget to pick the darn such-and-such up, or maybe I have my hands full with something else. And so I end up with a lot of stuff that needs to be put away at the end of the day when I could have just done it throughout the course of the day. I’m trying to improve on this I think some of it comes from my nursing (not breastfeeding, but the thing where you take care of sick people ) days where making the most out of a walk down the hallway was very important to being able to get everything done on time.

 

[kresbrook]

I have a garbage bag and a box. I carry it around the house as I pick up, if something doesn’t belong in a room it goes in either container (garbage or box), then I go to the next room and do the same there, taking out of the box items that belong in that room. Inevitably I end up with stuff in my box, but then I just walk around and put it away. Same concept as OP, just easier to transport with a box

As far as actaully washing things…well lets just say I won’t get cancer from using to many cleaning products

I have to admit…I only wash the floor when I stick to it when I walk…okay there is my confession for the day! There is NO 5 minute rule in my house! DO NOT - I repeat DO NOT eat anything that falls on the floor!!

When my kids are a little older and can help, we’ll have a cleaner house

 

[Truly_Beloved]

I have to admit…I only wash the floor when I stick to it when I walk…okay there is my confession for the day! There is NO 5 minute rule in my house! DO NOT - I repeat DO NOT eat anything that falls on the floor!!

Sorry, that’s just funny! I think my DH would go completely bonkers if I did this, but oh how tempting, sometimes…

 

[BlestOne]

Any tips for cleaning Pyrex? Mine seem to have a perpetual brownish coating but, I figure its surface is clean, I scrubed the best I could, so, I just use it again hoping it will come cleaner next time. But, it never does, it just gets worse.

I use that non-stick spray every time too. Nothing works. Any ideas?

Two things that will work…an sos or brillo pad and alot of scrubbing… or soak in ammonia for a couple hours then take a dry scrubby pad and scrub it… I just did this with my big lasagna pan.

 

[jmcrae]

Two things that will work…an sos or brillo pad and alot of scrubbing… or soak in ammonia for a couple hours then take a dry scrubby pad and scrub it… I just did this with my big lasagna pan.

I just wanted to mention that I use a mixture of melted butter and water, to prevent sticking. I find that this combination works better than just butter alone, and also better than any kind of cooking oil, or any kind of commercial non-stick product.

 

[terri_fortner]

FLYLADY! FLAYLADY! FLYLADY!

Alot of the things you have been saying can be found all put together on www.flylady.net She also wrote a book called Sink reflections. I have a clean house now because of her, and I am loving it!

Good Luck with the Cleaning, but my best tip is to get off my ummm chair and get to the work. If I spend 15 minutes doing something at least I no longer feel guilty about sitting here all day on the computer.

 

[Truly_Beloved]

Any tips for cleaning Pyrex?

Try soaking it in water, with a generous amount of baking soda, for a few hours. If that doesn’t work, follow up with a product called Bar Keepers Friend. There hasn’t been anything we’ve had that’s tougher than that method. Oh, and use a Dobie pad the whole time to help scrub.

 

[sanctareparata]

I have to admit…I only wash the floor when I stick to it when I walk…

jmcrae:

I just wanted to mention that I use a mixture of melted butter and water, to prevent sticking.

So there ya go, kresbrook. Just coat your floors with butter and water. Problem solved!

 

[jmcrae]

So there ya go, kresbrook. Just coat your floors with butter and water. Problem solved!

 

[Mommyof02green]

Try soaking it in water, with a generous amount of baking soda, for a few hours. If that doesn’t work, follow up with a product called Bar Keepers Friend. There hasn’t been anything we’ve had that’s tougher than that method. Oh, and use a Dobie pad the whole time to help scrub.

Or baking soda and salt… that’s what I use on my mine…
the salt acts as a mild abbrasive…

I use just a standard scrub brush and sponge…

 

[reganq]

What great ideas! Now if I just had the motivation to implement some of these techniques.

This isn’t my idea, my neighbor professionally cleans houses and this is what she does. She cleans from the top down (i.e. all of the cobwebs, then dusting, then the floors). She does one job at a time instead of one room.

She also told me about her “24 Hour Rule.” Everyone in the house has to keep it immaculate for at least 24 hours. She has a signal for her husband when he gets home from work. His slippers will be sitting by the door. She said that it works REALLY well and that the 24 hours has grown into something more like 72+ hours. I should add that she does not have children. So, maybe a 6 or 12 hour rule would work better for those of us with little ones.

 

[DAWNCUROLE]

Any tips for cleaning Pyrex? Mine seem to have a perpetual brownish coating but, I figure its surface is clean, I scrubed the best I could, so, I just use it again hoping it will come cleaner next time. But, it never does, it just gets worse.

I use that non-stick spray every time too. Nothing works. Any ideas?

I just learned a new trick for this and pots and pans with that sticky oily residue. Use (approx) 1 gal of boiling water to 2 tablespoons of dishWASHER detergent. For pryex just let it sit until the water is back to room temp but for pots boil the water with the dishwasher detergent until scum is loosened.

 

[Little_Flower]

One of my favorite cleaners is very safe and non toxic. For hard to clean fiberglass I use a sprinkle of old fashion 20 mule team Borax and a small squirt of any Dr. Bronner liquid soap, they come in all scents, and are very mild. (Typically this is only available at health food stores) If you do this before you shower, it makes rinsing very easy, but be careful, because it also makes the floor slippery. I’ve successfully used this to remove build up of hard water stains at a beach house we rent. It works much better than all the harsh commercial cleaners the owners leave for us. If you wipe down the shower every time, I find you really don’t have to clean it very often

 

[cat3gs]

I drive my family crazy because when I clean up, for instance a desk. I throw everything on the floor and put back only what goes on the desk. Similar to how you clean room.

I do this with the living room and kids rooms. I push everything in a pile and tell the kids to grab and go.

I also give them a small, plastic shopping bag and tell them to hit the rooms and pick up the garbage…for some reason we always have paper scraps across the floors. Whether the kids were cutting something out or the dog has chewed up a magazine

Also for the van, I take two garbage bags and one if for trash and one is for all the toys that belong back in the house. I then have the kids get in there–they are smaller and fit better between the seats --picking everything up. They then take the bag of toys and put them where they belong.

J.M.J.
cat3gs

 

[dulcissima]

Any tips for cleaning Pyrex? Mine seem to have a perpetual brownish coating but, I figure its surface is clean, I scrubed the best I could, so, I just use it again hoping it will come cleaner next time. But, it never does, it just gets worse.

I use that non-stick spray every time too. Nothing works. Any ideas?

Coat it in gel dishwasher detergent and let it dry on, then scrub it off with hot water and stiff brush, followed by a scrubby sponge. I use my pyrex in the bbq grill, so they end up black and this always gets everything off.

 

[dulcissima]

Also for the van, I take two garbage bags and one if for trash and one is for all the toys that belong back in the house. I then have the kids get in there–they are smaller and fit better between the seats --picking everything up. They then take the bag of toys and put them where they belong.

J.M.J.
cat3gs

I do the same thing, although sometimes it’s bad enough to need two bags just for all the toys and books.

Speaking of which, I meant to do this yesterday…