Rainy Days

Wow! Yesterday was a wild day for weather. About noon, it got dark as night, and then there was an awwwwwwesome light show, followed by a lot of pounding rain. Nothing like those poor folks over in Georgia are getting, but definitely unexpected. It's naturally too wet now to set the steps for the back door, but ah well, it'll dry.

But I like rainy days. They always make me think some, and with it being fall anyway, and feeling the "cleany bug" start to nibble at me, I was thinking a little about clutter and organising and cleaning.

So, after drying off two dogs, demudding an escaped kitten, drying off the first dog again, and then doing my morning workout and deciding it wasn't worth mopping floors either yesterday or today, I thought I'd sort through the stuff I keep house with.

Cleaning Supplies

Don't get silly about household cleaners. Yeah, you can use ammonia and old newspapers to clean windows. And you can sweep the carpet with a broom. And you can walk to town. And you can find a surgeon who'll do a procedure without anaesthesia!

For goodness sake why? For the most part, you DO NOT save money or time, either one, with those ridiculous "Make it at home! Make it out of your pantry!" cleaning formulas. You MAY do something helpful for the environment, but even that is debatable; cleaning solutions, even "organic" ones, are still cleaning solutions, and if they kill germs, they kill ... hmmm Things other than germs too, perhaps?

You may end up spending more on making them and finding a container to put them in, you create clutter by having to hold onto "things you're going to make into cleaning products", and then you waste time using them, because they do not, in fact, clean as well as commercial formulations, so you generally have to keep working harder to clean with them. I've been keeping house for 40+ years, and I've tried everything, from every "make it yourself" post or blog or site I've ever seen, and in the end, my time is too valuable to waste on products, home or purchased, that make me work harder.

Now, this doesn't mean you shouldn't look for "green" alternatives, or that you shouldn't experiment with make-it-yourself things, and it doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun making some things, like personal grooming stuff, for yourself. But it does mean, don't clutter yourself out of house and home, and don't spend all your time WORKING instead of PLAYING. It's supposed to be fun and rewarding to be a home-maker. It isn't supposed to drive you into insanity!

Most households don't need a lot of fancy specialised cleaning products anyway. Also, while some brand name products really are better than generic store-brands, that's not always the case. They generally have the same formula, but one has better advertising and a higher price.

Try things out. If your family is allergic to one kind of laundry soap, try another. If the pine-cleaner that costs half what the name brand does, can do a great job on your floors, then why buy the name brand? And as for the paper towels, just buy the cheap ones. The whole point of paper towels is that you're throwing the dirt away.

If you have environmental concerns, then look for "Green" products. They will be labelled clearly, and while they may cost a little more, they may be worth it to your conscience and your sense of what is right.

You really don't need much more than this list of things to keep your house clean and sanitary. In fact, the more stuff you have, the more stuff you'll feel compelled to use -- or feel guilty about if you can't or don't use it. So just get rid of it. The idea is to save money, time, and headaches, so you can get on with the fun part of life, like quilting, squirting your kids with a giant water pistol, making love to your partner, or daydreaming!

Most households need:

• Vacuum cleaner, bags, and belts
• Carpet cleaner, belts, and cleaning solution
• Broom and Dustpan
• Mop and bucket
• Floor cleaner
• Bleach
• Laundry detergent
• Fabric softener
• Spray cleaner for upholstery
• Dishwasher soap -- powder, liquid, little ball-bubbles
• Dishwashing liquid
• All-purpose spray cleaner
• Window Cleaner
• Pre-moistened dusting cloths (this may be one "make your own" that works; use lemon oil on old soft cloth; keep it in a sealed jar.)
• Bathroom cleaner and Throw-away Toilet Brush
• Oven Cleaner, or Coarse Salt set aside ONLY for this
• Paper towels
• Gloves
• Trash Can Liners (some folks simply recycle plastic grocery bags for this)
• Rag Bag
• Bug Spray
• Drain cleaner (But if you're scared of drain cleaners -- see below)
• Light Bulbs
• Batteries ranging from watch-sized to the 6-volt flashlight size
• Flashlight
• Kitchen-size Trash bags
• Auto detergent (But mild dishwashing liquid works just fine)
• Chrome Cleaner
• Upholstery cleaner
• Car wax

You may want to get a plastic caddy with a handle, or a little toolbox. In this you put the wipes, the spray cleaner, the bathroom cleaner, the air-freshener, your gloves, a few trash can liners, and the paper towels, so that you can carry it all with you easily as you go through the house.

Get a second plastic caddy and put the drain cleaner, light bulbs, bug spray, trash bags, vac bags, and all those packages of odd-sized batteries, into that. You can put the flashlight in there, too.

Car Stuff can be kept in a small plastic caddy or small tool box. It usually includes that fancy sponge your partner fell in love with and that special nozzle for the hose, too, so keep those in this caddy, so you can find them. It IS important to take care of your car's insides and body, just as important as taking care of the engine.

Stand the broom and mop upside-down in the mop bucket, and put the dustpan in there too. Hang the extra belts for the vacuum cleaner, on the handle of the machine, and do the same with any extra belts for the carpet-cleaner gadget.

Don't mess with stain pretreatments for laundry. Just pour a little liquid detergent on the stain. If that doesn't work, neither will a pre-treater -- and it's more likely the pre-treater will fade or ruin the fabric. The laundry detergent, bleach, and fabric softener should be kept near the washer and dryer.

Fabric softener sheets may be more environmentally smart; the cardboard box they come in will break down much faster than the plastic bottle the liquid is in. Slip the box of sheets into a heavy freezer bag to keep them from losing their scent and softener properties; some people use a "dryer ball" instead, but the appliance guys I've used for years tell me that they LOVE dryer-ball people... Because they have to call for repairs so often. Same with "washer dispenser ball" people. What the heck, hang your clothes outside! Eliminate both!

Pre-moistened dusting cloths really are cheaper than a can and a rag, and you throw the dirt away; however, slip the package or cannister into a heavy freezer bag, to keep them from drying out. If you compost, do NOT put these wipes (or any kind of wipes) in the compost.

Bathroom cleaner and Throw-away Toilet Brush -- Yes, throw-away brush or brush head. Do you really want that germy thing sitting around your house?

Don't goof with feather dusters, even the new "instant" kind put out by the cleaning products companies. Nothing will really make the dust stick to something like that. All you will do is put it in the air, and your wipes will do a much better job on surfaces, while your "old sock with cleaner on it" slipped over your hand, will do much better on blinds and dust-catchers.

Paper towels are so you can throw the dirt away, not keep it around; make your own by shredding "waste paper" or junk mail; add a little water, put it in the blender, then spread it on the back of a cookie tray, fairly thinly, and let it dry.

Trash Can Liners are a must, unless you love washing trash cans daily. Some folks simply recycle plastic grocery bags for this

The Rag Bag is self-explanatory. It should be a small (yes, SMALL) mesh-type laundry bag or drawstring bag, and when you cut up something cloth because it's worn out, you put it in the rag-bag. These are rags that you throw away after you're done, and you never keep more "old rags" around than will fit in your rag-bag. Hang it on a large plastic-coated cuphook that you screwed into the wall by the washer, to keep it visible but out of the way.

Drain Cleaner -- If like me, you are scared of the lye and horribly caustic chemicals in a drain cleaner, then don't buy that stuff. Instead, if you have a cloggy drain, first pull out everything you can with your fingers. Onion skins, strands of hair, artichoke leaves, whatever. Then pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into the drain. Pour 1 cup of vinegar, slowly, into that, and let the natural chemical reaction work. You can add more vinegar, or a little water at a time, till the clog is gone. Then run quite a bit of cold water so that the drain clears.

Anyway, that's the stuff I use around the house here. I hope it helps you figure out what you need to keep around, and what you want to keep around.

Now, I'm going to go curl up with a book and a cuppa. You should too!