Give me your best cleaning advice

[Bernadine]

You don't even understand how filthy my house is.  It needs to be scrubbed from top to bottom.  I don't want to shell out the money for cleaners, because the house needs more work than I thought.  Help me.

[VeryViolet]

BLEACH!

Really though do you have the option to do it in stages? It will seem a lot less overwhelming if you are able to break it up i.e. Saturday the kitchen, Sunday the bathrooms, etc. Also, rent a carpet cleaner. Even if you have one the big rug doctor rentals do a much better job.

[AHappierHour]

When my house is bad I just think cleaning one room at a time. And normally I start with something small like a bathroom or the frige. If I think of my messy house as a whole I get freaked out and get bitchy.

[luckyval]

Buy all the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers you can find, then buy the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser mop and go to town.

I loathe cleaning, but those eraser thingies tap into my OCD with their effectiveness and I actually make a dent in the dirt

[Deleted]

Write down one thing to do each day, and then plow through that list one day at a time.

[shostakovich]

Vinegar.

[janiejones]

We set a timer and both do 45 minutes, which inevitably lasts longer, but we agree on 45 minutes. It's amazing how fast you can clean when you give yourself a time limit!

[psychmom]

Aug 26, 2013 15:38:30 GMT -5 luckyval said:

Buy all the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers you can find, then buy the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser mop and go to town.

I loathe cleaning, but those eraser thingies tap into my OCD with their effectiveness and I actually make a dent in the dirt

I second the Mr Erasers and tackling one room at a time.

[Deleted]

I think it would be worth it so pay somebody for a full initial cleaning.

Then maintain the cleanliness yourself afterward.

[lucky513]

Aug 26, 2013 15:49:47 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

I think it would be worth it so pay somebody for a full initial cleaning.

Then maintain the cleanliness yourself afterward.

I agree

[idoinjuly]

Aug 26, 2013 15:38:30 GMT -5 luckyval said:

Buy all the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers you can find, then buy the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser mop and go to town.

I loathe cleaning, but those eraser thingies tap into my OCD with their effectiveness and I actually make a dent in the dirt

I need to look into this mop.  I have a steam mop, but I also like to have something to clean up small messes.  My Swiffer crapped out.

[ginger]

Bar Keeper's Friend! Best little secret in my cabinets. It cleans stainless steel pans and sinks like a dream; takes those little grey fork marks off plates; and we just recently discovered it's AMAZING on glass-top stoves. It's worked so well on everything else, we're gong to try it on our grout soon.

Best part? It's only like $2.50 for a big can. It's in the kitchen cleaning aisle next to like Ajax.

[Alyssa]

If you have any used fabric softener sheets, they make great dust wipes.

[flex]

I agree with breaking the cleaning down cleaning time in increments. Even 15 or 30 minutes at a time.

I was cleaning yesterday and at 7 p.m. I decided to set the timer for 30 minutes--I decided that when it went off, I was going to be done with cleaning for the rest of the evening. So the timer went off, but I kept cleaning because I had some momentum going. I'm famous for putting things off, so I put off stopping my cleaning. lol

[Deleted]

The secret, as kevin arnold said, is good music.


If I have some awesomely loud jams, I can clean til until I pass out.

[strawberriquen]

Start from top to bottom. For example, dust high places first then vacuum the floors last.

[Deleted]

Aren't you talking about your old house? That had the squatters in it?

I'm so sorry. It is empty?

Bleach, music and some really good friends to help?

[chickadee77]

I'll be a dork and say flylady.net. Her schedule really helped me several years back, when I was pretty overwhelmed. I followed it fairly closely for awhile, then developed my own routines and schedules over time. But it's a good starting point (just ignore the God stuff and/or store if it bugs you). This was also the only way I was able to get H involved; he really shyed away from all-day cleaning, but could handle a few minutes at a time.

[rex]

Aug 26, 2013 15:38:30 GMT -5 luckyval said:

Buy all the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers you can find, then buy the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser mop and go to town.

I loathe cleaning, but those eraser thingies tap into my OCD with their effectiveness and I actually make a dent in the dirt

Magic erasers make me want to clean everything in sight. They are so amazing.

Buy them all! They are worth every penny.

[speckledfrog]

I agree with doing one room at a time (or divide your room into sections if you need to). Don't try to do it all in one day, you'll want to give the fuck right up. I agree that setting a time goal (30 minutes seems like a good starting point) and then working for that long helps keep you focused and it's surprising how much you can do when you are side tracked by other things. GL!

[isabel]

I second barkeeper's friend and magic erasers.

[angelailovefood]

Easy way to clean your microwave. Put a bowl of water and lemon juice in the microwave for 5 minutes. The steam loosens the stuck on food particles and all you have to do is wipe them away with a towel and it's chemical free.

[Moe]

Dude, when you pay cleaners, you're effectively paying yourself for the time you would spend cleaning.  

Is your time worth $40/man hours? Yes? Then hire them.

[dizzydee]

I would definitely hire someone. WELL worth the money.

If not then lots of disinfectant. I love magic erasers to clean my filth, but you're cleaning other peoples, so lots and lots of bleach and odoban. And yes tackle one area at a time.

[angelaa73]

Work it like the staff at mt vernon. Clean the perimeter of each room, working toward the center.

Look it up on apartment therapy

[kaybee85]

Aug 26, 2013 19:35:31 GMT -5 Moe said:

Dude, when you pay cleaners, you're effectively paying yourself for the time you would spend cleaning.  

Is your time worth $40/man hours? Yes? Then hire them.

Yep. I actually took on a small second job at school to get paid enough to hire cleaners. I would rather work in the way I'm getting paid at work than clean my home on the weekend.

[iamgrace]

I think in your situation, I'd be hiring people. I'd be too fucking pissed to do it myself.

We are talking about the house your XH trashed, yes?

[hisno1girl]

If I wasn't at the baseball game (Go Tigers!!) I'd give you a schedule.

I'll do it later.

[cinnamoncox]

Aug 26, 2013 15:38:30 GMT -5 luckyval said:

Buy all the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers you can find, then buy the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser mop and go to town.

I loathe cleaning, but those eraser thingies tap into my OCD with their effectiveness and I actually make a dent in the dirt

This all the way.
Although I wanted so badly to get the magic eraser mop but it said not to use on wood floors and that's all I have in my house, even the kitchen.

But when my house starts to get overly messy beyond my lowered expectations even, my OCD kicks in badly and I get super anxious/bitchy so if I clean it's like I'm on a rampage. That's how dh can tell I'm very anxious.
If something prevents me from being able to clean, (migraine, dh working overtime so I can't get much done w/the kiddies around etc) my depression rears it's ugly head, then it gets bad.

Wow, I sound fun, huh?