Now, I'm not one to spring clean. Every year I think about spring cleaning and then I never really do it. For the last five years I've either been recovering from child birth or throwing up from being pregnant or recovering from some other birthing-related ailment. You get the point. Spring cleaning hasn't really been a priority compared to getting better and keeping the kiddlets alive, fed and relatively clean.
This year though, my spawn are to the point where they are less likely to accidentally kill themselves and club uterus isn't booking any more parties for the time being. That gives this mama the unique opportunity to actually do a little more than *think* about spring cleaning. I can actually attempt it.
Today seemed like a good day to give it a go. The masses were heading to the grocery stores to stock up on milk, bread, eggs and toilet paper ahead of the snow storm so they can make french toast and go number 2 in the event of a power outage. I stayed home, laughed at the traffic, and then dove into this spring cleaning thing.
First, I decided I shouldn't do it all at once. No, cleaning like that is for fools or really ambitious people that don't have any kids. Since we are having our house appraised tomorrow (yes, in the Snowpocalypse), I decided to go ahead and do the regular getting-ready-for-company routine first. After that, I could focus on some more detailed cleaning.
Here's what I did for Day 1 of my "Spring Cleaning" routine that will probably last about a week:
- Clean the cabinets - I did the regular cleaning of the face of the cabinets, but first I tried this de-gunker that I saw on Pinterest. It basically consists of equal parts baking soda and vegetable oil that is then scrubbed in with a toothbrush around the handles of the cabinets where oily hand-grime accumulates. It actually DOES work and fairly well. However, the residue it leaves behind is almost as bad as the oily gunk that was there in the first place. So, if you attempt this, do the handle portion first and THEN use your regular cleaner to clean the entire cabinet as you normally would.
- Clean the stove hood filter - This was crazy easy because well, I don't use the fan or light when I cook. It was just average-bad, nothing a little Lysol and some hot water couldn't handle.
- Clean under the high chairs - OMG Yuck!! I don't know how my kids weigh as much as they do. They are both in booster seats and it would appear that 99% of their food just travels under the booster seat where it gathers in the natural butt-dip of the chair to form this weird alien-like creature that is as hard as a rock and hairier than a Yeti. Fricken disgusting. Lysol, Lysol, more Lysol and a butter knife. It's still partially there. I gave up once the gag reflex started to kick in. Oh, and I did try a little baking soda on it, but it fizzed. That scared me.
- Clean the fridge water dispenser - I wasn't planning on doing this, but I got a glass of water and noticed a spot.. then another... and another and well my mind started going horrible places and I imagined getting the plague or ebola from the water dispenser and it was all over after that. I sprayed it good with Lysol, then decided that was probably a bad idea, so I cleaned it all with a soapy sponge then went back with some vinegar because... well, why not? The results? I think I'll replace the water line because there is no hope for the end of that thing. In the meantime I'll be drinking bottled water.
- Clean the garbage disposal - This is super easy. Throw a few ice cubes down it and grate them up, then chase them with some baking soda, vinegar and boiling water. DONE!
- Steam mop the floor - I got myself a steam mop for Christmas during a black Friday sale and although I love it, it's pretty impractical for everyday use. For starters, the pads get dirty really quickly in a household with 2 toddlers, so you have to stop and wash them and by the time they're dry you're pretty much out of the cleaning mode, so it gets stored for 2 months and you repeat the cycle all over again, but hopefully having done a different section of floor the second time around. Today, I basically just continued that cycle, but I worked in the kitchen.
- Clean the ceiling fans in 2 bedrooms - Ok, so we have 5 ceiling fans in my house and I cleaned 2 of them. That doesn't sound very impressive, but I'm not very tall so I could only reach the 2 in the old part of the house that has lower ceilings. That's OK though because those fans are the oldest ones and they were exposed to a lot of dust during the remodel. I cleaned them with Lysol (how did you know??) and then ran back over them with a dryer sheet to get the last bits of dust and leave a nice smelling freshness behind.
- Clean the baseboards in the kitchen and dining room - While I was on my dryer sheet kick I decided to clean the baseboards. Use a dryer sheet to do this and you will be amazed. They are like baseboard ninjas that just scoop up all the nasty dust and stuff. Be sure you do this BEFORE you sweep and mop in case some dust gets free. I didn't do it before hand and I wound up having to sweep again around the edges.
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