post your house cleaning tips

['andersom']

Serious tip.

Take a piece of string and tie the opening of duvet covers closed, before throwing them in the washing machine. It will prevent the rest of the washing playing hide and seek with the duvet covers. Your washing machine will like not everything clustered together inside the cover too. It will make less noise when spinning.

["couldbecousin"]

Flood your apartment, it will drown the mice. 

  We actually had a flooding incident in the apartment across the hall from me.  A pipe burst
  and flooded that apartment and the one below.  The landlord paid for those tenants to stay
  in a hotel for a few days (sweet!  ) and brought in HUGE fans which were run round the clock
  for days to dry everything out so mold wouldn't take over.  Eh ... the hotel would be nice, but
  I think I'll deal with the odd rodent as it appears. 

[Gopher Gary]

  I think I'll deal with the odd rodent as it appears.  [/font][/size]

 

["couldbecousin"]

  I think I'll deal with the odd rodent as it appears.  [/font][/size]

 

  And some rodents are odder than others!

[Gopher Gary]

  I think I'll deal with the odd rodent as it appears.  [/font][/size]

 

  And some rodents are odder than others!

You can give this rodent all the soda you like. 

[Queen Victoria]

Flood your apartment, it will drown the mice. 

  We actually had a flooding incident in the apartment across the hall from me.  A pipe burst
  and flooded that apartment and the one below.  The landlord paid for those tenants to stay
  in a hotel for a few days (sweet!  ) and brought in HUGE fans which were run round the clock
  for days to dry everything out so mold wouldn't take over.  Eh ... the hotel would be nice, but
  I think I'll deal with the odd rodent as it appears. 

While staying in a residential hotel (Marriott) (post fire) we were on the first floor.  The PR's carpet near her bathroom was wet.  I blamed her of splashing too much water.  But the area by the tub was dry.  Turns out the Middle Eastern family youngsters on the 3rd floor had overflowed the tub badly.  The parents denied it, but the employees were able to track the water trail.  She slept with industrial fans going for 2 days to dry everything out.

["couldbecousin"]

  I've become very careful about storing trash lately.    I have a big old laundry hamper that is my
  indoor trash bin.  It's lined with a big bag, always.  Whenever I put a smaller bag of paper trash in it,
  I spray Lysol all over the bin contents to cover any scents that might attract pests.  As for actual food trash,
  I wrap that in aluminum foil and store it in the freezer till trash day.  It's the most disciplined I've ever been.

["couldbecousin"]

  I accept that I don't have the attention span to clean entire rooms from top to bottom, the "right" way,
  so now I just fit in as many mini-projects as I can.  If I have a minute, I can spray and wipe that area of
  the bathroom wall that tends to accumulate soap scum, I can spray and wipe the microwave, I can 
  or mop one floor, I can change one wastebasket liner, etc., and every little project done during, say, the
  commercial breaks in the House marathon = one less thing to do later if I have unexpected company.

[Jack]

  I accept that I don't have the attention span to clean entire rooms from top to bottom, the "right" way,
 

'Right' can be subjective. Cleaning a room the right way takes an entire day, or a few days for a kitchen. Oldest once told me she felt cursed because that's the only way she knows how to clean. Step 1, drag everything out and make a pile in the middle of the room.

["couldbecousin"]

  I accept that I don't have the attention span to clean entire rooms from top to bottom, the "right" way,
 

'Right' can be subjective. Cleaning a room the right way takes an entire day, or a few days for a kitchen. Oldest once told me she felt cursed because that's the only way she knows how to clean. Step 1, drag everything out and make a pile in the middle of the room.

  Step 2 (if you're me): Trip over everything for weeks before stuffing it all back where it was. 

[Jack]

[Queen Victoria]

Wait for a fire and then the job's more than half done.  I had 3 men hauling the heavier stuff out and 3 women doing the lighter stuff.  All I had to do was say "Store" "Pitch."   

["couldbecousin"]

  Having the mouse issue forces me to stay on top of my dirty dishes.  Washing one meal's worth of
  dishes beats the hell out of piling them in the sink.  It's so much easier to clean up as I go. 

["couldbecousin"]

  I love to see dirty water in a mop bucket, or dirty cleaning pads from my Wet Jet, or any evidence
  that I've just done a good thing by cleaning.  Sometimes the floor looks "eh - clean enough," but
  turns out to have been filthy.  That makes me glad I made the effort.

 
   I love the smell of cleaning products too. 

["couldbecousin"]

  On a de-hoarding/de-squaloring site where I lurk, a member posted a thread about what she calls
  "eight minute uprisings," meaning eight-minute (timed) blocks of cleaning.  I like that amount of time,
  and I have a little timer that I set to get me going.  It really helps with the inertia.  When I was doing
  my "crisis cleaning" during the initial mouse occupation, I kept telling myself, "Come on, get up and do
  eight more minutes!"  Then I'd take a break, then I'd get up and do eight more.  It really helped me.