Cleaning the domicile - love it or hate it - it has got to get done, at least occasionally.

Which cleaning chores do you love/hate the most? Any Heloise-y type of hints for those of us that hate it all, and could use some time saving tips?

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

Answers

p.s. I know that I am a rookie to your discussion threads and I hope that I am not intruding...I have really enjoyed all that I have read so far.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

I am a freak about my kitchen. I feel good about anybody coming into the kitchen with her white glove at the ready. But my bathroom? She's not allowed in there. Hell, she's not allowed to look at the door. I knew it was bad when my mother, who I lived with for 25 years and who changed my diapers, asked hesitantly, "Is your bathroom clean?" Like she was afraid to use it after what happened to her the last time she went in there.

The one thing I hate to do is dust. It helps living in a house with radiant heat, but then we have a long-haired cat that totally cancels out any of THAT benefit. My husband brought that damn cat home, and furnished our house with a bunch of intricately carved antiques, and guess what? The dust just sits in every nook and cranny until he dusts it. Because I don't.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

I haaaaate to clean the bathroom. I haven't had a dishwasher in so long that I don't mind washing dishes, but lordy I hate doing the bathroom.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

I knwo I am not the only one here with deep love for the Swiffer. I use it for everything. Before I clean the outdoor windows, I use the Swiffer to get the clingy grit so that when I wash them with vinegar and newspaper, it's even less streaky.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

Oh, please tell me more about the Swiffer. I want one, but I'm scared it won't work and I'll hate it and it'll just take up space. How does the wet one do? Will it pick up the five pounds of dog hair I sweep up daily?

I hate laundry the most. That's why I married Vince, because he doesn't mind doing it.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

Will it pick up the five pounds of dog hair I sweep up daily?

No. The wet Swiffers are pretty much crap, but ain't no way I'm buying a mop for my 2 feet of kitchen and bathroom. The dry ones pick up hair pretty well, but the wet ones will just push it around.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

I don't know about the new wet one. But you can get ones that are similar to baby wipes to put on a regular Swiffer. It works GREAT on sweeping up all the hair, especially on hardwood floors.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

What Hannah said. The wet ones don't work great on hair, the dry ones do. And you will love it.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

Cool. Swiffer will be my excuse to go to Target and buy all kinds of other things, too.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

Also, I love Cascade Complete. I am one of those people that other people hate because I don't rinse anything before I put it in the dishwasher. Complete has lovely chemicals that dissolve all of the foodstuffs that are there into oblivion. And your house will smell nice while the dishwasher's running because of magical fruity scents. I do not understand it. I love without asking.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

I can't stand dishes. I am supposed to be getting a dishwasher installed next week, but I am skeptical about it since I have been promised this before.

The thing about my house is that if I am not home, nobody will do dishes. I was gone visiting friends for a week and after the first three days when every dish in the house was dirty, they just started eating out at every meal, and left me a whole counter full of dirty, dried on, nasty dishes to do after being in the car for 8 hours. I do not understand how one can just let them go like that.

Bah.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

I bought one of those new Clorox mops. It works nicely on tile. I imagine it's like a wet Swiffer.

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2002

Keli, you...clean your outdoor windows? Wow.

I love to Swiff! The dry ones are great for picking up stuff. The wet ones are nice to just do a quick job on the floor, especially if you don't want to bust out the mop and bucket.

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2002

I love the Cascade Complete, but here's my warning:

Don't use Cascade Complete to clean your nice fancy stainless flatware. It's great for glass, but that shit is caustic. Over time, it will wear away at your stainless, and you'll start to see pits. If you use Cascade Complete (or any detergent with lemon in it) and you start to see little rust marks on your beautiful German knives, that's the caustic elements in the detergent wearing away at your finely-honed knife blades. Just a warning.

The dry Swiffer is amazing for pet hair. I have the wet Swiffer sheets, but I only use those for the little bit of linoleum we have in the basement by the garage door. I went to Wal-Mart to check out the Swiffer vacuum wet thing, and for $50, it looks mighty crappy and rinky-dink.

We have hardwoods, and for those I use the rectangle terry-cloth pad mop thing with the Zep Hardwood Floor cleaner from Home Depot. It is great.

I'm obsessive about keeping my rangetop clean. We have a gas stove, and I swear by this powdery stuff called Barkeep's Friend. I mix it with a little water to make a paste and I have at my range with the paste and my Black & Decker ScumBuster. Just be sure to wear gloves - it's crazy caustic for your skin.

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2002

Sorry, I stepped away for a few days after posting this question...taking care of my mother after surgery...let me tell you, home house care is NOT for me!

Anyway, I also love, love, love my Swiffer...we have a yellow Lab and and very furry cat and it really does work well for a quick hair cleanup on the hardwood floors. The Swiffer Wet does totally suck, but, if you use it in combination with that Spray and Mop stuff, it is great for a quick cleaning of the kitchen floor. I just love the Swiff because it moves around so easily and gets really far under stuff.

Let me tell y'all, I am a product junkie. If there is a new cleaning product out there, I am the 1st to buy it. However, I have yet to bite on the new Swiffer Wet Jet thing because it is pricey. The best thing I have ever discovered is the spot cleaner for carpets that we use. As forementioned, we have 2 pets and therefore, lots of stains. I found this stuff called Amazing Gene's Carpet Clean. It has an incredibly strong smell of ammonia (sp?) but I swear, it takes out ANY stain. It is hard to find, you have to order directly from the company but if anyone needs it, I will be happy to supply their phone number.

I am also absolutely hate the bathroom, although, I would rather clean the toilets then a bathtub/shower any day of the week. I hate cleaning showers and live and die by the Tilex Clean Spray stuff...you do still have to clean it occasionally but certainly alot less.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2002

T, I have to get some Zep for my new hardwood floors (says my manager)- do I have to get a special mop, too?

Also, anyone have any tips for drying balloon shaped wineglasses without smudging? No matter how much I towel dry and then let rest in the dishrack upside down, they are smudge city. I'm ashamed to serve wine in them.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2002

Hannah - at the Home Depot, they have the O'Cedar (or whatever) floor mops in the same aisle as the Zep. The mop has a yellow handle with a green rectangle pad that has a washable terry cloth cover. it's like, $10.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2002