Always a temptation.

 

I have dusted, swept and vacuumed for a good 4 hours. In one room.  My stinging eyes and runny nose do not lie.  These are the two most thankless household jobs I do. Building furniture is fabulous. You can enjoy the work you did for years.  Dusting and vacuuming, however, can be enjoyed for about 30 minutes here, tops, before the dust in the atmosphere lands on those shiny surfaces and dust bunnies give birth to a new litter.

I have waged pitched battles with the dust several times in the past to no avail. Once, for a solid week, I dusted and vacuumed 3 times a day. My reasoning was that sooner or later, all the atmospheric dust in the house would have to fall down where it could be captured by my waiting damp rags. Nope. Apparently, there is no end to the atmospheric dust in this house. Within 30 minutes I can see dust growing. Within an hour I can lightly write my name in it.

I also cleaned the walls behind the stove and kitchen counter. Scrubbing Bubbles made that about a 5 minute job. Moving, putting away and rinsing the stuff on my counters took longer.

I figured out today that all I really need for household cleaning fluids are Scott’s Liquid Gold, oven cleaner,  toilet cleaner, Scrubbing Bubbles and Dawn detergent.  Mostly Dawn. I can put a few drops of dawn in a spray bottle of water and clean/shine almost anything.

Oven cleaner is my go to once a year to clean my tile floors.  Yes. That’s right.  My floors laugh at vinegar solutions and if I want my home to smell like a wet dog I just use water.  For general mopping I use Odo-Ban and then have to rinse with a damp mop several times. Everything (even smelly vinegar solution) leaves a film on my floors that is soon marred by wheelchair tracks, foot prints, and dog paws even after several rinses. Easy Off takes years of crud off tile. I just wipe it off after about 10 minutes and then run my wet floor cleaner over it for a final rinse. No residue, no wheelchair tracks. I should do this twice a year but it is a day long job in one room as I do this in easily reachable sections.

Since these products are the only things I use, why the heck do I have all those crates of cleaners in my laundry room? My fall cleaning list just got longer.