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Post by cyn on Dec 18, 2014 10:50:28 GMT -5
I think I'm going to try to find one super-gross item to desqualor every day. These things are easily overlooked, but do they ever make a huge dent in the overall appearance when they start to add up - and it's nice to appreciate the newly cleaned whatever-it-is. Like a clean coffee pot, it doesn't have to be a biggie to make a difference. Or a big biggie, like my now-white toilet bowl - that's an actual mood lifter!
Today, my ick will be the hideous state of my bathroom window. A few years ago, we decided to winterize it. When we tore the plastic off in the spring, the residue of the tape remained. Fast forward to today: OMG, the dog hair stuck to it, with the added dust and general filth, makes it look like something you'd see in...I have no idea! I'll bet that windows in abandoned tenements look better that this. But once it's clean, I can stop turning my head every time my eyes wander to it.
I'm going to try to train myself out of avoidance, and into action. I'm going to try to make a new habit of tackling issues as I notice them, instead of groaning and moving quickly away from them. This is a work in progress!
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Post by dayeanu on Dec 18, 2014 11:44:09 GMT -5
I think I'm going to try to find one super-gross item to desqualor every day. These things are easily overlooked, but do they ever make a huge dent in the overall appearance when they start to add up - and it's nice to appreciate the newly cleaned whatever-it-is. Like a clean coffee pot, it doesn't have to be a biggie to make a difference. Or a big biggie, like my now-white toilet bowl - that's an actual mood lifter! Today, my ick will be the hideous state of my bathroom window. A few years ago, we decided to winterize it. When we tore the plastic off in the spring, the residue of the tape remained. Fast forward to today: OMG, the dog hair stuck to it, with the added dust and general filth, makes it look like something you'd see in...I have no idea! I'll bet that windows in abandoned tenements look better that this. But once it's clean, I can stop turning my head every time my eyes wander to it. I'm going to try to train myself out of avoidance, and into action. I'm going to try to make a new habit of tackling issues as I notice them, instead of groaning and moving quickly away from them. This is a work in progress! Outstanding plan! (The more I read your posts, the more I know you also are a long lost sister!) My really gross ick this morning is the window edges in the morning room. Gross. And obvious, as the windows are right beside the table! They are so nasty, I'm not even sure what to wipe them down with. I'm thinking a wet paper towel so I can just throw it away!
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Post by cyn on Dec 18, 2014 11:50:31 GMT -5
Yay, I found my long-lost sister! Now I can ditch my RLS and SIL, who only ever complain about what a lunatic I am! Ha! Maybe we can all do windows today? I challenge everyone who doesn't know where to start, to go look at any window of their choosing and see if there's something cleanable there. If not, I'm jealous!
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Post by sunny on Dec 18, 2014 11:55:40 GMT -5
Great phrase
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Post by lesaulerouge on Dec 18, 2014 13:17:16 GMT -5
I like this idea! However, am feeling crook this evening, and we go away for the holidays first thing on Saturday, so really not a good time time to join in. Will bookmark and hope to come back to this one.
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Post by angela on Dec 18, 2014 13:29:35 GMT -5
Really good plan cyn. I've been doing a deep cleaning mission most nights on something gross and it does make a difference. Hope your window project is another mood lifter.
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Post by ohblondie on Dec 18, 2014 14:51:29 GMT -5
This is a good plan! Then, moving forward, it should be easier to manitain!
I love it----Pick an Ick......
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Post by dtesposito on Dec 18, 2014 15:02:15 GMT -5
Ooh, ooh--I want to pick an ick! Except that the ick I would pick are my blinds, and the reason (well, part of the reason) they're so icky is that I can't figure out how to clean them. When I was a child we had wide metal "venetian" blinds and my mom would put them in the bathtub with soapy water. I can't for the life of me remember if she scrubbed each slat of the blinds individually, or if she did it often enough that just soaking in the soapy water took off the dust. Mine are so far beyond dusty--they have a greasy grime on them. I'm also afraid that if I dunk them in water the white threads will turn grey from the dirty water. Although I guess that's my illogical thinking--it's okay to have blinds with white threads but dirty grey slats? But not okay to have blinds with clean white slats and grey threads? I don't have a yard where I can hang them out and hose them down. Besides which, even hosing them down is not going to work--this is a scrubbing job. I think I'm going to have to try the bathtub method and a scrub brush, and see if it's possible to move them around in such a way that the brush hits all the surfaces. I won't know til I try. But it won't happen today. Diane
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Post by bobolink on Dec 18, 2014 15:11:58 GMT -5
About the blinds - the strings are likely nylon or some other synthetic that won't soak up dirty water. Rinse them after you wash them and you should be fine. You are going to have to wipe them to get them clean. I suggest a soapy water in the tub and a sponge.
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Post by larataylor on Dec 18, 2014 15:32:26 GMT -5
cyn - a while ago (maybe before you were here?) I tackled my DD's bedroom window, which had been full of webs and spiders and leaves and dirt and bugs for as long as we've been here. She had cleaned and organized her room really nicely, but there was that *big* nasty window overlooking the whole room. I avoided it because it was a complicated job (actually two windows, new one installed over the old one) that I wasn't sure how to do, or *if* I could do it … like Diane says … that is very off-putting. But I finally got the gumption to tackle it, and did get some help along the way from DH, getting the panes out and back in. I got it sparkling clear and clean and put back together, and hung a little curtain in it before DD got home from school. What I LOVE about jobs like that is that you get lasting value from them … I learned how to do that window, and now I *know* how to deal with it. Future maintenance will be a small job that I know how to do. And it made a huge difference in my DD's little room. She actually appreciated me for a few minutes! For these reasons, I often find *deep* cleaning much more satisfying than maintenance. Although I'm learning to love maintenance, too. Because the quickie maintenance stuff (wiping the bathroom sink & vanity, dusting everything frequently, etc.) can put off those big nasties FOREVER. Even places that I can't see … I FEEL better knowing that they're clean. I don't have this feeling of "Ugh--don't wanna look in THERE." Guests will never see those hidden spots, but having them clean makes me a happier person.
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Post by cyn on Dec 18, 2014 15:39:38 GMT -5
I did it! I also learned that 'Goop Off' is a solvent, and will remove paint. Oops. I think it's more of a "surface clean" than deep clean, just because I'd left it for so long - the next time will make it even better - but the aluminum is shiny and the fuzzy filth is gone. Whoo hoo! Diane, maybe if you give it a good bleach rinse (I know... ...) those strings will look nice and white? Mine blinds are brown - I intentionally never buy white anything. Pick an ick will continue tomorrow!
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Post by dtesposito on Dec 18, 2014 18:02:49 GMT -5
the strings are likely nylon or some other synthetic that won't soak up dirty water.
Hmm--you're right--these are vinyl blinds, so they're probably synthetic strings. The blinds I remember from my childhood had metal slats and rope strings. That would make it easier.
I think I just have to try one in the bathtub. If it doesn't come clean, or it's just too hard, I'll think of something else. I actually did try once just using a damp cloth and wiping some of the slats, but I only did about a dozen and gave up. It would take me so long to do them that way, since I have 14 windows. And since they're not just dusty, they have to be rubbed really well.
I think this project is going to have to wait until after Christmas week, I start getting really busy on Monday. Unless I try just one before then.
Diane
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2014 18:25:29 GMT -5
the strings are likely nylon or some other synthetic that won't soak up dirty water. Hmm--you're right--these are vinyl blinds, so they're probably synthetic strings. The blinds I remember from my childhood had metal slats and rope strings. That would make it easier. I think I just have to try one in the bathtub. If it doesn't come clean, or it's just too hard, I'll think of something else. I actually did try once just using a damp cloth and wiping some of the slats, but I only did about a dozen and gave up. It would take me so long to do them that way, since I have 14 windows. And since they're not just dusty, they have to be rubbed really well. I think this project is going to have to wait until after Christmas week, I start getting really busy on Monday. Unless I try just one before then. Diane I would suggest using dawn dish detergent in the soaking water. It really seems to get the greasy grime.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2014 18:26:58 GMT -5
OK here is my ick. I moved the couch for the first time in 6 months. I got it 6 months ago btw, and swept under it. It is a huge sectional, which is why I waited so long. So many cat toys!!! LOLOLOL!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2014 18:27:35 GMT -5
And I bought a new duster thingy and did my radiators!!! YAY!!!
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