The Magic of Magic Erasers

I am pleased to report that I successfully completed my housekeeping tasks for today, which ended up being all the usual things (dusting, vacuuming, dish-washing) as well as cleaning the bathroom, doing some laundry and ironing.  It turned out to be very productive day overall!

My grand accomplishment today made
possible by a Magic Eraser.

I still can't tell you how much that my cleaning basket has helped speed along the cleaning process.  Even cleaning the bathroom goes quicker because I have all my solutions and supplies right there in one place as opposed to having some here and there.  And today, I went the extra mile to really, deep clean the vinyl rug on the bathroom floor.  It is essentially white, with a touch of beige, and is somewhat textured wtih little dimples all over.  When deciding to purchase this particular rug for the bathroom, it never occurred to me that those dimples could quickly become dirt catchers!  But, never fear: I have discovered the cleaning power of the Magic Eraser.  If you have never used one (and you can find generic ones everywhere now as well), I highly recommend investing in at least one to give it a try and see if you like it.  I think if you haven't used them before, you will REALLY be impressed!  And you will quickly learn why they're called "Magic Erasers"! They really do seem to get rid of stuff magically.

A little box of magic goes
a long way!

 I steam mop the floor in there at least once a week, but all those little dimples in the rug are like dirt magnets... and because the rug is white, my floor appears to be dirty even when it's clean. You see how frustrating this could be. But now, I just whip out a bucket of warm water (the garbage pail which accompanies my cleaning basket was the perfect size) and a Magic Eraser, start wiping the floor and start watching the magic happen! It really is *almost* fun...and it does such a good job, and is so easy, that once you get started, you just want to keep going!



Needless to say, I felt much like Cinderella while down on all fours, wiping the floor off with a single sponge. (At least I was just doing the bathrooom floor, however, and not the entire area of a palatial estate.)  And I couldn't help but to think that if Cinderella had had a Magic Eraser, she wouldn't have had time to sing all those pretty songs, including my favorite, "Oh Sing Sweet Nightengale" which she sings while scrubbing the floor. (I'm thinking of Disney's Cinderella, of course!)  But I digress...and am embarrasing myself, so I'll just quit now...Haha!

Do you all have any secret, cleaning weapons that you highly recommend?

Housekeeping Epic Failure

Well, it seems about a month ago, I experienced a terrible migraine which lasted about 3 days, and ever since then I have been thrown completely off my schedule for everything.  It's so frustrating!  It also didn't help that I went to Cincinnati with my husband two weeks ago, which also got me out-of-whack. I had a blast, but when I got back home, it's like random things just kept popping up with the intention of keeping me from returning to my  more orderly means of housewifery.

Not only has it gotten me behind in blogging, which has been disappointing, but with my housekeeping as well. Also, my husband and I have recently started a home inspection business, so I've been consumed with working on that and putting together brochures and info to send to potential customers. It seems that once I get behind and have to play catch-up, it's soo hard to get back on track! (I always found excercising to be the same way: you can do it for 40 days straight, then you miss a day, and before you know it, you're only doing it when you have a notion.) And I was doing soo good!

Instead of adhering to my house cleaning schedule, I have slipped back into my old routine of just doing things as I notice them needing to be done, rather than being proactive. (Key word there--proactive--which I am continuously and desperately trying to be more of.) Tomorrow, I plan on getting the old schedule back out, and starting to get back into my routine because I was really pleased with how well it was working. 

Sometimes I think I'm not exactly the best housekeeper because I'm a procrastinator by nature.  In college, for example, I would be the person who would put off doing a paper until a couple nights before it was due.  I just always felt like I worked better under pressure, because I knew I HAD to get it done.  I no longer had time to let my mind wander or get distracted by other things. When I went to Honduras after my freshman year of college, I put-off packing for my trip until the night before I flew out. (Which worked out in the end, but I do not recommend it by any means.)  I have noticed that I like to be very busy just before an event (such as submitting a major paper or going on a serious trip) and I think it's because if I'm busy, I don't have time to think, worry, or be overly-excited about all the stuff that could happen.  How that's influenced my housekeeping, I'm not sure.  I do know I hate that when unexpected company pulls in the driveway, I feel like I have to look around and see what I need to stash away in a mad dash. That's why I've been trying to make an effort through my housekeeping schedule to be a more proactive housekeeper.

Am I the only one who does the "mad-dash stash," or are you all also familiar with that little number?

Tomorrow is Laundry Day!

 

Hello, everyone! I hope you all have had a wonderful and restful weekend. Tomorrow is Monday and for me, that means---da-da-da-DA!-- laundry day.  I have to confess that laundry day is my favorite cleaning day.  Washing laundry is hands-down my favorite housekeeping task.  There is something so refreshing about washing: the clean smell of the soap, the sudsy water, the way the clothes smell like a fresh breeze whisping through the hollow...and it doesn't hurt that all the real work is done by the machine!  Having said this, I would also like to note that washing laundry, and folding and putting it away are two totally different things.  I hate putting laundry away.  Perhaps part of my dislike stems from our incredible lack of closet space in the house.  (We have a very old house, about 90 yrs. old, and though the house is built like a "brick house" ---Hahaha!!!! Sorry, couldn't resist!---there are only two closets in the entire construction, and one of them is small and under the stairwell.  This means that my allocation for hanging clothing is extremely limited.)  I'm sure that when the house was built, people simply didn't have all the excessive clothing, shoes and accessories that we are accustomed to today so "closet space" wasn't even an issue to be contemplated.  If I had more space to easily accommodate our clothing, I doubt that I would mind the task half as much.



Love those colors!



I love the accomplished feeling that doing the laundry gives me.  There is something rewarding about taking something dirty (and possibly stinky!), and making it clean and fresh again.  I love the way the laundry soap perfumes the house, and I hardly like any simple pleasure more than slipping between two fresh sheets at night and resting my head on a clean pillowcase.  There is also nothing so hospitable as clean towels and linens that smell fresh and inviting to a guest. (On the flip side, there is hardly anything as yucky as stale-smelling sheets and towels.) Perhaps part of why I like doing laundry is because it makes enjoying these little simple pleasures possible.

However, thank God for electric washers and dryers!  I would speculate that if I had to revert to doing laundry the "old-fashioned" way (i.e. boiling water, and using a washboard and clothesline no matter the weather) it would rapidly fall in popularity on my "favorite to-do" list.  I am too young (or financially fortunate) to know of anyone washing clothes this way, however, I do vaguely remember a ringer washing machine in my grandparents basement when I was very little.  I'm sure that my grandmother had up-to-date electric machines that she normally used, but as she occasionally enjoyed doing things the "old-timey" way, it probably brought her pleasure to reminisce times gone-by while wringing out her washing and hanging it on the line.

Also, on a side note, I thought I would share my newly-decorated cleaning basket with you all, since I told you I may "pretty-fy" it as a weekend project.  I also bought spray paint for my wastebasket, but it was too cold to paint.



It's amazing what a little ribbon can do!

 I got the green and pink ribbon on clearance  for $1 each , and the rosebuds (I think there were 10 in the pack) for a little over a dollar; add some Aleen's Craft Glue and voila!--a cutey-patutie basket! My mom thought it was adorable; my 15 year-old sister scoffed and rolled her eyes at me. My husband says it looks like me...I say, if it makes me want to clean more, I'll do it. 

What about you all; do you have a "favorite" housekeeping task that you find particularly rewarding or enjoyable?

          

Life-changing Housekeeping Tips (No--really!)

Hi, everyone! I hope wherever you are you are having better weather than we are; we had hail the size of golf balls yesterday! Hypers!! Today, I thought I would share some housekeeping/cleaning tips that I learned from my "new" America's Housekeeping Book (from 1941) as well as share how my new schedule is going. Maybe you're way ahead of me in the housekeeping game, and already doing these things, (I hope so, for your sake!!) but after only one day of implementation, I can truly say that my housewife life has been changed forever (for the better!) by what I'm sharing with you. (No--really!!)

Today was bedrooms and hallway day, as well as monthly task day (plus the general light cleaning everywhere). I ended up having to take Fancy, one of my cats, to the vet this afternoon (poor baby has a nasty eye infection), so it worked out conveniently for me schedule-wise that I haven't even come up with my "monthly tasks" yet, which is what my afternoon was supposed to consist of.  (NOT that I would adhere to the schedule instead of taking my sick kitty to the doctor--that would be unforgivably atrocious!) But, if I hadn't needed to take her to the vet, I would have probably used the time to figure out exactly which tasks are ones that should be done on a monthly basis. Guess that'll have to wait a little longer... I did, however, manage to complete the thorough cleaning of my designated rooms today (which was no light task since one of my bedrooms had haphazardly evolved from a guest room to a junk/eBay/don't-know- where-to-put-this-so-I'll-leave-it-here-room...)  It's not exactly in June Cleaver shape, but it's 100% better than it was, and everything in there is now organized and clean. =)

I also wanted to pass along this housekeeping tip from my recent discovery, America's Housekeeping Book, as some of you said you were interested in hearing more about it.  (By the way, this book was suggested to me by Viv, from Almost Vintage  who sometimes posts on My 50s Year/The Apron Revolution which is a fantastic, vintage blog.  If you have never visited, you should--you will love it! Donna's blog is actually what got me blogging in the first place!)  A couple days ago, I shared my cleaning basket with you, and discussed how I couldn't believe what a difference it made to have all my cleaning supplies right there at-hand instead of making several wasteful trips into another room to retrieve something I forgot. Well, today I implemented another similar suggestion which also works wonders and is yet very, very simple: carry a large tray and a wastebasket with you (along with your basket).

Now, when I say to carry a cleaning basket, large tray and wastebasket with you from room-to-room as you clean, you're probably thinking that would be very cumbersome.  However, if you have a bed tray, or anything similar in size and shape, you can place your cleaning basket and your wastebasket on it and go from room to room.  Here's mine:

My new (old) bed tray is the perfect size for carrying my cleaning basket and make-shift wastebasket from room-to-room(as well as keeping my vacuum attachments in one place while I'm working so I don't waste time trying to find where I absentmindedly laid them down.)

Now, the tray itself has several helpful functions beyond just being a carrying vehicle.  For example, as you do thorough room cleaning or do your daily pick-up, place objects onto it which belong to another area and are out of place, replacing them in their appropriate areas/rooms as you work into them.  Instead of finding a couple things misplaced, and running to another room to put them back, then returning, then doing it all over again each time you find one or two things out of place, this saves time and energy. You simply pick things up and put things back as you come to them, instead of running every-which way every few minutes.  What a great idea!

The tray, as you are doing thorough room cleanings, also serves as a make-shift table.  For instance, when you remove knick-knacks for dusting or polishing of furniture, you can easily move them over onto the tray, as opposed to setting them on a couch, the floor, bed, etc (or moving them around on the furniture which you are dusting) and then setting them back. This is how I used my tray earlier:

Stuff that "adorns" my bedroom dresser, conveniently relocated for cleaning (...so I like perfume...)





I found it much more practical to temporarily place everything on the tray, place the tray on the bed, then put things back in their place after I had polished the dresser and had dusted the bottles, pictures, etc. This saved much effort which would have otherwise been devoted to moving these things around, moving them back, then picking them each up individually to dust them off.  (Why didn't I ever think of this before??)

 All perfume replaced and freshly polished

Lastly, is the wastebasket, which is the clear/plastic container on the left side of my tray in the picture above, and which could also use some decorating of some kind. (Hmm...sounds like a good little weekend project...) Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear the word "wastebasket," I always picture a small bathroom-sized garbage can, which is what initially came to mind when I began my search for the perfect container to use for this purpose.  Of course, carrying around a container that big would be very inconvenient; needless to say it didn't take me long to ix-nay that idea. So, that's when I thought, I have a small plastic bucket (that even has a handle) that would be plenty big enough, and still small enough to fit on my tray. Perfect!  Now, when I come across any throw-away items during cleaning, I just toss them in by bucket instead of making yet another wasteful trip through the house to the trash can. 

In retrospect, all these suggestions seem like they should have been obvious...but they weren't! I wonder if I hadn't gotten this book, would I have ever thought of putting all my cleaning supplies in one convenient, portable place, thus preventing many frustrating trips through the house for a forgotten item?? Or instead of making multiple trips to the wastebasket with various items, why not just take the wastebasket with me?? And let's not even talk about all the wasted time and energy running here and there to return misplaced items over and over and over and...  

So now I'm curious, are these things you all already know about and do? Was I the only one who was spending wasted energy and time with my inefficient cleaning methods?

My Housework Schedule (Part II)

Cream Puffs are a real treat!

Hello, everyone! Hope you all are enjoying the springy weather like I am! I intended on posting yesterday about my "revised" housekeeping schedule.  However, yesterday was my dad's birthday, and I made him his favorite dessert, Cream Puffs, instead of the standard birthday cake.  (He's not too fond of cakes.) So, much of my time yesterday was consumed by daily housework, Cream Puff-making and visiting with family.  If you are interested in the Cream Puff recipe, you can view it as well as some pictures of the process here. If you've never had them, they are simply delectable!  As my dad would say, "they're so good, you can't hardly sit still and eat them."

I am so excited about my new treasure, America's Housekeeping Book, that I hardly know where to begin talking about it! As I mentioned in several previous posts, I am trying very diligently to develop a housework schedule that is effective, efficient and user-firendly.  So, after receiving my new housekeeping "bible," it inspired me to re-work my original housework schedule.  Today is the first day of implementation, but so far, so good.  In fact I am presently using my "leisure" time to type this post!  This is my new schedule: 

My Housework Schedule

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Morning	*Breakfast *Check email, etc. *Tidy kitchen	*Breakfast *Check email, etc. *Tidy kitchen	*Breakfast *Check email, etc. *Tidy kitchen	*Breakfast *Check email, etc. *Tidy kitchen	*Breakfast *Check email, etc. *Tidy kitchen
Forenoon	*Light Cleaning & General Pick-up *Start laundry	*Light Cleaning and General Pick-up *Thorough room cleaning (Bathroom)	*Light Cleaning and General Pick-up *Thorough room cleaning (Living and Family Rooms)	*Light Cleaning and General Pick-up *Thorough room cleaning (Bedrooms and halls)	*Light Cleaning and General Pick-up *Menu planning for next week
Noon	*Lunch *Short rest	*Lunch *Short rest	*Lunch *Short rest	*Lunch *Short rest	*Lunch *Short rest
Early Afternoon	*Finish laundry *Put away laundry *Thorough room cleaning  (Kitchen and Dining Rooms) *Make preparations for supper *Leisure time	*Do ironing *Put away ironing *Make preparations for supper *Leisure time	*Special weekly task (vacuum  & mop floors) *Make preparations for supper *Leisure time	*Special monthly tasks (varies) *Make preparations for supper *Leisure time	*Marketing *Put away groceries *Make preparations for supper *Leisure time
Late Afternoon	*Prepare supper	*Prepare supper	*Prepare supper	*Prepare supper	*Prepare supper
Evening	*Wash dishes and tidy kitchen	*Wash dishes and tidy kitchen	*Wash dishes and tidy kitchen	*Wash dishes and tidy kitchen	*Wash dishes and tidy kitchen

As I work through the schedule, and read through my book, I plan on being more specific with my tasks.  I'm sure that I will probably adjust a few things as time goes by, but I think this is a good "skeleton" schedule.  One thing that I'm also going to do, suggested by the book, is to monitor how long it takes me to complete a certain task.  For example, I was surprised to find that my ironing yesterday only took about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  (I was in somewhat of a hurry, though, and didn't iron any sheets or clothes of my own--only Hubby's work clothes.) Today, I talked on the phone during much of my cleaning, (today was living room, family room and floors day), and therefore neglected to monitor my time.  Although, after thinking about it, it probably wouldn't have done me any good to watch the time anyway as I'm sure I could have completed my tasks much quicker if I hadn't talked and worked simultaneously!  One thing the book recommends is working toward effecient housekeeping; completing a task effectively in the shortest amount of time possible. The idea is to monitor your time, and then reflect on how to do things more efficiently.

In my last post, I showed you my new cleaning basket which keeps all necessary cleaning supplies in one place and conveniently travels with you room-to-room.  I got tickeled at myself today because even though I had my basket (and thus, supplies) in tow, I walked out of the room twice to go after supplies that were already in my basket! That's when I realized just what a good idea the cleaning basket is because it saves needless trips through the house to retrieve necessary supplies. Isn't that so much better than making 3 or 4 trips back and forth for various items as you need them? Why didn't I think of this before?! 

I'm so excited to share some of the book's helpful suggestions with you all...I just don't have enough time to write everything up that I want! However, it is now time to make preparations for dinner, so I'm off to do that! (On a side note, today during "lunch" I watched  I Love Lucy Episode #33, "Lucy's Schedule," in which Ricky puts Lucy on a housekeeping schedule...How appropriate!) =)

My Cleaning Basket

Happy spring, everyone!  I'm so glad that it's officially here...finally!!  This will be a short post, but I just wanted to share that I received my America's Housekeeping Book in the mail today, and instead of doing my housework, spent much of the day leafing through my new treasure. Thanks, again, to Viv for suggesting it.  (I will be posting more about it in the next few days as I have so much to say about it already!)

My new housekeeping "bible"

One thing I accomplished today from the book was to put together a cleaning basket to hold all the necessary supplies when cleaning room-to-room.  I have to say I'm now amazed that this idea had never occurred to me before, but then again, that is why I wanted a book on the subject...I actually didn't have a plastic utility basket, which is what I had initially pictured in my mind. So after hunting around the house in search of something more attractive than a cardboard box (at least to use temporarily), I found a cute lil' basket that once held a Valentine's Day arrangement from my husband. (How a basket of Valentine's flowers evolved over 6 years into a basket of cleaning supplies, I'm not sure...) I don't know that I will be able to use it permanently, because it won't hold anything else other than what I already have in it, but I'm happy with it and at least it'll make housework a little more attractive...haha!

Here's my newly assembled cleaning basket which I will now be using to accomplish many of my cleaning chores:



I've already thought about tying a ribbon or something onto it. It just looks so plain...I'm  thinking a splash of pink would do wonders for my cleaning spirits! 

Right now, my basket includes: paper towels, long-cuff rubber gloves, Bar Keeper's Friend (a magical, abrasive cleaner), glass cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, an ostrich feather duster, a Swiffer duster, furniture polish, a cotton rag and a large sponge.  Can I also just say that I was actually excited to clean the bathroom this afternoon--yes, you read that correctly--just so I could use my cute lil' basket and try out my new Mr.Clean Febreez "Hawaiian Aloha" all-purpose cleaner (which I love, by the way).

So, until tomorrow! (And, hopefully, then I will have my new, weekly schedule re-mapped.)

Happy Homemaking!

Should Housekeeping be this Difficult?

I've been thinking today about my housekeeping schedule, or as I posted earlier, about my lack thereof. (Haha!) I did actually plan out a weekly schedule for myself, but have already found it difficult to maintain.  Not because I'm not putting forth the effort, but I'm finding that I'm having to do things on days which they aren't scheduled...in turn, messing up the schedule for the remainder of the week, and therefore defeating the purpose of my having a schedule in the first place.  Ughh.  Why do I feel like such a failure?  (OK, I'm exaggerating a little bit; I don't feel like a failure--exactly--but, I am frustrated and confused as to why it is so difficult to put one together that works!)

It's not that I don't clean or anything, because I do. It's just that I would like to organize my cleaning.  I have even looked online and found some helpful resources, (thank you, Jess!) such as FlyLady, but haven't come across anything that I feel I will be able to stick with.  Viv left me a comment about a book which she has posted about several times on her blog--and highly recommends--called America's Housekeeping Book, which I just ordered from Amazon.  I saw some excerpts from this book on Viv's blog, was instantly intrigued, and am now eagerly awaiting its arrival!  I guess I'll have to let you know how that goes after it comes in and I have a chance to implement any acquired information.  (I have a really good feeling about this one...!)

Just wondering, though: am I the only one who feels like an inadequate housekeeper?  Have any of you struggled with this? (I mean, geez! We don't even have kids--just Pippy, our Chihuahua!) Why is it so difficult to make an effective, successful schedule? (I'm beginning to think it's because housekeeping isn't the easy task so many believe it to be...hmm...) I'm tired of feeling really incompetent that I have a Master's degree, and speak two languages, but can't even make my own housework schedule work! All I want is some June Cleaver-inspired guidance that will assist me in achieving my goal of the Leave it to Beaver house...is that really too much to ask?

First Day of Housework Schedule

So, I have decided to officially begin my housekeeping schedule.  Achieving the Leave It To Beaver house is now my official goal.  (Perhaps if I publicly announce it, it will motivate me to actually implement it.)  This may somewhat difficult because my husband and I are still in the process of remodeling, so there is constantly something messed up or out of place...but aside from that, I am determined to be as June Cleaver-like as possible.This is what my Friday schedule looks like as of now:

Friday

Everyday Chores: ·    Do dishes ·    Sweep ·    Vacuum rugs ·    Make bed

·   Mop ·   Clean Bathroom ·    Wash clothes ·    Straighten closets ·    Polish appliances

As you see, normally on Fridays, I have scheduled to clean the bathroom and wash clothes, but as I just cleaned the bathroom yesterday, and only had one load of laundry to wash so my "work" day was cut a little shorter than usual.

I did do everything else though, with the exception of straightening the closets, (which I somehow completely managed to neglect).  So, I guess Monday will start my first full week of implementing my new schedule. I am eager to start, and see how it goes, but am still in search of my vintage housekeeping guide.  So far, no luck... I suppose for now I'll just stick with what I've got and go from there!

Housekeeping Schedule (or my lack thereof...)

Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver: the mother
of all housewives...

One thing that I have been looking for and am having trouble finding is a housekeeping guide.  Although I have been married for going on 7 years now, and have been the sole "housekeeper" for our home, I have never (ever) had a schedule.  I've always just done things as I saw the need.  The biggest reason for my lack of structured housekeeping was due to my finishing college.  As a full-time student--and later--full-time graduate student, housework was low on my list of priorities.  Even if I had tried to adhere to a schedule, I'm sure it never would have worked because the life of a student is somewhat unpredictable: one has to study when one must--regardless of anything else.  So even if I had made a schedule, it would have probably fallen through on the first day because some other (student-related) task would have taken priority.  And I'm also confident in saying that when I did have the opportunity to simply do whatever I pleased, (i.e. in my "free" time), I'm positive that cleaning the closet or ironing the clothes would definitely NOT have been on the top of my "to do" list.   

This isn't to say that I've never cared about the presentation of my home.  I have actually always been very self-conscious of the--shall we say--state of our living quarters.  I'm the housekeeper who spazzes-out when she finds out that (surprise!) the in-laws have just pulled into the driveway.  I like for things to be as I envision they should, and I suppose my love for all things 50s greatly influences my concept of what a home should look like. (Just picture any interior home scene from Leave It To Beaver, and you are looking at my idea of a perfectly-kept home.)  It hasn't been until recently that realizing and maintaining my Leave It To Beaver housekeeping objective has even become a realistic possibility.  Or is it even realistic??  (After all: June Cleaver-- in actuality--had a bunch of stage hands that did all the housework for her...)

I really have no current excuse for not having an immaculately-kept home as we have no children, and I do not work.  But how does one go about putting together a housekeeping schedule? My thinking is if I want a Leave It To Beaver house, I need to be a real-life June Cleaver and keep house as was done in that time period; thus my search for a retro-housekeeping guide.

I have put together a basic schedule (which I still yet have to implement...) which is as follows:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed	Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed	Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed	Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed	Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed
·         Mop ·         Wash rugs ·         Iron ·         Clean animal areas	·         Change linens ·         Clean bath ·         Wash clothes ·         Vacuum furniture	·         Dust baseboard, ceiling fans & blinds ·         Clean for spider webs ·         Clean windows ·         Clean dishwasher & stove	·         Plan meals ·         Go to store ·         Wet dusting ·         Clean animal areas	·         Mop ·         Clean Bathroom ·         Wash clothes ·         Straighten closets ·         Polish appliances

However, I'm thinking that it would be nice to have some guidance, because achieving my "Leave It To Beaver" house is my new objective.  Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated!