Question of The Day. Saturday The 20th of December

Good morning.

Is it cold where you are? It was MINUS 16 C here last night! This winter is going to be a tough one.

At this time of year most Japanese people do Osoji, a top to bottom clean of their house. The idea is that if you have a clean house now you'll be able to relax and not do so much housework over the holidays. It's also thought to be unlucky to clean your house on the first day of the New Year as you'll clean your good luck away.

Do you ever clean the whole house at once, or do it room by room? Do you clean at a certain time of year or whenever the mood takes you?

I stick to the end of year tradition, because it means I can rope Mr Husband in to help me by saying,

"Well, it's your culture dear. Now grab that mop!"

I do one task at a time.  So all the vacuuming, all the dusting, both bathrooms, etc.  I seem to focus better that way.  I have a clutter problem.  It seems to accumulate faster than I get stuff put away.  Dealing with that properly seems to take more time than anything!  I need to be more disciplined about that.  For other things I have routines.  Those are changing a bit right now too.  For example I do laundry on one day, grocery shopping on another, the floors are a different day.  I usually do the dishwasher in the afternoon while my kids have quiet time.

I usually get the urge to do a deep cleaning in the spring and then a lesser one in the late fall.  Some things just depend on the task.  It also depends on if I am having company!  Fortunately I have a husband who is always willing to help   

for general cleaning, i do the whole house at one time. by that i mean that every 4th day i vacuum, and every 8th day i steam clean the floors (after vacuuming). laundry usually gets done every 8th day, though if i have a full load in the washing machine before that i'll go ahead and get that load washed/dried/folded/put away. bedding gets changed and washed about once a month, or as needed -- since it's just me and the cats, the bedding doesn't need washing more often. i clean the bathroom as needed. anything i come across that needs tidying, reorganizing, or cleaning gets done on those cleaning days. i find it much easier to keep the house clean as opposed to making it clean if it hasn't been kept up.

on a daily basis, i wash the dishes once each day -- it's just me and the two cats, so we really don't make many dirty dishes each day. if i cook or bake (i almost always cook or bake in the morning), i'll get the dishes from that washed right away. i tidy the floor areas around the litter boxes and scoop the litter boxes. and i run out the trash and recycling. i spot clean or tidy as needed each day.

i usually have a cleaning project for over the winter each year. this year i'm reorganizing the downstairs bedroom (which i had been using for a pantry/storage room) so that i can move my bed there next spring and use that bedroom during the warm/hot weather months -- it's much cooler during the spring and summer months in that downstairs bedroom because it gets the least amount of direct sunlight on that side of the house each day. last year i cleaned/scrubbed all the baseboards over the winter.

clutter or such gets dealt with as it accumulates. i try to keep clutter firmly under control, though it seems like an "uphill battle" sometimes. in my home, there's generally a place for everything and everything is in it's place. i find this makes it easy for me to locate anything i need quickly.

i'm very much into routines, including cleaning routines, because i can then just do the things that need doing and not have to think about them as much. i plan my days so that i have one (very) busy day of cleaning/cooking, baking/other indoors and outdoors things that need doing followed by three "quiet" days where i will do cooking and baking sometimes but try to recuperate from the "busy" days.

I remember that I started cleaning when my indoor cat family grew, I still clean daily and barely can keep up with them making a mess.

Fur everywhere, only one of mine has normal coat, all others have more, two being actual long hairs, so they manage to shed a lot of fur.

Next week is cold, last night we got some 10cm more snow, cats were enjoying of it and running to hide when I came towards them with that large snow shovel thing, very scary big thing that moves snow, then after I had passed their hiding place they all were nose down on ground examining quality of my work I guess

It is not enough to clean a house, I need to clean yard from snow and driveway too, but I cheat a bit and clean only paths to snow, cats love that as they can play hide and seek, actually I shovel few additional paths just for them, so they can run around and play picking several different routes.

Indoor cleaning is bit more of work as I can't use vacuum cleaner, especially one of them constantly keeps attacking it, so I have to use more ancient methods for cleaning. Sure they do attack a broom too, but are not scared of it.

Norachan said:

 
I stick to the end of year tradition, because it means I can rope Mr Husband in to help me by saying,

"Well, it's your culture dear. Now grab that mop!"

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I like your thinking, Norachan!   

When I'm doing a full house-cleaning, I will clean the house. It usually takes me all day, unless I decide to wash walls, in which case, it's two days on nonstop cleaning. But I only do that twice a year. I am a big believer in a good spring and a good fall house-cleaning, including the windows, the walls, and everything I can reach (which is pretty much everything in the house other than the foyer). I get the stepladder for the ceilings.

My large cleaning projects are usually managed when Rick is not home, so I have one in February and then another one sometime in September. My next project will be cleaning out the Christmas totes. I did mention to Dear Richard that we should clean them out this year as we put things away after the New Year, but I can already tell that that went over very well (NOT!), so I'm thinking to do that while he's gone in February. And that will be a multi-day task as we have a lot of old Christmas stuff (lights that don't work, wooden items that could use re-painting, things like that). This spring, I would also like to take down all the drapes in the house and get them to the cleaners as it's been two years since that was done.

I vacuum several times a week (mostly in the living room and kitchen and back the hallway), dust once a week, and clean the bathroom and the kitchen once a week. I remove kitty schnuffle from windows once a week.

Dishwasher is run once a day, usually at night right before Rick comes to bed. He cleans it out every morning while the cats are having breakfast.

I do the whole apartment in one day, but I leave my boyfriend's area alone since he doesn't like me getting in the way or messing with his stuff (so it's not actually the whole apartment). I just really want to dust that corner!

At home, my mom would clean the whole house top to bottom in one day once a week, usually on Sundays.

I don't usually do the whole house in a day. I split it up into upstairs/downstairs. I usually let the upstairs go for far too long because no one ever sees it. :lol3:

I hardly clean.

Let me explain!

Actually, my BF does it.  For years, he's had the time due to being out of work, or now, in school.  I leave the house at 7am and don't get home until well after 7pm most week day nights.  When he was out of work, he would do a little daily to keep it tidy.  When he did the "big clean", he'd devote an entire day to it.  Maybe, two if he pooped out lol.  

We both share responsibility for doing dishes, but he's fantastic in the amount he takes care of. Laundry too. He actually stops me if he sees me trying to do something.  The one thing I tend to do more than him is the toilets.  I have a lower tolerance for those being unclean and am always worried about someone stopping by unexpectedly. I don't care if the house is messy, but the bathrooms should be clean.  I also tend to do the daily kitchen maintenance, since I'm the one who cooks and makes the mess in there.

He finished this semester yesterday and has plans to start doing the entire house on Monday. I, for my part, have promised to straighten up my personal effects to make it easier for him to organize.  The house has been severely neglected for a while now since he was in the midst of finals.  It needs major scrubbing. I've been thinking about hiring a cleaning crew - but it will cost like $400.  I just can't.  He joked I should give him $200 haha. 

I usually clean what ever needs it as needed, so I stay on top of things, & it doesn't get too overwhelming, but all depends.  Sense I started my own cleaning business last year, I'm cleaning other peoples houses everyday, so I usually break mine up. A lot of times, I will do most of it on a Thursday, afternoon, after I get home. This way I knock it out, & don't have to do it on the weekend, & can relax, get out & about, or whatever.

I started keeping some Clorox wipes, an eraser sponge, & a microfiber cloth (& of course toilet bowl cleaner) in the bathroom, so I can clean up as I go so to speak. So the bathroom gets cleaned on a regular basis. I will usually swiffer dust (about 1-2xs/wk) around before I vacuum, so that is quick. I also swiffer wet mop the kitchen floor at least twice a week, (& the bathroom too) sense the litter box is in a kitchen corner.

I use the steam mop about once a month. It's just Angel & I, plus, I have a shoes off at the door policy, so it doesn't get too bad, but now that I have a new white rug & floors, I usually vacuum every 2-3 days, just to get any little bit of litter pieces that have made it into the living room.  ....& hair, mine & his! LOL! 

It's not very cold here (9C) but very windy and wet, so it brings the wind chill down. 

We clean every Sunday, we've split the work so it all gets done. If someone isn't here on a Sunday, the rest of us take over that person's chores. The exception is dusting, my husband dusts every week but when he's traveling it just doesn't happen.

The refrigerator and oven are cleaned on an as-needed basis, as in "the juice carton just tipped over in the fridge" or "I wish I hadn't made oven-fried chicken last night."

JTbo said:

Next week is cold, last night we got some 10cm more snow, cats were enjoying of it and running to hide when I came towards them with that large snow shovel thing, very scary big thing that moves snow, then after I had passed their hiding place they all were nose down on ground examining quality of my work I guess

It is not enough to clean a house, I need to clean yard from snow and driveway too, but I cheat a bit and clean only paths to snow, cats love that as they can play hide and seek, actually I shovel few additional paths just for them, so they can run around and play picking several different routes.

 

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I have to dig my way out of the house most mornings in January and February. It's hard work, but it sure warms you up. I usually have great snow shovelling muscles by spring.

My cats love running through those snow tunnels too. I've got some photos from last year of an all-white landscape with just their little heads showing above the snow.

@Angels mommy  as you're a cleaning expert you might now the answer to this. How can I get  cat food stains out of a wooden floor? We have a waxed wooden floor that got some wet food spilt on it and it's left an greasy looking stain. Lemon juice and vinegar haven't worked. Do you think I should sand the floor down again and re-wax it?

I bow.my head in sham.
I have e weekly cleaner.

Norachan said:

 
@Angels mommy  as you're a cleaning expert you might now the answer to this. How can I get  cat food stains out of a wooden floor? We have a waxed wooden floor that got some wet food spilt on it and it's left an greasy looking stain. Lemon juice and vinegar haven't worked. Do you think I should sand the floor down again and re-wax it?

Click to expand...

 hmmmm, not sure about that one. I haven't come across that before. I'm surprised that it would do that with the wax on there.  How about trying one of the cleaners specifically for wood floors. Boniva? I think?

I just use the wet swiffer mop pads on clients floors, (feel like it's cleaner than using dirty mop water), & two of my clients have a steam mop, so I use that there. 

Also, another great product (it's not natural though ;-/ )  is the Awesome spray from the Dollar store.  It has to be diluted, & has how much to dilute for different things on the bottle, but works great!!

Good luck, & let me know what works! 

Also, if your kitty isn't prone to chin acne, you could get a place mat for under the dish. A couple of years ago, I had to get rid of Angel's, he was still getting some  after changing the bowls to ceramic. (occasional),

& LDG suggested to take up the place mat, & that did it! 

I clean up as needed. I don't have a routine, but everything gets done at least once a week.

Angels mommy said:

 

 hmmmm, not sure about that one. I haven't come across that before. I'm surprised that it would do that with the wax on there.  How about trying one of the cleaners specifically for wood floors. Boniva? I think?

I just use the wet swiffer mop pads on clients floors, (feel like it's cleaner than using dirty mop water), & two of my clients have a steam mop, so I use that there. 

Also, another great product (it's not natural though ;-/ )  is the Awesome spray from the Dollar store.  It has to be diluted, & has how much to dilute for different things on the bottle, but works great!!

Good luck, & let me know what works! 

Also, if your kitty isn't prone to chin acne, you could get a place mat for under the dish. A couple of years ago, I had to get rid of Angel's, he was still getting some  after changing the bowls to ceramic. (occasional),

& LDG suggested to take up the place mat, & that did it! 

Click to expand...

I think that as it was a new floor with only one coat of wax the oil from the fish managed to get through to the wood underneath. Maybe once it's had a few more coats of wax it won't happen.

I'll try and get some proper wood cleaner. Think I'll have to add scrub-and-re-wax-floor to my end of year to-do list.

I've got a place mat under her dish, but that doesn't stop Mia. She grabs a mouth full of food, turns around, drops it on the floor beside her then takes delicate little nibbles from there. So ladylike.

Stewball said:

I bow.my head in sham.
I have e weekly cleaner.

Click to expand...

I like your style.

Norachan said:

 
I think that as it was a new floor with only one coat of wax the oil from the fish managed to get through to the wood underneath. Maybe once it's had a few more coats of wax it won't happen.

I'll try and get some proper wood cleaner. Think I'll have to add scrub-and-re-wax-floor to my end of year to-do list.

I've got a place mat under her dish, but that doesn't stop Mia. She grabs a mouth full of food, turns around, drops it on the floor beside her then takes delicate little nibbles from there. So ladylike.

Click to expand...

  lol!   Angel does that with his treats, but not his food, thank goodness!      Let me know what works when you do the floor!