Parenting Seminars

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Bathroom Cleaning Tip


I cringe at the word "organized". It doesn't feel like me. I don't have my life written down in half hour increments and all my mail opened and filed. Instead, I usually make things happen as I think of them or am suddenly reminded by the consequences of neglect. I don't like functioning this way all the time but it is my way right now.

However, I am realizing that I have processes that serve me quite well and act like organization without a lot of daily labor. Now THAT is what I need!

One big change we've made in the past few years is to change from multitudes of cleaning products to mainly vinegar, baking soda and water. I have found that these ingredients take care of almost ANY household cleaning job. I recently picked up a book that added lemon juice to this combo and I'm excited to try some of the other recipes.

I purchased a few spray bottles and gallon jugs of white vinegar which is extremely cheap. Especially in comparison to all the other specialized and toxic cleaning products. And did you know that there is scientific evidence showing that bleach actually doesn't clean germs any better than vinegar?

So last night while my daughters were in the bath, I pulled out my spray bottle and a rag that gets washed and folded and placed back in the bathroom. I sprayed down the sink and toilet and had those two items cleaned in less than five minutes while I was still chatting with the girls.

Later in the week, I'll sprinkle some baking soda from its container in the bathroom cabinet into the tub, scrub the tub and rinse. Also, only a few minutes. Another day, I might spray the floor and wipe it down. Another day the garbage gets emptied.

I used to dread cleaning the bathroom. And when I mean dread, I mean that it would go uncleaned for weeks. Yeah...really gross. But then I would get so angry and irritated that no one else had done it, I'd finally make a big ordeal to do the entire bathroom at once.

Not only was my attitude in the wrong place, but I was making the project so big of course I didn't want to do it again for a long time. Now, I do small pieces at a time when I have a moment and the bathroom gets cleaned. Some parts happen more regularly than others and as needed but I'm not daunted. I feel like there is one household task I'm on top of without a bunch of unnecessary worry, resentment, blame, irritation and energy.

So...grab a spray bottle, a rag and a container of baking soda and write "bathroom" on them. Find a place for them and you have your process.

2 comments:

Dan and Gail said...

You are so like your mother. :)

Eddy Wisseman said...

Yeah, that's a very good way to get some cleaning done. Cleaning the bathroom can be pretty tough, so it's best to have some kind of plan ready. Check out if you have all the things you need for a cleaning, and all that sort of thing. That way, cleaning would be done in a breeze!