Cleaning

Home Organisation 101 – Linen Closet completed!

October 18, 2012Home and OrganisationCleaning, Decorating, Home, Home Organisation 101subversivereader One comment

I finally (after three weeks) finished one of the challenges! Announcing: The Linen Closet.

Our linen closet is a rather big, built in wardrobe in the hallway. I have cleaned it out fairly recently (just before Squirm was born), but only the actual linen parts. The closet also holds cleaning equipment, my sewing machine, candles and decorative stuff, board games and some of the cutlery and glasses we use more rarely. It also has our wedding album in there.

It’s hard to get a good photo in there because of space issues, but I did my bestest . . .

Before Photos

As you can see, it was mostly just untidy. Although the challenge called for pulling everything out all at once, that isn’t really practical with a 10 week old. So instead I tackled one shelve at a time.

I wiped each shelf down, then put the items back in neatly (I did get rid of a few things we no longer require too). Then I organised the cleaning items into a metal bucket and a covered container

Finally, I made some paper bunting to cheer the closet up a bit 🙂

After Photo

And, presenting the final product . . .

I had heaps of fun finishing this one up. I think it looks much better, and it’s easier to find things. Now to get back to finishing the master bedroom and the laundry!

The Best of Intentions: Blogging Edition

October 16, 2012Familyblogging, Cleaning, family, Motherhood, squirmsubversivereader View all 31 comments

So, I had this great blog post to write. Had it all planned out in my head. Woke up early-ish, ready to write it before Squirm woke up . . .

But look! I’ve won a competition (True! Check out these gorgeous tights that Squirm won) (Also, I won a Hug-a-bub ring sling last week. Everything’s coming up Subversive Reader!) So I need to celebrate. And share the celebration with Mr Pilot. Who’s awake and has time to chat before going to work . . .

And look! Squirm’s awake. And adorable. And Mr Pilot and I need to discuss the big piece of snot that we managed to liberate from Squirm’s left nostril this morning. (It was making it hard for him to breath 😦 ) And then we need to play with him. And then I need a shower.

And look! There’s nappies that need folding, since they’ve been sitting there for a day and a half now. (Still not finished) Squirm and I say good bye to Mr Pilot for the day. Then Squirm wants a feed. And another feed. And a change.

And look! There’s nappies to be washed. And a kitchen that needs cleaning. And I think I’ll just make another cup of tea . . . One of these days I’ll get to that blog post I want to write.

Don’t blog! Pay attention to me!

But wait – Squirm’s getting fractious again. Looks like that blog post will have to wait a while!

Linked up to IBOT for the first time!

There goes my cleaning product sponsorship . . .

October 10, 2012Home and OrganisationCleaning, Home, Motherhoodsubversivereader View all 11 comments

Before I was pregnant with Squirm, I started to get concerned with some of the cleaning products we were using. Since both Mr Pilot and I were busy working out of the house, deeper cleaning was often put off – either until school holidays when I was avoiding planning, or until it got too bad to ignore. So, out would come the stronger cleaning products – stronger must equal cleaner, right?

But I knew some of the things we were using weren’t the safest. When we needed to put on half a dozen types of protective gear (I’m exaggerating) just to clean the bathroom, and the smell of cleaning products lingered for days, surely this wasn’t great for our health. And what would it do to a little person we were hoping to bring into our life.

Now that Squirm is here (and now things have settled enough that I can even think about cleaning) I want to get things clean, but I also wanted to get out of the habit of using the strong cleaning products we’d used in the past. Team this with Pinterest, which seems to be full of people using natural cleaning products, and it would probably be no surprise that I finally bought Completely Spotless for my iPad.

(I don’t suggest buying it that way, if you have room for the paper version. It’s one of those books that would be much better to thumb through. Also, if you used Modern Cloth Nappies, don’t listen to their nappy washing advice – follow the instructions from the seller.)

Mr Pilot summed up the book as ‘anything can be cleaned with bicarb, vinegar and dishwashing liquid’ which is a pretty clear summary of the book’s contents. However, there is more to it, including how to get pretty much any stain out of anything!

So, I began putting it to the test in the kitchen. A few benches later and I was happy with the results, but still not 100% swayed. Then I attacked the sink.

Our sink was building up an unfortunate layer of colour from food stains and tea stains. I’d fussed over it and cleaned it with a basic spray, but it wasn’t lifting the grime. Then I sprinkled on the bicarb, sprayed some vinegar and scrubbed. And, before too long, it actually all came off.