I loathe housework!!!! It is never finished - even when you think it is all done, you know there is SOMETHING you missed.
I recall in my mother's day that housework was a daily chore and seemed to go on for hours. She'd get us breakfast, clean up after, then have specific duties to do each day. My mother never had a job, but managed quite a lot of community work with the church, and Girl Guides. As well, she went to classes - floral art, cake decorating, art etc and entered in the myriad of local competitions at the time.
I have found her collection of certificates. I remember I entered some floral art competitions after some informal lessons with my mother and I too have some certificates in my archives.
But, back to housework. I do have a little envy of those women who have (a) a cleaning lady or (b) a love of housework (though secretly I think the latter are a bit strange!)
In my house sitting I have found that despite the home owner telling me that they they like to keep the house spotless, I enjoyed finding spots that had been neglected for some time. Even the homes I've stayed at where there is a cleaning lady, I've been able to find areas which apparently no one dusts or cleans.
My new house is NEW. No one had lived here before me. It is 'white house'. White walls, cupboards thoughout the house are white as are all wooden doors. I do like it - clean, white and bright!!! The three bedrooms have a grey carpet, and the rest of the house is tiled with large grey tiles with white grout between. Eek.
The issue with tiles is that so often the grout (which is usually white when fresh and new) can become filled with dust from day to day living, and often turns a dirty colour and resists attempts to clean it. I put my thinking cap on and thought I'd try a steam mop. I had one previously, but only a small useless part of the original one remained in my possession, so I checked out others on the market.
Some are quite costly and with my meagre budget I was looking for something low cost and efficient if I could. And so it was that I came across one at K-Mart, one called strangely a "Piranha" and it was less than $50!!! So I added it to my list and time went by I added it to a very full shopping trolley. It came in a big box with two towelling covers. White? Oh, well.
Steam mops vary in price, and I figured I getting one at the bottom of the rung so to speak - and maybe it would not be as good as the expensive ones. "You get what you pay for...." I didn't check the reviews on it until after I bought it - probably not a wise move, but if I had, perhaps I would not have bought one. Some are not good.
However, much of the reviews I have seen are of a product that differs from mine - mine has a triangular head and gets into every nook and cranny, and today I gave it a big tick of approval.
I found something spilled and dried on my kitchen floor - and it had dried into the grout!!! I swung into action with my Piranha, and without much trouble the area returned to its pristine white!!!! Yay!!!
The bad reviews on the product are of a different product to mine - mine is the Piranha 1500W Cleaner, and I couldn't be happier.
I vacuum my carpets - takes almost no time, and vacuum the tiles to remove any dust/dirt/debris particles and then run over the latter with the steam mop - the white cover comes up quite dirty but there were two in the box and I know I can purchase extra ones at K-Mart. I throw them in the wash frequently.
I think much of my housework is easy-peasy - but mostly there is only me to clean up after!!!
I recall in my mother's day that housework was a daily chore and seemed to go on for hours. She'd get us breakfast, clean up after, then have specific duties to do each day. My mother never had a job, but managed quite a lot of community work with the church, and Girl Guides. As well, she went to classes - floral art, cake decorating, art etc and entered in the myriad of local competitions at the time.
I have found her collection of certificates. I remember I entered some floral art competitions after some informal lessons with my mother and I too have some certificates in my archives.
But, back to housework. I do have a little envy of those women who have (a) a cleaning lady or (b) a love of housework (though secretly I think the latter are a bit strange!)
In my house sitting I have found that despite the home owner telling me that they they like to keep the house spotless, I enjoyed finding spots that had been neglected for some time. Even the homes I've stayed at where there is a cleaning lady, I've been able to find areas which apparently no one dusts or cleans.
My new house is NEW. No one had lived here before me. It is 'white house'. White walls, cupboards thoughout the house are white as are all wooden doors. I do like it - clean, white and bright!!! The three bedrooms have a grey carpet, and the rest of the house is tiled with large grey tiles with white grout between. Eek.
The issue with tiles is that so often the grout (which is usually white when fresh and new) can become filled with dust from day to day living, and often turns a dirty colour and resists attempts to clean it. I put my thinking cap on and thought I'd try a steam mop. I had one previously, but only a small useless part of the original one remained in my possession, so I checked out others on the market.
Some are quite costly and with my meagre budget I was looking for something low cost and efficient if I could. And so it was that I came across one at K-Mart, one called strangely a "Piranha" and it was less than $50!!! So I added it to my list and time went by I added it to a very full shopping trolley. It came in a big box with two towelling covers. White? Oh, well.
Steam mops vary in price, and I figured I getting one at the bottom of the rung so to speak - and maybe it would not be as good as the expensive ones. "You get what you pay for...." I didn't check the reviews on it until after I bought it - probably not a wise move, but if I had, perhaps I would not have bought one. Some are not good.
However, much of the reviews I have seen are of a product that differs from mine - mine has a triangular head and gets into every nook and cranny, and today I gave it a big tick of approval.
I found something spilled and dried on my kitchen floor - and it had dried into the grout!!! I swung into action with my Piranha, and without much trouble the area returned to its pristine white!!!! Yay!!!
The bad reviews on the product are of a different product to mine - mine is the Piranha 1500W Cleaner, and I couldn't be happier.
I vacuum my carpets - takes almost no time, and vacuum the tiles to remove any dust/dirt/debris particles and then run over the latter with the steam mop - the white cover comes up quite dirty but there were two in the box and I know I can purchase extra ones at K-Mart. I throw them in the wash frequently.
I think much of my housework is easy-peasy - but mostly there is only me to clean up after!!!
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