Two Weeks of House Cleaning and Fixing - What to Do First?

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses strategies for house cleaning and fixing over a two-week holiday. Participants share their experiences, suggestions for cleaning methods, and considerations for prioritizing tasks both inside and outside the home. The conversation includes practical advice, personal anecdotes, and reflections on the challenges of maintaining cleanliness.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses uncertainty about whether to start cleaning inside or outside, noting the overwhelming amount of work needed.
  • Another participant suggests hiring professional cleaners to manage the workload, sharing their positive experience with this approach.
  • Some participants discuss the frequency of various cleaning tasks, such as carpet cleaning, curtain washing, and polishing wood, with differing opinions on how often these should be done.
  • There is mention of using microfiber cloths for effective dusting and a homemade cleaning solution for windows and surfaces.
  • A participant shares a unique method of using a leaf blower indoors to remove dust, which prompts humorous responses about the practicality and safety of such an approach.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the challenges of house cleaning and the potential benefits of hiring help, but there are multiple competing views on the best cleaning methods and schedules. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the optimal frequency for various cleaning tasks.

Contextual Notes

Participants express varying assumptions about the conditions of their homes and the effectiveness of different cleaning methods. Some suggestions depend on specific circumstances, such as the presence of pets or the type of flooring.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals looking for practical cleaning tips, those considering hiring professional cleaning services, and anyone interested in organizing home maintenance tasks may find this discussion beneficial.

  • #31
turbo-1 said:
Give the alcohol/water mix a try! When I was running an optical lab, it's the only cleaning solution we ever used. It is very effective, leaves no residue, and is gentle on optical coatings.

Add a couple drops of dish detergent to it, and you have a good, safe insecticide for your plants too.
 
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  • #32
wolram said:
I need to be Turboised on so many levels in the kitchen.
My mother and my grandmother would do little spot-cleaning stuff casually if they had time, but the FOOD came first! Cleaning could always come later. Neither one ever used a spoon-caddy to keep their stove-tops or counters cleaned, and both would keep a special bowl or dish with utensils around so that they could spoon a bit of the concoction into it with the big stirring/serving spoon and sample it and tune it up. Spices and herbs are notoriously inconsistent, and you have to monitor the flavors of your dishes while cooking to get them right. This doesn't mean that you should be dipping the same spoon into your chili/spaghetti sauce over and over again - even 50 years ago, those ladies knew how to keep a sanitary kitchen.
 
  • #33
Moonbear said:
Add a couple drops of dish detergent to it, and you have a good, safe insecticide for your plants too.

Can it fix blown head gaskets, my 200,000 mile old 106 has blown hers, if there is not a cheap fix it is a date with the crusher, she still runs ok bless her, she justs froths at the mouth.
 
  • #34
turbo-1 said:
My mother and my grandmother would do little spot-cleaning stuff casually if they had time, but the FOOD came first! Cleaning could always come later. Neither one ever used a spoon-caddy to keep their stove-tops or counters cleaned, and both would keep a special bowl or dish with utensils around so that they could spoon a bit of the concoction into it with the big stirring/serving spoon and sample it and tune it up. Spices and herbs are notoriously inconsistent, and you have to monitor the flavors of your dishes while cooking to get them right. This doesn't mean that you should be dipping the same spoon into your chili/spaghetti sauce over and over again - even 50 years ago, those ladies knew how to keep a sanitary kitchen.

I am learning, my meatless chili turned out amazingly good, i only had black beans, tomatoes, some salami ( i do not regard that as meat) and some potatoes, the taste was all in the seasoning, and i did not wash a thing until after i ate.
 
  • #35
Moonbear said:
Add a couple drops of dish detergent to it, and you have a good, safe insecticide for your plants too.
I use water and dish detergent to kill ants and Japanese beetles. I never use detergent in all-purpose cleansers, though. If something requires real grease-busting power, I might use water and a palm-oil based dish detergent like Seventh Generation, but even then, I will rinse with Isopropynol/water to remove residues that could support the growth of bad bugs. Our kitchen is very tiny and modest, but I treat it like my former (paper machine and optical) labs and value cleanliness.

It may sound antithetical, but when I pick green beans, I shuttle them up to the house in small batches, never wash them, and freeze them very quickly in very thin layers on trays in our chest freezers. When frozen, I transfer them into gallon zip-lock freezer bags. When we want beans, we open a bag, grab some beans, rinse them in cool water, snap the stems and cook them. They are 100x better than any commercially-frozen green beans, and they preserve much of the texture of the fresh beans when gently steamed. They are wonderful.

I wish I could open a PF restaurant and you could all teleport here for a meal or two. Having my own garden after years of suburbia is liberating! The price of food is skyrocketing and I'm pretty darned glad that I've got a nice garden spot. I *****ed about the costs of organic materials and organic fertilizers that I needed to whip this place into shape, but it's looking like a really great investment this year.
 
  • #36
wolram said:
Can it fix blown head gaskets, my 200,000 mile old 106 has blown hers, if there is not a cheap fix it is a date with the crusher, she still runs ok bless her, she justs froths at the mouth.
If it's not a cracked head or block, can you get a shade-tree mechanic to help you with the gasket problem? Maybe chili, beer, and some biscuits (US-style) will get you some help.
 
  • #37
I wish I could open a PF restaurant and you could all teleport here for a meal or two.

We would work you to the bone, and i would get fat, i like my own cooking but cooking for one is a pain, so it would be Tubos every night/morning, you could have Sunday off as i cook at moms then.
 
  • #38
My mom was an incredible cook and also very smart. She worked as a nutritionist for Dr Michael DeBakey on his research patients (prisoners). My desire to learn traditional culinary techniques came from her guidance. I can't begin to list what I learned from her about food preparation. But I don't experiment on people. :biggrin:

I can't believe Dr DeBakey is still alive at age 100. My mom said that when he would get into an elevator with people that he would turn around and face the back of the elevator. :bugeye: Ok, he was a genius, so I guess that's ok.
 
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  • #39
turbo-1 said:
If it's not a cracked head or block, can you get a shade-tree mechanic to help you with the gasket problem? Maybe chili, beer, and some biscuits (US-style) will get you some help.

I have had advice, this engine uses wet liners and with so many miles on the clock it is just not viable, poor thing has no real value now, i will just run her till i can find a replacement,
she only cost me £600, a 100,000 + miles ago so she has done well.
 
  • #40
wolram said:
We would work you to the bone, and i would get fat, i like my own cooking but cooking for one is a pain, so it would be Tubos every night/morning, you could have Sunday off as i cook at moms then.
You sound like my father. He lives alone and refuses to put in any effort to making enjoyable meals for himself. To be fair, he is now 82, but his mother was one of the finest cooks that I have ever known and could keep a 40-50 man river-driving crew (logs and pulp-wood) happy every day. Every day she would cook beef, pork, ham and turkey with a wide assortment of vegetables for the evening meal, along with breads and biscuits. She would also cook a 10" fruit pie for every man on the crew. Some of the left-over meats and some of the pie were offered at breakfast, along with omelets, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, waffles and pancakes every morning, and by the time those guys were ready to head out for their day's work, the left-over meats from the previous day had been made up into sandwiches and the left-over slices of fruit pies had been included as desserts/snacks. I was rail-skinny as a kid, but my grandmother could put 10# on me easy if she could hijack me for a couple of weeks. That woman was a wonder in the kitchen. To be fair to my mother, she was a far better cook on smaller scales than my father's mother - I learned a lot from both.
 
  • #41
Hey we are all talking about food now, it was supposed to be about house cleaning, heck we will be fish fighting next.
 
  • #42
Turbo smacks Woolie with a frozen swordfish and tasks MIH with an undercover mission to smack Woolie with puffer-fish and other highly poisonous sea rascals.:eek: