Cleaning Focus - October 2014

[BookSaver]

Flying through to set up the October thread -- might be the normal MO as we zoom toward major holidays!

Indiana's schedule for Focus Cleaning:
9/29/2014 laundry
10/6/2014 storage
10/13/2014 outdoor
10/20/2014 kitchen
10/27/2014 living room

Is there an alternate schedule that makes more sense for your part of the country when the seasons are changing?

[Harriet]

Our laundry area got a lot of cleaning and general spiffing this time around.

Storage time has been spent in floor cabinets that included the front bathroom's cabinets. Again, I have gratitude that dstepson keeps our storage barn so neat and clean and takes that spot "off my plate". HRH went through the area under our staircase.

At my parents' house I am appreciating a new product - the "Citrus Magic" brand of odor absorbers for some mustiness there.

The Seventh Generation spray cleaner continues to win me over - I guess everything doesn't have to smell great. HRH spilled some grease in the kitchen and it got it up pronto, so it definitely has some degreaser qualities.

[Harriet]

Mostly staying in order as we head toward kitchen.

Got a little out of order today but had noticed a need. Pumice stone for toilets has gotten them back up to better standards. Also decluttered the cleaning tote and discovered rust-rings inside on the bottom. Happily that wipes right off the rubberized plastic.

Inspiring to watch Kim and Aggie lately. Keep thinking I'll never find another one I haven't seen but found one again today. Paying close attention to the mouse chat, since I now approach my first winter in 15 years without a guard dog patrolling.

Found one of the boys' boat toys for bathtub and have hand-washed it.

[BookSaver]

Harriet, you're doing a good job staying on track with the focus areas. I have been neglecting the deep cleaning somewhat while I work on my declutter goal.

Except for this weekend, when I did a lot of cleaning at the 4-day sewing camp. Can I count that?

If we don't clean up after ourselves at the lodge, the camp owners charge an additional $200.

There were 11 of us at the sewing camp. The sleeping accommodations are dorm style, with 2-4 beds per room and then a shared bathroom with 4 toilet stalls and 4 shower stalls on the sleeping floor, a separate handicapped-accessible bathroom with 1 shower, and on the main floor a public restroom with 3 toilet stalls. (We did not use any of the men's restrooms this time.) There is a large kitchen, dining room, and an open meeting room where we set up the sewing tables.

Everyone vacuumed their own sleeping rooms, and 3 people took care of vacuuming the halls and the big room where we were sewing. I hope someone vacuumed the dining room, but I didn't see anyone do it. A couple of us emptied all the trash cans.

I offered to start the job I most dislike, cleaning the bathrooms. I assumed someone else would come to help, but that didn't happen, so I swished all the toilets, wiped down all the showers, and scrubbed all the hand sinks and counters. Another person then came along with her Swiffer mop and wiped the floors.

The other person had also damp mopped the kitchen floor. Unfortunately, no one thought to scrub the 3 double sinks in the kitchen, nor did anyone clean the shelves in either refrigerator/freezer, or empty the coffee pot. I did the best I could in a rush.

How could no one else see that the sinks were dirty? This leads me to think that maybe my own housekeeping skills are not as poor as I've been thinking they are.

I asked several times if we could have a cleaning checklist for the lodge this year, but no one else thought it would be necessary. If I go to this event next year, I will insist that we either have a checklist and share the jobs, or charge everyone enough extra money to be able to pay the $200 cleaning fee.