My new routine since not going to the office on Fridays is to clean my house in the morning with the ambition to have it done before ten. I run about like a tornado, make beds, declutter, wet wipe all surfaces, vacuum upholstery and floors etc etc. I also clean the bathrooms. As I was doing them this morning I came to think about my favorite cleaning methods besides from the regular use of the toilet brush, cleaning of all surfaces and so on.
What you see above is a cloth I made about 15 years ago, or rather I made a whole bunch of them. I used old worn sheets, used up all the rolls of thread that had very little on them and simply zig zagged the edges so almost every cloth has it's own color thread and a couple have two where I ran out in the middle of making one. I use these for cleaning glass surfaces since they are lint free after so many years of use. They are all different sizes, I just ripped the sheets without measuring and I love them. Actually I think I'll make some more!
Another fave is using an old tooth brush for those hard to reach spots. You wouldn't believe the amount of gunk that's hidden in that very spot above.
Speaking of brushes, here's another, a dish washing one which I use to clean the shower drain with. If you haven't cleaned yours in a while you're in for treat when you remove that cover…
What is she doing you might ask. What you see is one of my best ever travel souvenirs. I found it in a Japanese home store in Hong Kong a few years ago. It's a slightly abrasive eraser with which you can remove lime scale. You use it like you would a normal pencil eraser but on your bathroom surfaces. It rubs away the lime scale perfectly and doesn't seem to damage or scratch the surface.
There's a glass shelf in the downstairs bathroom which sits very close to the shower and it inevitably gets wet and because its a horisontal surface lime scale builds up. This does not come off just by wiping so while cleaning this morning I took the opportunity to show you a before and after using the eraser. It comes off like magic, and like I said, as far as I can see, no scratching. I don't do this every week mind you, only once in a while like when it looks like in the before photo. In between I wipe as well as I can.
EDIT: Do any of you know where these erasers can be found on-line? Please let us all know in the comments.
EDIT#2. Thank you for all your suggestions! I think we found it or a very similar one + a few more for other types of stains. I've added them to my Amazon Store. The grey one seems to be the equivalent of my japanese eraser. Thank you Suzanne!!!
Another thing I love to use while cleaning is old towels, ecpecially scratchy ones, since they are a little bit abrasive and pick up dirt better than a smooth rag. Behind faucets and pipes I use a see-sawing action, you know the same as when you're drying your back after taking a shower, pulling the ends of the towel back and forth. Works like a charm.
Oh, and for those shower walls and the bathroom floor I use this. When I first got it it was such a revelation and a relief not to have to scrub so much, the long handle gives you the force you need to quickly and simply clean your large bathroom surfaces. I should get paid for that testimonial.
Do you have any fave cleaning tips you care to share?
Yay, it's Friday! Have a nice weekend!!!
37 Comments
The the weather warming up, I want to open all my windows and clean! I love your blog!
P.S. Vinegar and Baking Soda are my cleaning favorites! Cheap and nontoxic.
Makes me think of my bathroom cleaning chores waiting for me when I return from work this afternoon. Sigh. Funny, how I seem to be looking foward to it now.
That lime eraser is marvellous. Do you think it is available in Germany as well?
Using “left-overs” of various colours of thread is a really neat idea! We are lucky to have a woman coming twice a month to do the cleaning and she always leave the house nice and shiny.
Thank you Benita,
Love that Lime Eraser. Do you know where can buy one, maybe a web site?
I recently purchased a steam cleaner and we love it! It has reduced the need for so many cleaning products. For years I have used a Jurlique product called “Sparkle”.
I mix it with essential oils and H2O and use it to clean most anything.
Thanks for your whirlwind cleaning routine, Betina! Wonderful. Now I just have to get my hands on that lime eraser! Also I too have a sentimental attachment to Vileda products. 😉
Thanks, Benita.
My big thing for cleaning is microfiber cloths. I think they work better than anything else. I use them damp for dusting, wet for cleaning. But for a long time I only had a small supply, & used a stack of regular washcloths when they ran out. (I use several cloths each time I clean a bathroom, for instance–one for soap, one for rinsing, a separate one for the toilet, etc, so I need a lot of them.) It seemed so expensive to buy dozens more.
Then one day I noticed that at my local Target store the microfiber cloths in the automotive section were really cheap–waaaaaaaay cheaper than in the cleaning section. So now I have my stash & I can use them all the time. Woo hoo!
I love baking soda. It scrubs so many things without scratching. I keep a re-purposed plastic container (that had Sugar in the Raw in it) under the kitchen sink. I use it to clean my glass stove top, although there is a new scrubber on the market for that, which works great for spill-overs.
I scrub the kitchen sinks with baking soda, and that rubber flap on the garbage disposal side. I think that’s where the original Swamp Think must have come from.
Now if I could just get my hands on that Japanese scrubber thingy …
I’m sorry, I’ve tried googling the eraser and I can’t think of what it was called (even in english) and I don’t have the package it came in anymore. I’ll let you all know if I can find a source. I’ll start by posting an edit in the post and ask anyone who might know!
Is this it? It seems to be a similar product at least!
http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/P~132951~JML+Magic+Eraser+V1359
This is another similar “eraser”.
http://www.jmldirect.com/product.asp?pf_id=D0516&changecurrency=EUR
One more recommendation! This product has great reviews for removing limescale easily.
http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/products/eraser.shtml
I want one of those erasers and one of the shower thingies, too!
My favorite cleaning tools are microfiber cloths and a spray bottle with diluted vinegar. Vinegar works really well on lime deposits, too.
Great tips! Do you think that one day you could post a step by step of how exactly you clean? in what order, etc– I would love to be more efficient and be able to get my cleaning done by 10 AM– I need someone to walk me thru what they do since I never really learned properly. Thanks for a great blog!
Thanks for the links, it’s actually neither of those which are more like soft sponges.
They are great too though but I haven’t tried them on lime scale yet. Might just do the trick too.
The eraser I have is quite like a harder verion of a regular pencil eraser.
Oh, and about the Magic sponges, be careful when using them on varnished surfaces or lacquered finishes as it dulls them. If the surface gets dull you can “refinish” it somewhat with furniture polish but it won’t be the same as before. I know, I’ve tried…
Christina, I’ll make a note of that!
Thanks Benita for the great tips. I must say, you’re a terrific cleaner (and I say that because you use a lot of the same tricks my Mom did, and she was super-particular 🙂 The toothbrush, the old rags, and ‘see-sawing’ the towel behind and under the faucets and handles all work best. I’ve never seen the abrasive erasers, but (as a previous poster said), baking soda works pretty well. Use alone for full abrasiveness, or with vinegar for foaming action (great for drains). Love all your posts – such wonderful ideas and advice!
I struggle with getting a orangeish color off the shower and bath, I have Norwex Microfiber cloths but the time and energy on a white surface is frustrating. I read that you can use dryer sheets, and amazing they do work!
Hi Benita,
I would love to have the drive you do to clean every week!
I’ve had a great time looking through your archives and I was wondering if you could show how you did those canvas photos of Willie in your bedroom? Or did you get a professional to do it?
Cheers.
What great tips for cleaning the bathroom and especially for cleaning your glass shelves. I’d never even thought of using erasers to clean them, but it’s a great idea. I’m going to check out the sites a couple of people posted above. ~Cheryl
Hello Benita,
It’s my first time posting, but I have been reading for a while. My sister and I absolutely love your blog and you also clean like we do. The only difference I see is that our family tradition is to ‘wash’ bathrooms and kitchens like mad firefighters! In Brazil (I’m in US now), most of bathrooms and kitchens have tiles on the floors, walls up to the ceilings and also drains on the floor (I couldn’t see if you have drains on the floors). We scrub everything with soap and water and rinse with either the hand shower or a bucket! But I have an addiction, specially in the bathroom: I have to have bleach!!! I don’t feel it’s clean unless it’s desinfected and “washed”, not wiped. I have been trying other stuff and trying to use less bleach now. But for a long time my bathroom used to smell like an indoor pool after the cleaning. lol
I told my american husband that when we build our house we must have drains on the floor. Of course, he doesn’t understand why. It’s even hard to find large squidgies around here.
But I have to admit there’s one thing I absolutely love here that we don’t find easy in Brasil: these shower stalls combos ( http://www.emcoguelph.com/k1687.jpg ) with absolutely no grout or corners. So easy to clean! I don’t think I will ever have tile in the shower again, unless we win the lottery and have someone cleaning for us.
So, I guess I got a trade from the drains to the shower stalls… Can’t complain! Actually I feel sorry people fall for the fashion-tile-trend around here. Everyone is all about tiles now. I hate grout joints!
Your blog is great and I look forward to reading everyday when I come back from work.
I too would love one of those Lime Erasers. I just found your blog and love it. Lynn 🙂
Benita! I am sorry for misspelling your name when I posted before. Those readers who live in Australia might remember Betina from ‘Play School’. Whenever I go to type your name, I really get confused!! 😀 Actually just as I am typing this now, maybe Betina from Play School is really Benita too. Argh. I am in my thirties, so it was a long time ago that I watched this!
Hi Betina,
I use a similar method to clean our tiny bathroom (it’s more a showerroom). I have to get the Vileda thing though! I will try to find it next week.
Skye, it’s perfectly ok 🙂 I’ve been called Betina along with Belinda more times than I can remember. One of my friends when I was a little girl was called Bettina so we must really have confused everyone…
Jadekitty, I’ll have to try the dryersheet method!
Erin, there’s a mini tutorial in one of my original posts. You can read it here http://chezlarsson.com/myblog/2008/05/mounted-photo-h.html
Thanks Benita!
Hi Benita, is that lime eraser a pumice stone because it looks like and on line I found a lady talking about cleaning tips and she says she use pumice stone to take off lime scale. Guess what I’ve been doing this morning? Of couse I cleaned my bathroom!!!
Marigio xxx
Hi Benita,
Could these be a version of it?
http://www.eraseit.com/eraseit.com/frame/kitchenbathcenter.htm
It’s hard to tell what they are made of, but they look like erasers. They are also on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/StainEraser-Inc-11001-The/dp/B0015PHBHO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1237072454&sr=1-3
I love the little cloths, thanks for sharing!
Hi Fellow Comment Readers.
Vinegar and Soda Bicarb are great for cleaning, but vinegar is apparently not good for the grout in between the tiles. Use Bicarb with water or neat in tiled areas.
Lovely blog – wish I was as organised, and clean.
Suzanne, I think that’s a similar one! Yay! Thank you so much!
For those of you who are looking for the eraser I’ve added it and the other ones for other types of stains to my Amazon Store http://astore.amazon.com/chezlars-20?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=26
The gray one is the one most like mine but I can’t guarantee that it’s the exact same thing. It sure looks like it though and it claims to do what mine does.
Ive just written a blog about cleaning! I love to use vinegar and bicarb of soda … for everything! You cant go wrong!!!
Aqeela xx
Love your blog. It inspires me to clean my own place.
A bit of topic – do you have a neat way to store gift wrapping tissue paper? I don’t like to stand it in my wrapping paper holder as the ends get all crumpled up. I currently have all of it in a large plastic bag to keep it clean that lays on top of the storage box holding all the gift giving bags and bows.
I can’t seem to find anything that it will fit in and lie flat.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Karen
“in the morning with the ambition to have it done before ten. ”
Wow!
When I am free, a sleep till ten…or longer…
For glass I descovered recently this:
http://images.tchibo.de/eCS/Store/de/images/kw05/kw05_0358_detail.jpg
and it saves so much time and polish after the cleaning. We have one hanging in the shower and in a second, after showering, glass surfaces are dry and clean…
I love your cleaning cloth 🙂
“Another fave is using an old tooth brush for those hard to reach spots.”
I do his too, recently use my electric one, the old one indeed…
“If you haven’t cleaned yours in a while you’re in for treat when you remove that cover…”
I like to use in my bath tube and sink those things…
http://www.world-of-heating.de/images/product_images/thumbnail_images/1513_0.jpg
and clean the drain on bad nature unfriendly chemical way. But it does eat every dirt…
For lime I use something nature friendly, so calles super stone (cleaning and protecting at the same time) bio magic stone, one package lasts for 1-2 yeras, it cost only couple of euros
http://imagesb.ciao.com/ide/images/products/normal/471/product-1133471.jpg, nad for the sink, the water simply drips off afterwards…
Thank you for amazon-info! 🙂
Since you are painting expert, is there any special advice you could give for getting very colourfull (orange) walls into white ?
Thank you 🙂
http://www.naturhaus-kaiser.de/images/S-1116.jpg
jja, thank for the tips ad links!
Karen I have a built in compartment in my craft corner where I store my rolls but I found some great storage on Amazon and have added them to my store so you can see them. They are on the last couple of pages http://astore.amazon.com/chezlars-20?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=17 I’m sure something similar would be available where you are too, now that you know what to ask for should you like any of them.
Hi Benita!
It is the first time I comment in your blog! I would like to ask you if in your packing strap baskets that are in the bathroom mold appears? If so how do you clean them? Because I’m thinking of using them in my bathroom.
Thank you.
PS: I’m from Portugal.Love your blog, lots of bright ideas.
Té, I’ve only used mine in the small upstairs bathroom where there is no shower or bath so it never gets damp in there. Since they are plastic straps I think you could wipe them clean. There is a metal rim on mine at the top and I’m not sure if that could perhaps get rusty in a very wet environment.
I do understand that cleaning the bathroom can be quite a daunting task at times. However I always make sure to wear gloves before starting off.