Fall Cleaning

Despite what you are about to see, we don't actually live in squaller.  I have never claimed to be the best house cleaner.  It's hard when both Jeremy and I work, we have a kid and we have the farm.  So we have to prioritize.  The kitchen counters and sink are the highest on my list - if I'm cooking on it, it had been be clean!  Bathrooms are second - when you leave the bathroom you want to feel cleaner not dirtier.  Although, mine and Jeremy's bathroom is lower on the list then the guest bathroom (must keep up appearances ;-)

Way, way down on the list, below dust on top of the kitchen cabinets and oil the windowsill wood, is clean the grout between the tile in the kitchen and dinning room.

Since I'm doing a staycation this year, I created a long list of all the things I have wanted to do for a long time but can't get around to it:
1) deep clean my bathroom
2) organize the desk and file cabinets
3) weed flower beds
4) detail inside of car
5) scrub the grout

Yesterday I took on the grout.  It took three hours - two rooms took three hours!  That is crazy!

First I cleaned the floors have I normally do with just a mop and regular tile cleaner.  Lots of dirt came up since it had been a few weeks since I mopped.  Next I mixed up a 10% bleach solution in my bucket with about 1 cup of baking soda.  Then I got down on my hands and knees with a scrubber and got to work.

It became clear within about 15 minutes that I'd have to take on about 5 x 6 ft sections at a time because so much dirt was coming up.  So I scrubbed and then mopped up a section.  Dumped the now-brown-water and mixed up a new solution.  Moved to the next section.  A couple of hours and some very sore arms, legs and back later I had completed the whole dining room and kitchen.  Lastly I rinsed with a mop and plain water (I had to dump and refill the bucket three more times).

Here are some before and after pictures.  Amazing how much dirt was in the grout (it had been about two years since it was last cleaned).  Gross that we had been living with that and not even noticing.

Before

After

 Before (yuck!)

After

When Jeremy got home he asked if we were going to have dinner on the floor.  I said we could lick the floor, it's that clean.  (We did neither.)  But I can't stop admiring how clean and shiny the floors look.