[New blogs posted every Sunday. For previous blogs please visit “blog archive” to the lower left of this screen. Click on the small black arrows for a drop down list.]
Take heart--I’m not launching into a blog about Shakespeare. (Though I know there are many who would like that.) Instead, I’m identifying with Howie Mandel and Lady Macbeth who are/were obsessed about washing their hands to remove germs/blood, respectively. They wash/washed them over and over. I understand their pain. I am trying to remove spots too but not blood (thankfully because it’s hard to remove, real or imaginary), just germs.
It’s harder than ever lately not because my house has fallen into a slag pile. No, it’s because I’m trying to clean with white vinegar and water--only. I am trying to use that method instead of buying and using chemicals. After my blog-posting diatribe of last week I needed a lighter blog for this week. Yet, though it’s not as serious as the gulf disaster (maybe), toxicity in our homes is a health problem.
Some house cleaning compounds have pleasing scents masking the chemical odors. I knew it couldn’t be good for me to inhale all those chemicals and it certainly couldn’t be good or pleasant for my dogs with their super sensitive snouts. Though vinegar is pungent (and I’m sure they don't like it) it’s not harmful for them to inhale or for me to work with. I gave up smoking 35 years ago to be kind to my lungs and now I’ve given up cleaning chemicals too. Better late than never.
There are pros and cons with the vinegar-cleaning regimen I’ve started. Pro, it’s cheap. You can buy a gallon of it for almost nothing. I mix the vinegar with water (1/4 water, 3/4 vinegar) and pour it in a spray bottle. It cleans everything. I won’t use it on wood but I have only one wood item in my home, my piano. I do have wood cabinets but the vinegar solution works well on them and I’m in the middle of painting my cabinets so washing them down with the vinegar prepares them well for sanding and painting. I just don't think I want to take a chance on my piano. I have a nice polish I’ve been using for years. All the remaining surfaces are glass and metal. I have a small home so wood overwhelmed the space and I have switched to light furnishings to prevent claustrophobia.
The vinegar combination works great on glass, metal, floors, walls, and mirrors with no streaking. It works great on my tile counter tops in the kitchen and my appliances. I bought this house brand new 15 years ago and at the time tile was the popular kitchen selection. It still looks great and though I’d love to modernize the kitchen it’s an expense that is not necessary so I won’t do that until it ceases to function. For now I keep it shiny clean with smelly vinegar.
I even have the original appliances that came with the house and they all work great. They probably won’t the minute I post this but so far so good. And they look nice. Everything in my kitchen is white because the home is so small. And partly everything works well because I don't use them much since I gave up cooking when the kids moved out. Now it’s all about salads and yogurt. Keeps the kitchen nice and clean along with a few squirts of vinegar water!
My subdivision was built on what must be a giant anthill. In fact, so many of us have constant visitations from our little six-legged guests that it’s how we’ve gotten to know each other over the years. Whenever one or more of us happened to meet at the mailboxes on the street the subject of ants came up. We all discovered that most pest control companies no longer come on an as-needed basis but instead coerce customers into a monthly plan. I do not want monthly poison sprayed around my house but thought maybe an occasional spray would be okay. It isn’t. I have my pets, and there are pets in the neighborhood and I don't want to poison them. Even occasionally.
Sometimes I go weeks without seeing an ant. One day I poured my morning coffee, decided I needed a refill, and when I went to the kitchen the counter was full of ants. I had been there only 20 minutes before and there wasn’t an ant in sight. I have no idea why because I keep all my packaged food in the fridge because of them. That morning I grabbed my vinegar spray bottle instead of ant spray and it worked great. For years I’ve been spraying that sickeningly sweet ant spray chemical on my nice clean counters. The vinegar spray works great. Not only that but I sprayed down the entire kitchen wherever any ant has ever appeared and I have fewer visits. I left the wet solution on the surfaces without drying so the house didn’t smell nice but the ants didn’t like it either. I’ve been sharing that secret with neighbors.
Vinegar also does a great job on the floors. I have linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom and the remainder of the house is carpet. I replaced the carpet a few years ago. I priced hardwood floors and laminates and the cost was tremendous so I carpeted with industrial style carpeting similar to what we see in offices and airports but I selected a very pretty color and pattern (gray with red specks). It cleans so easily, never shows wear, and I paid a little extra to upgrade my carpet pad to a “pet” grade since I have lots of critters that live here. When they have an accident, and they do, it doesn’t soak through to the floor and instead I can soak it up with a towel. Amazing. I haven’t used vinegar on the carpet but I’m considering trying a small spot in a corner somewhere.
At first the pungent vinegar odor stayed in my nose for hours. I thought it was lingering in the air in my house but I went for a walk to clear my nose and when I came back inside I didn’t smell it anymore. It had lived in my nose and all I had to do is take a walk. Once it dries on surfaces the odor is gone so stepping outside to give my nose a little fresh air takes care of any remaining odor.
Con, cleaning power in the shower pan isn’t as good as other surfaces. The build up with the water and soap and shampoo is more difficult to remove. I rinse down the shower and tub each time I use it to prevent build up but something about the steamy room just seems to create build up on the tub and shower shell. Lately I’ve been spraying down the shower walls and tub after a shower with the vinegar spray and that has helped prevent build up somewhat. But then I’m dealing with the smell. It seems to linger in the moist bathroom even if I air it out. I have considered using shower cleaner a few times and in between using the vinegar spray. At least I would still be cutting down on the chemicals and the commercial cleaning products for all other purposes.
Years ago I took an environmental science class and was horrified to discover what goes into common household cleaners. It was the belief of our instructor that many people develop serious health issues inhaling these chemicals. He provided us with a list of probable illnesses related to the things in our homes, including cleaners, but also the chemically treated fabrics and materials used to decorate our homes as well as materials used to build them. He felt it was difficult to do much about most of the chemicals but he felt we could indeed do something about purchasing cleaning chemicals. The very people who complain about industrial emissions in their neighborhoods probably spend Saturdays cleaning their homes with products releasing toxic fumes. Drain cleaning products are particularly harmful to the lungs.
I didn’t make the change at the time I took the course because I had kids at home and I needed chemicals. There were times when I needed dynamite but that wasn’t available to me. Now however I do not have actual dirt in my home. Instead I have dust and fur. And the occasional pet accident.
My daughter gave me a “pet” vacuum that has all the popular filters and it seems to do a great job of trapping particles and fur that used to filter back into the air with my old vacuum. A heavy-duty vacuum is essential for people maintaining zoos in their homes. Each time I vacuum the waste container fills with fur. With my old vacuum the air looked like an Oklahoma dust storm as it spewed from the vacuum vent and I knew that was definitely not good for any living thing in my house. It would also slowly filter down to the surfaces I had just dusted. I figured out that I had to vacuum first then dust. Now it doesn’t matter. I can tell it’s working properly because after vacuuming I do not detect dust anywhere on any surface. Keeping up with dusting is also important for our lungs. (I hate dusting.)
When the kids moved out I discovered my house stayed clean for days and days. I guess that means I don't pee on the floor, I don't spit on the mirror when brushing my teeth, I don't put my dirty dishes one inch away from the dishwasher, I don't put my trash next to the trash can, I don't leave a puddle if I spill something, I don't brush crumbs to the floor when cleaning the counter, I don't walk in the mud then walk inside the house. The list goes on but I apparently am a clean-living person.
I hope my lungs appreciate my environmentally semi-safe home. A little dusting, a little vinegar, and I’m good to go.
[Sadly, it won’t work on the gulf oil disaster. Oil and vinegar don't mix. At this point, it looks like nothing is working on that “spill.”]
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
VM Fusionware-tech support
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
