Brad and I are on another Spring Cleaning binge. Both of the shower curtain liners are in the washer with some Melaleuca detergent and a healthy dash of Sol U Guard, my favorite disinfectant. When the washer is ready for the first rinse cycle I’ll switch it back to the wash cycle so I can rinse in hot water with a little vinegar. I’ll repeat for the second rinse with warm water. Cold water rinse with heavy plastic shower curtains is a pain. They’ll both go in the dryer on the lowest setting to get rid of the rest of the water, then back on the rods, sparkling clean.
Brad found a new shower head for his bath and he took the head off of mine so I could soak it in vinegar. It will be so much easier to wipe down the showers without the shower curtains in the way.
I’ve already scoured the kitchen sink and disinfected the countertops. Tomorrow or the next day I need to take everything out of the fridge and wipe down the glass shelves and wash out the veggie bins. We haven’t gotten around to moving the washer and dryer so I can clean under and behind them, but that is on our list.
I had hoped to have the house open today but the humidity is high enough to drown frogs and there is barely a breath of air moving outside. I was right about my estimate of the amount of rain we had last night. I figured at least two inches, it was two and a half inches. The ground is soft underfoot, especially under the pine tree and the air is nice and clean, sun shining, barely a cloud in the sky. It’s a little after 4:00 pm and it’s 84°, Ugh. Thank goodness for A/C!
I just turned the washer back to a wash cycle on hot water to rinse the shower curtains and poured in a generous amount of white vinegar. It sure gets rid of soap residue and hard water spots.
Since it’s the first week of the month we need to remember the Rid X for the septic system and I need to put the dishwasher on a clean cycle with no dishes and some Lemi Shine to keep the inside of it clean and sparkling. Hard water can be a pain in the butt. I need to do a cleaning cycle on the coffee maker and the water kettle as well and then I’ll pour that hot vinegar water down the sink drain in the bathroom where the A/C vent runs. Algae grows in that drain and I need to keep on top of it. The A/C guys blew the line when they serviced the heat pump and cooling system in the attic last week. I poured a little vinegar down that sink drain right after they blew the line but hot water and vinegar does a better job.
I buy vinegar six gallons at a time and store it in the garage. I use it in the first rinse when I do laundry and we have no problems with detergent build-up on our clothes. It also acts as a bit of a fabric softener. I need to go ahead and restock the vinegar so I don’t run out. I keep a gallon of apple cider vinegar to use in the wasp traps that Brad made out of empty 2-liter pop bottles. I dilute it with water and the wasps, flies and gnats love it.
When Brad and the boys stopped at Home Depot yesterday they brought home a couple of nice step ladders, one for the house and one for the shop. They are much better and sturdier than the short ones we had before. I whacked my right shin on the upper step of the shorter one Sunday while taking the battery out of one of the smoke detectors, and I still have a knot on my right leg. I barely bumped it and it made a huge, hard knot! Yikes, that hurt! Thank goodness I keep arnica gel on hand. An ice pack and some ibuprofen helped as well. The bruise is almost gone already, but it’s still very sore and I’m reminded of that fact whenever I try to cross my legs in the recliner. Old habits, and all that stuff.
The shower curtain liners are on their second rinse cycle and before I take them out of the washer and toss them in the dryer we need to clean both shower/bath stalls. It’s easier for me to bend and clean than it is for Brad, but if he can wipe down the top portion then I can get the tub.
It’s time to clean mirrors and windows, too. I can get the inside of the windows for now and worry about the outside when I’m sure we aren’t in for another thunderstorm. It’s easy enough to clean the outside of most of the windows because they are double-hung and tilt inside for cleaning. There are three smaller, single-hung window that we’ll need to clean from the outside later.
Brad just came up to the house from his shop, dripping wet with sweat. He’s good about drinking plenty of water and when the humidity is this high it’s easy to get too hot, very quickly. I haven’t decided what we’ll have for dinner later and it’s almost 5:00 pm now. So, back to regularly scheduled cleaning…
Have a blessed Tuesday evening, ya’ll.
Rural Texas Knitter 