Household Cleaning Solutions

For cleaning floors it is best practice to actually scrub them manually. Most mops and sweeping materials are good for surface cleaning but will rarely clean the floor completely. Ammonia is the cheapest solution to use for tile, Formica, vinyl and other textured floor coverings. Wood or other natural fibers that need special attention will usually only require water or very simple solvents that are dried quickly. Old hand towels are sufficiently large and absorbent to do the preliminary slosh across the floor. Once the surface dust is wiped away, it is easier to see and feel the sticky substances that are left behind to be scrubbed out. Use a scrub-brush while on hands and knees for best results. The positioning of leverage over the brush allows you to apply enough pressure on the spot needing scrubbed without straining your muscles or your back. Likewise, a 'cat-like' position is good for overall core strengthening and relaxing normally tensed lower back muscles. After scrubbing stubborn areas, wipe with the towel once again to sweep away the suds and filth just released from its grasps on your floor. Move systematically in square areas of about three feet, or the length of your arm, backwards across your floor so that you exit the room when the floor is completed (rather than cornering yourself opposite the exit which requires you to walk across the floor that might not yet be dry).

One scrubbing of the floor a week for high traffic areas will keep them 'inspection clean' whereas other low traffic areas or under unmoved furniture need only be scrubbed monthly. I would recommend rotating areas on a weekly basis in the house for their monthly cleaning so as to not rearrange your house one day a month and to divide out the work over 4 weeks rather than one day. Other fancy cleaning solutions meet their purpose, but are generally based in ammonia so you are paying for the fancy smell and packaging. If you feel you need to apply wax do so only once a month.

Bleach is the easiest catch all solution for cleaning bathrooms. All surfaces can be cleaned and adequately disinfected with diluted bleach including tubs, toilets, and sinks. Again, other solutions for mildew or stains are viable, although they can be replaced (or are based) in bleach which is the most economical alternative. Use only rags that are colorless to clean with bleach. A sponge with a rough scrubbing side as well as a softer absorbent side is most useful in sinks. To get the grime around the faucet handles and on the nozzle of the sink use an old toothbrush to scrub them and then douse them with water to wash away the loosened scum.

Toilet water should be pushed down before you scrub the interior basin of the toilet; doing so exposes the normal area where water rings are most likely to be. You can push the water down with your toilet bowl brush or poor a large amount of water down all at once which will lower the water level (this is a fast way to empty a basin of water used to mop floors and serves a dual purpose, be careful however if the solution you have used for the floor mopping may react chemically with the solution you are using to clean the toilet). A toilet bowl brush or scrub brush should be sufficient to work away stains unless you choose to use a pumice stone for water rings. Pumice stone will leave slight scratching rings where they are used. Do not be afraid to touch toilet water. If you have flushed the toilet before you start cleaning it the water will be fresh, as fresh as the water you get from the faucet. Cleaning water from the toilet with bleach solution can be used to wipe down the exterior of the toilet bowl as well as the floor around it.

Showers are easiest cleaned if they are lightly scrubbed weekly with a sponge and soft cleanser or other spray on shower mildew solutions (including bleach which is cheapest and simplest) and then scrubbed deeply monthly. Concentrate your cleaning on the areas of the shower where water cascades and is left to dry. You can feel the difference between an area that has soap scrub and not by passing your hand over the surface when the area is damp. Although you may not be able to see the build up until a month later, there is weekly buildup that is easiest swept away regularly. Do not forget to scrub glass surfaces, faucets, drains and areas where you place shampoos or soaps. Cleaning the shower can be quick and effective it is saved as your last cleaning item for the day before you shower, you then are not concerned if your clothing or hair is dampened and can even get in prepared for showering in the final rinse of the shower.

Refrigerators should be cleaned out monthly. This serves two purposes; you are sure to throw out at that time any food that has been hiding in the dark corners going bad and you can eliminate stubborn spills that could permanently stain your fridge. Use the recommended solution that is directed with your refrigerator; most indicate ammonia like for the interior and shelves but using soft soap (dish soap) only for the drawers. It is wise to regulate things in the freezer also monthly although it may not be necessary to defrost and clean the freezer more than twice a year. At least once a quarter move your refrigerator forward and mop behind and under the fridge, you will find there is great dust build up from the motor of the fridge.

To be continued: windows, stoves, cupboards, closets, baseboards, blinds, light fixtures, walls, doors