I’ve always liked cleaning - to a point.  Mostly I like always having things clean and organized.  Cleaning itself is only fun when coupled with some danc’n tunes and when it doesn’t take all day. ;o)

Bathrooms are a necessary evil unless I’m enjoying a bubble bath. ;o) It’s also the household cleaning chore that I typically procrastinate the longest with because I hate scrubbing (probably due to the many memories of asphyxiating cleaners and withered hands as a youth.)  It’s just plain gross to have to clean.  After all, it’s the heart of where bodily functions and stench combine.  Worse is that because I put it off it bothers me the most.  So I waste a lot of time thinking about, doing the stupid chore a thousand times in my head instead of the one time it would take to get it done. 

Recently I’ve found some products that have made my life and mind easier in this regard.  Thank you to the many companies that are making daily maintenance not only feasible but affordable.  Years ago these options simply didn’t exist.  My favorites for bathroom are Clorox Disinfectant Wipes and Windex Wipes. 

These are the best way to keep scrubbing and deep cleaning jobs down to a minimum time requirement while giving the benefit of the room maintaining a level of livable cleanliness.  I keep a container of the disinfectant wipes in my bathrooms just to run one over the counters and toilets on a regular basis.  I feel better knowing some disinfecting is taking place and the hair spray can’t build up on my counter.  The mirror wipes keep the fingerprints and water spots from taking a lot of elbow grease to remove.  It’s amazing how much cleaner the bathroom looks when the mirror is clean. The result of using these daily wipes on a regular basis (notice I didn’t say daily because I don’t get it done every day) is less overall cleaning time in my biggest time consuming scrub rooms and I feel better about things. 

The next big help was the disposable toilet scrubber.  The Clorox Toiletwand system is awesome.  I bought a big bag of replacement heads at my local warehouse store that has lasted me just about a year now.  It’s so great to pop on a new head, swish it around and then dump it in the trash.  And even with my next big secret I found that this item is still indespensible because sometimes you just HAVE to scrub.

Lastly (I saved the best for last), I invested in a steam cleaner.  I watched an infomercial on these babies a few years ago.  I loved the idea of cleaning and sterilizing at the same time - especially around the toilet!  I bought mine when we moved into our new home this summer.  Okay, I’ll admit I was intimidated enough that I only used it for the first time last week (just proves my theory of daily wipes is working!) But I finally dug in and realized it wasn’t as scary as I imagined.  I had some visions of the pressure cooker in my head for some reason.  But it was SO easy and SO fun!  Yes, I said fun in conjunction with scrubbing my bathroom.  My favorite feature was the squeegee on the mirrors, but watching the steam attack the mildew and rust around the shower and faucets was pretty cool stuff.  Expect more fun posts as I learn how to maximize it’s use, but suffice it to say cleaning has a new best friend at my house.

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