Deep cleaning my house, need help

[maciascl]

We have lived in this house for 10 years & we are moving next month. I am not a very good housekeeper so there are alot of things that have 'built up' & are really hard to clean at all now. I am looking for any tips, tricks or product reccomendations (perfer natural, but needs to be cheap) to help me get this place clean. I am mostly worried about the placed that you don't clean as often anyway like walls, window sills, baseboards, cabinets, etc..., especially the kitchen walls behind the stove have grease that I can't get off.

The bathtub & kitchen sick are also supposed to be white, but are slightly stained I am not fond of the idea of using bleach if there are alternatives someone could suggest. I have tried the Magic Eraser & it helps, but is not enough. Hard water & soap scum stuck on the shower too.

[Jane]

Window sills and such - remember to vacuum before you wipe! Vacuuming is soooo helpful when dealing with built up grossness.

[luckygreen713]

How about vinegar? Cheap and natural! For really grimy places you can spray it on full strength and let it sit for a while before you scrub. Also, use something abrasive to scrub, like a tough scrubby-type sponge. Vinegar on the soap scum with some good scrubbing action should work pretty well. You can also sprinkle the sink with baking soda, scrub it really well, and then spray with vinegar. It'll get fizzy, then scrub again. Then rinse with water. Maybe repeat a few times if needed.

[Jane]

I've found that most things just require work.
My favorite tools:
dish soap - used in very small amounts on things that have grease or oil
Bon Ami - helps with my particular type of soap scum, also works wonders on my smooth top range
Vinegar - super helpful for adding to a drop of dishsoap for windows
stack of old washcloths
Vacuum - I always try to vacuum everything really well before starting on other stuff.
Swiffer - not the pads, the stick you put them on - I use it a lot as an arm extender for walls. I put on a damp, soapy washcloth and go for it. Especially in the bathroom where there is some crazy catfur/steam/dust/cobweb nastiness on the walls.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

borax will fix your porcelain sinks & tubs. Just sprinkle it in and then scrub.

[Dingletwitz]

for walls, trim and cupboards with that funny goo, i use
1 c ammonia
1/2 c vinegar
1/4 c baking soda
one gallon hot water

Don't breathe it when it's filling-
I've cleaned all kinds of rentals, etc., with this solution and is by far the most effective for vertical surfaces. just remember to start at the bottom of the wall, etc., to avoid drips. I know the ammonia isn't exactly environmentally friendly, but holy cats does it work.

[Denvergirlie]

Can't help with a cleaning supply as I use toxic normal stuff, just works the best for me, so I use it. But I just moved from a house I lived in for 9 years, I seriuously think some of the items I cleaned, I had never cleaned before in living there for 9 years... gross

Anyways, I literally swept (broom) and mopped (floor mop) all my walls.... worked like a charm, some walss (one behind stove) had to be mopped several times, but it worked and I got every dollar of my deposit back, so I considered it a success.

[blessedwithboys]

bon ami and a steam cleaner

[karne]

Simple Green is pretty cheap and effective.

[laohaire]

Just another idea on the bleach stuff - I hate bleach too but my mom got me a jug of it and I wasn't about to just throw it away. For years I didn't touch it but my white sink gets nasty stains because we put staining things in it all the time (DH will dump coffee or tea and not rinse the sink, for example). I've scrubbed and scrubbed with baking soda and borax, and it helped, but our sink is just really stained. Once in desperation I poured bleach onto it and it was like, whoa! now I know why people like bleach!!

But I didn't want to do it again, but nothing changed around here so the sink got nasty again. So what I've done is to minimize the amount used by pouring it into a spray bottle. A few sprays then just let it sit for a while. That's at least better than pouring it in.

If a spray bottle isn't going to be an option, then take a light colored washcloth that you don't mind bleaching, dip it in the bleach then let the cloth sit on the sink for a little while. It will keep the bleach from draining away, so you can get away with using less.

If you can make the borax work, great, that's better - but just an idea if you got deperate like me.

[allnaturalmom]

Bar Keeper's Friend works well for us when normal vinegar, baking soda, borax doesn't. Also works well for rust and lime build up. It will make chrome sink/tub fixtures shine. Comes in a powder or liquid. It's very inexpensive, too. I have found that a little goes a long way.

http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/

gl
hth

[redvlagrl]

I am all about natural cleaners etc, but nothing cuts greasy dust like some Windex. Works really well on kitchen windowsills and small appliances.

To get my sink really, really sparkling I dump baking soda and a squirt of dish soap and scrub. Rinse really, really well.

I like the Method products for some things. We have an old clawfoot tub with a bad refinish job - baking soda does do it, but the method stuff does. Ditto method toilet stuff.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

Oh, and I used pretty strong dilution of Orange Clean with magic erasers to take off like 10 years worht of built up scum & grease from the top of my cupboards so I could paint. It worked great.

Also, if you don't want to scrub your walls with a rag, we have used a new mop head for the purpose. Helps cut down on the up & down the ladder action.