Things you didn't know you were supposed to clean - Page 3

[2xy]

I was in the Navy and have had to clean more than one house/barracks room for inspection, so I must say that I've never been caught by surprise by something that needs cleaning. I didn't, however, know about the lint in the dryer that someone mentioned. I guess I've never used the same dryer for more than a few years, so it's never been my problem.

That being said, I don't notice every speck of dust the way some people do. I dust/vacuum my baseboard heaters occasionally, but my baseboards, not so much.

Someone upthread talked about washing behind the stove. I've lived in this house for three years, and this is the longest I've ever lived at one address for my entire adult life. I have thought about pulling the stove out several times to clean behind and underneath, but I'm freaked out because it's a gas stove and I don't know how long the connection hose is. It's also in a very tight spot and I'm afraid of destroying something or blowing up the house. Any suggestions?

[Magelet]

I definitely had a "OMG, you have to clean baseboards?!!!" moment in my first apartment.  It was a HUGE shock to me.

That said, I feel like I get an F in housekeeping skills.  I grew up with housecleaners and it's so overwhelming and daunting to me. While the dust really bothers me, my house is NEVER even close to dust-free. At the moment, a light coating of dust is pretty decent. Heck, if I get 1/2 the spiderwebs, I feel fairly satisfied.  It's just so daunting.  I've tried starting fly-lady a few times and I get hung up on shoes every time.  We don't wear shoes in the house, and only occasionally outside the house.

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by 2xy 

I was in the Navy and have had to clean more than one house/barracks room for inspection, so I must say that I've never been caught by surprise by something that needs cleaning. I didn't, however, know about the lint in the dryer that someone mentioned. I guess I've never used the same dryer for more than a few years, so it's never been my problem.

That being said, I don't notice every speck of dust the way some people do. I dust/vacuum my baseboard heaters occasionally, but my baseboards, not so much.

Someone upthread talked about washing behind the stove. I've lived in this house for three years, and this is the longest I've ever lived at one address for my entire adult life. I have thought about pulling the stove out several times to clean behind and underneath, but I'm freaked out because it's a gas stove and I don't know how long the connection hose is. It's also in a very tight spot and I'm afraid of destroying something or blowing up the house. Any suggestions?

Lint in the dryer should be cleaned every time you do the laundry. Or every couple of loads at least. I'm not kidding either, it becomes a fire hazard pretty quickly. Plus it help the dryer work faster. (So does washing the actual lint trap BTW, but that doesn't really pose any threat).

As for the stove, you should be able to move the stove just enough to see how long the hose is before trying to pull it out. If the hose does disconnect, the biggest worry is inhaling the gas, unless you're stupid enough to being doing it with a lit cigarette in hand. If it does disconnect, the only thing you have to do is get out of the house and call an emergency number. Unless the stove is bolted to the floor it should slide out with a little effort, and maybe some wiggling.

[2xy]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad 

Lint in the dryer should be cleaned every time you do the laundry. Or every couple of loads at least. I'm not kidding either, it becomes a fire hazard pretty quickly. Plus it help the dryer work faster. (So does washing the actual lint trap BTW, but that doesn't really pose any threat).

I'm not talking about the lint trap. I'm talking about taking the front of the dryer apart to clean under the drum. Post #17.

Also, getting out of the house is not so simple when there are pets involved. We have three floors and lots of hiding places. I'd rather not deal with a gas leak if at all possible.

[SuburbanHippie]

The gas hose will be long enough so you can pull out the stove.  They are made quite long.

[Llyra]

I always catch my cats and put them in my van, when I'm going to be doing something like moving the stove, where I might have to get out quickly if something goes wrong. It's easier to catch them if I plan ahead for it, so I have lots of time to let them relax so I can sneak up on them. Because you're right-- it is so hard to think of having to leave the house quickly, with three kids and three cats.

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by limette 

Originally Posted by Caneel 

Where I grew up, I would estimate 90% of the families kept very, very clean houses - walls were washed down at least every spring/fall, baseboards/window sills/screens/wood trim was vaccumed each time the floors were done, which was at least once a week, all surfaces were dusted every week, bathrooms scrubbed at least weekly, etc.  Interestingly enough, I would describe most of these homes as being at least moderately cluttered.  The other 10% were really dirty homes, I am talking letting dogs pee on the rug, food built up on the counters and tables, bathrooms that were never cleaned - that type of dirty.

So yeah, the washing of walls, vacuuming of air vents, dusting on top of the fridge is completely normal to me.  I can't wait to read other responses to see if there is some cleaning issue I don't know about!

See that seems excessive to me. Do they have time to live their lives?

I don't clean most of the things on these lists on a regular basis. Top of the fridge, once a year maybe? Walls only if the kids get something on them. My house is clean enough, nobody would call it dirty. I have dust allergies and asthma and my house doesn't bother me. Wall to wall carpets are so gross though and no amount of cleaning them makes them clean. We just ripped out some in the bedroom (this a new to us house) and it was moldy under the pad and my daughter got a fungal rash from it. Guh-ross.

It was definately excesssive.  Their lives were their house and keeping it clean, to a fault.  I grew up way, way out in the country and most women were stay at home moms that apparently had a lot of time on their hands to clean house.  No one was involved in playgroups or kid activities, most families just had one car so the women were just at home all the time.  My grandmother said she definately felt the cleanliness of her house was a reflection of her worth as wife and mother. (sad) 

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride 

Oh. my.

I rent a steam cleaner and do my carpets about once a year (hard to say exactly, because my pregnancies have thrown that off a bit). I only do it that often because we have the stupid carpeted dining room and it gets gross. (Mind you, I'd probably do it 2-3X a year, if it weren't so expensive and such a PITA to rent, transport, clean and return those things. I hate gungy carpets.)

We bought a steam cleaner when we got our dog (on clearance it was about $150). We had it about 5 years before the detachable hose (for upholstery) broke. We clean the downstairs carpet about every two months and the upstairs (where the dog doesn't go) about every six months. We had a Kirby salesman come by a few years ago and he was disappointed at how clean our carpet was.
 

[lonegirl]

LOL well, I did know, but always forget about the ceiling in a tub enclosure.  I usually have a bath without my contacts so I never see way up there.

[SuburbanHippie]

Mini blinds for me!  I didn't realize it until I moved out of my first apartment and I got money deducted for having dirty blinds.  I remember feeling both shocked and humiliated. 

[sugarlumpkin]

Sigh this thread is reminding me of several areas that need to be cleaned. We've lived in this house for approx 1.25 years and it is time to haul the fridge and the stove out to clean behind them again. The inside of the fridge needs some cleaning, too. And now I need to go vacuum my dryer!

[CowsRock]

Originally Posted by lach 

LOL, cleaning walls was new to me, too.  When I started doing FlyLady and it was one of the things that you're supposed to clean I thought "but they're vertical!  Dust doesn't settle on them.  Why would I need to clean them?"  LOL.

That is what I thought too until one day I was washing something visible off the wall and noticed there was a bunch of dust there too that I didn't even notice.  Every once in a blue moon I wash our walls.  I wipe down the walls in the bathroom every few months I guess...that is different though, the dust combo with water makes it seem more "necessary".  My hubby and friends think I'm nutty for wiping down our ceilings.  This makes me sound like a really good housekeeper but I'm so not. 

[Agatha_Ann]

Originally Posted by CowsRock 

That is what I thought too until one day I was washing something visible off the wall and noticed there was a bunch of dust there too that I didn't even notice.  Every once in a blue moon I wash our walls.  I wipe down the walls in the bathroom every few months I guess...that is different though, the dust combo with water makes it seem more "necessary".  My hubby and friends think I'm nutty for wiping down our ceilings.  This makes me sound like a really good housekeeper but I'm so not. 

I never thought about walls either until I took a little side job cleaning apartments after people moved out. There was one that the walls were supposed to be white, but the people smoked so much that they were yellow! Yuck! I rarely wash our walls. Kitchen and bathrooms yeah, but not the rest of the house other than spot cleaning.

[2xy]

Originally Posted by SuburbanHippie 

The gas hose will be long enough so you can pull out the stove.  They are made quite long.

Thanks. I will probably attempt it sometime this week.

Originally Posted by Llyra 

I always catch my cats and put them in my van, when I'm going to be doing something like moving the stove, where I might have to get out quickly if something goes wrong. It's easier to catch them if I plan ahead for it, so I have lots of time to let them relax so I can sneak up on them. Because you're right-- it is so hard to think of having to leave the house quickly, with three kids and three cats.

Hmm. Do you have a psychotic cat who, while normally very sweet and docile, turns into a devil-possessed crocodile who thrashes and wails and immediately craps in the crate? lol

[Llyra]

Another one I just noticed this morning-- there's this little gap between my bathroom mirror cabinet, and the top of the sink. Looking at it from a standing position, it looks clean. I wipe it down often. But I glanced over when I was lying in the tub, and OMG from that perspective, it sure isn't clean. Yuck.

After first running into this thread, I think I've started looking at my house with new eyes. I'm noticing all sorts of things I've been apparently neglecting to keep clean.

[journeymom]

Cleaning behind the gas stove: on the gas pipe attached to the stove there might be a turn-off valve. Like on a water faucet.  More likely you have a gas meter outside somewhere. It should have a turn-off valve to the whole house.  I agree with the above posters, you should be able to pull the stove out far enough to clean back there. After all, when it was being installed the gas line had to be hooked up before the whole thing was shoved up against the wall.

But you could definitely get some piece of mind if you just shut the gas off at the main.

[LionessMom]

i defintitely want to deep clean my house. now. this thread has inspired me ;)

i barely clean anything that isnt laundry or dishes.

[onlyzombiecat]

Originally Posted by Smokering 

But... but.... and I'm no doubt outing myself as a slob here, but I have to ask... does it matter? I mean, is the dust bothering anyone back there?

I feel that way about a lot of things, actually. :p We rent, and have moved three times in four years of marriage. And every time we move house, I think "Wow, it's gross under the fridge", feel briefly guilty, and then clean it. But I'm still not convinced it's worth it to haul the fridge out, clean underneath and then put the fridge back. Chances are it'll still need to be done again when you move house, so you're not really saving any time... and in the mean time, no-one can see it. So, is there any really good reason to do it? I've never been able to convince myself that there is.

I'm not hauling my pictures off the wall every day to dust behind them but now that I know how much dust can build up back there I'll probably do it every once in awhile just like I would clean furry ceiling fan blades occasionally or under my bed.

The reason I would clean an area no one would see is mainly because of allergies. If you are not sensitive to indoor allergens then maybe it wouldn't bother you to leave it alone because it is out of sight.
 

[journeymom]

I'd be concerned that a thick layer of dust under the fridge would gum up the works or make it over-heat or work too hard or something.  This might be less of a problem if you don't have pets that shed prolifically. 

[LynnS6]

The bottom of the toaster! I was quite old before I realized you could pull out the little thing on the bottom and empty all the crumbs out.
 

Originally Posted by Caneel 

Where I grew up, I would estimate 90% of the families kept very, very clean houses - walls were washed down at least every spring/fall, baseboards/window sills/screens/wood trim was vaccumed each time the floors were done, which was at least once a week, all surfaces were dusted every week, bathrooms scrubbed at least weekly, etc.  Interestingly enough, I would describe most of these homes as being at least moderately cluttered. 

I think this is a leftover from the days when people heated with coal/wood. If you heat your house with something other than radiant heat or forced air, your walls get grimy. Add kerosene lamps into the mix and it got really ugly. That's why spring cleaning was done -- after you'd had all this coal grease building up over the winter, you had to clean house!