Okay, this is really gross, but I need some tips....

[lilsishomemade]

Allrighty, I really need some tips. This is so gross, though, so be warned!! A friend of my dh's has had a pretty rough past few years, with pretty severe depression. She had her children taken away and put in foster care because she just was not able to take care of them. Well, she's been in treatment and is taking parenting classes and wanting to do everything she has to in order to get her life back on track and get her kids back.

Kay, so there's background on her. Now, one thing that has resulted from her being so depressed is that she hasn't cleaned her house in, oh, a REALLY long time. Now, she wants to get it liveable and is pretty overwhelmed, so I told her I'd help. She has no money to spare, and neither do we, so there can't be any hired help involved. Things are gross. The bathroom is disgusting. One of the bedrooms has what I'm pretty sure is feces on the wall. Gross, gross, gross. We are both pretty sensitive to chemicals (though with her sensitivities, I have no idea why all the yuck in that house didn't send her to the hospital!!), so I am wondering if maybe you guys could help brainstorm some safe products to clean this place with???

[Shenjall]

s to your friend and a to you for helping.

Many years ago I went thru a rough patch and didnt clean my apt. At all. Like, really, really bad. When my "fog" lifted, I threw on a long sleeved shirt and pants, a cheapo face mask and some gloves and just scrubbed. And scrubbed. Thats really all you can do.

Maybe go to a thrift shop and get some old rags to use like paper towels. Wipe off most of the top gunk and throw out. Baking soda is a great scrubber, vinegar is great for disenfecting - and the smell is overpowering! Covers up those nasty smells well. Round it off with hot water and some dish soap and I think you're ready.

Good Luck!!

[queenbean]

Shenjall gave some great tips. You can also use lemon juice to help cut grease, and it smells a bit better, but I do'nt think it disinfects -- not sure. Peroxide disinfects -- you can pour it right on countertops and watch it bubble as it kills the germs. You can use it for floors and toilets and glass, too. If you do a search for "cleaning with peroxide" you can find some really good websites with information.

Definitely wear masks and rubber gloves. Get a couple of good scrub brushes as well, to really dig deep into the dirt.

Good luck to her, and good luck to both of you on your cleaning! It's going to take a lot of elbow grease, but you can do it! Crank up the 80's tunes and go to town.

[Naturalyst]

Having been there, done that, with a relative I learned that it is easiest to tackle one room at a time and keep going until it is complete before going to the next.

Also, empty the room and only put back what you "choose" will stay. If it's too bad to do that with an entire room at once, then do that in parts. For example, in a bedroom, clear out a closet and dump the contents onto a tarp spread on the floor of another room, clean the surfaces of the closet and, then, put back only what you decide would stay (leaving expansion room). Everything else gets tossed. The whole process can stall if you, instead, choose what will go (instead of what will stay) - it provides too much opportunity to agonize over each thing.

Lots of heavy gauge lawn and leaf bags. Spray bottles filled with water/vinegar and a dash of soap. Good luck.

[BusyMommy]

Great advice and well, hate to say it , but check out Mr Clean's Magic Eraser. That stuff is incredible. But a few boxes, though. ANd, rinse everything (bath!) thoroughly afterwards.
I've heard it can dull finishes on walls but haven't found it true for me.

[lilsishomemade]

Thanks to everyone!! I'm having her stay here until her house is cleaned up. I really couldn't let her stay there after being inside. She is really excited, though, and incredibly motivated. We spent some time just gathering trash up and she's thinking of asking her mom for help renting one of those big trash things that they deliver. She has not only a lot of trash, but some furniture that is badly molded that she's just going to throw out, etc.

I wasn't sure if the vinegar would be enough to kill the grodies. I've got a lot of TTO I think I'll add, the smell will be a plus. Hey, I think I also have some lavender eo.....yum!

[momto l&a]

Sounds like a fresh coat of paint would be helpful in just freshing up the place.

TSP cleans wall really well, or course its not a crunchy cleaner but WOW it cleans.

Gloves are required.

[BusyMommy]

Originally Posted by momto l&a

Sounds like a fresh coat of paint would be helpful in just freshing up the place.

TSP cleans wall really well, or course its not a crunchy cleaner but WOW it cleans.

Gloves are required.

ITA

Again not very NFL but neither is it germ friendly.

[Shenjall]

Ditto on the TSP. And its not too expensive - plus a little goes a long way.
If you need big buckets, dont put out alot of $ for them. Go to an ice cream store, they usually have those big pails for .50 cents each. I always load up on them whenever we go. They're great for filling up with hot soapy water to clean or to soak stuff in; dog/cat food; litter; tye-dying small items of clothes...oops! sorry off topic! They are cheap and come in handy when cleaning up.
p.s. If you can find some with the lids, you can use them for storage of things as well.

[Penelope]

Really cheap washclothes from Target are reusable and make good rags.

[BusyMommy]

I like to buy the microfiber towels from the auto section and rip them in 1/2. From *sigh* Walmart.

[Lisa Lubner]

squalorsurvivors.com has some good cleaning up info.

[beanma]

we use bac-out around here for cleaning old dog poo (16 yr old mutt) off the floor. i like the way it smells, too. the enzymes will eat the bad bacteria. it's my cleaner of choice for really nasty stuff.

you're a great friend to help clean up her place!

[lilsishomemade]

Wow, lots of responses, thanks everyone!! Umm...what is TSP? We both have to be pretty careful what we use. I have eczema that flares up REALLY easy, but I'll be interested in looking into this!

Oh, thanks for the bucket tip! I'll take a look around tomorrow!

[hipmummy]

BAC Out is the best for this situation but it could get pricey. Dr.Bronners is great and it can be diluted for many dif. tasks

[Ruthla]

After doing all the heavy scrubbing with natural cleaners (and basically, for the heavy scrubbing part you mostly need to use elbow grease and something to help loosen up the dirt) you might want to use a small amount of bleach to disinfect the walls and floors. It normally isn't necessary to kill all germs in a house, but in this situation is beyond "normal".

Plain old chlorine bleach, while very concentrated and harsh to breathe in, is quite pure compared to many cleaners available today-there are no colors or fragrances added, and once the bleach is fully dried and the room is aired out, there's no smell left of it. I'm not sure the correct dilution of bleach to sanitize hard surfaces- though it might say so on the bottle? Either dilute in a spray bottle or put in a bucket and use a rag or sponge to cover all areas. Plus make sure things are VERY well ventilated when working with bleach!

You'll definitely need to use rubber gloves while doing all this scrubbing, especially since both of you have excema.

[bryannastreasure]

BTDT

Be ruthless, but loving, because some items are treasures for her.

spraying bleach, even diluted, will probably trigger asthma. use kitchen gloves and a sponge instead. TSP powder TriSodiumPhosphate is a very harsh, but effective grease remover and a little goes a long way.

yes, renting a small dumpster may make it easier. or is there a dump near you? or designate one room for 'garbage that needs to go' and use the weekly garbage can for 'garbage that needs to go NOW'. don't forget to recycle newspapers and cans.

you can use old clothes for rags. use them, then throw them out.

I'd start with deep cleaning the bathroom. It is relatively small and will be used a lot. Get each room 'bearable' then go back for a deep clean. load the clotheswasher and dishwasher as you go. then TSP the walls, paint, clean the carpets. then move back in.

Save enough energy that you can take a long hot bath when you get home. with perhaps dinner in the crockpot. slather hand lotion on before bed.

I did a small 3br manufactured house in about 15-20 hours of labor. but I wasn't allowed to paint or clean the carpets. she didn't have garbage service, so for the nastiest 'NOW' stuff we packed in small grocery bags and dropped one off at almost every grocery store we passed.
love and light,
Bryanna

[KnockedUpButtercup]

I clean almost everything in my house with Simple Green. DS1 is so insanely sensitive to the smell of cleaning products that it's the only thing he can handle, so it should be ok for your friend. You can mix up bucket after bucket of it and clean almost any surface, even walls (as long as she doesn't have flat paint).

It doesn't kill germs as such, but I read somewhere that most bacteria are eliminated by soap just as well as by antibacterial products, so I quit worrying about it. I think this whole "antibacterial product" thing is a marketing ploy, anyway. If a cleaning project seems particularly germy (ex: forgotten camping equipment, covered in fish scales, from the garage), I add some TTO just to be on the safe side.

Oh, and I use Murphy's Oil Soap for anything wood. I "dust" with a bowl of warm water with Murphy's Oil Soap and a washcloth...it works sooooo much better than oily sprays, and is also a safe cleaning product.

Bless you for doing this...you're a good friend.

Holly

[Jane]

I just use dish soap and water. If it's really bad, I add some dishwasher soap or clothes washing soap to the bowl. Use gloves for those, though, they're not meant to be be on your hands and will attack your skin and nails. I have stacks of white washcloths, a scrub brush, a mop, broom, and dustpan. I also have a disposible swiffer type duster that works well. For a big job, I like to have paper towels, too, for the really ucky stuff.
Soap kills lots of germs. Scrubbing kills lots more. Drying the surface afterwards kills most of the rest. TTO and the like gives my dh migraines, so I never get anything with that in it.

[bryannastreasure]

Originally Posted by Lisa Lubner

squalorsurvivors.com has some good cleaning up info.

http://www.squalorsurvivors.com

lots of info there....that reminds me, I need to clean something.
Bryanna