I Think it’s Time to Dust

Yep, that’s my dust.

I am a creature of habit; plain and simple. I have a schedule/list for everything, including cleaning. It has its advantages but there is one big disadvantage: my house rarely gets dusted. How, you ask. It’s really quite simple.

I clean on Mondays. I pull the sheets off the beds and while they’re washing, I vacuum the entire house. I then clean the bathrooms, sweep the floors and then mop. And what’s left? Dusting.

Just last Monday, I looked around my house and said this house is gross, I have to clean. What was I referring to that was gross? The dust. Did I start with dusting? Nope, I pulled out the vacuum. And guess what happened? By the time I got the whole house cleaned and was ready to dust, I got sidetracked. Before I knew it, it was Wednesday and then Friday and I finally had a chance to dust. But I didn’t because I thought, it’s almost Monday; might as well wait. And there you have it.

And because I wait so long I can’t dry dust because there’s just too much. I have to use a spray to be able to capture all of those nasty little dust particles. I can’t seem to find the time to dust, but I have time to make my own dusting spray…go figure.

It’s very simple: 2 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice. Combine in a new spray bottle. Don’t forget to label the spray bottle so you know exactly what’s in it when you finally find the time to use it again. Shake well before each use. It doesn’t take very much and I’ve found that it’s much more effective to spray the rag instead of the furniture.

My dusting cloths are also very simple: Mr.’s old t-shirts. It seems his t-shirts multiply and it just so happens that they’re about to jump out of his drawer at the exact same time that I need more dust rags. And since I don’t dust very frequently, the few that I take from his drawer seem to last me quite some time.

When I find the time to dust, my furniture loves it. The olive oil feeds the wood and it looks like new. If all else fails, you have the recipe for a great base for homemade salad dressing.

How It All Began

I remember very clearly exactly when my DIY nature was turned up a notch. Bug was around 8 months old and we had just purchased foam letters and numbers for her to play with in the bathtub. I put her in the bathtub, added a few letters and numbers and showed her how when wet, they stick to the side of the bathtub. Moments later, they were of course no longer on the side of the bathtub, but….yes…IN HER MOUTH.

I know, you’re thinking that’s what babies do, what’s the big deal? My panic attack came from the fact that earlier that day I cleaned the bathroom and bathtub – with chemicals. And I thought to myself, I know I rinsed the tub when I was finished scrubbing, but did I really get all of the chemicals off the surface? Did the foam letters suck up chemical residue and now it’s in her mouth?

I couldn’t stand the thought of even the remote possibility of a trace amount of chemical entering her body, so the foam letters took a backseat until I could clean the bathtub…again. Isn’t that a treat that I have to clean the bathtub of the item that I used to clean the bathtub? What?

My search began for homemade, natural cleaners. I learned that the most basic ingredients are all you need to clean pretty much anything in your house: vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, olive oil. Am I cooking or cleaning? That question brings up an excellent point: If these ingredients are safe enough to put in my recipes, any leftover residue from cleaning is also safe. I was hooked.

My bathroom cleaner now consists of a spray bottle filled with 50/50 vinegar and water. For those of you who don’t know, the smell of vinegar is gone as soon as it dries. And for added kick in the bathtub/shower, I scrub with a Magic Eraser. I will admit that I have not found a recipe for my toilet that I feel does the job, so a store bought, chemical cleaner is employed for that job. And yes, children get to an age when they like to play in the water in the toilet and for that I say…toilet locks and YUCK!!