Honestly? Magic Eraser. I’m not kidding. Crayon on the wall is one of its stated intended purposes.
Yesterday, in unfucking my art table and surrounding area, I discovered something Not Good. It seems we have some carpet beetles who decided to take up residence. Further research has revealed that the wee little flutterby things I’ve seen off and on over the last couple of years are not baby Miller moths, either, but clothes moths.
(Obviously, if you’re squicky about this sort of thing, DON’T CLICK THE DAMN LINKS.)
I’m … pretty upset about this. It’s not a huge infestation, and I think it’s pretty much confined to the bedroom, but reading that they live on dust and hair and whatnot makes me feel like I’ve been living in filth.
Neither of us are good housekeepers, but both Best Beloved and I own our own businesses, and it’s been tough. I haven’t had a schedule that has included a regular weekend for something like 7 years. We’ve also had our own farm (somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 animals last year!), so a lot of time and energy has gone into that; when you are responsible for animals like that, you have to take care of them Right Then, because otherwise Bad Things happen.
We are finally at the point where we have the time and money to be able to start turning a little attention towards our domicile, and what happens? Toxic mold in the basement (and likely the garage), and bugs in the bedroom.
Current plan? Hooray for large chest freezers, ‘cause a lot of our stuff is going to have to go in there. A Rug Doctor is going to wind up in our possession (*sigh* they’re great, but not cheap), and a massive unfucking of the bedroom is going to have to happen. I don’t know if this is 20/10-able, either; it’s going to be looooong few days of slogging, and all I want to do right now is curl up and hide.
I took most of today off to do other work, Business-related Stuff. In fact, it’s a quarter to 5 and I haven’t gotten out of bed all day except to pee. However, Best Beloved and I are going to head down to the local bar for a couple drinks (after I make the bed!) and to do the crossword puzzle; when we get back, we’ll breed the rabbits and then I’ll do a little unfucking.
*sigh* A few words of encouragement would not be unappreciated at this point.
You can do this. It sucks, and it’ll be a pain in the ass, but it’s doable. As you will prove when you do it. We’re all rooting for you.
Static dusters! I use Swiffer cloths to dust, generally. Also, keep in mind that if you’re using a rag, a little furniture cleaner or something else damp-ish will help the dust particles adhere to the cloth.
Oh, and vacuum. Always vacuum (or mop) after you dust so it doesn’t all settle on your floors.
I’d almost be willing to suggest buying something to lay on top of it after you’ve cleaned/sanitized it. Whether it’s a piece of wood you can use as a surface or something like that.
Yeah, my second thought was a butcher block surface or something similar to put on top. In my many many years of sketchy rentals (which are, thankfully, behind me), this is one of the only things I’ve never encountered.
I’m having a really hard time picturing this. First things first, though, I’s probably want to sanitize the shit out of it, so a good wipedown with a bleach solution (dilute it well, please!) would be where I’d start. Can you take a picture or find a link of something comparable?
I was gonna write a rant on how the way my shifts work is to blame for my tip of a home, but EXCUSES ARE LAME! I employed the time honoured 20/10s way of cleaning and here is some photographic proof that UFYH needs to be paid more. Or paid.
So here’s my room before the great untrucking (swears aren’t my thing). Excuse the crappy phone photos.
The bed is bare because I’d taken off the sheets to change them. I decided to tackle the floordrobe first, though.
Taking regular breaks to yell at my husband about how we should use this newfangled device I found called a ‘wardrobe’ (in the corner of our room, who knew there was a place for clothes to go?), I managed to turn our chaos into this.
Not the best photos, but note the made bed, the no-clothes-where-they-shouldn’t-be, and how cute my cat is. Don’t note the messy bookshelves. They’re next on my list to untruck.
Thanks, Team UfYH. I kid a lot, but I’m seriously lazy and seeing your messages on my dash reminds me to get off my butt and not live in a filthhole.
Go one piece of gobbledygook at a time and either find a home for it or get rid of it.
Totally read this as Panty Raid and I got all excited about organizing my underwear and then I read about the food stuff and then I was like…oh.
I for real read that as panty raid and was totally confused.
I thought this said panty raid.
I have a 90-year-old’s love of puns, OK?
It’s pantry time, people! How many old boxes of crackers, half-eaten bags of chips of questionable origin, and bits and pieces from gift baskets of years past are kicking around in your cabinets and cupboards? Time to weed through. Grab a trash bag, and give me 20 minutes on, followed by a ten minute break. Repeat until only unexpired, still-edible food remains.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? DON’T ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME. GO. DO IT NOW.
RIGHT FUCKING NOW.
Throw away anything expired or gross (pay special attention to condiments), wipe down all shelves and surfaces (hot water and vinegar works well and is safe to use around food), take out the crisper drawers, wash them out and wipe underneath, clean out all the little egg holder divot things and bumpy door shelves, and generally de-crud the thing. Put everything back in, using some kind of system that makes some sort of sense.
So I have been dealing with things the past 6 months or so that have left me as a less than wonderful housekeeper. The reasons don’t matter, but the result is that parts of my apartment are just… nasty. There’s no other word for it. I keep the living room pretty clean because I have friends that drop by on occasion but the kitchen, my bedroom and the bathroom counter are just…. bad.
And yesterday I decided to start doing something about it. I am embarassed and a little ashamed to post these pics, but I hope that if I do — One, it will keep me motivated and honest about making a change, and Two, maybe someone on my dash will see them and seeing them will lessen their own shame/embarassment that might be keeping them in statis like I was.
Anyways, the first area I decided to attack was my bathroom counter because it taunts me every time I go in there. I can’t stand a dirty tub or toilet, it’s just a thing with me, so really other than picking up some clothes off the floor and taking the trash out, the counter was my biggest nemesis. I can say with absolute certainty that the last time I cleaned it was in Ocotober of last year right before I had a friend come for an extended visit. Yeah, I know, trust me, I know.
Here is the before *cringes*
The mess in the upper right is a huge pile of makeup, jewelry and whatever crap I had in my hands and decided to put there “for just a minute.”
I did one 20/10 yesterday and then got called away, so I finished up today with another 20/10 and this is the result:
Most of the mail/receipts/movie tickets/random paper crap that had accumulated got thrown away, whatever I needed to keep was filed or put with the other bills to pay on my computer desk. The random hairspray/Tend Skin/Tums were all returned to their appropriate places and I scrubbed down the counter and sink and wiped up all the tiny hairs from the last time I trimmed my bangs.
I hit Walmart last night for some supplies and grabbed a “train” set organizer which was 3 smaller bags inside a larger clear plastic train style makeup case. The rectangular animal print bag on the right now holds the make up and brushes I use every day.
The brushes you see on the sink in the overall shot were washed and are drying out, and when they are dry will go back into the brush bag which tucks nicely in with the makeup. The rest of my makeup (mostly more eyeshadows, glitters, colored mascara, and lipsticks than I probably need) is in the clear plastic train case and stored in the cabinet under the sink so I can get to it instantly if I want/need more dramatic makeup.
The jumble of jewelry got untangled and sorted into the remaining two bags from the set, and I put all my earrings in a clear zipped bag so I can easily see and grab what I need. I might look into a proper earring tree or case later, but for now this works for me. The two animal print bags hold my bracelets (yes, both bags… apparently I have a bracelet thing) and the velvet bag against the wall holds my rings.
I took out the garbage (one large bag) and Swiffered the hair up off the floor, the dirty clothes and the towels are currently in the washing machine. And I can’t even tell you how much I feel just having cleaned off a counter. I know it’s going to be a long process, but if I can break it down like this? I think I just might make it.
So yeah, thank you UFYH!
Even if you’re getting right back into it!
