I Hope I'm Not Going To Regret This!

PayPeanuts_2

MightI suggest some loud house music and a bottle of vodka. Always helps me with the housework :-)

ceridwen

hmmmm......vacuum with hosepipe....now theres a thought. Didnt think to ask what he has in way of vacuum cleaner....

One of my first requests was what he has in way of radio - for music. The booze element - better stay upright whilst doing this....lager is already chilling nicely in my fridge as my reward for afterwards.

llamahead

Is there by any chance a dishwasher in the yukky kitchen? If there is, put the shelves in the dishwasher, run the cycle and then get them out whilst they are still hot, run a 'scratchy pad' over them and most of the grease should come off.

This is what I do with mine but I'm ashamed to say I have Mr Muscle soaking the rest whilst the dishwasher is on , the whole thing is done in about and hour and a half, whilst all that is going on, wash out the fridge with bicarb. Then the rest of the kitchen is top to bottom.

Aah so many years of marching out of army quarters..:rotfl:

Good luck and May The Force of MSE be with you..

janb5

ceridwen wrote: »

Thanks for that - next question - where does one get ammonia please? Is that from Boots as well?

Try hardware stores, Some supermarkets or Boots. HTH

ceridwen

Right...been out stocking-up with supplies today. Well...it rather gives me the "boot-on" to get with it in my transitioning over from conventional cleaning materials to eco-friendly (and hopefully cheaper) ones.

I've been taking on board all the comments to date - thanks gals (and guys - not to be sexist!). So - having been reminded of Kim and Aggie - that was me thinking "good point - did watch a couple of their tv programmes - and could be a useful mindset to have" and went and bought one of their books. Then headed for Lakeland to suss out stocks and emerged with rubber gloves with foldback cuffs (so I can wear my top with my rubber gloves without getting water running down my sleeves - crikey! they are twice the price of my standard ones I get - but then better remember it wouldnt be good idea to do the cleaning in my normal fashion - ie top off and just my standard black lacy bra on - which is my usual way of doing the washing-up).

Then headed for the cleaning materials with a list in hand of the undesirable ingredients (as according to LILI website - ie the Low Impact Living Initiative website). So - theres me looking out for:

Chlorine (yep - I KNOW they stick it in our water supply - but it AINT a good idea)
Ethylene/ethyl
Butyl/alkyl
Phenol
Formaldehyde
Benzene

According to LILI all these ingredients are bad for me or the environment or both. Encountered slight problem straight off - there doesnt seem to be a law compelling manufacturers to list all ingredients on cleaning materials - so twas a little bit "by guess and by golly". Lakelands catalogue stated Astonish is eco-friendly for cleaning (amongst other things) cookers (his - gas) and Cerapol ditto for cookers (ceramic top - mine) and I found Barkeepers Friend there (as in MSE-recommended) - it doesnt state either way, so I bought it, with a promise that I could take it back for a refund if I looked it up on their website and didnt like the look of ingredients.

So - that was £20 lighter of pocket later. And then I went into supermarket on way home and emerged with cooking salt/bottled lemon juice and some more white vinegar - havent dared to add that into total yet.

But I guess I must expect a bit of added expense in the transition period over to natural cleaners and that £10 book is an "investment buy" for my MSE section on my bookshelves.:D

purpleivy

I invested in a load of stuff, running the rest down. I now have loads of microfibre cloths, which have been so useful. I'm interested in the putting oven shelves in the dishwasher thing, I don't mind cleaning the oven, but hate doing the shelves. Same with the racky things off the gas hob.

ceridwen

Yep - I've got a couple of microfibre cloths lined up for when the "transition" is over. I've just got as far at the moment with them as using one for cleaning glasses. I recall that was one of the things a friend had for cleaning with in her house (amongst a whole cupboard full of all sorts) and my incredulity that a cloth could clean with nothing on it. I just used it for cleaning the mirrors in her house.

(yep - that IS a second friend I have been cleaning for if anyone is counting. In her case - she couldnt do much as she has M.S. So - honestly folks - that is why I keep stating I'm not doing this because of some "halo round my head" - I'm "paying my way" so to say - doing a bit of skills bartering - and I just happen to make friends with some of the people concerned in the process. Hence why I am putting myself out now - and spending my own money for the friend with the kitchen - because he has ALWAYS been there for me any time I have called on his services - so I am paying him back directly this time.)

lynzpower

After a tip on here i cleaned my oven shelves and they were baked black in a bin liner with ammonia ( from boots) dont breath it in ! but very good.

Tiles, I scrubbed them down with salt and half a citrus - graprefruits were cheap on the market that weeek so thats what IU got, slice in half dunk in salt and use as a scourer. I saw this on Kim & aggie once and its brilliant for manky tiles.

ceridwen

PHEW!!! Well - that was just 1030 - 5pm (with only 20 minutes of breaks) later in my friends kitchen. I did my best to "fly the flag" for O.S. style housework - but afraid I have only gained a "silver star" - not a "gold one". It looks a 1000% better than it did - but I feel like I barely dented the surface so to say.

I threw the cooker bits in the bath to soak to start as per everyones instructions and started at the ceiling level and worked down (ditto). I went in with quite an arsenal of cleaners (conventional and the eco ones I am swopping to) and its a heck of a lot better than it was - but even what was left of professional strength degreaser I bought years ago didnt deal totally with the layers of grease in the vicinity of the cooker.

So - I've done the best I can (including washing the floor twice) and the walltiles are gleaming and (mea culpa) I just "belted" the one spider I saw scuttling hurriedly for it (respect for sentient beings - yes I know - whoops!). A stray lodger looked nervously over the banister at me - ventured briefly into the kitchen to get some food and then vanished for the duration (the phrase "discretion is the better part of valour" was probably going through her mind methinks!).

So - points of note for anyone else tackling such a major task in future:

1. It took me 6 and a half hours to just do the very basics - never mind the cooker/inside of microwave/inside of cupboards/fridge.

2. Perhaps I should have offered after (not before) buying a steam cleaner (as I gather they make short work of grease).

3. Wearing a pair of Crocs (ie rubber type) footwear on feet was a good idea.

4. Check out suitable clothing to wear beforehand - I went to the "relegated to cleaning purposes" clothing stuff in the t'other wardrobe I have and found that a few of the items had acquired a bit of mould growth on them (damn - I've now got to look up removing mould from washable clothes) and the 2 pairs of jeans I keep there as they are too big for me (positively "swim" on me) - so I thought I would wear one of them for comfort dont "swim" on me at the moment - in fact they fitted me again. D.......n!!!! OH NO! I've got to go on a diet - AGAIN! D....n! <stamp feet - not fair - not fair - I eat such a healthy diet and very rarely have anything sweet. Must be the 2 small glasses of wine 2 or 3 times per week with dinner. Better go teetotal at some point!>

So - had a much-needed shower and a cool can of lager (one - not two - in view of that diet I find I need again!) and early night for me.

Thanks again all for helpful comments.

mary43

Well done ceridwen :beer:

All that time cleaning...............and I thought I'd done well shifting my boxes and bags out running the hoover round and flicking the duster................and thats just downstairs.................upstairs is currently an embarassment