So a few things have been bugging me and I thought I'd ask y'all for help.
Note: I am aware that these concerns are {very} superficial. Just work with me.
Number one: I want to convert to digital scrapbooking.
This has been a nagging thought for a couple of years. Even though I'm fairly computer-savvy, the whole-hog conversion is overwhelming to me. But I know a lot of you out there (many of you lurkers, in fact) are digital divas. So...please comment or email and share your favorite websites, magazines, resources, products, printing options, etc. I'd like to start a baby book for our little girl all 2009-digital-style.
Number two: I'm starting to really hate my wood floors.
Nothing can be done about this, except perhaps finding a better way to clean them. On advice from a couple of people, I'm operating under the assumption that hot water is the best/only way to mop. Seriously? After eight months here (woah...has it been that long?) I'm not convinced. Please enlighten me if you know of a great cleaning product or method or how much you pay your maid to do this ugly job.
Number three: Ditto for my granite-tile countertops. And my stainless-steel-ish fridge.
They are pretty, I will say that. But a dish cloth and water just leave them streaky and gross. I'd like to know if there's a way to make them really shine. Notice how I inherited some nice stuff in this house and I don't know what to do with it? Where's my formica and linoleum and metal? I'm a trailer-park girl at heart, I guess.
OK, that's all for now. I could have sworn there was a number four, but, well, you know how my brain works....
pass it on!
12 comments:
Micro-fiber cloths for stainless steel appliances. There are other micro-fiber clothes for mirrors and windows. They work great.
Wood floors- get carpet :)
I use the "method" brand wood cleaner from Target. It says to spray it directly onto the wood and then mop. But I found that too sticky. So I just add a few squirts to a bucket of hot water. My wood floors look and smell cleaner. I don't know what kind of wood floors you have, but hopefully you would have the same results.
I do agree. The wood is starting to annoy me, Especially since Camden started crawling.
Well, I wish I could help you. :) Seeing as my little old entry-level house has none of those upscale things, I wouldn't know what to do with them either! This is why we'll never install granite though - a couple of my friends have it and it's always streaky and spotty!
I hope you get some good advice, because this tidy girl feels your pain.
Goodness I could ditto your #2 and #3! We have hardwoods throughout our entire downstairs and black grantite counters in the kitchen.
My wood floors I've never found anything special. I just use a swiffer mop which is really inefficient. So I'll be interested to hear what people have to say on that bc I hate cleaning them too. The stainless steel appliances we bought cleaner from lowes that you just wipe on with a cloth and it cleans the smears off. Works really well. Obviously they're smudged as soon as somebody touches it again. (so glad we got 'fake' stainless on our fridge so we don't have to deal with the smudged look on that). And finally. With our granite countertops the best thing I've found is right after you clean them, while they're still pretty wet, towel dry them completely dry. I love my counters though so its worth the hassle of towel drying them all the time. Maybe when I have multiple kids running around I won't think they're so cool... :)
I'm no good for the digital scrapbooking idea, and we don't have nearly as much wood as you, but my good friend who does uses that swiffer vacuum and then the swiffer for wood floors mop. It is good for that every few days wash that is needed, then every couple of weeks she does the real deal clean. The granite, don't know, but Method (found at Target and sometimes elsewhere) makes an awesome stainless steel wipe. You just pull it out of the package, wipe down and voila! It works fab on our microwave. Come to think of it, they may make a wipe for granite too. And they don't use harsh chemicals, and I like that with the kids.
I'm not sure how helpful my advice will be, but I have a few things...
First of all, with the digiscrapping, I've just barely started scratching the surface. I think one of the best sites I've seen is TwoPeasinaBucket.com. They have CUTE stuff and even have tutorials and such to help you out. I generally use MS Publisher to do my scrapping, although before we moved, I was just barely starting to experiment with Photoshop Elements. I've still got a LOT to learn there, though.
As far as the wood floors...are they wood laminate or straight hardwoods? If they're a laminate, I'd say use whatever you want on them and it should be fine. (I use white vinegar and hot water.) Otherwise, I suggest Murphy's Wood Oil Soap. You'll have to do a mop with that and then a rinse, but it's supposed to be good for wood.
As far as the stainless steel goes, a little olive oil rubbed into the finish will make it shine. My friend who has all stainless appliances said when they got them, the salesman told them they could either get the special S.S. cleaner or just use the olive oil. I've used the oil on the small S.S. appliances I have and it works beautifully!
And--after majoring in Family Science, these kinds of things don't seem trivial to me at all! :)
http://www.squidproducts.com/
the SQUID MOP! it's the single best thing I've used to clean my WHITE tile floors. I can't even tell you how much I love this thing. IT'S PURE MAGIC!
What used to take me 45-55 minutes and HARD WORK and still left my floor either streaky or with a film, now takes 20 mins TOPS, is effortless and leaves my floors perfect.
buy it now. go. You will NOT regret it. promise!
k, well michelle's mop sounds fab.
i was just gonna tell ya about this time i watched an infomercial [during one of my late night work extravaganzas] featuring the bonakemi hardwood floor mopping system.
it looked amazing. i meant to tell you about it.
http://www.bonakemi.com/shop/products.asp
and yes: i watched the whole infomercial.
and yes: i am a loser. (:
The squid mop looks great. I love hardwood. I like the swifter dry or microfiber for dry cleaning and then for wet I would go with Method. They have amazing product. You can also check out cleaning supply stores like Don Aslett they have more specialized products.
Wipe work fab for stainless still and granite. We have them at Andrews and that's all we use. It's really easy. Good luck. Sometimes you have to buy a few things to find out what works best for your family.
Method wood floor cleaner from target is my favorite. I found a blog that talks about- ithttp://www.livingcrueltyfree.com/2008/11/14/method-wood-for-good-floor-cleaner-45-stars/
There is a stainless steal cleaner that comes in a spray form. I use to work as a janitor in college, and I used that stuff on all the water fountains and fixtures. It smells really good and makes it look like new. I'm sure you can find it in a super store.
As for digi scrapping, I know twopeas has some great stuff. I am a forever paper scrapper, but like to add elements digitally before I print my pictures.
1. digifree.blogspot.com is a Blog that searches thousands of blogs for scrapbook freebies. I have never paid for anything!!! I print 12x12 at Costco for $3. Upload online so you don't have to wait. You have to get photoshop is is amazing. pretty hard to get started, but once you figure it out it is great.
2. I clean my stainless steel sink with "Bar Keepers Friend". I'm not sure how it would work on a fridge though. The application is similar to comet, but it is for stainless steel and shines in up nicely.
3. No wood floors here. Good Luck!
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