Anyone found any easier cleaning methods/tools to help the energy challenged??

[Nielk]

Yes, I sweep the floor first. I cannot get over how dirty the cloth cover is and how much cleaner the floor is and no fooling around with a mop, no soap or any cleaning solutions, just one cup of water. It took a while to get used to it and to find the easiest way to handle it.

My neighbor has a new one out by Hoover that vacuums first but I think she said there is a cleaning solution to add to it. I like the plain water. The floor feels so clean with bare feet. Who knew, just water.

The person that told me about it had washed her floor the day she bought it and just wanted to try it, you guessed it the floor was still dirty.

I got it at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was the only brand they had and I did not want to go to another store. A woman came runnng up to me to tell me how much she loved it and how well it worked on hardwood floors.

You can get different sized... I guess you would call them heads, there is a triangle shaped one for the bathroom and two other sizes.

Thank you. It sounds good. I'm going to try it.

 

[rydra_wong]

I got it at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was the only brand they had and I did not want to go to another store. A woman came runnng up to me to tell me how much she loved it and how well it worked on hardwood floors.
.

Marg, did you notice if it left puddles? That is the concern with a hardwood floor. My bed bath and beyond has a few shark models. Does yours have a separate tank that wheels along behind you or does it just look like a plug in mop? Thanks - I want to be sure I know which one you are telling me about. It sounds very good though.

I became very interested in these as on an allergy website it said these mops can even improve the quality of air in the house.
Thanks again
Rydra

 

[hurtingallthetimet]

i lay down in between cleaning my house use to be neat and clean and i worked took care of kids went out with friends etc...etc..now i have to lay down between when i do clean and i am embarased that house not as clean as use to be...hubby and kids help alot and i feel guilty to burden them with it but grateful they help....wehn i celan i have to take pain medications to get me through it and im wiped out afterwards..

its funny we all look so normal but if anyone knew the effort it takes to go shopping do siimple things like clean a little maybe they would be more research and understanding

 

[Ocean]

i lay down in between cleaning my house use to be neat and clean and i worked took care of kids went out with friends etc...etc..now i have to lay down between when i do clean and i am embarased that house not as clean as use to be...hubby and kids help alot and i feel guilty to burden them with it but grateful they help....wehn i celan i have to take pain medications to get me through it and im wiped out afterwards..

its funny we all look so normal but if anyone knew the effort it takes to go shopping do siimple things like clean a little maybe they would be more research and understanding

The sad thing is I don't even LOOK normal. I look awful. I'd rather look like before and be sick, than be sick and look like crap as well as look aged about 10-15 years from my actual age :

I think resting between tasks is good like Hurtingallthetimet said. Also when I'm feeling well enough to do any cleaning, my main strategy is to do very little at a time and try to focus on maintenance. So I'll try to wipe the counter really quick before bed so it doesn't accumulate and get really gross. Or I'll clean just one very small part of the kitchen for a few minutes and try to do that every so often till it gets cleaner and cleaner. Then I try to maintain it by having a few routines that I try to do whenever I can, like wiping the counter, straightening up certain areas, things like that.

 

[Dainty]

Some people may find the following a bit gross, but it is not nearly as unhygienic as it sounds...

Pots and pans - re-use. As long as you heat it up really good, and there aren't large bits of food left on it, anything that can hurt you will be killed off. It helps to only have one or two, that way nothing is left unheated for very long. For soups/stews this is especially easy. In fact, I have another tip regarding those - don't use the fridge! I've found I can make myself a large pot of soup and simply leave it on the stove, reheating as needed, and once a day I bring it to a boil to make sure any bacteria is good and killed off. People commonly used this technique before there were refrigerators (hence the childhood rhyme of "peas porridge in the pot 9 days old"). It's quite safe and saves me a lot of energy.

Eating out of the pan, when possible, also makes for fewer dishes to wash.

Another trick I recently stumbled upon is a way that I can now wash my own silverware: I keep a tall dish such as a glass or a measuring cup full of soapy water next to the sink, and simply drop the dirty utensils in there as needed or as I think of it. When I'm ready to use one or have the energy to take care of them all, it's then simply a matter of rinsing them off and I'm good to go. Depending on how dirty the silverware is I need to change the water 2-3 times a week or so. The key is that there's no scrubbing involved, no adding soap, and no bending to retrieve it from a dishwasher.

For spills/breakages, the greatest energy-saving tip I've learned is that it doesn't have to be cleaned up right away. Seriously. Since I don't have others in the house, the fact that there's broken glass all over the floor for days while I await a window of energy to take care of it is no problem to me at all. Contrary to popular belief, broken glass and bare feet is not as concerning a combination as it sounds, since you feel it long before it actually does damage. Beverage spill? Grab the nearest rag/towel/dirty laundry, toss it over the spill, and wait until you have enough energy to deal with it properly....or just wait until the next time you do laundry, by then the problem will have mainly dried up on its own anyway. It helps if you only drink water.

I would prefer to keep my place much better cleaned up, but since my health needs to take priority I focus on keeping it habitable and hygienically safe. I still require a caregiver's assistance with a lot of things regarding cleaning and food, but these tips have helped me live slightly more independantly than I'd otherwise be able to, and that comes with its own sense of satisfaction.

 

[ahimsa]

Contrary to popular belief, broken glass and bare feet is not as concerning a combination as it sounds, since you feel it long before it actually does damage.

Maybe my skin is more tender or thin than most folks? My feet have been cut by broken glass several times. I did not feel the glass sliver before it cut me. Even more common for me is cutting my fingers while trying to pick up the glass. But at least then I notice it, and can put on a bandage, instead of tracking my bloody feet around the house.

I'm not trying to be alarmist! And I do agree with your main point that there's no need to hurry to clean it up, especially since you have no one else in the house. But some folks might have a different experience with broken glass. Please don't assume that you'll feel the glass on your feet long before you get cut.

I haven't broken any glass item recently (fortunately!) but I've learned that the broom will often miss the smallest pieces of broken glass. Now I use a few wet paper towels, crumpled up so that broken glass won't poke through, to wipe up any small slivers missed by a broom. And, yes, it is exhausting to try to clean up something from the floor, whether it's broken glass or anything else.

 

[MDL]

I am looking into getting a vapor steam cleaner -- the reports make them sound like they do all the work for you. Anyone have one they like? Any other time and energy saving tips for cleaning? Thanks!

The hand-held steam cleaners may not be advisable for people with ME/CFS. You can stir up a lot of mold and bacteria with the steam, which is not exactly what you want to inhale. I knew someone who went on a cleaning spree for three days with her new hand-held steamer, then spent two weeks in the hospital with a serious respiratory infection. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but she didn't think so.

 

[Snow Leopard]

Contrary to popular belief, broken glass and bare feet is not as concerning a combination as it sounds, since you feel it long before it actually does damage.

I was going to say that I'd prefer not to feel it at all. But actually, more to the point I'm usually one of those people who thinks 'oh, it's just a scratch' and then noticed they've been dripping blood all over the house for 5-10 minutes. And you know, it really isn't fun cleaning up little drips of blood all over the house. I've had this experience twice, the first time was with carpet (carpet cleaner has no major problems with blood), and after the second time I decided to always vacuum around the area of broken glass just in case.

I do the re-use of pots and strainers thing, depending on what I used it for. But I think leaving soup on the stove is not healthy, you will be selectively breeding bacteria that manages to survive the heat cycling. (I mean there are bacteria out there that have evolved to survive in nuclear fission reactors, so there might be some that manage to survive in your soup!)

Does anyone have an air purifier (and I don't mean an ozonator), do they reduce the frequency by which you have to sweep/vacuum?

Oh and dishwashers are a godsend, even a poor quality one like mine...

 

[No_more_pain]

(I mean there are bacteria out there that have evolved to survive in nuclear fission reactors, so there might be some that manage to survive in your soup!)

What about bacteria that survived in a soup pot that fell into a nuclear fission reactor?

MOVIE IDEA!

I call dibs.

 

[allyann]

Rydra, my brother taught his cat to use the toilet so he doesn't have any kitty litter. Apparently there is a book on training them to do it. Will find out the name and repost

Just found link to instructions: http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-toilet.htm

Apparently you can train a cat to do this no matter how old they are.