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

[rydra_wong]

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!

 

[Mya Symons]

Yep, lots of paper plates and plastic cups. Sorry environment, but I am too tired to wash dishes I also keep a lot of those disposable bacteria wipes around and I like the swifter mops because they are light and easy to use. Somebody, I can't remember who, makes unscented laundry squares. They look like dryer sheets but are detergent and fabric softener in one. They are good to use when you can't life a laundry detergent bottle. I also have a self cleaning kitty potty and a husband that does stuff.

 

[rydra_wong]

Oh! I discovered the paper plates thing a long time ago. I do cat rescue and use all paper plates...my friends think I am terribly lazy but I would not be able to do cat rescue were it not for the paper plates! Thanks

 

[alex3619]

Soak stuff. Water is a broad solvent, especially hot water. If you use a water spray gun, or a commercial cleaner (if tolerated), or vinegar and baking soda, put it on what you want to clean and go and have a rest, or do something else. Come back later to clean.

Dishes are the same. Soak. Replace water later then wash the dishes. Its much much easier.

I have a professional cleaner that does some of it now, but the first thing she does is spray the shower bay and any stains etc, and comes back to clean it in a while.

Don't be in a hurry. Allow water or whatever you are using to do its job first, then clean.

I have wanted to get a portable steam gun. I am also interested in knowing how useful they are for anyone who has tried it.

Bye
Alex

 

[ballard]

To clean the kitchen floor, soak a towel in hot water, wring it out and then drag it with your foot around the floor. Toss the towel in the washing machine when finished.

 

[alex3619]

To clean the kitchen floor, soak a towel in hot water, wring it out and then drag it with your foot around the floor. Toss the towel in the washing machine when finished.

Hi Ballard, I often do a variant of this for tough stains - I put a scrubber under foot and use my leg muscles, not my arm muscles, plus gravity. Do hang on to something stable while doing this though. Bye, Alex

 

[Athene]

Those steam cleaner things are very good at cleaning, but my arms get too tired to hold the thing up long enough. You can't whiz them over things like the vacuum cleaner, you have to work slowly over the surface of stuff.

I keep packs of baby wipes everywhere, you can clean literally anything with them. They remove stains from sofas, hardened grime from plates, they descale taps, they scoop up dust without letting it fly, clean any spill off any floor surface, get the grime ring out of the bath, and at then end of your hard work you can refresh your face with one and even wipe your bum with it afterwards. (People with SIBO will find that very beneficial.)
You can attach them to those fantastic Swiffer gadgets to clean more thoroughly than dry dusting.
They'll clean the whole loo and toilet area and then can be flushed away.
I keep a pack in my handbag and I don't remember how I survived without them. Since I have twitching problems it's not unusual for me to throw drinks or food down myself and they have prevented many an embarrassing clothing stain!
In public loos where there's no paper...
You can use them as make-up removers as well.
The only thing I don't recommend is blowing your nose on them. That doesn't feel very nice.

The brand to use if you have chemical problems is "Pampers Sensitive" which has almost no smell. I am allergic or intolerant to almost every type of cleaning product in existence, and these are fine for me.

 

[rydra_wong]

Thanks! I will especially try the baby wipes on the Swiffer. The women in my family, father's side, had horribly messy houses due to always too tired to keep up but they always blamed it on diabetes. The only ones left with this problem are my father and me. He is diabetic and also blames diabetes but I told him I know many diabetics who are not energy-challenged. He cracks me up because he says things like "the problem is horizontal surfaces -- if there were no tables there would be no mess". I have to retort - "the floor is a horizontal surface and if it weren't for a table that is where your apply cores would go!" Floors are my worst problem because it always seems like you have to move so many frickin things to clean them. If I can solve floors I am good. But I have hardwood floors so letting water do the work won't work. The vapor steam cleaners use steam with only 5% moisture so I'm thinking they are a good bet. But I am having trouble picking one because the manufacturers don't want to gove out all their technical specs and instead advertise "what a great job they do" and what cleaning tools they have. I want to know how hot they get (tip temperature), how many jets they have, how much moisture is in the steam, stuff like that...

 

[Min]

I have a big polti steam cleaner but it's awkward & I lack the strength in my hand to hold the handle down to use it - a smaller one would be good

you could use a rechargeable electric floor sweeper instead of a vacuum cleaner

& use a floor mop with disposable pads and spray cleaner in a bottle

& use a waxed duster or disposable wipes to dust

& disinfectant wipes on the toilet

I used to have a brilliant Vax rechargeable electric scrubbing brush for the bath but can't find them in the shops here any more

& leather wipes

 

[SOC]

IMO, the steam cleaner is too much to womanhandle around -- and I have a small one. When I had a baby or toddler with dust allergies crawling around on the floor, it was worth using the steam cleaner, but I didn't have ME (or had very mild ME, maybe) then.

Nowadays I use all kinds of disposable cleaning supplies I would never have used when I was well. I have all hardwood floors, too. I use a Swiffer Wet Jet with hardwood floor cleaner in the dispenser. http://www.swiffer.com/products/swiffer-wetjet-mopping-system In the kitchen and bathrooms I use the Swiffer with wet cloths so I don't have to change out the solution bottle in the Wet Jet.

I use Clorox disposable disinfecting wipes for all kinds of cleaning. I keep a container in most rooms so I can grab and wipe in only a few seconds since I have no endurance to clean for extended periods of time. I also use the Clorox toilet wand for bowl cleaning so I don't have to lug any heavy containers of cleaners.

Another side benefit of the disposable systems is that it's easier to get some help with cleaning if you can just hand someone the cloth or Swiffer and say, "Please Swiffer the front hall" or "Please wipe down the stove". It's a very short job and looks easy, so people are more willing to help out.

I also try not to get my hands below my knees or over my shoulders when cleaning. Waving arms around is a sure-fire way to use up energy quickly.

 

[u&iraok]

For stuck-on junk in pans, put water in the pan and put back on the stove and heat it up. The stuck-on stuff will loosen and wha-la, no scrubbing required.

 

[Undisclosed]

I bought one of the steam cleaners for floors thinking it would be easier than mopping with a regular mop. I actually found it harder to use due to more resistance than a regular mop. It did seem to clean better though. It broke so I am back to regular mopping.

There have been some excellent suggestions here for general cleaning, many of which I plan to try. If only I could get the dog to clean up her own hair and our cat to clean up his own hairballs.

Kina.

 

[Athene]

The steam cleaner reminded me of my sister's cleaning solution when she was really ill with her hypothyroid, before getting diagnosed.

She was being pestered by a salesman trying to give her a demo of a wet-and-dry vacuum cleaning system. She invited him in and got him to demonstrate its cleaning properties on every kind of surface she owned, took him round the house showing him every stain she had..... she kept him there for 2 hours till he had cleaned her entire house!!!!!
After this she invited sales reps for all kinds of cleaning gadgets over whenever the place got grubby!

 

[Mya Symons]

The other day I was at Walmart and was looking at the "As Seen On TV" section. They now make mop slippers. You dip them in mop water and shuffle around the floor. They say they stay dry on the inside. They look kind of fun.

 

[rydra_wong]

I bought one of the steam cleaners for floors thinking it would be easier than mopping with a regular mop. I actually found it harder to use due to more resistance than a regular mop. It did seem to clean better though. It broke so I am back to regular mopping.

There have been some excellent suggestions here for general cleaning, many of which I plan to try. If only I could get the dog to clean up her own hair and our cat to clean up his own hairballs.
Kina.

Ha! Forget the hairballs - how about getting them to clean up when they miss the litter box or decide they absolutely have to puke that second and they happen to be in bed with you!

(Although I have friends who say you put the litter pan next to a wall and you put a for sale sign in the kitty litter and lean it against the wall and the misses will slide down the sign into the litter).

 

[rydra_wong]

About the cleaning salesman,

That is too funny! (Except that I would not be able to not buy the thing after that...so it wouldn't work for me).

I think I said above that if I solved the floors I am good. But since then I stubbed my toe on an uncompleted project and realised I was just houseblind. Don't you hate that every time you think to buy a labor-saving device you end up with a put-it-together project? Last one I bought was a shelf unit-- it should on;y take a little time to put together but somehow it is still not done a month later. Arghghgh! I am trying to build cat shelters for the homeless kitties so I have to put aside other stuff...I have to concentrate on one thing at a time or nothing ever gets done.

 

[Marg]

Hi,

I love the steam mop I bought a few months ago. I can do the kitchen floor with one cup of plain water, it is porcelain tile. The brand name I have is Shark. You just removed the cloth cover and throw it in the washing machine.

 

[Nielk]

Hi,

I love the steam mop I bought a few months ago. I can do the kitchen floor with one cup of plain water, it is porcelain tile. The brand name I have is Shark. You just removed the cloth cover and throw it in the washing machine.

Do you have to first sweep the floor before you use it?

 

[Marg]

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.

 

[Athene]

Has anyone tried one of those vacuum cleaners that sort of graze around the room cleaning as they go?
(like Roomba, or I think there are other brands.)
I saw them in our local electronics shop and I'm quite curious.