cleaning with a toothbrush

Ok, so maybe I don't really yell like the woman above, but after my two day deep cleaning spree, I just might start.

I decided over the weekend that my house was filthy. Not just the typical, "Wipe off the counters, sweep and mop the floor, and scrub the toilet" filthy. Like. Really. Filthy. (Or, maybe I'm crazy because Ben didn't seem to be bothered by the mess...). So, I realized I had some extra time on my hands and wrote down a specific, detailed list of what needed to be cleaned. I don't think the house has been deep cleaned...ever...even when we moved in, my mom and I just did a quick wipe down and scrubbing.

Yesterday my goal was the kitchen. Let's just say I got out the toothbrush and got to work! I cleaned out all of the cupboards, including the front. I scrubbed the oven-top, steamed the microwave, and hand-scrubbed the floor...with the toothbrush. My white cupboards have never looked better (despite the little paint chips and scratches). The counters shine. Oh, and I also spent about an hour cleaning the fridge and freezer. (I admit, it'd been a while since I really concentrated on the fridge; it was baaaddd!)

I worked yesterday from about 11 to 6, with my last bit of the project being to take the scissors to our near 5-year-old kitchen rugs and cut off all the fuzzies and stray threads. Seriously. The things looks brand spankin' new! I had been complaining to Ben that we really needed to buy new ones, but we both agree that my brilliant show of domesticity will save us some $$ because we don't need to buy new ones!

As I was snipping the rugs, the power went out, so we decided it was the perfect time to go grocery shopping, a much needed trip. We pretty much ended buying one (or two) of everything in Harmon's...we're so bad at grocery shopping; we go once a month and only when we're really out of EVERYTHING.

When we got home, the power was still off. Argh. We grilled spinach/feta cheese/olive stuffed stake, put together a salad and were about to eat outside when I noticed the power had come back on. What would we do without power!!??

Today was a day dedicated to the bathroom. Being that the room is quite smaller than the kitchen, it only took about 2 hours. Again, the poor bathroom has been neglected (besides a weekly, or so, toilet, tub, and mirror scrub), so I put on my gloves and got out my toothbrush once again. Our tub is disgusting regardless of the amount of cleaning that goes into it. (The previous owners did something to scuff it all up with black stuff and so, thought, let's paint over the tub with acrylic paint so the new owners won't see the black stuff! And now, since everyone knows acrylic paint peels when wet, we have a multi-colored tub with peeling paint. Hot.) With the help of the shower curtain to cover the tub eye-sore, the bathroom looks (and smells) spectacular!

I spent the rest of the afternoon vacuuming the whole house and taking note of the next rooms needing a deep, toothbrush clean. I think I'll focus on my office tomorrow and our bedroom on Thursday. Ben will have to take on the challenge of cleaning his office when he gets some time...it's a scary, dark hole!

It sure feels good to have a sparkley clean house (or, at least two rooms so far). Ben and I have decided that we are going to start a bathroom and spare bedroom remodel this summer and since our neighbor does floors for a living and can get us a really good deal on stone tile, we've already (kind of) picked out the tile we'll use for the whole house.

I'm not saying I'm up for hire to clean people's houses with toothbrushes for a living, but I do recommend it as a great cleaning tool!