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Cleanliness is next to....?

 
 
littlek
 
Reply Mon 24 Oct, 2005 08:18 pm
This doesn't really belong here, but it didn't belong anywhere else......

I would like to get a variety of views on household cleanliness. I have my pet peeves about things and I assume that everyone thinks someone else's pet peeve is totally ridiculous.

My mother is .... hmmm .... not the cleanest person on earth. She is neat (more or less), but she will use sponges and kitchen wipes until they are well beyond stinky. I feel that once they smell bad, they need to be put through the dish or clothes washer. She just scoffs at me. She uses the cutlery to clean under the edges of the sink and stove, the dish sponge to clean the stove and counter tops. I cringe. So does my sister (neither of us are terribly clean and neat people).

I have had a series of young housemates. Most are in their early to mid 20s. They are students who have only just started lving on their own. I was like them once. They do nasty things with the dish sponge, they rinse things that should be washed with soap and water, they wipe the hands they just used to handle egg shells and raw meat on the hand towel, etc.

Again, I cringe.

Am I over-reacting? Is this some OCD showing through? Is it too much to ask that HM#2 not leave the coffee filter in the sink when she's done using it unless she plans on sterilizing it before putting it away?

This year is really a very good year compared to last year. And come the winter semester, Dag will be moving in and will have some serious beefs about my lazy ass. I wouldn't blame her. But, when it comes to the kitchen food prep areas, the toilet and the sinks, I get all anal.

Anyone else? Please.....?
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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 4,703 • Replies: 114
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BlaiseDaley
 
  1  
Reply Mon 24 Oct, 2005 08:25 pm
I think we should start with a very detailed description of what your roommates look like.
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Noddy24
 
  1  
Reply Mon 24 Oct, 2005 08:41 pm
Littlek--

I'm allergic to clutter but I can tolerate a bit of dust. Filth (anything that will provide breeding ground for microbes) repels me.

I am not noted for my housekeeping and women who read less and clean more feel most superior and very sorry for Mr. Noddy.
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Slappy Doo Hoo
 
  1  
Reply Mon 24 Oct, 2005 08:49 pm
I hear you on the sponge. I used to live with a guy that would use the same sponge to wipe down counters that was used to wash dishes. It drove me nuts. The funny thing is, he's by far the most anally clean person I've ever met.

And I hate it when the sponge is sitting in the sink all sopping wet, not rinsed out.

I'm not anally clean either, but I find myself cleaning a lot more now that I own the place.

For finding 3 random roomates, my place is pretty clean though. One's moving to LA so I'm in the process of finding a new roomate. Here we go again.
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littlek
 
  1  
Reply Mon 24 Oct, 2005 10:29 pm
Yes - microbes!!!! Damp spots with food for them to eat just breed nasties.

Slappy - sponge in sink is very nasty.

Our sink is just gross. We have an ancient garbage disposal which the land lord refuses to replace with a normal drain. But, he won't fix it either. So. We have rotting food stuff a few inches below the sink which will occasional (often) back water up into the sink. Running the disposal does little to help matters. I am periodically sticking my hand down there to pull crap out. Everyone always tells me they don't put food down there...... grrr. There should be nothing there but dirty dishes getting clean in a freely draining sink. We have a freekin dishwasher we don't even need to wash dishes in the sink, though I can appreciate the effort.
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Eva
 
  1  
Reply Mon 24 Oct, 2005 10:50 pm
Like Noddy, I am allergic to clutter, too. I'm not the cleanest housekeeper, but I fool a lot of people because my house is always very neat.

I work from home, and visual clutter is too distracting to me.

I use a scrub brush to clean dishes, the sponge is just for sinks and countertops. And I do cringe when hubby leaves the sponge dripping wet in the sink. I don't think I could stand having a garbage disposal that was always full of rotting food like yours, littlek. Doesn't it smell? I always run a little dishwashing soap through the disposal after the food...makes the whole kitchen smell nice.

Lest anyone think I spend much time at this, though...I have a housecleaner who comes in for 4-5 hours every other week. She does floors, bathrooms, changes linens, dusts the high spots, and cleans whatever bothers her. Sometimes it's baseboards, sometimes it's moving the refrigerator and cleaning under it. Frankly, she notices things before I do. I have back problems and cannot lift more than 10-15 lbs. or do a lot of stooping and bending, so she is a Godsend.
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BlaiseDaley
 
  1  
Reply Mon 24 Oct, 2005 11:13 pm
I had the problem of folks who were otherwise very clean, blanching at the thought of putting the sponge in the dishwasher for a good cleaning; the argument that it was nasty and would make the rest of the dishes nasty as well. Even though they recognized the sponge was nasty they would still continue to use it.

I know it's wasteful, but I've taken to using papertowels. I'll use them to wipe the counter top and then do quick wipe up of the floor.

Littlek, have you tried plunging the kitchen sink?
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jespah
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 04:33 am
I definitely don't like clutter. I'm less concerned with dust although the less dust, the less I sneeze. I'd like for the place to be cleaner but when we are both working crazy hours (as has been the case for a month or so now), things just go to pot. Argh, I need to get out a mop and stuff.
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djjd62
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 05:28 am
i try to be a generally clean persom, but i am clutter personified
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Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 05:37 am
One would never confuse me with Martha Stewart. Although I have never gotten a threatening letter from the health department, I am expecting one any day now! Laughing

Seriously though, I would characterize myself as a "casual" housekeeper. The house is clean enough, and neat, but I would never pass the "white glove" test.

I do clean off the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher, with a kitchen sponge that I also use to clean the counters. But the dishes are going to get washed anyway, so that does not really matter.

My husband accuses me of leaving wet sponges in the sink, but I consider that a minor infraction.
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squinney
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 05:44 am
For years I wouldn't even buy a sponge. Just used dish cloths that could be run through with the whites and bleached.

Then, with my new flat top stove I had to have one of those soft scrubby kinda sponges. Tried to keep it hidden so it only got used on the stove top, but it got found. Now it gets used on dishes.

Bear ran it through the dishwasher a couple of weeks ago. I was looking for it and he told me he had run it through. YIKES! GROSS!

He says it was filthy and thats how sponges get washed. I say, no, it gets put in the sink with a 1 to 1 ratio of water and bleach.

I'm not a super freak kinda clean / neat person, but I like the house to look and smell clean. Biggest peeve would have to be between nasty toilets and hair on the floor. I shed like crazy and can't stand having hair all over the bathroom when I finish blow drying it.
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 06:39 am
http://www.thehomemarketplace.com/images/us/local/products/detail/p104328b.jpg

simple and effective. some have suction cups. keeps a sponge dry so it doesn't rot as quickly.

lk, we can get a new garbage disposal and install it ourselves when i come back -well, depending on whether they sell the apt, when, and to whom... if you buy it, or i, or us, or some combination thereof, there will be a lot more work ahead - floors, windows, paneling in the kitchen... (hoooooooray!!!! i can't wait! i can't wait!)
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Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 06:43 am
dagmaraka- Won't that gadget rust, or is it stainless steel? Where can you get it?
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Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 06:48 am
Boy, I learn something new every day. I had never heard of those gizmos. At my state of life, I already have so many kitchen gadgets that I never go to one of those kitchen stores to look around.
I found the one that you have Dag, as well as some plastic ones.

http://www.chefsresource.com/sponge-holder.html
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 06:50 am
we got something similar at home depot or cvs-i forget. also through amazon.com or cvs.com. it's handy, i swear by that thing. makes all the difference and you can suction it on the side of your sink. nothing worse than sponges run amock, scattered all over everywhere around sink, wet, rotting. i should be paid for advertising these i think.
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DrewDad
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 06:56 am
OK, I give up. What's so wrong with using the same sponge on both dishes and counter tops?

And who uses sponges on dishes, anyway? I thought that's what dishwashers were for.
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Bella Dea
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 07:15 am
Sponge holder or no sponge holder that little sucker is a breeding ground for nasty little critters. I microwave my sponge each time before use. Cuts life down but at least I know there aren't any creatures being rubbed over my clean dishes.

DD, pots and pans sometimes need to be hand washed, my Kitchen Aid stuff needs to be hand washed...there are some things that I don't like to put in the dishwasher.
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Ticomaya
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 07:58 am
DrewDad wrote:
OK, I give up. What's so wrong with using the same sponge on both dishes and counter tops?


This has me baffled as well. Usually what I'm scrubbing off the counter is the same gunk that's stuck to the plates. (And after scrubbing a bit, the plates go into the dishwasher.)

And I agree with Squinney: when it's time to clean the sponge, water & bleach is the solution. I use bleach water a lot when cleaning.
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sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 08:03 am
WAITaminute...! What's this about Dag and littlek BUYING the place...!?? Holy moly!
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Chai
 
  1  
Reply Tue 25 Oct, 2005 09:00 am
I run the sponges through the dishwasher on a regular basis. The heat of the dishwasher kills the germs.

As far as wiping down the counter, I use the sponges if it's just getting up some dripped coffee or after using the cutting board to cut vegetables and fruit, just to get the juice up...But when I do anything with meat of any type that's raw, I make sure it is done totally away from anything else, and use those disinfecting wipes on the counter top. That cutting board goes immediately in the dishwasher.

I use a separate sponge for scouring the sinks in the kitchen, and after cleaning it, the sinks get a good splash of bleach to disinfect and whiten the enamel.

One thing I cannot stand is a dirty rug, yuck.

I have my own steam cleaner, well worth the investment.

Bathrooms? I have totally switched over to those disposible toilet brushes, and the disposible thingies to clean the bathtub, etc.

If it's been cleaning the bathroom, I don't want it kept anywhere in the house. gross, gross, gross.

funny though, I don't see myself as a particularly good housekeeper.
For months and months everything get a coating of drywall dust every day. This remodel will never end....It has taught me to give up on dusting for awhile, since it'll just be back the next day.

lillek, NO WAY are you exhibiting any signs of OCD.
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