YEP -- I'M A NEAT FREAK!

I am a self-diagnosed neat freak. I love to clean and I love to organize. (If I could have a container, holder and/or label for EVERYTHING, my life would be complete!) And this is my brand new blog for everything NEAT!
I have a toddler in perpetual motion, a packrat daughter, a dog and a disorganized husband... and I hope to share the challenges, trials, errors, rewards and insights of being a bit "too clean obsessive" in a family that's not so in love with neatness. And I am making a promise to clean, rearrange, organize and simplify my life... and help you along the way! SO stay tuned for my journey toward everything orderly and efficient!



Showing posts with label carpet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carpet. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Day 66: Beware! The Black Light is NOT your friend


My husband really enjoys decorating for Halloween. So, for a few days around October 31, each year, I try my very best to stay calm and ignore the scattered piles of pumpkins, straw, moss, plastic spiders and styrofoam tombstones that take over most of the kitchen and dining room as he prepares his frightful displays!

One of the items he uses for the ghoulish decor is a black light... and if you have ever watched CSI (or a similar show), you know that black lights can be used to see things that aren't visible to the naked eye. Of course, I have no need to search for blood or, uh... other possibly incriminating crime-scene-type fluids... BUT... since we have had two male dogs in our home, we thought it might be a good idea to check for urine.

Not a good idea. NOT good!

Not good if you really want to know how much your furry, 4-footed children might be messing up your seemingly clean home! And NOT good if you want to discover just how deep the layer of dust really is, despite countless hours of swiffering and vacuuming.

*sigh...
I swore I wouldn't do this, but here is the evidence:

SCENE 1: Here is our lovely, striped, sage-green dining room rug in normal light.


And here, you can see me pointing to a lovely urine stain, softly glowing in the black light.


And here is another similar stain under the chair. But I'll spare you from the rest... {shudder} :)

SCENE 2: This is a shot of the baseboard and carpet in our master bedroom, right behind the door, in regular lighting.


And here is that same spot in the black light. Luckily the photo does not do it justice... because it showed a LOT of dust all a-glow along the baseboards and all over the carpet. ICK! (Either that or I spilled a bucket of glitter in my room!)


Looks like I have some cleaning to do....


Now, THAT's neat!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Day 25:Another product fav -- carpet freshener

I forgot to mention the other day when I blogged about vacuuming that I LOVE Glade carpet and room deodorizer. No, the makers of Glade did not pay me to say that. I am offering FREE opinions on all the products I list on my blog! (Why? So maybe you, too, can enjoy some great cleaning products!)

At any rate, I love Glade because it smells SO clean and fresh. I am using the "Clean Linen" scent right now, and it's so amazing! Just sprinkle the powder on the carpet, and let it sit for a while as you tidy up something else. Then vacuum it all up!

Ta-da: a super-fresh-smelling house!

This is definitely a MUST when you have pets. Or, at least, it's a must when you have pets like mine - weirdo dogs who like to rub their food-covered faces and other "random stinky parts" on the floor! EEEW.

And what's also great about the carpet and room deodorizer: you don't have to use it every time you vacuum, and you still get the fresh-smelling benefits! The scent lingers a bit in the vacuum, so whenever you run it around the house, the scent is kind of "reactivated!" That is a great, quick tip (neat freak cheat sheet!) if you don't have time to sprinkle, wait and vacuum.... or if you just don't have any more carpet and room deodorizer on hand!

Now, THAT's neat!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Day 20&21: Vacuuming sucks

We've already established the fact that I am a neat freak. So I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to you that I vacuum once or twice every week. Minimum. Of course, I don't think that vacuuming this much is all that uncommon. (Y'all probably vacuum at least that much. Right?) But, there are some people who ask me why I do it so often.

"The house is so clean!" they say. "Why do you always vacuum so much!"

My husband is one of these people.

But I know my efforts are not in vain. And I wanted to prove it to him... and to you!

So I set up a little experiment:
Here is a "before shot" of the empty vacuum container* where all the dirt, dust and debris is captured so you can dump it out in the trash.


You can see that it's quite empty. I even rinsed it out a bit so I could start out with a completely clean slate.

Then I vacuumed the master bedroom and 2 large area rugs. That's it! (The rest of the main floor is hardwood.)

And THIS is the "after shot," showing what the container looked like when I was done! EEEEWWY!


Remember: I vacuum once or twice every week. Now, the container is not completely full, but it had quite a lump of gunk in it. And this is just 4 or 5 days worth of dirt! Can you imagine what it would look like if I didn't vacuum so regularly!?!? *(((shudder)))*


Now, THAT's neat!



* In case you want to know, I have a Bissell Lift Off Revolution Pet vacuum. I purchased it 1 1/2 years ago from Kohl's.... and I LOVE it!