Cleaning Beyond the Basics Week 5: Coffee Pot Vinegar Cleaning

It's not very exiting to look at, but I wanted to be sure to do a vinegar rinse on my coffee pot. It seems like something that should be done on occasion, and we've been using this coffee pot daily for nearly 2 years so it seemed like it was time. (We do wash the pot, pot lid, filter basket, basket lid, and filter holder daily.)

I removed the coffee grounds from the filter basket, added 5 cups of cold water and 5 cups of vinegar, and brewed a pot of vinegar water. (It smelled lovely.) The vinegar-water was definitely a light shade of brown when I poured it out.

I drained the pot and 'brewed' two additional pots of plain water to 'rinse' the vinegar out of the machine. Honestly? I hope I don't notice any difference to the taste of the coffee!

Time Investment: 20 Minutes--minimal hands-on time just to refill the pot to rinse.
Materials: vinegar and water
Payoff: hopefully a longer-lasting coffee maker?

 So far I've washed a door, cleaned ice cream out of a utensil drawer, cleaned my dishwasher gasket, and found a computer screen cleaner. Up next...

Cleaning Beyond the Basics Week 4: Computer Screens

I'm back to Cleaning Beyond the Basics after several life interruptions...

I'm always nervous about cleaning our computer screens. As a result they are really gross! The worst is when I need someone else to use my computer. I feel so bad that it is so yucky.

I have a microfiber cloth that came with a laptop computer, but a) it's filthy and b) it doesn't seem to do much more than dust the top layer of 'uck' off the screen. (I threw it in the washing machine so that it will be more effective for future dusting--note that I don't recommend using fabric softener on it so that it will continue to pick up dust fibers!) It works fine for the rest of the computer, though.

It's difficult to see, but trust me, this screen is covered with gunk. Why I do not know, I don't often eat at the computer. The gunk just builds up!

I recently bought an economy size pack of lens cleaning cloths, which were supposed to be for my perpetually dirty glasses and smart phone--I am a very oily person and need to clean my phone basically every time I use it as a phone. :(

I noticed that the picture includes laptops, so I went ahead and tried them out on the screen. They cleaned the screen safely, and it only took 6 of them to scrape off all the layers! I then repeated the process with two other cloudy household screens. It took a bit of elbow grease, but now you can actually see what's on the screen! Or in the case of this photo, what is reflected in the screen. :)

I'm stowing a few packets of cleaning wipes in my office, purse, and computer bag so that I can keep up with the gunk a little better in the future.

Time Investment: 20 Minutes--lots of rubbing involved to de-gunk the screens
Materials: magic disposable lens cleaning cloths
Payoff: Immediate: I can share my devices with others and not gross people out!

 So far I've washed a door, cleaned ice cream out of a utensil drawer, cleaned my dishwasher gasket, and found a computer screen cleaner. Up next...

Cleaning Beyond the Basics Week 3: The Dishwasher Gasket

The repairman told me that you are supposed to periodically clean your dishwasher gasket to keep your machine running in top condition--that's the seal at the door opening. Who knew?

Ours is gross again.

 

 I scrub mine with baking soda, a scrubber, and a grout brush. Where does all this gunk come from, and how does it get stuck in the gasket?

I guess it gets built up after a few years... which is how long it's been since I last cleaned the thing. It was really bad...

After I used this towel as a drop cloth, I used it to wipe away all the slimy muck. There was a lot.

Time Investment: Less than 10 Minutes
Materials: Grout Brush, scrubber, baking soda, cleaning cloth
Payoff: Maybe? If the dishes aren't noticeably cleaner (we'll see) maybe it will prevent leaking or gasket wear or something?

No one will ever notice except me and the dishwasher repairman, but it's now clean!

So far I've washed a door, cleaned ice cream out of a utensil drawer, and cleaned my dishwasher gasket. Up next...

Cleaning Beyond the Basics Week 2: Utensil Drawer Vacuuming

Sometimes I open a utensil drawer in the kitchen and wonder... what happened here?

According to my Mom CSI skills, this scene is the result of opening the drawer to get the ice cream scoop, and scooping the ice cream over the open drawer... ? How is that even possible?

In any case, I needed to vacuum the crumbs out of the drawer. I guess it gets left open quite a bit despite having that wonderful whisper close mechanism. I'm the only one using it I guess.

And while I'm here I could remove the utensils that I NEVER use. And the ones the belong in another drawer.

Allowing kids to try things independently doesn't always work out the way it would if an adult had handled the task! But it's much better now.

Time Investment: about 15 minutes
Materials: Vacuum, Scrubber, Dish Soap, Sponge
Payoff: Immediate! (But perhaps temporary?)

So far I've washed a door, and cleaned ice cream our of a utensil drawer. Up next...

Cleaning Beyond the Basics Week 1: Grimy Door Handles

Obviously there are household occupants who prefer to close the door to the garage using the door jamb rather than the door knob. Ask me how I know.

In our defense, my husband maintains and repairs his own bicycle, and there isn't a way to wash your hands in the garage.

 You know it's a serious situation when the Magic Eraser comes away like this...

And then the cleaning wipe you subsequently use (to remove the dirty water) looks like this:

But finally your door looks reasonably clean again. (I should mention that it is a painted metal door, YMMV when cleaning a different surface door.)

Time Investment: Minimal--less than 5 minutes
Materials: Magic Eraser with water, cleaning wipe
Payoff: Immediate!

Would I be going overboard to try and train my family to use the doorknob?

Cleaning Beyond the Basics: A 12-Week Series

Very tempting...

It never seems to end... the dirty floors, the dirty sinks, the dust... it takes our entire family plus a monthly cleaning crew to keep our 2,000 square foot house tolerable, and I feel like we cut corners all the time!

I'm tired of just being 'adequate' and I want to stay ahead. The problem is that there is more to cleaning a house than vacuuming the floors and scrubbing the bath tubs, although those tasks are a big factor. I'll be doing a weekly post about the little tasks that need to be done periodically around the house, the small details that are either overlooked until a huge mess is created, or the tricks that might help an appliance work better.

If you're interested, follow along, and please share if you clean these spaces too! Go here to read about what I've cleaned so far.