When cleaning gets left behind...

One of my first dates with my now-husband brought me to his parents' home.  I recall entering the lovely old farmhouse, being dazzled by the rustic feel and the vintage household items, and just how clean and tidy everything was.  Later, when I went for Thanksgiving dinner, it was all pretty much the same.

But subsequent visits... something must have happened with my mother-in-law.

We visited last week, and entered to find a common event, that of garbage having been strewn everywhere by the pet dogs while my in-laws were out.  Due to financial difficulties with their ranch, they've been driving trucks.  And apparently that doesn't leave much time for cleaning.

Now, I should not be the one to judge.  I adore my mother-in-law.  She's crafty and creative and has taste.  But while I've always been cluttered and messy, I've never been... dirty.  And that's what this house is as of late:  dirty.  Garbage everywhere, no sign of sweeping, everything covered in thick layers of dust.  And that's not counting the sheer amount of crap and clutter.  It's not a hoarder house by any means, but I could see it heading in that direction.

I found myself picking up and dusting.  Of course, my mother-in-law was all about "I'm so sorry you saw my messy house!" but nothing ever changes.  My husband and his siblings (namely the ones that also live on the ranch) just take it in stride.  My sister-in-law just down the dirt road keeps a beautiful house despite two little ones.

Again, the woman has great qualities.  And I'm sure with her now-busy schedule she honestly has no time to clean.  But she does have time to maintain her beautiful garden and yard and make crafts.

The yard looks great, but crafts and cutesiness does not do anything to alleviate a dirty, filthy home.

Earlier this summer, her own mother was visiting... and this dear old woman complained to me that she had come over to help clean the house only to have her daughter insist on other, less-pressing projects.

It's not my house, of course, but the situation has me thinking.  Cleanliness needs to come first.

Washing cloth diapers... in the sink... with plain hotel soap

Today I repeated a task I've done several times since moving to our new living situations.  Husband, Baby, and I, despite being in our very late 20s, have moved into... my grandmother's basement (it's a nice basement apartment, it saves rent money while Husband looks for a job, and Grandma gets help about the house.)

Anywho, this task is washing cloth diapers in the sink. 

Now, we're not so hard off that there is no washer or dryer on the premises, but Ruby isn't going through quite as many diapers as she used to.  So I can either wait for the diapers to build up (even every other day is ridiculous) or I can just wash a few at a time in the sink.

A few years ago whilst teaching, one of those book companies that preys upon teachers offered this handy little book for sale:

While it's not the most useful green cleaning book around, I like it and have found many a tip handy.  Namely, using soap to wash natural fibers.  In fact, the book insists plain soap cleans the diapers suitably and leaves them softer than detergent.

I have searched the internet, but can't find anyone who has just used soap (I google it and all I get is those darn homemade laundry detergent recipes.)  But it makes sense.  Somehow our ancestors cleaned clothing before detergent.  I wasn't around to know how clean the clothes were or if they stank, but I will give the benefit of the doubt.

My other times washing prefolds in the sink have proven... successful!  And all I use is a bar of hotel soap (I collect those) and a few drops of essential oils (because I love essential oils).

1. Rinse the diapers!  I usually just do this in the toilet.  You can flush all the nasties away.
2.  Fill up the sink with hot water.  I bare the heat and just rub soap with my hands into the stream of water, though I also find soap shaving works nicely.
3. And... handwash.
1. For me this means a mix of letting it soak (especially when I add an essential oil) and doing lots of squeezing and spinning and wringing.  
4. Rinse!  This proves to be the trickiest part of the process.  Soap is hard to get off.  Depending on the amount of diapers, I've cheated and thrown the diapers into the washer with the lowest rinse cycle I can get, figure it's comparable with running diapers under running water.  Even so, rinsing in the sink isn't a huge deal and can be done.  
5.  Drying.  Good ol' line/rack drying.  Simple enough to understand.

Are my diapers clean? I'd say so.  They pass the sniff test (does the diaper smell clean?) and Ruby doesn't complain.  A triumph of plain old soap here! 

Are they softer?  Now, I'm hardly the one to pay attention to this sort of thing, but I've tried to concentrate and consider this.  And... yes, I think they are a tad softer. 

Cleaning and Cleaning Out a Freezer

I am creating this blog because, this summer, one of my fondest dreams has occurred... I have begun to teach myself to fear clutter and desire cleanliness.  Yes, I'm finally one of those people.  I've never been downright filthy, but I am a right-brained person from a right-brained family.  I've always struggled with junk, clutter, and tidiness.

I've spent the summer living with my parents while my husband Layne is back at Fort Leonard Wood.  In the beginning, my days were a dreary haze blending with my nights as I took care of our newborn daughter Ruby.  She is now 5 months old and sort of on a schedule.  Meaning... I can get things done!

This space, this free time, is one thing that began my obsession.  I would also like to blame Pinterest for finally sinking in.  And the fact that my parents have a somewhat cluttered home that I found myself going through when I had free moments.

But it's not just "I'm bored". I'm finding myself disgusted with clutter and untidiness.  I'm not yet obsessive, but I might be going toward a healthy range of keeping things clean.

Today, I gave in and cleaned out the freezer.

Oh, it was scary!  But not as scary as I thought.  The nice thing about frozen food is that it is, thankfully, frozen! All the gross and scary things are fortunately solid.

I had on hand several items:

• Towels (old ones I had designated rags from cleaning out the towel closet).  These are excellent for really scrubbing.  I don't have to feel guilty because I can pretty much toss the towel when done.  They also protect the floor, which gets wet.
• Hot soapy water.
• Clorox wipes.

Here's what went down:

1. I took everything out of the freezer.  Everything.  This was followed by examining expiration dates, rot, etc.  I'm a big believer in expiration dates.  I get that there is still a window after that, but really, how often do you make that, especially when something is trapped in a freezer.  My favorite part of this was throwing things away!  Into the trash, into the compost heap, etc.  Tossing things out really is cleansing.
2. Hot soapy water.  There were some gross spots here and there, and the soap made a great soaker.  
3. Went over everything with a clorox wipe! I know they are "disposable" and therefore not desirable, but I believe that if you have it, use it.  

My favorite portion of cleaning was what I did with the popsicles. I used an old plastic container which fit perfectly in the door, and stuck the popsicles in it!