Thursday, January 15, 2009

Kitchen Help

This picture shows things in mid progress. I have to finish hanging a few things (two rolling pins go above the pots and pans and some more things on the hooks) but I wanted to show how there are no grease stains!
I am not advanced in photography (I know, gasp for air and great shock) and I chose between this one and the version with a flash. It was TOO bright.


I have been working on my kitchen for days. Some I have spent HOURS scrubbing, organizing, stacking, de-cluttering and wiping clean. Others, I have forced myself through the daily basics and added a very relaxed couple of hours of work just to keep me going until I get it all done. And to think I used to do my entire HOME in one hour .

Anyway, today's kitchen work was trying to clean the grease and find the original paint, silver, and appliances. Ha Ha.

Seriously, I rarely fry ANYthing but I do cook a LOT and I guess the grease accumulates in some places worse than others.

I have used a dish cloth swished in hot, soapy water and wrung out. Couldn't even tell a difference. I tried a cleaner here and there and just coughed over the "fumes". tried wiping down with almost boiling water and barely could tell I even tried.

Today, I got the dishes done after lunch and the laundry has been done since this morning and decided to finish as much of the stainless steel cleaning as I could. I cleaned and polished the two stainless steel shelves on the wall and the ss work table using a stray (and old) can of Stainless Steel cleaner I got whenever ago from Sam's. I wish I had bought a case because my stainless steel hasn't been so gleamy since it was new!

It all looked so good that I started moving around the kitchen and tackling walls and more affected by at least one layer of grease. It wasn't so noticeable until I started getting an area clean and it was WHITE compared to NOT WHITE. Smiles.

I could NOT get an area clean above my stove top where a previous pressure cooker spewed out a gasket and shot a powerful and greasy mess to stay for too long. When it happened, I immediately set to work grabbing all the skillets and took turns with a little girl spending time in our home trying to remedy to damage. We never could get the worst parts/places.

That has ALL changed!

I asked my husband to try cleaning an area to see if maybe I just wasn't using enough muscle in tackling this bad looking problem. He scrubbed a bit using a damp cloth, used one of my own cleaners, tried a strong solution of Simple Green and then jumped down saying he knew exactly what to use. He came back from the bathroom carrying a can of Scrubbing Bubbles.

"Those are specifically for the bathroom and I don't think they will work on something that hard to clean." This is what I told my husband so he wouldn't waste his time on something that so obviously wouldn't work.

He sprayed a small area. He wiped it and told me to look where the grease HAD been! It wiped RIGHT OFF! He started spraying more and do you know that in a matter of MINUTES . the entire white beam was white again and so was the wall behind it!

When he stopped to finish what he had been doing before giving me a helping hand. I set about testing these bubbles. The only reason we even HAVE them is because one of my daughter's daily chores is cleaning the bathroom. Her list includes spraying down the sink and wiping it clean, spraying down the toilet handle and outside of toilet and cleaning the inside of it. Also, the floor, trash and so on.

Having a little brother makes this job detestable for her (I'll spare you the reasons why --- he has to clean up after himself but even when he does, we want a bit more assurance of sanitation) so when she begged for Scrubbing Bubbles (her favorite since she was little) . I gave in. On our last trip to Sam's, I bought her a three pack.

I make ALL of our cleaners so this kind of goes against what we are doing in order to save money, the earth and ourselves from dangerous chemicals. There are exceptions to that and this is one in our home!

My vent hood has been such a challenge to clean but I got it clean with one spray of the Scrubbing Bubbles foam and a quick wipe down! I did the same for the black side of our fridge and the top of it --- wiped as clean as new.

I am not recommending anyone try this though BECAUSE I don't know if it is actually safe on appliances, painted surfaces and even walls. I just had to share that it DID make a huge difference in my cleaning today! I got about half of the kitchen scrubbed and polished clean and will try to finish the few areas of wall I didn't get to today, cabinet fronts, and the other stainless steel cart tomorrow.

It is EXCITING to find something so instantly effective!

Do you have a favorite cleaner? An amazing discovery with something surprising you with how well it worked? Please share!

I've been trying to get my kitchen totally done so I can do some batch baking so MAYBE I'll get to that soon.

Love,
Sandy

2 comments:

NHizName said...

Sandy, I do love Scrubbing Bubbles. Don't use it alot...just for deep cleaning in the bathroom. Never thought to try it in the kitchen.
I have found the microfiber clothes to be fabulous! You can get a large pack in the automotive department for like $6 or$7, I think it was.They're great for scrubbing, dusting, and polishing...great wet or dry! You can wash them over and over and over. They do a fantastic job. Just be sure to follow the laundering directions when you wash them after use.
Janice

Sandy W said...

I LOVE THESE CLOTHS, too!
I collect them by color buying from Sam's and they hold out for years!
I have finally resorted to just washing them by themselves and never, ever using fabric softener!

What color/s are yours?