So that`s the colour my walls should be (Hints and Tips for Household Cleaning)

Member Name: sue26

Product:	Hints and Tips for Household Cleaning
Date:	08/11/01 (1181 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy clean

Disadvantages: none

Well, I`ve been shopping again. This time the reason for my shopping trip was because I woke up with the urge to clean. No, I`ve not been taking drugs, I do clean sometimes you know. Even though I`ve just done a fairly big spring clean, and yes, I do know it`s November, I thought the house was still looking a bit grubby.

You know the kind of grubby I mean, children type grubby. Handprints on the walls, cupboard doors, fridge doors, door frames, along with cheerios and cornflakes stuck to the skirting boards around the dining table. Now this type of thorough cleaning normally takes a while, that`s because I usually just go around with a bowl of hot soapy water and a cloth and towel.

This time I wanted to make the job a little easier, so I went for a looksy round my local shop to see what would fit the requirements I needed for the task at hand. Here I found the squeegee mop, yep, that`s right, just a simple mop. Now I don`t own a mop because I have carpets in every room, and not a trace of lino to be seen.

What`s so good about the simple squeegee mop, is the fact that it can be squeezed out until it`s almost dry, and unlike the conventional string type mop, because it`s made of sponge there are no straggly loose ends.

Before you all begin to think I`ve lost the plot I`d better explain. Armed with mop, bucket, bleach and towel I set to work on my clean fest. The squeegee mop works by just pushing down on a lever, which in turn makes the sponge end fold in half, thus expelling any extra water.
Because of this you don`t need a large mop bucket, a small washing up bowl will do the trick, or in my case a small plastic waste bin.

Add bleach to water, making sure it`s a scented bleach, pine is perfect, otherwise you won`t be able to breathe once you`ve finished. Now then, step one, remove all photographs and other ornaments off the walls, including the many thousands of children`s drawings that have been acquired. Dip mop in
water, then squeeze out until virtually dry. Starting at the top of the wall, move mop sideways until the proper colour of your wallpaper or paint is revealed to you. Keep going until you reach the bottom, then do a quick skim of the mop along the skirting boards.

While everything is still wet, take an old tea towel or piece of rag and just drape over the end of the sponge part of the mop. Now with a few quick sweeps, wipe over walls with towel attached, not only will this dry them, but it will remove any leftover dirt.

Once done, repeat the procedure on doors and cupboards then put pictures back up, this being the perfect time to rearrange them. After that, take a seat and admire the newly decorated look. This is particularly effective if you live in a house of smokers as it gets rid of all the nicotine stains, yuck. Even if you don`t smoke it`s an excellent way of doing the kitchen walls as it gets rid of the grease effect paint look.

The only thing left to spoil this effect is the big patch of wallpaper that my toddler kindly removed for me.

Summary: