Yesterday was a pretty productive day. As I stood in my bathroom yesterday afternoon, I looked down at the tile floor and thought, YUCK! Now don't get me wrong, I am not a slacker housewife. The floor has been swept and mopped, but it is a textured tile floor with wide grout lines. I honestly don't think that anyone has given it a good scrub since the house was built about seven years ago.
We have lived in our home for 4mos now. When we first looked at it I thought "Oh, what beautiful tile work". You see the builders must have LOVED tile (or got a really great deal on it) because it is everywhere in the house. Our home is about 3200 sq ft and I would say that 2/3 of it is done in tile and stone. Floors, countertops, backsplashes, fireplaces and of course bathrooms have all different kinds of tile and stone. Only the bedrooms and office do not have tile. Of course I wasn't thinking that I was the one who would have to scrub all that beautiful tile. Silly me!
Well, since we moved in I have been little by little scrubbing grout throughout the home. After all, I can't have people over and see a dirty house! Since no one but my family even sees my master bathroom it has been on the back burner, till now. Yesterday I decided to do something about it. After all, my bathroom is my sanctuary. My family all know that if mom is in the bathroom, unless you are bleeding, have broken a bone or the house is on fire...do not disturb! LOVE my bubble baths. Besides, I do my best thinking in the bathroom!
I'm a little embarrassed to show you my before photo, but here it is.
Yucky isn't it. So, time to get down and dirty and make it sparkle!
Time for a housewives best friend....White Vinegar & Baking soda!
Some of you may still be buying commercial cleaning products. Until we moved here, I was too (although I have made my own laundry soap for several years now). After cleaning 3200 sq ft with those "cleaners" my eyes burned, my hands were painfully dry and cracked and I couldn't breath! That certainly opened my eyes to what I was exposing myself and my family to. I vowed NO MORE! If you aren't convinced, read the back of the labels of your cleaning products. It is enlightening.
Women have been cleaning house FOREVER without the use of chemicals. Since I have switched to making my own cleaning products, I honestly think that my house is cleaner! I love it! Plus, as an added bonus, it is much cheaper.
Now there are all sorts of web sites and blogs that have recipes for natural homemade cleaning products. One of my favorites is www.eartheasy.com. There is an article on non-toxic home cleaning solutions with tons of recipes. I have tried several grout cleaning recipes and find that good old fashioned vinegar and baking soda works best for me. I don't measure my ingredients but I would guesstimate that I use one part soda to two parts vinegar. For really stubborn spots you can through in a bit of table salt for extra scrubbing power. Although it is not pictured, I did grab my oval scrub brush too. (It would have taken forever with a grout scrubber and toothbrush!)
So, I began scrubbing. Isn't it funny the things that pop in your head when you're working? I began to picture the mice from Disney's "Cinderella" singing. "Cinderella, Cinderella, night & day it's Cinderella..." (Those of you who are Disney fans know the rest.) I almost expected one of my cats to come pouncing through with muddy paws so I'd have to start over!
Then I began to wonder how Snow White got all of those woodland creatures to help her clean the house. That sure would come in handy! I'm sure you can tell that I have 5 children. Most Disney movies I can recite by heart, songs and all!
Halfway finished! Looks way better already. You don't really realize how dirty something really is until this point.
About this time I am beginning to ask myself if there was an easier way to do this! I started to ponder the question when something that Jesus said came to mind. When the Disciples asked Him why they couldn't cast out a demon after He was able to, He said that "this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." (You can find the story in Matt 17:14-21) I thought, this floor can't be cleaned except by getting on my knees and scrubbing! Oh well, I'm to do everything as if to God. Would I get down and scrub Jesus' floors? You bet I would! Since I was already on my knees, I thanked Him for providing such a beautiful home for us to live in!
Well, after several hours of scrubbing every nook and cranny of my tile and cleaning the rest of the bathroom, I was done! My body ached but as I looked around I was quite pleased with the result. My sanctuary was spotless and beautiful. Hopefully, it stays that way for a while. I will have to add hand scrubbing floors to my quarterly list of chores though.
Now, since it is such a nice day, I guess I'll move on to the next project! What are your plans for today?
Have a great day!
Tina :)
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