We have hardwoods through the house, and two large rugs in the middle living area. I can't live in a house where people have to take off their shoes at the door. Seriously, how weird is it to walk around someone's house in your socks? But I vacuum like it will make me skinny, so I never think twice about the rugs.
A few weeks ago, our friends were over with their little boy and they were letting him crawl around on the rug. When I got down on the floor, I noticed all of my postpartum hair matted into the rug {I don't know how I am not bald}, along with toddler debris and dog vomit. So I started debating between replacing the cheap rugs or renting a carpet cleaner.
Neither seemed worth it... so I improvised.
While jamming out to 90's radio, I cleaned my rugs by hand. And it brought me a shameful amount of joy.
1. Buy some Clorox Oxi Magic and a cheap sponge.2. Vacuum a filthy rug in your house and then get to work.
3. Spray the rug down, in sections, with the Oxi Magic.
4. Then, with a wet, hot sponge, wipe the rug against the direction of the fibers.
5. Try not to repulse or gag at what may surface.
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Now you have to understand that I grew up with an OCD mother.
A mother who would vacuum the living room just to see the lines in the carpet. And you might as well kill yourself if you walked through the living room with your shoes on.
A mother who would pay us to wash the walls with ammonium and rubbing alcohol.
A mother who wouldn't allow us to have too many hangers in the closet.
A mother who made us wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher-- because after all, it wasn't a dishwasher, it was a sanitizer.
A mother who would bleach down the bathroom for any anticipated visitor we may have that day.
A mother who taught us to silently judge others for a dirty house... and then clean it for them as your way of
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So yes, bat-shit crazy is in the blood.
So glad someone else besides me uses the bat shit crazy line. I cleaned our carpets at 10pm one night this week, but with a borrowed carpet cleaner. The by hand method was no longer working and every drop of spit up or spilled milk kept reappearing. It was disgusting. Aren't those small blocks of time just heaven?
ReplyDeleteYou are funny. I don't like it when people ask me to take off my shoes at their house, and I REALLY don't like it when people take theirs off at mine. I wear shoes all day long and expect others to as well. We just got hardwoods and I am resisting getting rugs because it seems like a worse version of carpet to me. Under the dining table? No way! I agreed to the living room, since the kids like to sit on the floor. Just so you know, I will keep my shoes on at your house when I visit. And I may drop a few muffin crumbs on the rug.
ReplyDeletep.s. I lost hair after babies and had the night sweats for a solid year.
I always take my shoes off at the door. My mother didn't allow shoes in the house. She would have me fold laundry only to refold it the minute I left the room (still curious about why she had me fold in the first place).
ReplyDeleteYou are crazy funny!
I want to be friends with your mother. My husband doesnt understand why I obsessively clean my house. Why its never clean enough for me...Its because when I know I would judge someone if they had hairs laying by the sink or a dish sitting on the counter! :) My mother is the opposite of me. Yes, she likes a clean house ( who doesn't?) but piles of magazines or a dirty dishes... eh, she'd rather go hang out with my dad. I guess there is something to be said for that though. :)
ReplyDeleteI love emptying the dryer catch after I wash the pet bedding. It’s like a perectly woven, furry carpet. I also like to fold the clothes in any clothing store I may be shopping at. I hate when other customers leave clothing heaped in a pile without folding it when they are done looking at it.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog! So funny! Found it through the link on Mama Laughlin’s post :)
Please feel free to come to my house and silently judge me. As long as you're cleaning it, I could care less!!
ReplyDelete