Day 14 and 15

Hello blog friends. I am almost complete with this challenge! Monday we stayed home and I was able to finish all but one task, the patio! I decided to catch up since I let myself get behind and because I cleaned 6 days in one day, I figured I might put more than one on the post to keep from overloading my posts today. I'll finish tomorrow when we have nice weather. Yay! Also coming up tomorrow I'm starting a series: What's For Dinner Wednesdays! My sister is always asking me to share my dinner recipes and since I meal plan on Thursdays I figured I'd start posting my recipes from the previous week all in one post! :) Now, on to my cleaning tasks.

Day 14

Clean: Washing Machine. Cleaning your washing machine will remove the buildup from fabric softener and soap and prevent marks and scum from appearing on your clothes. Tasks:

• Soak the softener dispense in warm water
• While empty put washing machine through a hot temperature full cycle. Add a good splash of vinegar (1 cup) as it fills. 
• As it's filling up use the water and a sponge to wipe:
• top of washer
• lid
• outside body
• underneath the lid
• rim of washing machine
• top of spinner
• all nooks and cranny's you can find dirt and dust build up
• clean and rinse softener dispenser
• if buildup doesn't disappear, use a kitchen brush and brush away all the soap build up and repeat with another empty wash. 

Declutter: Hall/Linen Close. It's so easy to accumulate extra bedsheets or towels. Get rid of what you do not use or need anymore.

Organize: Hall/Linen Close. Tidy it up and organize in a manner that you can easily find something the next time you are looking.

New Habit: Lists. Make lists as you are almost out of something. You will never be out of it.

5 Minutes Only: Clean laundry cabinet.

Before Clean:  Considering I cleaned my washer and dryer when we first moved in, they weren't too bad. There was some dirt build up but the biggest cleaning part was the fabric softener dispenser and the buildup in the tub. You really can't tell from the picture but it was terrible! I never realized it because I've never been up close and personal with my washer!

After Clean: I scrubbed the inside with a bottle brush. It came in a bottle kit we bought when B was a baby and it was so heavy duty that I decided to use it as a cleaning brush. It's wonderful! My washer looks quite wonderful too.

Before Declutter/Organize: My hall closet really just needed to be picked up. I went through that box on the bottom and come to find out it was a box we never unpacked and 6 months later, hello! The black organizer on top is more of Tate's old football stuff and play books. Again, I soooo wish he had his own office and this stuff could be stored in there.

After Declutter/Organize: Box unpacked, organizer put in the office and the air mattress moved up top. I think it looks better with the floor space clean.

Habit: I am ALWAYS making lists. I have so many lists going on. I love lists! My fellow list lovers understand. 

Before 5 Minutes:

After 5 Minutes: All products used in the washer on one side with all-purpose cleaners on top and dryer sheets, floor cleaners, cleaning towels and other misc items on the other side. The next cabinet consists of pool things and extra cords. The cabinet underneath the counter is where I keep the dog's stuff, my reusable bags and some more misc laundry things. You can see Dustee being nosy and thinking I was going to get her leash out to go for a walk. Not today homegirl. 

Day 15

Clean: Microwave. Do the following:

• Half fill a glass bowl with water, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and place in microwave for 5 minutes. This will loosen all food. 
• Remove bowl and turntable from microwave. Clean and dry. 
• Remove the rotating element the plate sits on, clean and dry. This will give you easier access to the dirt in the microwave. 
• Wipe over inside of microwave. 
• Place element and turntable back into microwave.
• Wipe over outside of microwave.

Declutter: Kitchen drawers. Like the junk drawer, these can sometimes get bit messy. Declutter them.

Organize: Freezer. Go through your freezer and put likes together. Make it easier on you to find something.

New Habit: Start recycling. Once a month take it out to the local recycle center.

5 Minutes Only: Tidy the kitchen counter.

Before Clean: I never even realized how bad my microwave looked until I took the pictures to clean it. Okay, I've seen worse, but given the amount of time I actually use my microwave, it's dirty. While cleaning out my cabinets (another post) I found plate covers and will be putting them to use from now on. 

After Clean: Seriously, the vinegar and water thing worked. I just wiped my microwave down and everything came out with no problem. It was great.

Before Declutter: So about this. When Tate and I moved in together we both had our own set of (hand-me-down) utensils and silverware. I'm waiting for wedding bells to get  new sets; I may end up buying some before that time comes anyways because this man is in no hurry and I'm just here impatiently waiting. ;) I got off topic.. back to utensils, Leah. We had way more than we needed. I think I counted 8 pair of tongs! Why? Tate didn't want to throw anything out so I put what I used in a utensil holder and everything else in this drawer.

After Declutter: I threw away utensils while he was at work! :) I threw away the utensil holder also. :)  I hated it anyway and now it just all perfectly fits in here. I did happen to have an empty drawer so I moved all my baking things in there. We do have a lot of knives too, but I like one set and he likes another so I thought I'd be nice enough to keep all.

Organize: No pictures here but my freezer is pretty empty. I don't keep much in it. One is mainly breakfast items and some quick lunch things and the big freezer is just meat. Remember me saying I was meal planning for a month? I did it and all meat we will need for the month is in there. I'll explain more on that later.

New Habit: Recycle! McAllen has a recycle bin that they come pick up with trash so recycling was a new habit when we moved. I never realized just how much recycling I threw out before! Go green, y'all! :)


I'll get to the rest of the days sometime today. I know y'all are on the edge of your seats with excitement (ha!).

Happy Cleaning!
Leah.