Ship of Fools: Not designed to be cleaned.

Thread: Not designed to be cleaned. Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=025706

Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :

Over on the keeping your cool thread Penny S wrote.

quote:
I am getting new windows soon, and I am hoping that some thought has been put into cleaning by the designers.

It reminded me of the time I needed to clean a stove and had a hard time finding out how to open the top for cleaning. Once I finally got it open there on the inside was pasted the instructions on how to open the top. Just now I have a sink on which the water faucet is mounted so close to the wall the only way to clean behind the sink is with a cloth wrapped around the end of a stick. The way I can clean the inside back window on my car is to bribe my smallest grandchild to crawl back there. Shipmates, do you have anything not designed to be cleaned?

Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :

My knew windows tip in so you can wash the outside without climbing ladders in the cold and although each window looks like it has six panes it's really just one, so less corners to do.

My self-cleaning oven is like a miracle -- a scary miracle (I take the dog and leave) but a miracle none the less.

With the help of my builder who used to walk around muttering about how "particular," I was, the whole house is arranged with easy cleaning in mind. There really shouldn't be things like spaces that are just one inch too narrow for a vacuum cleaner to get through. Spaces between appliances and counter tops shouldn't exist at all.

As for things like my silk comforter that say, "dry clean only." Pffft. It's been machine washed and dried at least twenty times and looks like new. If it had dissolved after the first washing it just wasn't meant to be. I'm talking to you brand new blouse that looks like sand paper after one washing!

I've even bathed my cat. It's not entirely safe around here.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

Garden hose and windex outdoor hose spray thing. We have a solarium, 14×24 feet. I did it on Sunday afternoon. You turn on the hose, turn the dial on the spray bottle attached to the hose to 'soap' and hose down the windows, then you turn to 'rinse' which then allows the soap reservoir to be disconnected from the water stream. Rinse off and done. You will get some spray on the building, but also rinse water.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
Garden hose and windex outdoor hose spray thing. We have a solarium, 14×24 feet. I did it on Sunday afternoon. You turn on the hose, turn the dial on the spray bottle attached to the hose to 'soap' and hose down the windows, then you turn to 'rinse' which then allows the soap reservoir to be disconnected from the water stream. Rinse off and done. You will get some spray on the building, but also rinse water.

Unfortunately, none of these things (available to non-professionals) goes high enough. I know there's a problem with terminology pond-wise, so, the problem windows are not at ground level, nor are they the next floor up (which the gadgets would reach), but the level above that. Window cleaners are no longer allowed to use ladders at that level - I'm certainly not going to.

At my last place, the professional guy could use a hose attached to his van. Here, the back of the property is out of reach of such power, and the cleaner has to use a back pack. It is not really up to the job.

Peeve inducing.

However, on another tack, I am very impressed with my new Kenwood blender, in which I can remove the base with the blades from the goblet, thus getting access to the most difficult bit to clean. Someone has been listening to feedback.

[ 16. July 2013, 07:02: Message edited by: Penny S ]

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

Stairwells. Cornices. Skylights. Picture rails.

There is a very low limit on the amount of clambering up stepladders lugging vacuum cleaner hoses I am prepared to do, so the top third of my house is the undisturbed domain of the dust and the sp*der.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Have 2 (or more) vacuum cleaners - make sure all the same make so no need to hunt down differing types of bag, filter, etc. [Smile]

Biggest bugbear is external window at first floor level which cannot be accessed from either inside or out (over stairwell): am hoping to get re-glazed with self-cleaning glass.

Posted by Beethoven (# 114) on :

I have a healthy collection of cobwebs and daddy-long-legs developing at the top bit where the stairs turn the corner. They don't bother me in the slightest, hence their continued existance - but Op 2's friend (aged 9) was quite disturbed by them last weekend. Apparently she's scared of craneflies. [Roll Eyes]

(Not screaming, terror, scared. Just 'ooh, I'm scared of those' scared. I'm not entirely a monster!) Any bit of my house that isn't within easy reach of the hoover, or in my sightline while I'm wandering around with it is by definition not designed for cleaning. [Biased]

Oh, and yes, we have outside upstairs windows which I know I'll need to try and tackle somehow, but am putting off...

Posted by TomOfTarsus (# 3053) on :

Rain Gutters. Due to my weird phobia, I can't go to the front of the house via the roof to clean them. It's about 16 ft. to the driveway and then another 15 or so down the the road, and I get the heebie-jeebies. So I go up from the driveway with a ladder, but that's a pain because you have to keep moving the ladder, and you can't over-reach for obvious reasons.

We hope to re-side and re-roof next year and get one of those "never clean your gutters again" leaf deflectors, but until then, I gotta keep'em open myself.

Sweeping the chimney is no fun, either. I climb one ladder onto the roof (this is in the back of the house), pull another up and place it against the chimney, go up a couple of steps, take the cap off the chimney, then start the brush down, attaching rod segments as I need to, then reversing the procedure as I work the brush back up the chimney. Chim-Chim-Cheerie!

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

My new Ford Focus has lovely black metalflake black paint. It sparkles in the sun, except for the rocker panels beneath the doors. They do not get clean in the drive-through car wash down the street. They just get a bit wet and I wipe them off with the black bath towel I use for avoiding wet spots on other parts of the bodywork. I don't like getting this towel dirty. Should I use the special cleaner I got for my wheels and wipe them off with paper towels?

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Beethoven:
Op 2's friend (aged 9) was quite disturbed by them last weekend. Apparently she's scared of craneflies. (Not screaming, terror, scared. Just 'ooh, I'm scared of those' scared. I'm not entirely a monster!)

I used to be too. They look like flying spiders, and the stuff of nightmares as they rustle creakily past your face, long legs tickling your skin.

Anyway, things that aren't designed to be cleaned - the soap dispenser in the washing machine. Beloved of landlords and their agents, who insist you must clean it, but with crevices not designed for any cleaning tool invented in the past 2000 years, unless someone has invented a small hard brush that efficiently cleans at right angles.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

Soak it in a washing up bowl. It's soap, and soluble. I don't have any problem with mine. (John Lewis).

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Don't use soap powder full stop.

Washing liquid not only works out cheaper, its more efficient.

As for stain removers, a dessertspoon of soda crystals works for all but stubborn stains: simply sprinkle in the bottom of the drum before adding clothes. [Smile]

Posted by QLib (# 43) on :

Speaking of washing - a lot of clothes bear the label 'dry clean only' when they actually wash perfectly well, with a little extra care. So 'designed to be cleaned' and yet also designed to make you think they're not designed to be cleaned.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:

As for things like my silk comforter that say, "dry clean only." Pffft. It's been machine washed and dried at least twenty times and looks like new.

Interesting. I have seen those advertised on TV as washable. I have one which is labelled as not to be washed or dry cleaned, but exposed to the sun regualrly, and spot cleaned with a damp cloth if necessary. It hasn't needed any attention yet.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

I've been using washing liquid. After a while, the soap dispenser goes slimy with black mould. (I know, I should probably clean it after every use, but who does?)

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

I bypass the soap dispenser and use tablets or those sachets of liquid that you bung in with the clothes.

In my machine (which is a bit elderly), it's possible to rip the gubbins out of the drawer and wash it separately.

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

Solar Water Heaters - we have a 250 litre one with 30 vacuum tubes and reflectors underneath to give maximum sunlight collection but unless you have extendable arms it is almost impossible to clean the top bits of the middle tubes - and at this time of year they need a weekly wipe down to combat the mildew and to keep working efficiently.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

Lord knows what state my PV cells are in, on a flat roof used by pigeons and crows. Can't see, can't get up there. (Generating nicely, though.)

Posted by que sais-je (# 17185) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I've been using washing liquid. After a while, the soap dispenser goes slimy with black mould. (I know, I should probably clean it after every use, but who does?)

We had problems with black mould in the drainage compartment and eventually it began to smell. Found suggestion on web: every so often do a wash with powder. It worked, and at the current rate it's about one wash every five years with powder.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Washing liquid should either go into a ball (or similar) on top of the wash or pour into the drum before loading clothes.

Put soda crystals in soap dispenser before a whites (90 degree) wash.

Soap drawers are removable - just pull out fully and then tilt upwards and voila!

Posted by Amorya (# 2652) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Anyway, things that aren't designed to be cleaned - the soap dispenser in the washing machine. Beloved of landlords and their agents, who insist you must clean it, but with crevices not designed for any cleaning tool invented in the past 2000 years, unless someone has invented a small hard brush that efficiently cleans at right angles.

Don't they pull right out, so you can wash them in the sink? I'm sure I remember mine doing that…

(Of course, it shows how often I actually clean it, that I'm trying to remember whether or not it does!)

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Yes, it pulls right out, and it is moulded so there are bits that are inaccessible unless you have tentacles and they are slim.

Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on :

I can't get mine to pull out. But I understand it you have one that does then they come clean in the dishwasher (shoukd you have such a thing.)

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
Garden hose and windex outdoor hose spray thing. We have a solarium, 14×24 feet. I did it on Sunday afternoon. You turn on the hose, turn the dial on the spray bottle attached to the hose to 'soap' and hose down the windows, then you turn to 'rinse' which then allows the soap reservoir to be disconnected from the water stream. Rinse off and done. You will get some spray on the building, but also rinse water.
Unfortunately, none of these things (available to non-professionals) goes high enough. I know there's a problem with terminology pond-wise, so, the problem windows are not at ground level, nor are they the next floor up (which the gadgets would reach), but the level above that. Window cleaners are no longer allowed to use ladders at that level - I'm certainly not going to.

At my last place, the professional guy could use a hose attached to his van. Here, the back of the property is out of reach of such power, and the cleaner has to use a back pack. It is not really up to the job.

Peeve inducing.

However, on another tack, I am very impressed with my new Kenwood blender, in which I can remove the base with the blades from the goblet, thus getting access to the most difficult bit to clean. Someone has been listening to feedback.

Interesting. A pressure washer would do it. I have a Karcher myself. Here's a UK link: http://www.karcher.co.uk/uk/Products/Home__Garden/Pressure_washers.htm

Building a scaffold to do it would be costly. Personally, I have climbed that high, but tied the ladder to the building and wore a sit and chest harness so not falling even if I fell. Renting a cherry picker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_picker) is expensive. I think when we were looking to do the church steeple, it was a charity price of $500/hour or something equally high.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

Cherry picker no use - no access to the garden for things like that. And I'm still dealing with the aftermath of last year's scaffolding for painting.

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :

My sister is the Queen of Clean. And she despairs over the radiator in her kitchen. It is a double radiator, with bits of metal connecting the two panels all the way down, thus creating lots of awkward little holes for dust to gather in. Bad enough, but cleanable with a duster on a thin stick. But then someone has fixed a grill over the top, so that no stick in the world can get down these holes. I think she has some weird arrangement with a tiny duster on a piece of string with a weight on the end.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

But why bother in the first place? (Sorry if this sounds at all rude).

[ 19. July 2013, 08:49: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
But why bother in the first place? (Sorry if this sounds at all rude).

Cleaning radiators? Because dust, when heated, stinks. In one flat I moved into, the livingroom was verging on unusable until I tracked down the smell to generations of dust down the back of the radiator.

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

The Queen of Bashan has gotten into drinking green smoothies. She starts out with flax seed in water, blends that up, and then adds greens and fruit. And I tell you, no matter how hard you scrub the blender lid before you put it in the dishwasher, it still comes out with at least ten intact flax seeds around the rim.

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :

Flax seeds are really adhesive when they have been broken down in a blender or soaked for a while. I once inadvertently sprouted some on a damp dishcloth.

Huia

Posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom (# 3434) on :

Our porch has 10 slim, tall windows (built in the 1970s onto a 1906 house). Four of them are over the garage and thus unreachable.

Having cleaned the inside of said windows this morning, I want to rebuild the porch completely.

My other bugbear is the gap between the wall and the shower, not even big enough for my small hands to get in and dust. I use a feather duster, but even it gets stuck.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

APW: do these windows open? If so, there is a gadget which is basically two squeegees linked by a cord and each having a powerful magnet. Squeegee is loaded with soapy water and then one is put on outwide of window, other on inside, the magnets pulling them together so they wash in tandem.

Posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom (# 3434) on :

I have one of those, and very useful they are, but not for these particular windows. The only way to get to the outside of them is to squeeze through the tiny living room windows (not a happy proposition in my case) and walk on the roof of the garage. As our builder told us that walking on the roof of the garage may damage the roof, we don't do it very often.

I did do a bit of cleaning today (in between earthquakes) that I was rather pleased with - I cleaned the extractor fan over the shower. Not reachable with a ladder, so I got the mop and gently tickled it until all the grime and dust fell into the shower.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom:

My other bugbear is the gap between the wall and the shower, not even big enough for my small hands to get in and dust. I use a feather duster, but even it gets stuck.

Can you get hold of something like this for the shower? I do see they are exclusive over here, but maybe someone has done something about that.

Flat cleaning gadget

I used to have one of those magnet things for my up two flights of stairs single glazed windows. And very good for exercise they were, with the times I had to go up and down to retrieve the outside one. No matter what sort of knot I used on the cord.

Posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom (# 3434) on :

Now that's a useful thing! I shall order one online. I've never seen one here.

UBB.classic^TM 6.5.0