Keeping house. It sounds lovely when put like that, even though you know full well that dust bunnies, soap scum, water spots, dirt, and a general scruffiness is involved. I'm just like the next girl, I suppose, not so in love with the thought of contending with the dirty, however lovely it's put.
Truthfully, I'd rather delay a bit - pick up the knitting, read one more chapter in the book, scroll Instagram, or stare out the window. But, the other side of my truth is that I'm more productive and mentally settled when I'm in an environment that's been set to rights. In the end, the promise of a clean house is enough for me to roll up my sleeves - that and the chance to use beautiful cleaning tools while I'm at it.
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
When I first read those words by William Morris a few years back, I was caught. Deeply. Their effectual simplicity was the catalyst that, in a moment, turned a natural inclination of mine into a full-fledged paradigm shift. The useful broom, mop, & bucket could be beautiful(!). So could the duster, too. And how about white cotton for the rags, and a glass spray bottle for the cleaner? Yes.
I wondered, at first, if it was even right to apply the sentiment of Mr. Morris to lowly housekeeping, but really, what could be more right than sweeping with a natural bristle broom, drawing it across the floor by a handle made of wood? What could be more right than useful and beautiful in the same tool? What could be more right than buying just one that would last the rest of my life?
When I stopped and considered, I realized that my grandmother had used beautiful tools, as did her mother before her, and her's before that, and on and on. Not until now has humanity lived in such an artificial world.
Over time, as replacements were needed, I purchased a horse hair broom, a cotton deck mop, a galvanized bucket, a goat's hair duster, a boar's hair hand broom, a metal dustpan, and a glass spray bottle. Housekeeping became a small gesture toward authenticity, a push-back to the mass-produced & disposable.
Alongside my handful of beautiful tools, I use just four cleaning agents that do it all - from windows to floors, from tub to toilet:
+ white vinegar
+ dish soap
+ Bar Keeper's Friend
+ Old English
The mop bucket gets a cup of vinegar to a gallon of water, the spray bottle gets a 1:1 ratio of the same, with a teaspoon of dish soap to boot - for windows, faucets, or whatever needs shining. Bar Keeper's Friend takes stainless steel sinks and cookware from cloudy to polished, and porcelain to a lovely glow. A buffing of Old English on the stainless steel fridge helps to keep fingerprints from sticking.
There's one last thing I use on cleaning day, one more thing that helps me dive in with the dust bunnies and dirt, tools in tow. My secret motivator? Wireless earbuds. With them, cleaning day becomes Podcast Day, or Audiobook Day, or Teach-Me-Something-Useful-While-Distracting-Me-From-The-Menial-Task-At-Hand Day.
Whoever thought of wireless earbuds is brilliant.
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