The German In Me . . .

I suppose who not only likes to live in a clean house but likes to clean house!     And once a week (usually on Monday -- but not always -- you can't set your clock or calendar by me) I see that Linderhof is shining from top to bottom!

One room at a time . . . and when that room is clean, I often pick flowers for the table . . . 

And this time, I took pictures as I finished each room -- recorded for posterity that Linderhof was clean!

The breakfast room

The dining room

The downstairs half bath (which is off the dining room)

Kitchen

Living Room

Front porch 

(and yes, I do run the vacuum out here!)

Upstairs Hall

Bath

Guest Room

Master Bedroom

Sunroom

And over the years I've found those cleaning products that I can't live without.    Making my cleaning life so much easier.

I've always had problems with vacuums clogging -- I can't tell you how many times I sat on the floor with a stretched out coat hanger trying to get "stuff" (read dog hair) from the hose and "innards" of a vacuum.   When I heard about Dyson's "no clog" . . . I immediately wanted one.     And a trip to Best Buy in Wichita resulted in a Dyson in Linderhof's cleaning closet!

I liked it so much that I bought another for upstairs -- from Big Lots.   I've never had them clog, I've never had them repaired -- there are no belts breaking and no bags to buy.    If there is such a thing as a perfect vacuum -- it is a Dyson!

We have lots of windows in the breakfast room and two glass top tables in the living room.    The coffee table needs constant attention (not because of the table but because of our habits with wet glasses!)    I've never found a satisfactory glass cleaner until Susan at Between Naps On the Porch recommended "Fish Foam".

Thinking perhaps that it was made from a fish part which made it superior, I found that it actually is the name of a cleaning company that uses the foam in their cleaning business.   I ordered some and it is superior to anything else I've used.     There are cans upstairs and down . . . and a spare!

I have also found that spraying the cloth not the glass gives better cleaning results!

Our furniture is old and needs to be pampered.    I don't use much spray on the furniture -- preferring to just dust with a microfiber -- but when I do, this is the product I use.

It's pricey compared to what you find in the grocery store but it does give a good shine to furniture and it is made from beeswax and is a natural product.    The bonus, I found, is that it does a great job on the stainless steel appliances in the kitchen!

I have these upstairs and down and when I clean a new one is used for each room.

I'm not sure where I would be without microfiber cloths.     They make dusting so much easier and they're washable which means that you pay only once and the cloth cleans on and on!!!!

Except for the bathrooms and breakfast room, all the floors at Linderhof are wood.    When we had them refinished 12 years ago, our refinisher said to use one product and one product only on the refinished floors.

Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner.     We buy it by the gallon -- one for up and one for down.    For years we put it in a squirt bottle and used the bona mop and a microfiber pad.     But then we found . . .

Rubbermaid refillable mops -- they fit the Bona cloths (or the Bona cloths fit them) and when empty you refill from the super gigantic size of Bona!     Although they're plastic, they're not disposable -- that I like!

And for all other cleaning . . .

I like Mrs. Meyers.      It's a good cleaner for anything else that may need a spritz of clean.

I do buy two of everything for I keep one up and one down.    Besides the good clean every week, I do touch ups almost every day -- a quick run round the upstairs with the Bona dusting mop, a quick wipe down of the sink, toilet and tub and a mob of the bathroom floor.     Downstairs I have to clean that coffee table every day and I also vacuum the living room and dining room.    After dinner, I always sweep and mop the kitchen as well.

For I do like a tidy house -- the German in me!    (But I don't hold a candle to my German aunts -- they washed and swept the front steps every day!)