I did first actually put my oven on self clean. Why I ever had a oven that didn't do this...I will never know. And, unlike last time, I actually wiped it out before and after I ran the self clean. Damp rag, wipe, that's it. Last time I didn't wipe it out after and I started teasing people that I had a "smoker" in my oven because it kept burning the junk on the bottom. But anyway, I did put it on self clean first. Which takes 3 hours of cleaning and about an hour of cooling down.
While that was happening I cleaned the basement bathroom, it took me two hours! WHY?!! You ask, well, it was supposed to be done for for months now and it never got done (I will leave it at that). I didn't check because first, I think I've peed in that bathroom maybe 3 times since we lived in this house and second, I avoid the stairs at all cost these days. It was BEYOND disgusting!!! I mean, when I realized how bad it was I was embarrassed that my step sons 13 year old friend had to use it the other night when he stayed over. I've seen and cleaned disgusting bathrooms. My dad and two brothers never cleaned bathrooms, so I've seen and cleaned those. However, this was so gross. Because I think when it actually was cleaned 3 or more months ago, the shower was never cleaned and it's possible everything else was just wiped down with water. At least, that's what it seemed like to me. But on top of the fact that it hasn't been cleaned in forever, we bought our house from "do it yourselvers" that SHOULD NOT have done anything themselves. So the wallpaper (which will come down one day) is really sloppy which just makes it seem dirty and the caulking job on the shower is really sloppy, again, making it seem dirty. And I think everything they picked for that bathroom came from a resale it shop (which also will be replaced one day), or I'm crazy, but I think it did. And, this is probably too much information but somehow every toilet seat in our house is deteriorating. We do NOT have hazardous waste coming out of our bottoms, so I have no idea how this is happening. So, when they did their "addition" and "remodeled" I'm almost positive somethings got skimped on, one of those being toilet seats. One of these days we will replace them but until then, they just continue to deteriorate, so even when they are clean they just look dirty.
Okay, so thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Which, by the way I used the "Magic Tub and Shower Cleaner" I wrote about in this shower...but I added more vinegar. Still sudsy but this shower needed it. And again, it doesn't fight hard water, just soap scum, so this shower actually benefited from it considering the last time it had been cleaned. Oh, also in this time I wiped down 90% of the walls, doors and wall plates in the house. I have little kids, it takes no time to get those things dirty. And I probably have never done it, at least since Zoe :) But they look awesome, just vinegar water and a rag, worked great. I only had to use a magic eraser a few times.
Back to the oven. This is what my oven door looked like before (after it was on self clean but before the baking soda bath):
So, it honestly wasn't really THAT bad. But I thought, it could be cleaner, so I decided to put this baking soda bath to the test. I made mine fairly thick. I probably should have taken a picture but I used my hands to mix it and put it on the door and well, honestly I had too much else in my brain to think about it. I knew I needed to vacuum the stairs, make the guest room bed, and vacuum that room also so I decided to let it sit until those things were done.
Oh, why did I have to vacuum the stairs at 36 weeks pregnant? Well, while I was cleaning the basement bathroom my two adorable children decided to play in the cat foot (that I had sitting on the stairs because we keep their food, water and litter in that bathroom). Zoe was apparently trying to count the food, she's 2, she can't count past ten but she tried. Then Isaac thought it would be fun to use the pooper scooper to try to pick up the cat food that she was dropping. It was a complete nightmare to say the least. And, while I was cleaning, it was a battle I chose not to fight, I just let them play in the cat food, it was much simpler than running out of the bathroom every 2 seconds to yell at them, at least they weren't in the bathroom making it dirty while I was cleaning it. And they weren't eating it, like my brothers would have, or playing with the cat poop...so...I figured vacuuming was worth the fight. I went and vacuumed, made the guest room bed (we can't talk about the guest room cause I will go into another rant about why it wasn't cleaned to begin with) and vacuumed it.
Here is what it looked like after:
I would say it's quite an improvement. I tried to capture the baking soda 'flakes' all over the floor but it didn't really capture very well. So, all in all, I would say that I'll probably do it again, maybe make the paste a little runnier and hope that doesn't mean a bunch of flakes. And I've now checked a few more things off my list, but chances are I'll at least have to run the self clean again, before baby, especially considering I oh-so-smartly decided to make pizza tonight...brilliant :)
We ordered the granite for our center island and while there I asked them what to do with this ring I have on my granite that we got from sitting a container of hot bacon grease on it. (We haven't sealed it yet, I honestly didn't even think about sealing the granite so we need to do that also but that's beside the point). She first gave me a sampler thingy that I actually left there, oops, but on top of that she told me to take and make a baking soda paste and rub it on the spot and then tape down Saran wrap over that spot and let it sit for quite a while. So interesting to me, so I will be doing that hopefully this week and letting you know how that goes :) Maybe someone will actually 'pin me' if it works well!!
Now, time for water and bed cause these Braxton Hicks are a little too regular for me tonight.
