I have a no scrubbing preference. I’m just plain lazy. But I also believe in working smarter and not harder. Most things that we think need scrubbing actually just need soaking. That’s where the spray bottle and my 4 yr old come in handy. What preschooler doesn’t love to spray water everywhere?
When it’s time to “scrub” the table from a messy sticky meal that I was too lazy to take care of the night before, I let him spray it down while I tidy up the kitchen. We go play a game, come back, and practically wipe the table clean because the water did it’s trick. We do the same with mopping floors. I still prefer to hand mop my floors, but I let him go around and spray all the visible dirty spots on the floor about 30 mins before I’m going to mop. He has a blast, and I again get to avoid working my arm muscles too much!
The bottom line is that when we let a little bit of good ‘ole inexpensive water have some time to work it’s magic, we don’t need to use nearly as much expensive cleaners and disinfectants in our homes. Let water remove the grime and cleaners/disinfectants remove the germs.
Add a little bit of vinegar and a tiny squirt of dish soap to the water and you have the perfect multi-surface cleaner that disenfects, deodorizes (after the vinegar smell dissapates!), cuts grease (thanks to the dish soap) and leaves windows clean & streak free. Plus, it is still safe for little ones to use. And I agree with the water thing. I remember learning in science class as a kid that water is the most powerful solvent in the world.
We do the same thing. I have a bottle with just water, one with water, vinegar and a tad of dish soap and one more that has a bit of bleach and then filled with water. All my counter tops, cupboards etc. are white. (what was I thinking when we bought this house?) So is my kitchen table. A little squirt and 5 min later, the koolaid, coffee, cast iron skillet mark etc. is gone.
thanks for posting this!!