Evening off

[jethrien]

So Chuckro's visiting his mom tonight/tomorrow, and I've got the house to myself. I could work late. I could go out for drinks with friends. I could rent a girly movie, or work on my quilt, or get some exercise. Heck, I could go look for porn.

Instead...I seem to have gone on a cleaning spree.

I didn't start out intending to do so. I wanted to work on my quilt. But I was going to have to spread it out on the floor, and the floor needed some vacuuming. So I figured I'd do the vacuuming. Only I've been increasing disenchanted with our vacuum. 'Cause no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get all the dust to come up. See, Chuckro and I shed. A lot. I've got long hair and he's got short hair, and apparently together they can trap dust big enough to make dust bunnies the size of jackalopes. Add to this that our apartment has wainscoting all the way around the bottom of every single wall, with wicked static. And the lighting isn't so great in the hallway, so it's hard to tell if you missed a spot. I swear, all the vacuum seems to do is leave the bottom layer of dust and blow the top layer of dust around a bit. So I said, screw it, and got out the broom and dust pan. I'd do it by hand. I'd get all the damn dust up for once, and then maybe I could get breakfast in the morning without getting hair stuck in my stockings.

This turned into a dusting/mopping extravaganza that somehow took a pause to clean the bathroom mirrors, too. And now it's 10pm, and really too late to drag out the sewing machine.

By the way - for those older folks wiser in the ways of housekeeping than I - how often do you have to vacuum your closet? Perhaps I'm repressing or something, but I don't remember my mom ever vacuuming the closet. Or maybe once or twice a year. But it seems like if I leave ours alone for two weeks, and I've got a menagerie of dust critters. (Bunnies just doesn't seem to cover it.) I swear, the ones in the closet were big enough to form their own provicial government. And it hasn't been that long since the last time I cleaned it! I don't know whether we're just the most dust-producing people ever or what.

Comments

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

You should describe dust bunnies more often. Deeply amused by the hyperbole.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I have never vacuumed a closet. Are you nuts? The whole point of a closet is that that's where you hide your mess.

[deltagrl.livejournal.com]

I love seeing this side of your "just you" life. :) I've actually never vacuumed my closet, but that's probably because I'm a lazy bastard. :P I sometimes find that if my vacuum is on the wrong setting (accidentally left it on hose when I'm vacuuming floor, bare floor when I'm vacuuming carpet) things get left behind. Could that maybe be it, though you are quite smart and have probably checked all these options?

Hope you also get to enjoy your time alone, though I feel cleaning can be quite therapeutic.

[lyriendel.livejournal.com]

Ha! That's totally what I do when Michael goes away. Even on days when I'm just working from home, and he's at work, I usually spend several hours cleaning. Somehow it's just easier to clean when he's not around. I think when he's home and I'm not working, I feel like I should be doing something fun with him. And if I do have to clean and he's home and not helping, I get annoyed that he's not helping. But if he's gone, I can just clean.

I don't think I've ever vacuumed my closet, though. The door stays closed (or the bunnies get in), and so it doesn't really have a chance to collect much dust, unlike the rest of our house which gets covered in dust and bunny fur instantaneously. Maybe you need a better vacuum? Sucking power is everything when it comes to vacuums. I'm fairly happy with my Electrolux Harmony, but it's not even as powerful as those crazy Dysons, which are out of my price range. Cheap vacuums drive me up the wall now, when I'm forced to use them elsewhere.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's because she always forgets to check for bag clogs--every time she's complained to me about how useless the vaccuum was, I opened it and found a huge hairball at the mouth of the bag, blocking airflow. Replace the bag, and voila! the vaccuum works again.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Heck, I could go look for porn.

Try the internet. I hear that's what it's for.

[(Anonymous)]

Don't look at me. I LOVE to clean. I vacuum the closet at least once a month. I love the way clearn looks. I love the way clean smells.
I'd hang out my laundry for the smell and sheer clean-ness of it. Sammi bought me a Swiffer. I'm in love.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I would sweep out or vacuum a closet whenever it was not cluttered enough to try. So, whenever I managed to clean up such that both room and closet were presentable, that's when I'd sweep it out.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

That's happened maybe twice. And when you've just condescendingly replaced the bag, the thing still doesn't get the dust off the trim in the hallway. I've tried.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Hmm...Swiffer. That's a possibility.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

But the dust is getting in our shoes. How am I supposed to get it out of Chuckro's shoes? (Should I be taking a dust rag to his old sneakers or something?)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

The shoe thing I solve by hanging mine. Off the floor, not as much of a problem. Otherwise, yeah, I guess clean 'em out and sweep the place more often?

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

It doesn't help that I'm mildly allergic to the dust, and every time I clean, my hands itch. (Obviously, making it even more urgent that I clean.)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Yikes, definitely not then. Have you considered an air purifier? You're still going to have to clean, but that generally helps with loose dust in the air making you uncomfortable. At the very least, you could turn one on when you were cleaning.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

At least three times. Pick pick pick pick.

(Sorry, I'm off my food schedule today and trying to be on my best behavior off-line. So many bathrooms that need cleaning, so little time...)

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Some of the "air purifiers" only make things worse. Careful research required.

Of course, I also occasionally worry that if we didn't have trouble breathing, we wouldn't EVER do a thorough dusting. And end up with a layer of dust so thick you could wear it as a shirt.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I'll try it out this afternoon and see how I feel about it.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Nah, I get grossed out. I'd dust even if we didn't have allergies.

[fyrna.livejournal.com]

Did you also check the filter and the hose? I had something get stuck in the bend of the tube once, and once I figured that out (and figured out how to get it out) the vacuum worked much better!