Our apartment's in major need of a deep-down cleaning. How's your chore list looking?
My ambitious weekend list...
1. steam clean the kitchen, bathroom, and hardwood floors
2. clean the windows: the best solution for cleaning windows is actually a couple drops of dishwashing detergent in a bucket of warm water to cut grease and make them shine. Seriously — skip the glass cleaner.
3. vacuum, vacuum, vacuum
4. laundry: We're still in Laundromat mode here in Brooklyn, which is probably for the best since I'm super particular about sorting laundry after researching the best methods for many laundry stories. One sure-fire way to keep your clothes in better shape is to sort by color and type (so heavy jeans aren't tumbling around with delicate camisoles.) Here's how I sort:
whites: just pure whites (towels are separate, because fuzzy towels will lint on clothes in the wash)
light colors: pinks, fluorescents, and light reds move into the dark color pile
dark colors: darker color clothes — except jeans (fleece jackets + sweatshirts go with dark towels)
towels + sheets: separated into two piles, whites and colors, because even light colors can deposit color on your whites (terry bathrobes that need a wash go here)
tea towels + microfiber cloths: cleaning stuff gets separated from clothes for obvious germy reasons
jeans: we're suckers for the fancy dark jeans (bought pre-economic crash), so I take extra special care of our favorite blues. They get washed every so often in a separate delicate cold wash (jeans turned inside-out) — and then they're hung up to line-dry.
delicate bunch: camisoles, cashmere, lace unmentionables and the like are all hand-washed by me.
And yes, I know I'm bonkers about laundry — but our clothes seriously look good longer for it.
5. get myself cleaned up for a sweet Valentine's dinner!
p.s. Don't you love the photo above? This "clean up" shot is one of many cool spring-themed photographs you can find here. And be sure to check out Abby's lovely photo-driven blog.
{photo by abbytrysagain, of course!}
