As I’ve now probably overstated and over-whined about, I moved this last weekend. Part of the moving process (when you’re still a renter) is supercleaning the old place so you get as much of your precious security deposit back as possible.
After we finished moving all of the boxes, furniture, etc., out of the St. Paul house and into the Minneapolis house, our Dream Team Clean Team started attacking all of of the dirt, dust, and soap scum left behind. We had quite the crew:
- Myself + both roomies
- Two moms
- 1 boyfriend
What I want to know, after all that is over – is where moms learn the tricks they know. Once babies have been birthed, do women just gain this 6th Mom-sense? For instance, these are the new things I would have NEVER thought of, and learned thanks to mom-help this weekend:
Razor blades to attack soap scum on shower doors
SERIOUSLY. Create a paste of Soft Scrub and water, grab a bristly sponge-thing, rub it all over, then take a razor blade and scrape that sucker clean. Who knew my shower door could sparkle like that?
Grapefruits and salt
Ok, we never actually used this one, but I did learn that slicing a grapefrult (or a lemon or a lime) in half, putting salt on the fruit and then using that to clean surfaces like shower/bath floors, ovens, refrigerators works like a scouring pad with natural chemical reactions that break down the grimy stuff, PLUS leaves everything smelling citrusy fresh.
We did our walk-through on Sunday morning, and thanks to the elbow grease of the roomies, the moms and the boyfriend (who did a bang up job on that fridge, btw. WOW!), we get enough of our deposit back to pay for the cleaning supplies, paint, and then some. 
Any other random household tips like that? Please share. My new place is nice and cozy and I want to keep it clean and good-smelling. I would especially welcome natural/organic/green-type cleaning and smell-gooding suggestions!
I'm Doniree. I live in Portland, Oregon where I practice yoga, obsess about the local farmers' markets and vineyards, and work from home or one of my many favorite coffee shops. I also 
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It’s not really household-y, but this is my fave trick ever: for those white deodorant lines that are sometimes left over after you put on a shirt, rub them with a pair of nylons and they go away!
Good to know, but as my hands are currently covered in papercuts, the idea of combining grapefruit and salt just made me shudder.