Handy Cleaning Tip

[Griffcat]

G'day (sounding loike an Aussie and I ain't even there yet!)

My brother in law who lives in Perth emailed me this handy tip for cleaning floors in Aus. When in Rome...

"When you get here you must buy a Kenwood Steam Mop to use on the tiles....you add water and it boils it and releases steam out the bottom...this disolves marks without any effort and disinfects the floor without chemicals. It is also good for wooden floors as it doesn’t make them too wet like a normal mop which can cause swelling. We bought it here. You will learn all sorts of tricks to keep your housework to a minimum and you will find that your house is way cleaner than SA because you are doing it"

Love from

Griffcat

[Donne']

Now this I like !!More tips please!!

[Sharon]

How much do they cost in Aus? Is it worth buying before leaving SA?

[polly]

http://www.kenwood-australia.com/products/...amp;subCatID=17

Hmmm, don't think I will be able to convince hubby to spend another $100. And I don't want one for Christmas Guess it will have to wait.

[Eva]

Why don't you give it to him for Christmas!!

[polly]

Lol, that would be an idea... unfortunately bought something for him months ago and I am sure if I gave him a mop, he would throw it at me

*sigh* I guess I will put it on the list for when he goes looking for a gift for me on the 24th again *siiiiiggggghhhhh*

[Guest Vermeulens]

How much do they cost in Aus? Is it worth buying before leaving SA?

Just like there is different vacuum machines available, with price differences between R600 - R15000.

But, to answer your question ... I've seen steam mops for $50, $80 and $250.

[hellsbells]

Another fantastic product here is Sards Wonder Soap for stain removal on clothes. Its available in any supermarket. Just rub it on stains before putting your clothes in the washing machine. It beats those laundry sprays like Preen for shirt collars and cuffs and is a fraction of the cost. My sister was so impressed when she visited that she took a few bars back with her. I've even used it as a spot cleaner on my carpet.

[dabb]

G'day (sounding loike an Aussie and I ain't even there yet!)

My brother in law who lives in Perth emailed me this handy tip for cleaning floors in Aus. When in Rome...

"When you get here you must buy a Kenwood Steam Mop to use on the tiles....you add water and it boils it and releases steam out the bottom...this disolves marks without any effort and disinfects the floor without chemicals. It is also good for wooden floors as it doesn’t make them too wet like a normal mop which can cause swelling. We bought it here. You will learn all sorts of tricks to keep your housework to a minimum and you will find that your house is way cleaner than SA because you are doing it"

Love from

Griffcat

Hi

Ask him about vacuum cleaners please - I'm leaving mine here; it's bags are too expensive.

D

[polly]

I have a Dyson and I LOVE it. It is expensive, but great if you have asthma. For the first time I can vacuum without having an attack or having to take my medication.

[Griffcat]

Hi

Ask him about vacuum cleaners please - I'm leaving mine here; it's bags are too expensive.

D

I have sent him an email, will let you know. I have an old kirby from 19 voetsak and the thing never gives up, so I am going to buy a few hundred bags and take the olde beast with us.

[Griffcat]

How much do they cost in Aus? Is it worth buying before leaving SA?

My brother in law reckons buy there, but just check your budget. I haven't seen any steam mops here, but then again I am not the most observant person?

[Sharon]

I can get them at Hirsch's for R669.00 but they say their one can only be used on tiles not wooden floors. Can't be the same thing. I think Verimark also has one.

Edited October 23, 2008 by Sharon

[polly]

At that price you might as well buy here.

[zorba]

Hi,

I wish we'd left our vacuum cleaner behind!

It finally got here (after I've spent a full month SWEEPING the carpets - UGH!!) and of course was checked by AQIS. It was really clean so no problems, but they misplaced the pedal/foot thingy so I can't use it anyway...

I brought bags with so we are OK there, but the vacuums here are so compact and nice, made for small storage spaces. Maybe I should put mine out on the street? Or maybe I should just look for the missing part on somebody else's pavement?!

zorba

[Neola]

Hi,

I wish we'd left our vacuum cleaner behind!

It finally got here (after I've spent a full month SWEEPING the carpets - UGH!!) and of course was checked by AQIS. It was really clean so no problems, but they misplaced the pedal/foot thingy so I can't use it anyway...

I brought bags with so we are OK there, but the vacuums here are so compact and nice, made for small storage spaces. Maybe I should put mine out on the street? Or maybe I should just look for the missing part on somebody else's pavement?!

zorba

The best tip I can give is to do flylady... go check out flylady.net . The sa way of springcleaning once a week just doesnt work. The house only look good for one day and then its messy again. And everybody have to pitch in especially the children as they are the ones who dont clean up after themselves naturally.

I just got my flylady calender and its great!!

[GerhardinOz]

Why don't you give it to him for Christmas!!

Because you don’t want a power drill for Christmas in return!

[KathyW]

I can get them at Hirsch's for R669.00 but they say their one can only be used on tiles not wooden floors. Can't be the same thing. I think Verimark also has one.

I decided to go buy one of those steam mops for our rental's wooden floor which drives me bezerk, I really will never ever again get a rental or buy a house with wooden floors, looks so nice but so much work. Anyway, the owner and his wife at the shop advised me not to use the steam mop on the wooden floor, because eventually (they say) it deteriorates the wood and in time the wood warps, they told me they had to replace the wooden floors on one of their rentals because they were charged with neglicant cleaning of the floors.

So yip, I walked out of there so disappointed but there is nothing that can be done about that, must just get on with it.

[Griffcat]

I decided to go buy one of those steam mops for our rental's wooden floor which drives me bezerk, I really will never ever again get a rental or buy a house with wooden floors, looks so nice but so much work. Anyway, the owner and his wife at the shop advised me not to use the steam mop on the wooden floor, because eventually (they say) it deteriorates the wood and in time the wood warps, they told me they had to replace the wooden floors on one of their rentals because they were charged with neglicant cleaning of the floors.

So yip, I walked out of there so disappointed but there is nothing that can be done about that, must just get on with it.

Hi Kathy,

My brother-in-law had this to say about cleaning wooden floors,

"Wood is a natural product and possibly even a living thing(even though it’s been chopped down!!!). I would say that if this lady damaged her floors, she must have parked the steam cleaner in one spot for hours. Was the floor a man made product or a real timber? Either way a steam mop beats a typical mop which you dip in a bucket and ends up pouring water in abundance wherever the mop first lands. This finds it’s way into the seams between each plank and could cause swelling. How do you clean the floor in your dining room now? It has an artificial timber-look floor. This kind of product comes in many different qualities and some of them have plain old MDF (supawood) as the substrate. This would swell if the humidity increased from 50% to 80% let alone being doused in water. She may have had the lowest quality money can buy.

Timber floors are hard PT . They give an amazing warm look ,but are probably not suitable for a rental due to their high maintenance. The best attitiude is to let them get some “houdingâ€. A few dents and scuffs will give them character like the first few scratches on a new caror bike! If you try to keep them in the condition they had when they were first laid, you are fighting a losing battle. I would stick to tiles for my rentals...they survived the volcano Vesuvius at Pompei a few thousand years ago and still stand up to the highest abuse today."

Good point about the mopping. Bottom line is we have to clean the wooden floors more carefully than tiles whether we use the steam cleaner mop or the tradiotional mop.

Hope this helps

Love

Griffcat

[Monica_]

Another fantastic product here is Sards Wonder Soap for stain removal on clothes.

Have to second this, SARD is the best product that I have come accross, even including South African brands.

Another tip, I brush off spider webs with the soft broom, and then put a cloth / stocking around the brooms brush, put some Eucalyptus Oil on it and wipe where ever the spiders were. The spiders to not return for at least a couple of months, but also keep in mind that the Daddy long legs keeps the redbacks away.

Monica.

[Cindylou]

Our house in SA had wooden floors and I usually just vacuumed them for dust and animal hair. When I needed to "wash" the floors I would wrap a damp cloth around a soft broom and "sweep" the floors - came up a treat.... There is a very clever broom here, not sure of the brand, that works on the same principle: the head is flat and swivels and has various cloths that velcro on. You just unclip the cloth and rinse it off in a bucket - the idea is to keep superflous water off the floors.

[Griffcat]

Have to second this, SARD is the best product that I have come accross, even including South African brands.

Another tip, I brush off spider webs with the soft broom, and then put a cloth / stocking around the brooms brush, put some Eucalyptus Oil on it and wipe where ever the spiders were. The spiders to not return for at least a couple of months, but also keep in mind that the Daddy long legs keeps the redbacks away.

Monica.

EEYYYUUU!! Dreading the spider thing!! Thanks for the tip!

[polly]

Thanks a lot for the tip about the spiders! Those cobwebs seem to grow overnight. They betray too easily how much dust is in my home

[Griffcat]

Hi

Ask him about vacuum cleaners please - I'm leaving mine here; it's bags are too expensive.

D

Here is what he said about vacuum cleaners:

"We have bought two vacuum cleaners since we were here...one was a USA made ShopVac.....it sucked like crazy but was so loud and for some reason I don’t like loud noise early on a Saturday morning!!!. We then bought a proper originasl Electrolux made in Sweden called an Ultra Silence. It also has HEPA filters down to less than a micron. Most of the common makes of vacuum cleaners have pirate filter bags avasilable at Kmart (think Game with a small touch of class but not much). Alternatively there is Godfreys Vacuum Store who have branches all over Australia and all they sell is vacuum cleaners (see link http://www.godfreys.com.au/ )

Finally the biggest source of just about anything is Ebay. I searched for Kirby bags and about 40 suppliers came up...below is a sample. Ebay stores can be really cheap because you don’t have to have fancy premises and loads of staff....you can run a business from your spare room and the whole of Australia is your territory. Some items are in an auction and you bid for them....these bags are “Buy it Now†so the price is fixed.....I have no idea if this is a good price but it gives you the idea."

Hope this is helpful

[polly]

Or buy a bagless vacuum My Dyson is bagless and cleans real easy. You press a button and the container comes loose from the machine. Then push a button and the bottom comes undone and the dust just drops out into the dustbin. Push closed and push back onto machine. ready to go again NEver been easier. Hubby used to have to clean the vacuum because I got an attack from the dust. Now I don't have any problems.