Just last week I had to replace my septic tank pump to the tune of about $600. (OUCH! - but, still cheeper than redoing to whole leech field!) Mr. Pooptankman (as my son named him), offered advise on what NOT to flush into the system. I learned that bleach is a big no-no!
Since I am asthmatic, cleaning with bleach is not the smartest thing for me. I love the clean smell of it, but it's not worth a trip to the ER. I have a monster-in-law who loves to mix (yes, MIX! ) bleach with other cleaners despite all our warnings - she still does it. At least I have a good excuse for not going over to visit often.... :D-->
I was going to make a cautionary comment about mixing bleach with other cleansers, but it seems to have already come up a few times. For the uninitiate, chlorine bleach products react with amines (especially ammonia) to make chloramine, a highly toxic gas. Many a housewife has been hospitalized (or worse) by mixing her two best cleansers to make a "super-cleanser." Peroxide cleansers (Oxy-Clean, etc.)won't react the way chlorine bleaches do, but I still wouldn't recommend mixing them with other cleansers. (Interestingly, if you mix chlorine bleach with a peroxide bleach, oxygen fizzes out, and you get no cleanser at all!) Leave chemistry to us professionals!
P.S.: Chlorine bleach will kill the bacteria that make a septic tank work. If you use chlonie bleach in your laundry, however, it's not a problem, especially in hot water washes, because the bleach is all decomposed by the time the wash is done.
WOW this is a great thread!!! I'm one of those women who is totally disorgannized when it comes to cleaning, I mess up one room cleaning another LOL but true I didn't realize there was a differance between cleaning and organizing so I try to do both at once and you don't wanta know the outcome trust me on this.
But I really got some good tips and will try them all. Hopefully not all at once.
I do have one good idea that I've been doing for years. I buy my kitty's dry food in one a those big plastic containers with a wide opening, throw the lid away and put my plastic grocery bags in it. It will hold at least a hundred bags which I used for small trash cans or to carry around with me while cleaning to put trash in or whatever but no wet stuff. I also use the grocery bags to put aluminum cans in then stuff them all in the big yard bags til I go to the recycling place.
I keep a butch by the litter box for a quick scoop and the dryer for the lint screen and in the bathroom I bought the cute little bag holders that look like tubes made from cloth with any design just pull and go!
I use the empty litter boxes the plastic pails ya buy the scoople litter in for food storage for the animals the birds and cats keeps it super fresh and dry.
I use bleach but I have certain cleaning shirts I wear when I clean in case of spill. I want the disinfectant you can buy some that smells like flowers now .
In the garbage can (all of them actually but it started in the bathroom) I put several bags in the bottom so if I have to take something outside real quick, there's another bag in there just to pull up.
I used regular un-clumpable litter...and sometimes it was necessary to get it straight out to the garbage can outside!
It works really well, I used it in houses where they had to use kosher cleaning products (when I had a housecleaning business). Gets things bright and clean.
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ChasUFarley
About the "no bleach" comment...
Just last week I had to replace my septic tank pump to the tune of about $600. (OUCH! - but, still cheeper than redoing to whole leech field!) Mr. Pooptankman (as my son named him), offered advise on what NOT to flush into the system. I learned that bleach is a big no-no!
Since I am asthmatic, cleaning with bleach is not the smartest thing for me. I love the clean smell of it, but it's not worth a trip to the ER. I have a monster-in-law who loves to mix (yes, MIX!
) bleach with other cleaners despite all our warnings - she still does it. At least I have a good excuse for not going over to visit often.... 
:D-->
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Steve!
When I was a restaurant manager, I had an employee end up in the hospital when he mixed bleach and Comet cleanser.
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GeorgeStGeorge
I was going to make a cautionary comment about mixing bleach with other cleansers, but it seems to have already come up a few times. For the uninitiate, chlorine bleach products react with amines (especially ammonia) to make chloramine, a highly toxic gas. Many a housewife has been hospitalized (or worse) by mixing her two best cleansers to make a "super-cleanser." Peroxide cleansers (Oxy-Clean, etc.)won't react the way chlorine bleaches do, but I still wouldn't recommend mixing them with other cleansers. (Interestingly, if you mix chlorine bleach with a peroxide bleach, oxygen fizzes out, and you get no cleanser at all!) Leave chemistry to us professionals!
George
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GeorgeStGeorge
P.S.: Chlorine bleach will kill the bacteria that make a septic tank work. If you use chlonie bleach in your laundry, however, it's not a problem, especially in hot water washes, because the bleach is all decomposed by the time the wash is done.
George
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excathedra
i just don't know where to start giving my thanks
plus i'm on the slow computer which keeps booting me out
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wyteduv58
WOW this is a great thread!!! I'm one of those women who is totally disorgannized when it comes to cleaning, I mess up one room cleaning another LOL but true I didn't realize there was a differance between cleaning and organizing so I try to do both at once and you don't wanta know the outcome trust me on this.
But I really got some good tips and will try them all. Hopefully not all at once.
I do have one good idea that I've been doing for years. I buy my kitty's dry food in one a those big plastic containers with a wide opening, throw the lid away and put my plastic grocery bags in it. It will hold at least a hundred bags which I used for small trash cans or to carry around with me while cleaning to put trash in or whatever but no wet stuff. I also use the grocery bags to put aluminum cans in then stuff them all in the big yard bags til I go to the recycling place.
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mj412
yeah use those handy bags from the food stores!!
I keep a butch by the litter box for a quick scoop and the dryer for the lint screen and in the bathroom I bought the cute little bag holders that look like tubes made from cloth with any design just pull and go!
I use the empty litter boxes the plastic pails ya buy the scoople litter in for food storage for the animals the birds and cats keeps it super fresh and dry.
I use bleach but I have certain cleaning shirts I wear when I clean in case of spill. I want the disinfectant you can buy some that smells like flowers now .
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krys
In the garbage can (all of them actually but it started in the bathroom) I put several bags in the bottom so if I have to take something outside real quick, there's another bag in there just to pull up.
I used regular un-clumpable litter...and sometimes it was necessary to get it straight out to the garbage can outside!
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Cindy!
Cleaning tip from the ! household:
We have our house cleaned once a week!!!!
Worth every single penny to come home on Fridays to a sparkling home!!!!!!!!
As for clutter...well...they'll be moving out in a few years....WON'T THEY??????
my bad
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excathedra
i'm very excited about baking soda and vinegar !!!!!! especially having pets and difficult water stains in bathroom !!!!!! thank you shell
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Cindy!
It works really well, I used it in houses where they had to use kosher cleaning products (when I had a housecleaning business). Gets things bright and clean.
But I can't STAND that smell!!!!!
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reikilady
This thread couldn't have come at a better time! The Flylady site is awesome and makes so much sense. Thanks a bunch!
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waterbuffalo
Are you sure she's cleaning or is she organizing so the human can actually clean, Tom?
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excathedra
i want to get that book "is there life after housework"
THANK YOU ALL for your wonderful advice and suggestions !!!!
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Rejoice
Hi Ex;
You will love that book. He shows you how to be cleaning 3 rooms with the effort of only one!
He wrote another book called "Clutters Last Stand" Great hints and great humor!!!
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Kit Sober
My mom gave me a nice cleaning tip years ago, which I use.
"If I take my glasses off, things look cleaner."
Kit
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Tom Strange
that's funny Kit! I've been trying to use that one for years... but then I stub my toe a lot...
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AHAT
A septic tip I got from a septic service guy..........
Pour a half gallon of buttermilk down the drain once a month. It replenishes the bacteria.
My favorite grease-cutter is Greased Lightning. It also works on soap-scum in the bathroom.
I also spray a litte bleach around the toilet every few days. (I have 2 boys, 6 & 8), I sound like a broken record, "Watch what you're doing!"
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