Well, lo and behold, we made it up today and got over to the apartment before 10 a.m.!
Left here around 9:15 or so actually. Took about 10 minutes to get there. Not too bad. I think traffic was just horrible yesterday because it was kind of our Monday here and everyone was back to school/work.
I didn't bring anything with me by way of cleaning supplies. There were 3 sponges in the kitchen, but they were that kind of um... not like o-cello sponges, they were this cheapy lightweight foamy feeling kind of thing. They don't tend to absorb very well. At all.
I got out some towels that were packed in my luggage, which has been sitting in the apartment, to use to wipe and dry with. I also got out the uber expensive lemon and eucalyptis liquid hand soap that I had sitting in my luggage, which while not made for cleaning fridges, was the only soap or cleaning agent I had to use.
Here was how it went:
10:10 into the kitchen
11:00 freezer is wiped out and "clean" for now.
break
11:25 back to the fridge
1:15 done with fridge
I can't believe it took me that long to clean it out, but there were a couple of reasons why.
The first is that we left the doors open to air it out, and they ended up being open for a couple of weeks, and so there was a bunch of dust inside.
The second reason is because the whole fridge, inside and out, was covered in some kind of oily slime. You couldn't see it, it left no visible residue, but you could feel it when you touched any surface. I don't know what it was from, I'm assuming it's not unexpected but I don't know as I've never bought a new fridge (or other appliance for that matter) before.
So, I had to clean all that grungy feeling stuff out and off before I wanted to even consider putting any food in there.
We didn't turn it on yet. In fact, I'd like to go back with some vinegar or rubbing alcohol and give it a final quick clean. I would feel much better that way.
Also, the floors. *sigh*
I understand now why the grout in the tiles gets so dirty. However, it isn't that it can't be cleaned, it's just that the way they clean here doesn't support grout being anything other than gray/black.
Because there's typically no carpet, just area rugs, the floors get hosed down so to speak, and they run a mop over, but no scrubbing. And if there's dust on the floor, and lets face it, we live in the middle of a giant desert and there's tons of dust, the dust tends to combine with the water and make a kind of sludge over the tile/grout. And because they don't scrub, it just gets darker and darker and more mucky looking.
I can't say I want to scrub my floors all the time (linoleum is sounding better and better, lol), but I don't want the black grout. Not sure how this will be solved, hopefully I can figure something out that isn't too time/chemical intensive.
I turned the a/c on in the bedroom about an hour or so before I was done cleaning. It was so nice to lay on the bed in the cool air when I was all done. Yay for a/c!
Not sure what is next apartment wise, but hopefully we'll continue to take some small steps that will get us in there soon.
5 comments:
On appliances: My new stove that I got a week or so ago had no gunk or oil or anything on any of the surfaces. It arrived just before lunch and was ready to use as soon as it was plugged in. When I got my new refrigerator a couple of years ago, it also was clean and ready to use. My only problem was getting the gunk off from the tape that was keeping the door shut while it was on the truck. I can't imagine why there would be gunk on a new appliance.
On tile floors: Dust shouldn't cause the grout to discolor, though I expect you'll be having to vacuum a lot. I redid my kitchen counter last year and did it in tile and a light colored grout. I sealed it at the time, though I was a bit uncomfortable with chemicals on it since food does come in contact with the surface occasionally. The grout does discolor (or seems to) after awhile. I got a scrub brush with a handle and find that a little powdered sink cleanser like Comet or Ajax will clean it up really quickly. As far as something for the floor, I am still using laundry detergent for my floors since it comes unscented and without dyes and unnecessary chemicals. It cleans better than anything else and you need a really tiny amount in a bucket of water. I guess if the grout on the floors was really dirty, you could get one of those floor push brooms to kind of scrub it.
Jane
Hmmm... not sure about the oily layer of slime then. Pretty weird. Of course, this *is* Egypt. lol
Expect the unexpected!
Thanks for the ideas and suggestions regarding the floor. If it was just one room perhaps it wouldn't seem so daunting, but the whole apartment is kind of a bit much.
I do intend to vacuum/sweep a couple of times a week and perhaps that will help minimize the dust which gets turned into muck.
Of course, I imagine after a few months of sweeping or vacuuming a couple of times a week, my intentions might change.
lol
I will have a look for some Comet or Ajax. If I can't find those I'm sure I can find something similar in one of the larger grocery stores.
I like to use baking soda for cleaning the inside of my refrigerator. We have a fairly new fridge and it, too, did not come with oily gunk on it. Perhaps the grout on the floor is purposely a dark color...
The grout on the floor is dark from dirt. You can tell because not all of it is dark, there are areas where it's lighter. The people who lived there before us just didn't properly clean *anything*. Gross.
Ya know, Melis...I felt that way about the Castledown house - that the people before us left dirt and I just never felt like the house was clean. I wish we'd stayed on Greenwood Road! lol
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