Out Of Chaos

They’re sure housework won’t kill you, but why take the risk? Author Unknown

When it comes to the bathroom, I am compelled to take that risk! I just can’t abide it if my bathroom looks like the one down at the Fina station after the tour bus full of teenagers came through. I have to break down and clean it now and again.

But, can you get a moisturizing treatment and an aerobic workout at the same time? Sure you can, with some creativity and some really good music to inspire you. You can have all three in 20 minutes. How? It’s a simple trick of multi-tasking. For me, this is a great way to simplify my life (because I never have time for everything).

Did you know you can burn calories cleaning the bathroom? Go to Calories Per Hour.Com and you can find the calories you burn with just about any task. I went to the Activity Calculator and discovered that a 125 lb. woman burns 72 calories with continuous, moderate bathroom cleaning in twenty minutes. I weigh considerably more than that (ahem!), so I burn even more. How many? I don’t want to talk about it.

To do this multi-tasking, you’ll need these items:

• Some hard rocking music (I like to work to the music of Queen).
• A pair of rubber gloves.
• A pair of old socks, and your slippers or tennis shoes.
• A thick moisturizing lotion.
• A container of all the supplies you need for cleaning.
• A laundry basket.

I keep the supplies I need for cleaning the bathroom in a bucket (which does double duty to help me rinse the shower stall). Here’s what the bucket contains:

• A spray bottle of mild cleanser (I mix a few tablespoons of dishwashing detergent with water, because I’m cheap and it works just fine…if I don’t attack mildew).
• A spray bottle of glass cleaner (or the cleaner wipes).
• A roll of paper towels.
• A dusting mitt or feather duster.
• Disinfectant wipes.
• A “Magic Eraser,” my favorite tool for cleaning the shower and countertops (it will remove mildew!).
• Efferdent tablets, or Alka Seltzer tablets (I know it sounds crazy, but pop one in the toilet and either works great to remove any “rings”).
• A clean, dry towel.

• Load your cd first, so you are ready to hit the “play” button.
• Slather your feet with lotion; then put on your socks and shoes.
• Slather your hands with lotion and put on your rubber gloves.
• Press “play” on the music, and get moving. Be sure to wiggle your feet, stretch, dance, and move while you work.
• Pop an Efferdent or Alka Seltzer tablet in the toilet and let it do its magic while you clean the rest of the bathroom
• Grab anything on the counter that doesn’t belong in the bathroom and put it in the laundry basket to put away later.
• Put the dirty towels in the hamper to wash later.
• Spray the shower with the cleaning solution, and scrub it down. Stubborn stains can be attacked with that Magic Eraser.
• Wipe it dry with the towel and move on to the sink.
• Clean the sink and the counter top using that spray cleanser (and be sure to wipe the tops of any bottles you keep on the counter).
• If you put a dab of toothpaste on the faucets after you have cleaned them, and polish them, they will be sparkling (toothpaste works as a great substitute for silver polish, too).
• After you have thoroughly cleaned the sink and the counter, give it a once-over with the disinfectant wipes, then dry it all with that towel.
• Dust any shelves and knickknacks, if you have those things in the bathroom. Don’t forget to run that duster over the grooves on your cabinets, too.
• Scrub out the toilet with the toilet brush, and use disinfectant wipes to clean the toilet bowl rim and sides (you wouldn’t have to do that so often if everybody had perfect aim).
• Strip off those rubber gloves (don’t your hands feel softer?).
• Put away your cleaning tools.
• Put out fresh towels, empty the trash, and spray a dab of air freshener.

Voila! You have soft hands and feet, you’ve burned 72 or more calories, and your bathroom is company ready.

Isn’t multi-tasking wonderful? Why, you could take this even further: you could put whitening strips on your teeth, or a facial mask, or a deep moisturizer on your hair…you could be as beautiful as your shiny, clean bathroom.

Tags: The Bath by Shelly Kneupper Tucker
No Comments »

I told y’all I had begun the process of getting my bathroom organized. Once I had tossed all the unused and excess items that don’t belong in my bathroom, everything had to go back on the shelves! On my first attempt, I put things back where they had been. Then, I realized I wasn’t making good use of the space.

The handiest shelves for us are a cabinet beside the sink. It stretches from floor to ceiling, but only the middle two shelves are really workable. The top two shelves are hard to reach. Especially because the cabinet is 22″ deep! Anything in the back of that cabinet might as well be in The Twilight Zone.

I had been keeping medicines on those middle two shelves, and they were behind the grooming items we used every day. It’s dark back there, so it’s hard to see the medicines, and when you aren’t feeling well, you don’t want to take everything off the shelf just to find the Immodium!

I decided to move the medicines to the cabinet I have over my toilet. Everything is eye level, the cabinet isn’t very deep (so medicines won’t get lost), and it’s easily accessible. I just need to remember to have the toilet seat closed while I’m rummaging in there!

Professional organizers will suggest that you use your narrow medicine cabinets and your easily accessible spaces for the grooming items you use every day. It makes sense to me. I found a workable arrangement, and left those high cabinets for items like the de-humidifier and the heating pads. Hopefully, I don’t need those every day!

Here are three items that I found very useful in my attempt to organize the shelves. You don’t need fancy containers to do it. Chances are, you have something that will work hidden in a closet somewhere (at least if you are a successful packrat, you should).

I use a turntable, or “Lazy Susan” to hold my toiletry items. I have one and my husband has one, so that we don’t accidentally share toothbrushes or razors. Turn it, and I can reach any item on it quickly. I have to brag that my garage sale days served me well on this one. I picked up six wooden Lazy Susans for $1.00 each. I’m putting them to good use now. You can find them at any container store, and I’ve found plastic ones that work quite well just at the grocery store.

I had some wire racks that I had picked up at a discount store many years ago. They were perfect for subdividing shelves that were too tall, and helped me utilize the wasted space. On them, I stacked plastic storage containers from the kitchen. I intend to put computerized labels on the front and side of each container, so the contents are easily identified.

We’ve shuffled things a little bit as we tried to tweak the arrangement. I think we’ve almost gotten it done. Now all we have to do is keep it that way. That’s another story!

Tags: The Bath by Shelly Kneupper Tucker
No Comments »

I thought that cleaning, de-cluttering, and organizing the bathroom would be the easiest “beginner task.” After all, it’s the smallest room in the house, isn’t it?

That may be so, but it’s also the busiest and most crowded room of the house. It’s not as easy to simplify as it might seem.

First of all, the storage space is at a premium. If your bathroom is like mine, that storage space is “wonky.” I have drawers and shelves that are too deep, other shelves that are too narrow, and the space under the sink has drainpipes that make it difficult to utilize. I don’t have enough counter top space for all my lotions and potions, my mirrors and curlers. For some unearthly reason, my husband thinks he should get part of the space. Go figure!

It has taken three four tries to finally get ours workable. On my first attempt, I only worked with my makeup.
That task took me an entire evening. I had to throw away most of my beauty products because they were old.

On the second try, I spent a Saturday morning sorting and sifting. I set up a card table and removed everything from the cabinets. Here is what the “experts” told me to do:

• Toss old medines (they have expiration dates), old lotions (trust me, I tested one and you don’t want to keep them) and old makeup.
• Get rid of rusty tweezers/nail clippers/old razors and such.
• You don’t need worn out hair brushes and warped combs.
• Throw away old toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste that are scummy and gummy.
• You can do without those hair products you bought and decided they didn’t work for you.
• Cull out any duplicate blow dryers (it only takes one) and hair accessories.
• Towels and linens that are frayed, ripped, or faded should go on out the door (or into your cleaning closet to be used as rags).

Once you have removed all the items that no longer belong in your bathroom, it’s time to sort them and find a “home” for them. In order to keep things simplified, that takes some planning. Again, it took more than one try for me. I’ll tell you more in Part Two!

Tags: The Bath by Shelly Kneupper Tucker
No Comments »