They Have Super Powers!!

I am off work for summer break and am determined to get control of my house and the flowerbeds reclaimed from the dogs. Perhaps photos will be shown on a later blog entry.

We had old friends from out of town today and will have family visiting all next week. I want to spend the time playing, not picking up. I've been cleaning off and on for the last two weeks and things are looking up. It had been a while since I REALLY cleaned, but I won't say how long. Living on a farm, I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is to keep the house clean. There is fine dusty dirt everywhere. Driving on dirt roads, it comes in on our clothes and shoes, blows in the doors and windows. We also have dogs, lab and lab cross. They are all outside dogs, but when they aren't too (visibly haha) dirty and on good behavior, they come in for visits. Labs are great, but shed like crazy. You don't really see the hair until it starts accumulating in the corners.

Yesterday was crunch time. After going to town to buy groceries I came home to do a little cooking and to clean the floors. I got out my three super heroes. And being they are super heroes, of course they have super powers. Their performance was fantastic.

From left to right:

Bissell Powerforce Bagless Upright Vacuum - I bought this originally because it was inexpensive, and to keep upstairs. My "good" vacuum was so heavy and awkward to drag up the stairs. The "good" one was expensive ($500? when new) and it always has trouble staying turned on. I think there is a short in the electrical connection. We've had it worked on; still acts stupid.  I've kept it because it still has suction. It just doesn't work on carpets. It has a looooong hose and I can reach really high with it. I'll see if the hose and attachments will work on something else & dump the rest of it. I've decided the Bissell is now my "good" one. It worked so great on my living room carpet (20X30). I had to empty the dirt cup twice. I told you it had been a while. And it picked up a lot of dog hair too. I am so happy with it's performance. The carpet looks so nice.

Shark Vac then Steam - This is my most recent purchase. I had seen the infomercial many times, but never ordered it. One day when leaving WalMart I noticed the sales flier in the cart, opened to the household cleaners. There it was. AND it was on sale. It was a sign! When I first got it I wasn't too impressed. I guess there is a learning curve because it worked GREAT last night. It works on hard floors only. With the fine dirt also comes chunky dirt: mud chunks from the treads on our shoes, chunks of weeds & sticks from hay bales, gravel, etc. Also we are pigs. There's always popcorn, popped and unpopped, scraps of paper & wrappers, etc. That is what I've always wanted in a vacuum: something that will pick up chunky stuff. The bottom has channels that direct the dirt to be suctioned. Again I had to empty the dirt cup twice. More of the same kind of dirt that was on the carpet. When finished vacuuming, empty the dirt cup and then go on steam mopping mode using distilled water. I used two mop pads on 2 large and 2 small floors. Of course the kitchen was the worst. It's nice knowing that the floor is clean using just hot steam. Great for babies (a certain one who will be crawling soon) that are always putting their hands in their mouths.

Hoover SteamVac Carpet Washer - After vacuuming the living room I got out my carpet steamer. This is a real eye opener. I thought I vacuumed really good because I emptied the dirt cup two times. Well, after squirting steam and cleaner into the carpet, it sure sucked up some muddy looking stuff. There was all kinds of little rocks and grass/weed seeds. And tons more pet hair, not to mention human hair. (I wonder who's it was. Do you know, Red?) It didn't look like I had even vacuumed. Good Little Hoover!

I worked like a dog and was finished by 11:30 p.m. I was sweaty and my back really ached, BUT MY FLOORS ARE CLEAN!!! It's nice having equipment that works well.

With a little more cleaning and decluttering I will have this house summer ready. Then I am ready to play the summer away, doing what I like: sewing, quilting, crafting and playing with my new grandson.

                                                    Had to use the extra large photo. He's so darn pretty!

P.S. On the far right are 2 old-time, hand-held, vintage-style brooms. They still have their place for a quick clean-up and for sweeping the porch. At least they have each other.