Hello my fellow Finish-it Friday friends. I hope you had a great weekend! It was so fun reading your to-do lists and play lists. Can’t wait to hear how your weekends went and what you finished up! Here’s my update.
As a general note, we had a major distraction this weekend that caused the to-do list to be re-prioritized a bit. That distraction was having three huge trees cut down in our backyard. More on that later…but let’s just say when there is a man a hundred (plus) feet up in the air in your back yard, and chain saws running like crazy, it’s a bit tricky to focus. So…based on this, I wasn’t quite as productive inside as originally planned. But I’m still happy with what I did get done.
Finish It Friday To-Do List
1. Wrap-up loose ends from sale. Let’s just say, you may see this one again next weekend.
2. Plan Collin’s birthday celebration. We made what at first seemed to be great progress on this one. We believe we have located a tent to rent, but are waiting for a call back. We also worked out many of the other details, but seem to be running into a snag: the weather forecast. It’s supposed to be really cold next weekend…so we might be back to the drawing board.
3. Clean behind stove. Okay…this one didn’t happen. But instead I did clean the inside of the oven. Keep in mind this involved pushing a couple of buttons. But, it was a great weekend to do this since it was warm enough to run the whole house fan and suck out some of that smell that happens when ovens self-clean. This is a great thing to have done before holiday baking begins. So…I’ll clean under the stove sometime soon.
4. Clean behind refrigerator. Done!
5. Steam tile floor in kitchen. Finished! I also did the eating area and laundry room.
Now a bunch of you asked about this project, so here are the details. Last summer we purchased this little steamer. 
The main goal was to steam clean our grout…which had gotten a bit darker than desired over the years, due to regular mopping and wear and tear. Now, please keep in mind I’m not a grout expert. I’m sure we should have sealed the grout regularly. (We have done this before and it is by no stretch of the imagination fun.) And I’m not sure that steam cleaning grout would be endorsed by true grout expert, but it worked great. (I have heard that baking soda does a great job on grout, too.)
This little steamer comes with a bunch of different attachments, including one with a brush about the size of a mop head. Our tile in our basement has grooves in it…the perfect place for dirt to get stuck when using a regular mop. Last week I connected the dots and decided to try the steamer with the brush attachment on the tile in the basement. And it worked well, so I decided to try the steamer on the upstairs tile.
So why steam clean a floor? Well, I just happened to stumble across an infomercial for a Shark Steam Mop this weekend. (Not this model…by the way.) But, according to this infomercial, a steam mop allows you to clean and kill germs without any chemicals. Very cool. Now the advantage to a mop over my steamer is that you steam and wipe up the steam while standing up. With my steamer, I had to use cleaning rags to wipe up the steam afterwards…which made this a rather time intensive and back-breaking process. The steam mop (on T.V.) looked much easier.
If you have a steam mop, I’d love to know which one you have and what your experience has been with it. Are they really as easy to use as they seem to be on T.V.? I love how clean my floor is now, but can’t see myself spending that kind of time on my floor (literally) on a regular basis. 🙂
Play List
1. Go trick-or-treating…or hand-out candy. Done! (Fun!)
2. Read. I didn’t read…it didn’t sound fun. So I knitted for a little while instead.
How did you do with your lists this weekend? I can’t wait to hear!
Everything on to do and play list completed except work on xmas present. But I’ll get some time this week to do that! Realized after organizing my storage containers that I accumluated way too many and can give some away. Took your advise and stored the bottoms with the tops. It takes some space but really.. how many containers do you need?
One hint on grout that has REALLY helped me keep mine clean day-to-day… The best way to clean grout on a daily basis is to use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Apply to the grout using a toothbrush, leave it sit for a while and then wipe with a clean towel. It works wonders in between the big job of steam cleaning the whole thing….
I completed four of the five items on my to do list: scrubbed both bathrooms, swept all flooring, made excellent progress on my handmade Christmas gifts, and ordered ballet tickets. I didn’t clean the refrigerator coils, but am hoping to do that on my regular cleaning day Wednesday. Completed all three items on my play list: created Red layout and created Red pages for Color Mini-Album and read some in my book club book, although I still have quite a bit to go before tomorrow’s meeting at noon!
Have been sick the whole weekend (migraines) and didn’t accomplish what I wanted. The only thing from my to-do list that is done is the laundry organization (and that was my husband’s job 🙂 )I did sleep a lot though 🙂
I did all I planned to do and bit more. I attached a sliding shelf under the office table for the scanner. Also drilled holes to the table and attached cable holders under it. Now the cables run under the table and can be picked up through the holes.
I also cleaned the toilet and bathroom, because we got guests. Had fun time on dinner with the guests.
I’m very happy about my accomplishments this weekend.
I got everything except for putting my scrap prize away. AND that porch stuff took a lot longer than expected and my legs and tush are still sore 😉 Good list.
Well, I did better than excpected!
Grocery shopping – done. I mostly put this on the list because I hate it but still do it.
Finish recycling area – done. This involved:
Trip to IKEA – done. I actually had to go there twice since I forgot the most important item (gift certificate for niece). It was not amusing. It is only a 15 minute drive though…
Clean out at least three kitchen cabinets- done. I only have one left actually and I left that one on purpose. the purpose is hopefully on next Friday list!
And the fun:
Both seimming and iceskating were done and a lot of fun.
Guests for dinner and sleepover were tremendous fun!
We had a new record in trick-or-treaters (22) so we actually ran out of candy! I’m stocking up on more next year 🙂
Finish it:
1 – mop my kitchen floor – DONE
2 – finish shredding documents – About half done – should finish tonight or tomorrow
3 – work on donation pile for Goodwill and drop off Monday am – Didn’t get to this
4 – plan dinners for the next two weeks – DONE
Fun:
1 – Soccer Saturday games and then out to lunch – DONE and in the rain 🙁
2 – trick or treating with my kids – lots of fun!
I have a Bissell steam mop that I LOVE. I actually posted about it last week if you’d like to check it out. If I had to choose one cleaning gadget to own- my steam mop would be it. Our entire house is tile.
I had to re-prioritise my list a bit, too. No major disruption, but my boyfriend has been dealing with some family issues lately and we both needed some time to just hang out together. I got halfway through hemming the pants (just a bit of hand sewing left) and bought paper for the wedding card but the other things on my original list didn’t get done. However I did buy myself a new pillow (my old one had started to give me a stiff neck), and we picked out a gift for the wedding, so I won’t have to do that next weekend.
I too have the Bissell Steam Mop and I LOVE IT! I’ve had it for over a year and I use it on Travertine and wood floors, works like a dream. Only problem I had is at first I didn’t use the recommended distilled water and our AZ water killed that filter within a month. But now I use distilled water and it has lasted probably 9 months or so? I also bought extra pads…I have three or four cuz I don’t mop enough and I go through a few every time I finally make myself mop the house. My floors are a little wet when done but I don’t dry them and they look fine still with air drying!! Well worth the money I spent. And way cleaner than regular mopping.
Be sure to post if you get one!
PS, I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond via online. They have a great return policy even months later if you change your mind!
I have the Shark Steam Mop and LOVE it. I wouldn’t use anything else.
I have the Haan Floor sanitizer. I did a lot of research before just buying one on the shelf. I wanted the Eureka Envirosteam but for some reason EVERY place online (even directly from the eureka site) was sold out of this product. (It got top ratings from several reviewers. I love it. I live in a house with all tile floors, and not regular tile… the kind that is like in schools and businesses, stuff that actually needs to be professionally waxed on a yearly or so basis. (Oh if I weren’t renting, this would be the first to go!) But mopping, swiffer wet-jet, anything other than the steam mop leaves streaks!
It really does work. My socks are cleaner when I walk around the house, and I feel better about not using chemicals. I’m buying a hand steamer with any extra money that I get from Christmas gifts this year.