Posted by Jim Erhardt on June 25, 2011 at 10:58 AM
...that guys do house cleaning with leaf blowers and shop vacs?
It seems it's up to us guys to teach our ladies the Art and Technique of House Cleaning Combat!
I take the first pass with the leaf blower. It does a superb job of dislodging stubborn dust and chasing those cowardly dust bunnies out from their dark hiding places. Leaf blowers also excel at dusting off micro blinds and drapes!
While Donna dinks around with her little girly Electrolux, I break out my Craftsman 12 HP shop vac. This baby can suck the carpet right off the floor, so anything laying in the carpet doesn't have a prayer.
For bathroom cleaning, I use Armor All Wheel Cleaner. Its powerful cleaning action will remove baked-on brake dust from alloy wheels, just imagine how effective it is on soap scum! And with its silicone-based formula, it leaves bathroom fixtures looking shiney-new.
And if I ever got to build a house, I would have a floor drain in every room so I could use the pressure washer too....
Do you "dust" first with the leaf blower, or "vacuum" first with the shop vac. I need to know because my wife and I have a standing argument about this. I think one should vacuum first because it's going to kick up all the dust and land on the furniture. Therefore dusting should be done last. My wife thinks the opposite that dusting should be done first because it knocks dust off that lands on the floor and vacuuming should be done last.
Could you please clear up this argument for me? I'm thinking 2, 300hp house fans will eliminate the need for either dusting or vacuuming.
Lon, the idea is to dislodge the dust first and then fire up the mother-of-all-vacuums to suck up the dust before it has a chance to settle again. The after-burning whole house fan you propose could conceiveably eliminate the need for the shop vac.
I use three differnt sizes of shop Vac for the house. (They're probably twice as powerful as any standard home vac), but I just came in from 5 hours with a 5 HP Pressure Washer. I think I'm in love with this new machine.
Another gender-specific house cleaning observation;
When Donna cleans the toilet, she dons a full hazmat suit and uses one of those sponge-ball-on-the-end-of-a-stick thingeys. Even with the hazmat suit, she keeps her distance.
I do this same task in a different fashion - after dumping enough Comet with Clorex in the bowl to kill any life form known to man, I strip down to my skivvies and jump right in. I wash, wipe, dry and buff inside and out, often to a shine that makes my Subaru look neglected. The only downside to this is that I have been designated the official Tidy Bowl Man of the Erhardt residence.
At least Donna is happy she was able to retire her hazmat gear.
Posted by Eva McDermott on June 25, 2011 at 10:01 PM
I don't know yous guys, but a belt sander would do well enough on the hardwood floor. For the more difficult jobs, a sawzall maybe more effective and less noisy than a chain saw. All sounds like a cop out to me..... Sad but true, I sometimes use a super Shop Vac to vacuum for dog fur, hidden ticks from said dog, husband, and sons after their hikes in the NH woods. I am very careful NOT to collect them (ticks that is). BTW Jim, while harsh chemicals are fine for toilet cleaning, I think the HP washer is a more environmentally sound option than all those chemicals (me being a chemist) therefore the drains in bathroom floors are a good idea. A steam cleaner would be more effective at killing the germs.
To clean an active beehive out of the house eaves I used a full set of SCUBA gear, including tank, regulator and a full face mask. No fins, but I had my Army boots on. Lots of bees tried to sting me, but not one got through my rubber barrier. The neighbors must've been wondering about the diver on the roof, but the bees are gone. Come to think of it, the neighbors don't bother me anymore either.
Eva, good point about the chemicals. Floor drains and pressure washers FTW (for the win)! Donna's reaction is simply the regular "Jim, the toilets could use your attention."
It all has a photographic underlying theme also, dust bunnies are equally bad on a sensor, right? Well, I've got a shop vac that big too... I'm going to pull the lens off my 5D2 and just press that vacuum hose right on the body's mount. I'm done paying for these cleaning kits.
This thread reminds me of the time my brother decided to clean his two white cloth recliners when his wife was out-of-town. He dragged them out onto the porch and used a pressure washer on them! Seriously. One of them ended up getting mildew and had to thrown away, but the other one came out looking pretty good so he considers this method a success!!!
I have different problem going on- the division of labor. A few weeks back my wife announced she was going onto the roof to clean the gutters, and that in the meantime I should get the boat ready to launch. At sea she expects to drive the boat, rig her own tackle, bait her own hooks and soundly outfish me and every guy in sight. Seems to be hereditary, because our daughter and granddaughter are the same way. What's a guy's role in all this? Mostly sit still, stay out of the way and look pretty. And take pictures of course.
I have the clear feeling that my invitation to fish with her will be withdrawn once she figures out how to back a boat trailer!
As proof of the unfairness of it all, I'm attaching a photo (hey, it's MY photo!) of her biggest this year at 60#. She's also caught one in the 50's, several in the 40's and who knows how many in the 30's. Me? My biggest so far this year is 25#. Sheesh.
Discussion
15 repliesIt seems it's up to us guys to teach our ladies the Art and Technique of House Cleaning Combat!
I take the first pass with the leaf blower. It does a superb job of dislodging stubborn dust and chasing those cowardly dust bunnies out from their dark hiding places. Leaf blowers also excel at dusting off micro blinds and drapes!
While Donna dinks around with her little girly Electrolux, I break out my Craftsman 12 HP shop vac. This baby can suck the carpet right off the floor, so anything laying in the carpet doesn't have a prayer.
For bathroom cleaning, I use Armor All Wheel Cleaner. Its powerful cleaning action will remove baked-on brake dust from alloy wheels, just imagine how effective it is on soap scum! And with its silicone-based formula, it leaves bathroom fixtures looking shiney-new.
And if I ever got to build a house, I would have a floor drain in every room so I could use the pressure washer too....
Sandy
Do you "dust" first with the leaf blower, or "vacuum" first with the shop vac. I need to know because my wife and I have a standing argument about this. I think one should vacuum first because it's going to kick up all the dust and land on the furniture. Therefore dusting should be done last. My wife thinks the opposite that dusting should be done first because it knocks dust off that lands on the floor and vacuuming should be done last.
Could you please clear up this argument for me? I'm thinking 2, 300hp house fans will eliminate the need for either dusting or vacuuming.
Lon
These are great for baked on lassagna, the bacon grease that's built up for a week, and your wife's fine china.
--P
When Donna cleans the toilet, she dons a full hazmat suit and uses one of those sponge-ball-on-the-end-of-a-stick thingeys. Even with the hazmat suit, she keeps her distance.
I do this same task in a different fashion - after dumping enough Comet with Clorex in the bowl to kill any life form known to man, I strip down to my skivvies and jump right in. I wash, wipe, dry and buff inside and out, often to a shine that makes my Subaru look neglected. The only downside to this is that I have been designated the official Tidy Bowl Man of the Erhardt residence.
At least Donna is happy she was able to retire her hazmat gear.
HEY Donna what is your input on all this?
Charlie, you'd be my kind of neighbor.
It all has a photographic underlying theme also, dust bunnies are equally bad on a sensor, right? Well, I've got a shop vac that big too... I'm going to pull the lens off my 5D2 and just press that vacuum hose right on the body's mount. I'm done paying for these cleaning kits.
I have the clear feeling that my invitation to fish with her will be withdrawn once she figures out how to back a boat trailer!
As proof of the unfairness of it all, I'm attaching a photo (hey, it's MY photo!) of her biggest this year at 60#. She's also caught one in the 50's, several in the 40's and who knows how many in the 30's. Me? My biggest so far this year is 25#. Sheesh.