Clean

Last weekend I started something that I almost regret.

To give the history. We had hired a maid once to attempt to have a major cleaning done. However, it did not work out at all. In the four hours she was supposed to work, she had to redo many things because she was lazy/terrible/stupid. We had to pay 55 Ringgit for this "service."

Previously we had cleaned, but not as thoroughly as what I am now doing. Siew was "in charge" of that until Felix arrived. After that, she had no time for regular cleaning. I work quite a lot and do not have a lot of time to help clean either. So, we had thought about getting a maid to do some of the bigger tasks and we can maintain things.

That was our first attempt at hiring a part-time maid, and our LAST. I said no more of that nonsense. I can do a better job than a "professional" maid can, saving my money and ensuring that the job is done to our standards.

After that fiasco, I decided to start cleaning by groups. Why clean the whole house every weekend? Why not spend 2 hours focusing on a room (or room-set)? And then I could change room-sets every weekend. That way the entire house is completely, thoroughly, cleaned every month.

I figured out that I could do it like this:

Set 1: living room and balcony
Set 2: kitchen and "balcony 2" (it is not REALLY a balcony, but might as well be)
Set 3: all three bedrooms
Set 4: hallway and the two bathrooms

So I tried it out last weekend. I decided to start with the living room. Even with the maid's prior "help," it still took me 4 hours to scrub things down to where I considered them clean. I wore myself out. I did not expect it to take that long. Because of this, I have reconsidered my sets, but I am not decided on how I will break them up.

This weekend I did the kitchen. I am not sure how long I worked. I cleaned the cabinets, inside and out, and all other surfaces, pulled the fridge down (it's on an elevated platform) and cleaned it inside and out, as well as the whole platform, most of the walls, etc. It took me so long, and was so tiring to clean and re-arrange the cabinets, that I did not finish my "task" yesterday. Who would have thought it would be so hard to clean some cabinets and walls?

Today I finished the remainder of the kitchen, much to my pleasure.

The house FEELS cleaner by doing this. And Siew has been working hard, when Felix allows it, to keep the floors swept and mopped. That helps me out a lot.

I am not sure which set I will do, or how it will be setup, next week. I'll be very glad when this first round is completed. It will be much easier next time around!