We had a good day today. I slept for 12 hours last night (I guess I was a bit exhausted after our busy weekend!) and woke up feeling very refreshed this morning.
I had re-arranged our daily routine some, so we started that new routine today and it went incredibly well. Silas was especially excited to start his preschool lessons with me (he’s been talking about getting to start “pwe-schuul” for months!)
After homeschooling was finished, I was able to get the house picked up and most all of the unpacking done. And then it was time to tackle the vents.
When I pulled up the first vent in the kitchen and saw all of the dirt, I knew I was in for a nice little cleaning challenge.
Let’s just say, I saw a whole lot more dirt and ick than I had bargained for.
But after washing the vents in the sink and scrubbing around the vent openings with a Mr. Clean Eraser, I felt much better.
The project as a whole took me about 45 minutes. I gave up on trying to vacuum every little nook and cranny and just got the vents cleaned and the worst offenders vacuumed out.
My pile of 7+ things to get rid of: a very old Swiffer that I got free and should have discarded a long time ago, some books, and a shoe that has somehow lost its mate (I kept hoping the other shoe would turn up in all the cleaning, but so far, it’s been a lost cause!).
How did you do on Assignment #16? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.
Courtney says
My husband and son suffer from allergies and asthma, so every few years we have our ductwork professionally cleaned. The amount of dust and yuck that comes out of them is truly disgusting.
lainey says
This is kind of off subject but what do you do to teach the preschool years to your kiddoa? Do you follow a plan or do you just wing it?
Crystal says
You can see some of our favorite preschool resources here:
https://moneysavingmom.com/2012/04/15-recommended-preschool-and-kindergarten-resources.html
Michele says
So I’ve been following allong with this challenge since it started a few weeks ago. I have to admit that I don’t do each assignment everyday (I work nearly full time hours with 2 kiddos, a hubby in graduate school who also works full time and I take care of my sister’s toddler on my day off). But yesterday was a great day!! I was all caught up with my regular “chores” so I thought why not tackle a few of these extra cleaning tasks today. So, I cleaned the microwave, oven, top of the refrigerator, kitchen cabinet fronts, all the light switches and door handles!! Yay! I couldn’t believe how much I got accomplished in about an hour-and-a-half. My daughter was even excited to help out! Althgouth I can’t get the challenges done everyday, these posts have been a helpful guide for when I actually do have time! Thanks, Crystal.
Amber says
Don’t feel bad about your vents. A year or two after we moved into our current home, we lifted up the giant return vent and found a spoon (not ours!), paperclips, buttons, and tons dirt, lint and hair! EWWWW!
Sean @ One Smart Dollar says
I feel for you. air vents are some of the dirtiest places in our homes yet they are a pain to get clean.
Brandy says
We are also currently missing one shoe! How does that even happen???
Emily says
In our house, it’s socks. I don’t know how many socks we’ve lost the mate to over the years.
Charity says
I’m with you there! I keep the lone socks in a drawer in the laundry room just in case the match appears. My husband calls it my laundry dating service, singles, looking for a mate. He think it’s hilarious! 😉
Emily says
I think it’s pretty hilarious too!
Amy says
Glad to know that someone else has had a shoe mysteriously disappear.
Susan E. says
I read somewhere that you could put cheesecloth in the vents to catch the ick that falls in the vent in the kitchen. Someone really bright put a vent right under my food prep area and it’s a mess. I plan on doing that when I get around to it (I haven’t done this challenge yet because we’re having a gospel meeting this week at our church and we’re keeping the preacher and his wife).
Tabitha says
Great job!
Last week I was able to get a lot cleaned and organized in the kitchen.
http://simplymykitchen.com/spring-cleaning-2-week-challenge-update/
Hilari says
Hi Crystal,
I’m a huge fan, and while I haven’t been following your assignments to a “T”, they have definitely inspired me to work towards a more organized home. My kitchen cabinets have all been wiped, organized and made functional again (insert flying plastic container that used to hit you in the face every time you opened the cabinet door!). Same with my closets. Refrigerator and freezer have been cleaned out and wiped down, and I got my little ones interested in helping by letting them wipe down door knobs and light switches. What’s working for me is the “just one chore a day” mentality. Admittedly, in my past, none of these chores would be done because I’d be too overwhelmed to do them. But your assignment per day, even if I’m not following it directly as you planned, is giving me inspiration and incentive to get SOMETHING done. Thanks for helping me get this house back on track. It feels SO GOOD to have some organization around here!
Regards,
Hilari T.
Crystal says
Way to go! And thank you for your kind encouragement!
Kelly Logan says
Hey your vents look the same color as mine except yours are not rusty, so I spray painted mines too =)
Lyndsay says
Glad the conference went so well for you Crystal! Thanks for always trying to get these posts up for us 🙂
I have some bathroom fan “vents” I might clean this weekend, but not heating vents…it’s all baseboard-which I did with an earlier challenge. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for day 17.
Linda says
I love reading what you have in store for us each day! I haven’t been doing exactly what you have listed each day, but it has inspired me to start madly cleaning my whole house. I have went through paperwork that I haven’t went through in years! And I have gotten rid of so much STUFF! I went through clothes in my room and my kids room over the past couple of weeks and gotten rid of so much that we just don’t wear. It is very freeing to just get rid of the excess!
Corey says
I feel terribly guilty today as I skipped yesterdays challenge. I looked around and counted 15 vent covers in the house and immediately got tired. I’ll do it, maybe over the weekend. AND I tossed one of my favorite black heels after looking for the other one for A YEAR (thinking I had left it in a hotel from a wedding) only to find the mate two weeks later in my daughter’s closet…someone was trying on mommy’s shoes… Oh well, live and learn.
Camille says
This seemed like an easy job at first, until I realized I was going to need help pulling the vents up out of the floor. It turned out well though, and it’s nice to know all of that dust and some pet fur will no longer be hanging around when the heat turns on.
Cherilyn says
I wasn’t looking forward to is job at all, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t all that bad. Thanks for the push to get it done.
Julie says
I actually found this assignment fun! Just the other day I looked down at the floor vent right by the 3 y/o chair and knew it needed cleaning. Your assignment gave me the energy to get it done! Found a LOT of crumbs, and it looks so much better. I also vacuumed out the fans in the bathroom ceiling and the hallway. They were very fuzzy, again so much better!
Now off to fold laundry… 😛
Tonya says
Just so you know, Murphy’s Law dictates that now that you’ve tossed out the one shoe, you will almost immediately find it’s mate!
Tammy says
I was thinking the same thing!
Crystal says
I put it in the garage sale box in case that happens. I’m hoping it does happen because they were a nice pair of shoes and I’d love to be able to pass them onto someone… here’s to hoping the mate shows up this week!
Shelly says
I did our kitchen duct and the living room duct a few weeks ago. The kitchen duct was the worst. Since those were already done I just needed to do the upstairs ducts. The bathroom was the worst one out of our upstairs ducts. I even clean these a few times a year but they do build up a lot of yuck and dust. I am glad to have this job done.
Victoria @Snail Pace Transformations says
I too found a bit more dirt than I bargained for in a few of my vents, but I am glad its all clean now.