Cleaning

Learning how to clean our AirBnB unit has been interesting.

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Learning how to clean our AirBnB unit has been interesting. I've not mastered it yet, but I've learned enough to feel like I've learned something.

Actual vs. Apparent Cleanliness

Actual cleanliness is not enough. To me, actual cleanliness is: a somewhat immunocompromised person would emerge totally healthy after living in the unit for a week. But an actually clean place can look filthy. Water-spots, for example. Or (presumably sterile) dirt or hair in visible places. Toothbrushing spatter on mirrors. Etc.

With our AirBnB, we're going for 100% apparent cleanliness. We want it to look like no human has ever lived there. And because my wife went with a lot of light colors for fabrics and the shower is a white tub, light-colored tile, and a sliding glass door, apparent cleanliness is a real challenge.

Counterintuitive Cleaning Technology

A vacuum cleaner is the right tool in more places -- and a wet rag is the right tool in fewer places -- than I would have thought.

Hair in the shower is one of the places where a vacuum cleaner does better work than a wet cloth will. I mean, the wet cloth will eventually get that long strand of dark hair off whatever surface, but often it'll just push it around for several attempts before it actually removes it. The vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment generally sucks it away the first time. Same thing with the area behind the toilet lid hinge; it's a small space that's hard to clean effectively with a rag, but the vacuum cleaner very easily sucks those pesky pubes right out of there.

These is counterintuitive because I think of the shower/tub/toilet as places for wet dirty things. And they are, but certain parts of these places -- the sidewalls and bottom of the tub, the aforementioned part of the toilet and also the base of the toilet -- these are places where a quick attack with the vacuum cleaner does a better job. Then the cleaning chemical + rag combination can come in and finish the job.

To me, this was counterintuitive.

Obvious Cleaning Technology

What's more obvious when cleaning the bathroom is the need for cleaning chemicals and rags. I mentioned that the shower has light-colored tile and glass sliding doors. This CLR stuff, diluted 50-50 with water and used in a spray bottle, is amazing. To spray it atomizes it and that assaults my lungs, so I have to work wearing a full-on paint respirator (the 3M 60923 cartridges). But aside from that, CLR does an amazing job as a cleaning solution for the bathroom. It goes beyond actual cleanliness to a factory-new level of apparent cleanliness for tile, stainless steel (the kitchen sink), and metal faucets and fixtures.

I'm still working out the best way to clean the floors. I vacuum the area rugs, but the hard floor surfaces (some sort of vinyl-ish fake wood flooring over concrete) need the ole Cinderella bucket-of-something + rags + human down on their knees approach, and I'm not sure exactly what's the best chemical to use. I want something that cleans in one pass without leaving a sticky residue, and so far I haven't found any packaged floor cleaning chemical that does that. Today I tried water + a bit of vinegar + peppermint essential oil, but that doesn't smell as neutral or nice as I'd like.

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