I just cleaned the bathroom and I look and feel just like she does... NOT!
Remember when doing simple household tasks was easy? No, me neither.
Well, that's me for the day.
Ahhhh, the good old days! : I just cleaned the... - PMRGCAuk
Ahhhh, the good old days!
53 Replies
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PMRproAmbassador
I leave his bathroom until OH decides it needs a clean. Or there are visitors due when he does it whether it needs it or not! The bath there just gets dusty - never used except by visitors. The en-suite gets the loo cleaned and the shower is cleaned when used...
But for floors - I recommend iRobot...
Good job, Mamaici1. I looked at my bathroom this morning and said "You and me, tonight. Maybe."
Laughing! Gotta love advertisements. "I think I'll do my hair and full makeup, put on a pretty white dress, garter belt, hose, some gold jewelry, and white sling-back shoes to clean the bathroom. hmmm..maybe I should put on an apron, too."
In seriousness, I have been contemplating getting a Turbo Scrub. Has anyone used one? That extension rod is calling my name.
(Link to Turbo Scrub removed as it wasn't working.)
Can't get the link to work.
But having searched it - not sure I believe the hype! But then - I don't think my house is that revolting even after a decided dearth of cleaning!!
I do like my iRoomba for vacuuming - very impressed! I now have the one that wet mops/damp mops/dry mops. So far I've only tried the wet mop - it has just done the en-suite bathroom tiled floor in its entirety and it is clean. I am about to try it on OH's bathroom - the vacuum is in there first. I note his floor obviously gets well christened when he is cleaning his teeth - 
I used it in the living room/kitchen wood floor the first time. I didn't scrub it beforehand and it was desperately due one - there is a very noticeable difference in the area immediately in front of the kitchen block (I wanted ceramic tiles, OH wanted wood and he won much to my regret!). We have agreed what it really needs is a thorough scrub and then use the iRobot every couple of days. His bathroom floor is done - and all spots gone. For the effort involved (none except filling it with hot water and pressing a button) it will do me! The best thing? No smelly cleaning products which I detest with a passion 
I'm going to have to take a look at the iRoomba. I wonder how my cat would handle it.
whew...Was reading "I note his floor obviously gets well christened ..) and I thought oh no...too much information...but then when you continued with brushing his teeth, I exhaled as I thought of something else. (I should probably delete this.)
The tiles are brown - you can only see the dried toothpaste...
I put them into a room and shut the door usually - although today I let the vacuum one wander all over, just shutting the bathrooms and OH's study door. So you could separate the cat and the roomba 
Someone reckoned their cat would try sitting on it
in reply to Insight329
My family nickname is gadget girl (contact name on sisters mobile). So you can see I am into labour saving devices.
I have just looked on website. Unless you have strong arms should wrists and especially fingers I would look elsewhere. In my experience only gadgets that require you to set them and walk away make life easier. Washers ovens etc. Things like like power washers (in my cellar at present) still need you to work those arm and finger muscles. And it hurt me before PmR.
I have a steamer which is tiny and had extra long handle but still requires pushing around. Not very helpful for bathrooms abive floor but things like roomba or other makes seem to get good reviews on here from few that have them as washer or vacuums. That's my dream next.
I am waiting til my oven gets a bit more used and then will get a company in who for @30quid make it look like new.
The gadget I need but cant afford is a lovely cleaner. In the past I have been a commercial and domestic cleaner and I want someone who does it like I used to many lives ago. 🌻🤑
HeronNS in reply to
I've never got my house to the point where I'd let anyone else in to clean. My house isn't dirty, just cluttered, and a little shabby, starting to hint broadly to my menfolk that we should do some painting this summer.... Even after I got rid of about a third of my books during a downsizing frenzy in 2014 some of the bookshelves are still stacked two or three deep!
in reply to HeronNS
Over the past few years my family has been "banned" from.visiting cos no ways can they sleep etc. I started getting skips to get rid of all the work stuff I had left over. One more skip full and hopefully I can get beds in. Never lived in one place for 20years and obviously filled this house up!! I left @500 books at work and donated a few hundred to students libraries and charity shops. Still got a few carrier bags full to recycle.
I want to get all clutter sorted in case I can ever afford a cleaner. It is at a stage where I would have family in to help me do last 2 rooms. Having new kitchen and bathroom doorstairs helped a bit.
in reply to HeronNS
I will say I found it liberating to recycle books to others. I will be even happier when I can see floors and walls in every room 😂
HeronNS in reply to
Poopadoop, there have only been a couple of books I regretted parting with. Most things can be borrowed from the library if I get a real hankering! I've been rereading my way through the books I kept and have to say really enjoying it. We'd have less clutter if I hadn't "inherited" so much furniture, etc., from my parents. I certainly haven't kept everything that came, but my small house can't really accommodate what I did get. After all the children were gone one room became my study and for a brief period of time it was a lovely space, one of my friends even referred to it as my "Martha Stewart Room" and I was very pleased with it. Then my daughter stole the futon that was in it, and the bespoke little chest of drawers which served dual purpose of holding spare bedding and if there was company a place for them to set a suitcase and use the drawers. Then I removed my share of the clutter from the basement to consolidate it all in one place, threw out and recycled and what's left is still in cardboard boxes. So now my sweet room is unusable. I keep looking at those boxes, but they contain writing, artwork, family documents, photographs, the sorts of things you really don't want to get rid of, the things you keep until you die.
in reply to HeronNS
Yes those decision are hard to make. My younger sister is brilliant at deciding what to keep. It's all keep in a couple of plastic boxes. Her girls have been presented with booklet on 18th birthday with all the things they did that were kept from being children. She is waiting for grandkids stuff to replace ni w but suspect that'll be a few years yet.
I even went through all old photos and things and ones that were out of focus etc were binned. It was very hard. I have apologised to my sister and her girls for mess imight leave them as beneficiaries of my will. I will leave them to fight with cousins. Those girls are closest to being my kids as sister shared them generously 😂
I want to turn one of my spare rooms into painting room so trying to get it done.
HeronNS in reply to
My daughter-in-law is brilliant at helping organize but a) she is very busy with her own work and b) she has just helped her parents go through all their stuff in preparation of a move from house to condo. In fact she came to my house a few years ago, just after I'd got all these boxes assembled, but they were still tidy, and we spent a morning going through stuff. There wasn't much to throw away as that stage had already been done, but things do need to be sorted and properly stored. But she left with a promise to come back and help some more, and never has done. And the room has never got back into shape because, darn it, I have PMR and no energy and by the time the needful has been done in a given day there's really and truly nothing left to deal with the archives!
I am reliably informed that her parent's place was much much worse than ours! Her father had very organized clutter (for example sports clippings in plastic sleeves which turned out to be a nightmare to get ready for recycling) but literally never threw anything away. Even took up floorboards so he could store papers under the floor!
in reply to HeronNS
Omg 😂 at least I have spared them.that. Still got to tackle one closer filled with news cutting of 3 uk papers from 60s to 90s. It's from my PhD research and is quite a collection. Cost a fortune!!
HeronNS in reply to
My favourite story from a book on decluttering (don't remember title) was about two brothers lived together. One went blind. The other brother saved the daily newspapers for the time when his brother would regain his sight and be able to read again. This went on for many years. One day one of the massive piles of paper fell and immobilized the brother who was still able to move around, the saver, and caregiver, and he died. The other brother, the blind one, was left helpless and starved to death. The two of them were eventually found, you can imagine their condition.
Juliaaf in reply to
Good for you, but remember to live your life how you want to live it. Not how others think you should , however much you love them.
So enjoy and don't feel guilty about stuff. You could always give a number of items a month to a charity shop if you are really worried about stuff.
It is better to get someone else to take them though as you may come home with a new pile of things.
Deep joy!, do you think women are usually the main accumulators of stuff?
Good luck to all who are clearing out , getting ready for the Big Exit.
Must start next week,I am getting old!!! Good luck everyone.
Julia, I want to live my life in a tidy house! Around the time I succumbed to PMR we were planning to build an addition to our house. We were going to move into it and our daughter was going to take over the main house. In preparation for that I did major clearout. That's why what I have (other than the accumulated detritus from the past three years which layers the top and to which I have no sentimental attachment) is pretty much stuff I want to keep at least for now. Unfortunately I was ill and it turns out so was our contractor although neither of us seemed to have a diagnosis for our (different) ailments, and in the end it all fell apart, my daughter moved away to a better job and I am stuck in a house which requires more housework to maintain than I'd expected by now. We've lived here since 1976 and although I've been quite ruthless, there's always room for improvement, my husband has not and since I got PMR I've felt quite overwhelmed and tend to go into denial.
I remember when the kids were little we had our hardwood floors refinished and had to move all the furniture out of living room, etc. When we could come back into the house someone brought the tv back into that room, we put some sleeping bags on the floor and settled down to watch a show and I though to myself how nice it was to have this lovely open space and how little we really need to make us happy.
" the things you keep until you die"
and then your poor children have to deal with it!
Our repeated downsizing led to most of the stuff being dealt with but it is creeping up. I really do need to empty out the stuff I don't use - before a trip to the UK would be good as then I could take it all to charity shops and at least do some good with it!
One way to deal with it nowadays is to take digital photos of the things you are hanging onto but never really do anything with. A file on a hard disc doesn't take much space...
Oh I know, and I have promised not to do to my kids what my stepmother did to me. But I happen to want to keep the things I've written, the pictures I've painted and the photos I've taken. They can pitch all that stuff as soon as I'm gone. Perhaps they too will find the family documents of interest, if they have even an iota of interest in genealogy. As for the "stuff" I keep nagging them to tell me which things they want, for example I have quite a lot of original artwork (not mine, real artists) and I don't want them wrangling after I'm gone. But I think of that as their problem, not mine, if they aren't prepared to deal with it now. I'm certainly not getting rid of pictures I bought because I like having them on my walls.
But the boxes of old soccer game sheets hubby accumulated, that's another story altogether!
We did go through the toys (no grandchildren) and kept only genuine classics (lego) and unique (handmade wooden toys). We've been quite ruthless. Maybe we should have kept the Cabbage Patch dolls because I hear they are now a hot ticket item!
in reply to HeronNS
Only certain ones but don't ask.me which.
I watch American pickers sometimes as it makes my house feel positively Spartan. Some of the houses and barns full of junk left for kids to sort out are overwhelming!
Re taking pictures of things you want to keep but really need to discard: I took photos of some favourite clothes, including my wedding dress, a few other things of that ilk, and then bundled them up and dropped them off at Value Village. No regrets!
I do not see the point of that.please explain.
PMRpro, it would be plain silly to spend many hours digitizing my creative efforts! I have toyed with the idea of digitizing the photographs, but haven't got around to buying the machine which would make that feasible.
And then when you die the family get rid of it anyway. But at least you won 't be there to see it go.
I have too much stuff but am happy with my house and how it is. But not my family they often say I should get rid of lots of my things but I am happy with how I live and so what if it is a bit cluttered . Mostly with books and pictures. But I am happy and they can get the house clearance company in when I am gone. I will leave enough money for a clearance fund.
I don't tell them how to live. I like my home , my books and style. I am not a mini,sister and I am happy. Surely that is what matters. Jay R A.
Insight329 in reply to
Me, too, on wanting a cleaner. But I know me and I'd clean before I let the cleaner in.
I had a friend who needed some extra income when the children were small but she didn't have free childcare and wasn't going to be able to earn enough to make it worth it. She is an impassioned cleaner - so she brought the children and I kept an eye on them while she cleaned. I could even do some of my translating stuff with them playing, just as I had done with mine. She cleaned the way I would do it if I could and could be bothered (two factors as work there!)
The robots aren't perfect - the best result will be if you have it alll perfectly cleaned first and then use them frequently so the dust doesn't build up. But they are so effortless I'm happy
I got a cleaner pre diagnosis when I couldn’t even look at a dusterlet along lift one- and still have her. True she doesn’t “do” things like I used to when young and keen, but she does it better than me nowadays - and we’ve become friends!
Agree about the oven cleaning, can remember back in the days when hubby was in Army and everything, and I mean everything,had to be be shiny and clean As New! Before the days of commercial cleaners on handover of quarters. I swore when he left the army I’d never scrub an oven again!
in reply to Insight329
The link works fine on smartphone.
HeronNS in reply to
That link took me to google home page.
I have a Turbo Scrub and find it really good for the shower. It is particularly good on the lower parts of the shower as I find it difficult bending down. Using it on the upper tiles makes my arms and shoulders ache but it can be done in short bursts. I also find it useful to get in the corners on the kitchen floor etc, all areas that need bending down to. Different heads are provided for different jobs in the kitchen or bathroom. I also used it to s rub a stain on the carpet which worked a treat. I got it from Lakeland.
Thank you so much, newbypmr. It’s nice to hear from someone that has one.
Ohhh...thanks so much for letting me know! I'll remove the link.
I get it! I have been tackling my cleaning jobs in very small doses. I do one room at a time and the largest and dirtiest room, my kitchen, gets done on a day when I have energy. I have a iRobot "look alike", the Minsu (cheaper, effective, and you can buy it on Amazon) and I really love it. It's not meant to compete with a normal vacuum cleaner but it makes me happy! Next purchase will be one that mops the floors
Hi Michelle,
My iRobot comes from Hungary and she cleans my house once a week from top to bottom. She also does my shopping. She is not available on Amazon though.
In my experience - no good trying to recycle stuff - especially books if your OH 'recycles' them back when you are not looking and then you wonder if you are seeing 'double' or it is the dreaded 'brain fog' ....
in reply to Rimmy
Demote to the shed 😂
I am so glad it's not just me who relies on their i robot to do the floor cleaning. My biggest struggle is changing the beds. Trying to get a king size duvet cover on is a massive challenge and has reduced me to tears more than once. Used to pride myself on being able to do it in under 2 minutes - would take me 2 days now without husbands intervention! Hey ho.
in reply to VictoriaLD
I use banister to support both. Even with that I end up in bed with it afterwards. I think I will resort to sheet with quilt resting on top soon but not the same.
Don't have one - just the balcony and by the time I'd used the edge of that it would need washing again
We switched to 2 single duvets many years ago - means he can have a 500 tog one while I use my summer one. Nor can he take mine by mistake. And have separate mattresses on a double bed - wonderful!!!!
What a brilliant idea! Thank you.
He had cancer and was always freezing in the hottest summer in Scotland for years - the heating was turned up full! So we got the single duvets out. Later we were in Germany on holiday and realised we were sleeping better - double beds in much of German-speaking Europe are two single mattresses on a double frame so they don't split apart. And, obviously, that also means single duvets! Can't beat it
Only got GCA-I took over the cleaning of the bungalow in 2008 when Janet was discharged from Hospital after her two Mesenteric Thomboses. Consultant said I could take on looking after the household chores whilst Janet recovered so I was fully trained when she passed away in 2016. Though what he couldn't know was that my osteoporosis reactivated between 2014 and 2016 and I fractured a spine bone in 2016 which made and makes bending difficult. So I leave the bits that don't need cleaning until they are very bad and then get out Henry Hoover. He is much fiercer than domestic hoovers and makes every carpet look like new. I'm a glutton for storing, got nine laptops, three sheds full of gardening equipment, a former garage has the contents of the loft from when it was insulated; enough coarse fishing equipment to supply a cub pack, and am currently buying crime fiction paperbacks because getting to the library has become difficult as I need walking sticks to help me get about.
Love to all
Colin
Love the pictures you post. She is only missing a pearl necklace. I am fortunate in that I find cleaning very relaxing and pace myself so that I am continue. Since PMR I have delegated other jobs and seldom go out in the evening.
I can SO identify with you! I really miss being able to do the simplest of things. The mind is willing but the body is broken! When I am able go do these things I feel such a sense of achievement! Pathetic really. Hope this year will see some better management for us RA sufferers. Good luck. Dee
Sounds familiar!!
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