This weekend I fell in love. Totally and completely, knock your socks off in love.
With a steamer.
I know. It’s shocking.
I have been a devoted follower of the toothbrush as the preferred grout cleaning tool for years. I distinctly remember cleaning the white tile in our bathroom as a kid and mom saying, “Can you do that in my bathroom too?” And I did. So began the obsession.
Our first house also had white tile with white grout. I would spend hours scrubbing. I found bleach and the toothbrush a hard combination to beat.
Once we moved into the house in OKC, I used the bleach and toothbrush to ward off the smell of “old house”. It only worked for a short time but those hours were blissful.
Now we are in our 3rd house and have more tile than I could ever have imagined. The house wasn’t exactly clean when we bought it. As a foreclosure, it had sat unoccupied for months before we first stepped foot inside. Most everything has been scrubbed to a bright shine but the tile got put on the back burner.
Oh, the floors were clean, don’t get me wrong but I was estimating 6 days worth of scrubbing to get the kitchen and guest bath done properly with a toothbrush and bleach.
Sidenote: Clorox toilet bowl cleaner gel is fantastic. You can draw a line of blue Clorox gel right along the grout. Let it sit for 20 minutes or so and then dig in hard with a scrub brush. Works like a charm but bad on the knees and if you’re in a confined space, bad for your lungs.
Instead, I purchased a steam cleaner several months ago. I haven’t been all that motivated to get it out but this weekend, we found out Chris’ cousin, her husband and the most beautiful baby girl in the history of the known universe are coming by for a visit in a few weeks. This was just the spark I needed to get to cleaning fires burning.
Yes, I’m aware they likely won’t notice how clean our grout is but nonetheless it’s a starting point.
Just a little before lunch on Saturday, I busted out the steamer and started cleaning like crazy. It has a scrub brush on the end of a rather long handle so I A) don’t have to get on my hands and knees and B) can retire the toothbrush.
Here’s to you, my dear toothbrush. Through 3 houses, 3 apartments and years of devotion, you have kept my grout shiny and my fear of E-coli at bay. You have served me well. Toothbrush, here’s lookin’ at you kid.
And to my new love, Steamer, I believe we have years to explore the depths of our connection. Beyond the grout, there are glass showers to clean, curtains from which we can steam out the wrinkles, toilets we can disinfect like never before. Oh, Steamer, we’ve only just begun.
To the other cleaning nuts in my family, namely my mother and brother, if you would like to fall in love with your own steamer, I believe that can be arranged. Send in your letter to Santa early and you may find your own new love connection under the tree.
Oh, and just in case you thought I might have taken any before and after pictures, you are dead wrong. No way am I proving how dirty it was by documenting it in photographs. You’ll have to use your imagination.
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