#cleaning

[sreegs]

hey it's me black mold. thanks for running your window air conditioner all summer. whatever you do, do not regularly clean the removable filter. that's not necessary

you should also never ever unplug the air conditioner and stick a flashlight in the vent that blows air to see if we're in there. it's very bad, that place should not be checked

and whatever you do, if you've already made the mistake of unplugging it, don't remove it from the window for cleaning if possible. and whether it's possible to remove the unit or not, don't carefully disassemble the front panel, document where the screws go and plastic bits go, and open up the vent more to be able to get into it easily

as black mold, i'm an expert on this. you should heed my warnings: now, if you've somehow made the mistake of doing all of the above, you should not use warm water and dish soap to CLEAN the inside of the vent thoroughly. DON'T ever use a bottle brush to get into the hard to reach places. and certainly don't rinse and dry the cleaned area before carefully putting it back together

there's nothing wrong with us, black mold. we don't cause or exacerbate breathing conditions like asthma or other illnesses. it's cool, we're cool

furthermore, if you're capable of removing the window unit, DONT take a hose with the same soapy water and wash the portion of the window unit that sits outside the window and is therefore weatherproofed.

whatever you do, don't allow the air conditioner to dry before plugging it back in and turning it on again

and if you have a central air conditioner, you will definitely never ever consult a manual or sources online to perform a similar cleaning procedure on the cooling unit outside.

lastly, if you're physically unable to do the things we (the black mold) warned you not to do above, you should never ever ask someone to help you or hire a service to do it.

[iwrotesomeofitdown]

I really recommend „how to keep house while drowning“ (I read it through the library for free) to help with perspective on this.

Care tasks are morally neutral. And where your home is in terms of a care cycle (stuff needs to be cleaned vs stuff has just been cleaned) is also morally neutral. Doing a little does make a difference!

Cleaning gets easier when you remember it's a thing you're doing to make your life less miserable, and not a thing you're doing as punishment

[rainbowpopeworld]

This is a big thing that I continue to work on unlearning/relearning

[hillbillyoracle]

Room Rescue: Basics of Roomkeeping*

*As opposed to housekeeping.

I was talking with someone I know about the basic things that make a room feel better for the least amount of know how and effort. I told them I'd do a write up of my advice so they could refer back to it. I hope it's helpful to some others as well.

Who This Is/Isn't For

This isn't for the folks who already have pretty organized and clean spaces - I am not one of you, I can only admire from afar. This isn't for the folks who don't yet have clear walkways to their bed, bathroom, food, and exit. Been there, you have my love.

This is with a bedroom in mind. This works best if you've got 10-20 minutes a day you can work on it. This works best for people who have already done some decluttering done though maybe not quite as much as they need. This works better in smaller spaces than larger spaces. This is for those people who keep piling up stuff and don't know what to do with it.

Zoning

Your room needs zones. I like try to have the zones the CPG Grey talked about in his Spaceship You video:

Couch/Lounge

Bed/Sleep

Work/Creative

Movement/Exercise

In very smell rooms, some of these around going to overlap and that's fine, just so long as you know where each of them is. Movement for many people is going to be an outside zone and that's fine.

Once you've established these zones, only stuff that belongs with that zone's focus can stay in that zone.

You will pretty quickly come across lots of stuff that doesn't fit neatly into your zones yet. Either you don't have the storage for it yet or you're not quite sure if you're going to keep it long term. That's fine. This is where the support zones come in handy.

Trash

Laundry

Staging/Take Out

DOOM (Didn't Organize Only Moved)

It's my personal opinion that trash and laundry should be in containers with lids/bags that zip closed. If that genuinely doesn't work for you don't listen to me. The pro of this is that when it's contained like that it feels like less of a task/there's less visual clutter and it's less stressful to see them.

Staging/Take Out zone is for things you want to take out of the room when you get up. They should wither be close to the door or close to where you put that stuff down anyways.

DOOM (Didn't Organize Only Moved) zone is for all the boxes, bags, random pile of crap that do not currently have a place. The ideal place for this zone is the least visible spot from the door. I recommend this because how you enter the room determines a lot of how you feel about it. Stick anything that doesn't yet have a place here. Use boxes, pile high.

From there, you can dedicate 15-20 minutes a day to tidying first, then using the leftover time to improve the space.

Tidying

I like the Five Things Tidying method from KC Davis. Everything in your room falls into one of five categories:

Trash

Dishes

Laundry

Things that Have a Place

Things that Don't Have a Place

Start at the top and work your way down. Don't get through the whole list in 15-20 minutes? Just get as far as you can and come back tomorrow. Things that don't have a place can go in your DOOM Pile. If all you can manage if 5 minutes, that's great. Do what you can.

If you miss a day, no big. Shoot for more days out of a week than not and your space will steadily get cleaner.

Improving

If you have time leftover after tidying each day, I recommend doing some of the following:

Decluttering your DOOM pile/establishing object homes

Clearing horizontal surfaces

Decorating/hang up mementos

Physical cleaning

You will always have some sort of DOOM or Miscellaneous Pile/Box. I don't know of a single sane person in my life who doesn't. The goal is to get it to something manageable for you. Maybe it's a section of your closet, maybe it's a box under your bed - whatever ultimately strikes that balance between the stuff you want to fit there and the space you want for everything else you do in your room. Which is to say periodically going through DOOM piles is not a sign of failure, it's a normal chore. For decluttering, I highly recommend Dana K. Whites No-Mess Decluttering Method.

Clearing horizontal surfaces is s constant battle in my experience. They love to collect things. The only things that should be on surfaces are things that you have decided go there. Have a lot of items? Group them into bags and boxes so they can be moves more easily. Leave the tops furniture for decor and lighting and, in the case of desks and bedside tables, a well curated selection of favorites. These selections will need updated and rotated through when you're in different seasons of life. It's not shameful, it's a normal chore.

Decorating is a vital part of living in a space. I will die on that hill. You can add as much or as little as you like but some personalization is so key for mental health. Take a little time here and there to put up pictures of loved ones, cards or other ephemera that make you happy. Put up lamps that help you see better and works of art that inspire you. It's also a chore.

Physical cleaning. The main cleaning that needs done in a bedroom is dusting and vacuuming. Honestly if you're starting from scratch, once a month is often plenty to start with. Clean up spills as they happen. Take out trash when it's full. Do your laundry as needed. Refill tissues and such when you run out. Most of cleaning is responding to events and your own needs.

Conclusion

I hope this gives someone some ideas on how to improve their room a little so it's a more pleasant space to be in. This won't result in like a pinterest level room but it strkes that balance between neat and easy to care for in my experience.

Take what's useful and leave the rest!

[boujeesimss]

cleaning day cc recs 🧽🧼💦🫧

decorate your sims laundry rooms with these cute products!

01. vacuum 02. laundry basket 03. cleaning products

04. detergents 05. laundry basket 06. cleaning products

07. cleaning products* 08. laundry products 09. spray bottles*

thank you cc creators! cc marked with an * is currently early access. @imfromsixam @aroundthesims @helenmay @simkoos @max20

[archangelbeth]

(I just want to nod about this; for reasons, most of the downstairs of our house had to be "showcase" most of the time, and the concept of trash cans near where I am is still... kind of a luxury.)

(The other tricky thing with cleaning is that for a number of people (especially ADHD folks...), out of sight is out of mind and memory. It's hard to learn how to store some things when putting them behind a cabinet means they cease to exist!)

(...I have been cleaning recently. I need more shelves. I need more shelves that have little doors to keep the dust out.)

On one hand, it's great to see people learn how to unfuck their living spaces. On the other hand, that stuff like "frequently used articles should be stored near where they're used" and "trash receptacles should be placed near activities that generate trash" are being received as radical ideas points to a serious knowledge transmission problem.

[poopsadaisies]

[senokaori]

掃除の時間

[charmsponies]

Beautiful Baby Ember <3

Baby Ember is one of the g1 ponies with the most variants. There were three different mail order versions (all cutiemarkless, a pink, a purple and a blue) and then this is the fourth variant, a light lavender with purple hair and a star cutiemark. This one was sold with the cassette tape "Ember's Dream" (You can see in my photo that I have the version of the tape with the misspelled name, later releases corrected the spelling.)

Keep an eye out if you are interested in listening to the tape, because I am going to make a few videos all about cassettes soon, as I have ordered 3 more MLP cassettes and I will be digitizing the audio and uploading them online for preservation's sake <3

[girlactionfigure]

[nocturnal-stims]

Steam cleaning plush toys

🧼 Jingri on IG

[neosatsuma]

[thoughtportal]

cleaning along desire paths

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was arguing with Snopp Dogg because he really wanted to clean my bathroom but I was upset because he was a guest and I was busy making spaghetti. Woke up angry at Snopp Dogg for cleaning my bathroom.