In buying this house, the Lord has blessed us tremendously. In the contract, my wonderful Aunt requested that we buy the fridge, washer and dryer for $1. He agreed, and so we had 3 less things to buy moving into this house. Thank you Jesus.
With that being said, I didn't realize exactly what it would mean to be washing your clothes and storing your food where other people have. My hair in the laundry is one thing... but someone else's? Not so much. So we went to cleaning. The fridge looks brand new. And the other things... well... they weren't this clean when they were brand new. Here are some before/after shoots and explanations on what we did.
Cleaning the fridge:
Before:
After:
The Dishwasher:
When we got to the dishwasher, we didn't know there was a switch that turned it on and off. We thought the dishwasher was broken, so my husband and father-in-law took it out.
Good thing, because it was GROSS under there!
Then, when we found out that the switch was the problem, we brought it back in :)
Much better!
The Cabinets:
The cabinets had the curry smell IN the cabinets and ON the cabinets, as well as just plain dirt all in them.
The secret to a deep cleaning (in case you need to know) is to make sure you like the smell of your cleaner and then zap your sponge in the microwave for 20 seconds. Wipe until it cools and then zap it again. The warmth helps to loosen the curry particles that are so tightly stuck to everything, and the cleaner finishes off the job.
For the Washing Machine:
Hey, it is a working washing machine for $.33, I don't mind if it doesn't match the dryer... :)
I don't have pictures, but I filled the machine with HOT water.
--Add 1 quart of chlorine bleach (no detergent) and let the machine agitate for a minute. Then let it sit for an hour.
--After the hour, allow the washer to run through it's longest wash and spin cycle.
--Immediately fill the washer with HOT water again and add 1 quart distilled vinegar. Let agitate for a minute, and then let it sit for an hour.
--While it is soaking, dip a scrubber sponge in the vinegar water and detail all the nooks and crannies of your washer, including the knobs, the lid and the exterior.
--If your machine has a built-in dispenser, clean those too. If they aren't removable, pour 1 cup of vinegar down it to help loosen any clogs and build up.
--After detailing, allow it to sit for the remainder of the hour and then run the longest wash and spin cycle again.
Cleaning the dryer didn't go as easily.
I removed all of the lint from the filter and wiped everything I could reach with a Clorox wipe. When we started using the dry, I was noticing that it was taking FOREVER (2 or more cycles) to dry things, and that when I would open the dryer, it would be really hot, and condensation would build up on the door. It wasn't too long before I noticed their was a large puddle building up to the right of the dryer and at first I thought it was the freezer-- but nothing was melting from that... so it didn't make sense.
The I started really looking at the lint filter, I could see that their was lint past the filter... WAY past the filter. I started trying to get it out with my hands, then we bought a brush-thingy at Lowe's.
We ended up detaching the dryer from the wall and cleaning it from the back. Unscrewing things and vacuuming way into the dryer. The amount of lint was DISGUSTING!!! We pulled out 4 dryer sheets, lots f lint with hair all intertwined!
The we got this brush-tool-thing that attaches to your screwdriver, and started cleaning out the vent in the wall. We noticed water stains in the wall in 3 different locations all where condensation from the dry was getting out. We went up into the attic and cleaned the vent all the way to the roof. Bryan even got on the roof and cleaned out the vent from the outside.
It's amazing we didn't have a fire. We got everything all hooked back up and it worked like a charm! No wonder!
More cleaning to come!
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