Tags
OR 
I have often spoken about what a crap housecleaner I am. Because although I do tend to keep things tidy(ish), I don’t go big time on tedious stuff like dusting, window washing, oven cleaning … but one thing that cannot be avoided here in Sevilla is THE DUST. It gets everywhere all the time (not unlike an unruly orange kitten I know) and so trying to keep dust off the furniture becomes a daily, well, waste of time, as far as I’m concerned. But even I get to the point where I concede that things need dusting, which always ends up with dust flying all over, much sneezing, and other general annoyance. But then…
A few weeks ago when I was cleaning up next door for my last ever new tenants I saw that one of the ex-tenants had left a box of these “plumeros mágicos” (magic dusters) in her wardrobe. And so, since I was cleaning anyhow and it was plenty dusty over there I gave them a whirl … and well, I never! I just slid the thing along dusty surfaces and they not only came out clean, but all the dust and grime ended up on the magic duster and not all over me and the floor. And that was all it took for me to adopt this new cleaning item. The refills will cost me about 75 cents a week. WHATEVER. I don’t care what they cost because they actually make dusting fun! Yeah, I know how pathetic that sounds … but it is just so darned satisfying to use this thing that I find myself enthralled.
What is your favourite labour-saving device?
casa azahar 
Ha! I have a microfiber duster that is sort of half way in between your two pictures. But the thing I am happiest to have bought is a rubber squeegee that strips water off the tiles of the shower wall so it doesn’t get all mildewy in there. After doing massage all day the last thing I want to do is mess with a scrub brush.
LikeLike
Heh, around here it’s so damn hot that the water dries on the shower tiles while you’re showering…
LikeLike
In DC nothing ever dries except the plants in the garden 😦
LikeLike
Heh, I think we are both prone to exaggeration…
LikeLike
I draw the line just past the dusters. I object to the ads for all the different mops that sell “germ killing” at the expense of the environment. At a time when we should be getting away from the disposable products.
The “Swiffer” has a small bottle of cleaner on the side which runs out after a few uses and unless you do as I do and prise off the lid and use a common household cleaned, you are throwing away a plastic bottle. Then there are the disposable pads.
I found that the washable pads that come with a mop which broke within two uses fits perfectly. I use the mop for minor spills.
In fact, the mops that “sell themselves” as “better than a conventional mop” don’t clean as they claim. They smeared and left a sticky coating on the floor.
Of course, the selling point of disposable convenience is coupled with the scare-mongering about all the horrible germs lurking all over your house that “germy mops can’t clean” are what push the sales of these things up. The fact is that a good household cleaner with ammonia will kill any really bad germs. But it is also a fact the fetish for sanitizing our homes and our bodies to the extent that we do is what is at the root of the resistant bugs that are becoming more and more prevalent.
As well, many of the “germ-killing” spays and cleaners, like Lysol spray, for instance are carcinogenic.
And those of us Luddites who WANT to have an old-fashioned sponge-mop which actually cleans the floor cannot find them.
I have bought the only ones I can find which are the “Bee Mop” knock-offs which not only don’t work, they are so difficult to assemble, half the time you can’t find the mop replacements and, as I discovered, certain cleaners dissolve the glues that hold the mop together. I have spent hundreds on these stupid things.
I finally found a plastic sponge mop at our old hardware store. I bought about 20 sponges and really need to go and buy as many as I can more, as well as a couple of replacement mops in case, in the next 10 years when my mop finally breaks and the only place I can find my mop is a museum, I won’t be stuck.
I was beside myself when we moved and I couldn’t find my mop! Finally I found it in the back of a closet behind the coats…. Relief!
LikeLike
Well, I have to admit that I did consider the environment for about a nano-second when purchasing a refill packet of magic dusters. But I reckon that my carbon footprint is pretty small anyhow – I don’t drive, I recycle, never had a kid. I mean, imagine a mountain of disposable diapers compared to a few magic dusters.
Hmmm… I just use a normal mop, which I’m sure is quite germy as I only replace it when it starts looking quite scary. They don’t seem to make those squeegie sponge mops here – I used to always use those in Canada. But I agree with you about germ phobia. How is it better leaving a film of chemicals all over your house? I don’t use any products for floor washing – just very hot water – as I don’t want the cats licking poison off their paws.
LikeLike
I use a Swiffer to sweep up the dust from our wooden floors, love the way it all clings together like magic.
LikeLike
Just googled Swiffer and see they also make a magic duster…
The floor one is also tempting.
LikeLike
Swiffers are cool, although I’m still trying to convince other half to use those rather than the old skool feather duster which is utterly crap.
Labour-saving device? Car. Dishwasher. Hoover. Mower. The Other Half.
LikeLike
“Labour-saving device? Car. Dishwasher. Hoover. Mower. The Other Half.”
🙂
LikeLike
My favorite labor saving device has got to be my washing machine. I just cannot imagine keeping my sheets and clothes clean the way my not so distant ancestors did — rubbing them on a washboard while keepinga big pot of water heating on a stove. I also dearly love my vacuum.
I’m afraid I am still a damp rag duster, and I find that the cloth dampened with pure water catches and keeps the dust just fine. For cleaning wood floors, I use my vacuum cleaner. My mop is even more old fashioned than Mudhook’s sponge mop, I use one with the cotton string head, which I wring out by hand. I tell myself that this is increasing my forearm strength and helping ward off osteoporosis as it is weight bearing exercise.
LikeLike