Clean House with Sally's Favorite Household Cleaning Products
87A Pullman Kitchen - Where I Learned To Clean House
How I learned to Clean House
Please don’t tell my mother about this article, because I didn’t learn anything about house cleaning from her, even though she thinks I did. When I was growing up, we had a relatively uncluttered and clean house, but cleaning was not what was important to my mother. To her, the important things were good food on the table, a good job for her, a good school for me, clothes on our backs, spending time with family, and going places. Household cleaning products were not priorities in the household budget.
Some of you may have grown up with scheduled and assigned cleaning chores. Not me. Saturday morning? Let’s hit the beach! Let’s go see Aunt Ronnie! Let’s go clothes shopping! I grew up with dusty surfaces, unmade beds, unwashed dishes in the sink, and lots of stuff on the floors that stuck to my socks. Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, taking a bath, wearing clean underwear, ironing our clothes, and styling our hair were inviolable rules applied to daily life.
I Moved into my First Apartment
I got serious about cleaning house when I moved into my first apartment--one bedroom, a living room, and a Pullman kitchen that you closed off from the living room with a set of shuttered doors.
It was while living in that tiny apartment that I bought my first antique with my own money, a late nineteenth-century oak tavern table in need of cleaning. And this is where I turned to Aunt Ronnie for help. She’s an antiques dealer, a compulsive cleaner, and knows all about these things. (Definitely, don’t tell my mother about this article, or Aunt Ronnie either!) What can I use to clean my antique table, I asked Aunt Ronnie.
Murphy Oil Soap was the instantaneous answer.
Murphy Oil Soap
Murphy Oil Soap has a long history in the world of cleaning products. It’s been around since about 1900. By 1950, its slogan was, “cleans everything, injures nothing.” Indeed, from my experience, that’s the truth.
To clean that tavern table, I made a solution of ¼ cup Murphy’s to one gallon of warm water. I took a terry cloth rag, dipped it in the solution, wrung the rag out until almost dry, and scrubbed away. After about an hour and many rinses and wringings of the rag later, I had a gloriously gleaming hunk of red oak and a filthy bucket of disgusting water.
I use Murphy’s on all of my antique wood furniture (I’ve collected quite a bit of it since those early years) about once a year to clean out the grime that dusting and polishing won’t remove. I also learned to use Murphy’s on walls, floors, and painted wood trim. Nothing, I mean nothing, cleans a painted surface or a vinyl or linoleum floor better than Murphy’s. Plus, it smells good. Not antiseptic, not harsh, just kind of clean and fresh in an earthy way.
Long after I moved out of that first apartment, I was lucky to have a wonderful woman help me clean the house I moved into after I married. She, like Aunt Ronnie, was another of my teachers of the house cleaning arts.
Pine-Sol
Eunice introduced me to Pine-Sol. I’d come home from work after her weekly visit to our house, and my nose would be in heaven. She’d mix about a quarter cup of Pine-Sol to a gallon of water, and scrub every tile, porcelain, and ceramic surface in the bathrooms. Not only was the smell wonderful, but so were the gleaming surfaces.
Pine-Sol’s been around for a long time, too, for about 75 years. It had its birth along with the Great Depression in 1929, when its chemist-inventor used his knowledge of the natural pine forests of Mississippi to create a fresh, disinfecting, and deodorizing cleaner.
Alas, there are other areas of the house to clean, and Pine-Sol and Murphy’s won’t do them all.
A Texture Similar to My Counter Top's
Simple Green
Today, in my current house, I have very odd kitchen counter tops. They are some kind of vinyl, or something, installed about 30 years ago, and they are white and have the texture of tree bark.
I kid you not. I have often asked myself, about these counter tops, “What were they thinking?”
Any kind of dirt gets embedded in the texture of these insidious counter tops, and the only way to clean them is with a scrub brush. At first, I sprinkled a chlorine powdered cleanser on them, added water, and scrubbed away. That worked alright, but it was a mess to clean up and a hazard to my clothes.
Then I learned about Simple Green through a friend at work.
Simple Green is an industrial-strength cleaner, a de-greaser and wax-stripper, which is also environmentally safe. It too has been around for quite a while, about thirty years. I find it harsher on the hands than Murphy’s or Pine-Sol, but rubber gloves take care of that problem for me. It has a fantastic fresh scent, and believe me, there is almost nothing it doesn’t clean (although I would never use it on antique furniture).
To sanitize and clean those ugly counter tops, I dilute the concentrate about 1 part to ten parts of water and put the solution in a spray bottle. I spray those nasty counter tops liberally, wait about 5 minutes, scour them with a brush, and wipe clean with a terry rag dipped in warm water and wrung out. My kitchen counters have never been cleaner.
Weiman’s Stove Top Cleaner
I’ve saved the best for last. This incredible product cleans not only glass stove tops, but anything that is glass, as well as any porcelain, ceramic, or pottery that is glazed. I learned about this product when I bought a glass-topped stove. Along with the stove came a small bottle of Weiman’s, with instructions for use. My glass-topped stove is white, and this cleaner makes it sparkle (yes, you do need to add some elbow grease).
I like antiques and collectibles, and sometimes old glass or pottery items are milky, cloudy, or stained as the result of liquids left in them for too long, so long that the minerals from the liquids leach out and damage the glass or the glaze. The traditional approach to cleaning these damaged pieces is to subject them to an acid wash. However, good news for all of us, Weiman’s stove top cleaner performs miracles. If you have a piece of glass that has sediment stains you haven’t been able to remove, put some Weiman’s stove top cleaner on a paper towel, coat the stain, wait a few minutes, and then scrub with the paper towel. The results can be amazing.
Hubs on Cleaning and Cleaning Products - The Lighter Side of Household Cleaning
Good Links for Learning More about Cleaning Products
The Consumer Specialty Products Association provides an overview of different types of cleaning products, including green cleaning products, and explains how they work. This site does not discuss or feature product brands, only the background and history of how cleaning products work. It is a great site, and I give it all thumbs up.
The US Department of Health and Human Services publishes a great deal of detailed information about the safety of cleaning products.
A Final Thought
Please don’t tell my mother or Aunt Ronnie about this article.
They’d have a fight about who taught me what.
© 2009 Sally's Trove. All rights reserved.
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I must approve of your choices of cleaning products. I, too, am a fan Murphy's and Pine Sol. I haven't used the other two, but now I know what to try. I am more and more switching to homemade cleaning products however, using vinegar, baking soda, and sometimes Borax or Washing Soda, which I find do very well at a fraction of the cost, and are either non-toxic or very low toxicity.
Another fine article, with great background and that personal history that makes your writings you. Love it! And a thumbs up from me!
Sally.
All products above are great for cleaning for sure I had used them my self and still do.Spring cleaning is just arround the corner let me know if you need help for that LOL.
Love always.
FlyingPanther
Another great one in your inimitable style ST. I promise not to rat on you either to your mother or your Aunt Ronnie:-} For what it's worth I too am a Murphy Oil fan and I love love love Simple Green-- use it for sooooo many things and like the smell even better than Pinesol.
Kudos and thumbs up as usual:-)
I love Murphy's, it is great stuff, and it makes your house smell so good. Simple Green is new to me, I can hardly wait to try it out. I'm a TERRIBLE housekeeper. I try to keep us from catching any major diseases and I stop short of letting food rot on the the counter, but beyond that, my mother would not approve of me either! So your secrets are always safe with me. I'm off now to buy some new cleaning products and I might even use them! Thanks Sally!
Good morning dear friend, What? Are you telling me I shouldn't use Pledge spray wax to smear the dust around? It’s lemon scented if that helps :)
Actually, before I could use the wonderful products you mention, I'd have to start with the big guns first, those being bleach and ammonia, and I'd be using a mask, rubber gloves and have all my windows open.
The first thing that came to mind after reading this was my all time favorite, Jubilee wax. This was a staple in our cleaning products when I was growing up. Mom tasked me with polishing the chrome legs of our 50s table and chairs, and anything else that had chrome on it. I loved how you had to wait for it to 'film' up before polishing. Then, of course, you had to make sure you wiped every last bit of it off. It did a wonderful job and the smell was lovely. Another favorite, in terms of polishing, was Noxon polish, which I used when I had to polish other silver items. This one, unfortunately, has a nasty smell. I came across this website for retro cleaning: http://retrorenovation.com/2009/01/28/how-to-clean You might find it interesting.
I share Pam's sentiments. I used to be a great housekeeper, but since I started collecting things, I've become much lazier, because now I have too much stuff and it's overwhelming just thinking about having to clean it all. Perhaps I should go out this morning and purchase Simple Green, and take a hint from its name, keep it simple!
Great story as always! Has it inspired me to clean? I'll have to think about it a bit LOL
Useful - cleaning is somewhat of a black art to me - having started out in the military with elbow grease and graduated to having a batman and cleaner as an Officer living in (yes really). Now Rud does it all thank heavens or we pay someone!
ST, I used Murphy's all the time when I had wood-paneled walls, but oddly never used it on furniture. Now I'll have to get some! I'd never heard of Simple Green, but then I'm like pgrundy - not a fanatic about cleaning. Believe a *little* dust isn't life-threatening, but I don't leave food sitting around to rot either. I'll add Simple Green to the list!
trish1048, I haven't thought of Jubilee wax in decades! I remember too having to wait for it to film over and then the elbow grease required to remove every last trace! Thanks for the memory!
Christoph, can we clone you? A man who cleans! Be still my heart! ;D
JamaGenee: Sorry, but I am uncloneable. I can be taken out on loan, however, and I'm surprisingly cheap (and tawdry!)
Hey Sally, I love cheap, and as long as it comes with a tawdry Christoph, count me in! LOL And, if he wants you to loan him out you could just charge a finder's fee and put out the tip jar :)
I just checked out the website and sent them an email. I will let you know what I find out. Thanks for finding that!
It was my Saturday job to Jubilee the Refrig and stove, actually everything in the kitchen. Man, does that age me.
I LOVE Simple Green, we use it in cleaning our storage units and it smells wonderful!! I will re-visit Murphy's Soap,
Tell me, have you considered "Have Products, Will Travel" as a business?
My dog cleans my kitchen floor during the week, and he doesn't like the Pine Sol. =)) I do the bathroom only to stay alive, but when I am not pushed for time, I love Simple Green and another product called Fabuloso. Lavender is scrumptios and even gets rid of uh ugly smells.
I loved this hub, as always, enjoying the sprinkling of family life admist the enlightening journey. Also loved your links!! =)) hugs, this is superrrrr and now I'm in the cleaning mood. My family thanks you!
I hear ya on the not traveling with the cleaning products. --- LOL I cooked a casserole tonight with chicken and rice, made it up actually -- but I spilled the V8 Southwestern corn soup on the kitchen rug as I was spreading it on top of the rice which was on top of the chicken - all of which was on top of the stove.
Well, the dog was "on top" of that V8 Corn soup dollop in 3 seconds flat. He loves me to cook cuz he licks up all the drippings....such a good taste tester. Tho' not very discriminating come to think of it.
O well, my style? Cook some for the family and a bite or two for the kitchen rug...or dog as the case may be.
=)))) I love the idea of sharing understanding with your daughter....common links are so comforting.
Hmmm... my philosophy on cleaning is "clean what you like to clean". So the dog SHOULD clean the floor, because she enjoys it. And I SHOULD clean your stove with Weiman's, because I enjoy it. And I SHOULD find someone who enjoys vacuuming, because I need it done!
Omigosh, Marisue! Isn't that soup just the best?!? And you made a caserole with it? How did it turn out?
Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Sally. Don't forget that Murphy's cleans all the saddles and bridles in the barn, too. Love you, love your hubs!
Weiman's stove top, eh? I already love and use Murphy's for damn near everything, when I clean ( as little as possible) I thought a glass stove top would be easier to clean and it's not. Of course I abuse it. I roast chile peppers right on the top. hehe I'll certainly give it a try.
I've never used any of the products you mentioned. Thanks for the recommendations!
Weiman's is absolutely fabulous, I know because my husband uses it on the stove-top and other things and gets them looking brand spankin new every time. Definitely a great recommend. He's also a fan of Pine-sol; but I myself can't stand the smell. Lately I've really gotten into method products. http://www.methodhome.com/ I think they're fabulous, work great, smell great; and they're green which makes me feel great about using them.
Great info, Sally. As usual. ;)
Sally
What do you have for cleaning shower tiles.
Nothing works even when scrubbed.
Vinegar, bleach, clr, l.......
Hi Annemaeve!! I just love those soups, and used the corn one in a chicken and rice casserole for a saucy touch. It was delicious! I've also used the sweet red pepper one on top of meatloaf, adding about 1/3 cup into the mixture. Even my youngest son who doesn't favor meatloaf scarfed it up. Unfortunately for the dog, I didn't dribble any of it.
=)) yes, her hubs are wonderful!!
Sally,
Thanks for the Bam and Tilex tip.
I will let you know my results when I get these products and actually use them.
I can tell you that Kaboom was a Kabust.
Oh, I got the message, alright!
Marisue, I haven't tried any of the soups but the corn one, but adding sweet red peppers to meatloaf sounds DELISH! I don't know if I could put it on top, as mom and I always wrap our meatloaf in bacon (mmmmmmmm... bacon...), but maybe as a substitute for some of the ketchup inside!
Sally, you know you are always welcome at the barn! For routine cleaning of non-disgusting tack, we use a plain glycerin bar with a barely damp sponge, then rub dry with a towel. Murphy's is for the nasty nasties, and we use the same barely damp sponge, hold it over the Murphy's liquid bottle for a dab of soap, then scrub, sometimes lightly rinse, and rub dry with a towel. We're more likely to condition tack with neat's foot or Lexol after the Murphy's, because it is stronger than glycerin.
Tack cleaning is one of the most rewarding jobs in the barn - it caters to the OCD in all of us, it gets your nails beautifully clean, and it can be done in the heated tack room. I HIGHLY recommend it. Bring your own used toothbrush - I know you have one!
I had never heard of Murphy's Soap until now, but I really want to try it.
Great products!!! I love Murphy's Oil Soap for cleaning wood!!! Another tip! If you have tile, and the grout gets dirty. Don't go out and buy grout cleaner!!! Spray the grout with vinegar, let it sit for a minute, then make a paste of baking soda and water. Scrub the grout with an old toothbrush. It gets the grout cleaner than grout cleaner and it's a lot cheaper!!
I sort of agree with your mother - I'd rather go swimming or to the park on a Saturday morning than wash the kitchen floor!We try to use as few chemicals as possible, and vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are both very useful indeed.
bicarb is great for cleaning sinks, taps, and shower heads.
Thanks for an interesting Hub. We both use Ecover cleaning products, as these are environmentally friendly. However, we find that the best way to keep the house clean is to employ a good cleaning lady (or chap).
Great story and tips! Thanks for sharing this.
Many kids will envy you for your care free weekends ;)
great article keep up the good work, i love articles about cleaning!
The Weiman’s stove top cleaner really works miracles. Antiques don't look antiques after applying it. Way to go green.
Its also useful article! Your cleaning tips are greatly!
I am not familiar with Murphy's soap. I will look it up.
Thank you very much for these cleaning tips. I am already using Simple Green but I'd like to try the others too.
Thanks for sharing Sally!
After cleaning your stainless sinks, use baby oil to shine them. Just put a little on a clean cloth and shine.
Hey thanks for the Weiman's tip Sally. Here's some guy tips: While you're in the kitchen making a mess, just grab some ketchup and a wrag to polish the brass. If your water glass left a white ring, rub some mayonnaise on it and let it sit. If you burned the pot, pour your coca-cola regular into it and boil it and if you really want to impress your wife, pour a can of coke into the toilet and let it sit. It will clean that or grout. Yet another reason to keep ketchup, mayo and coke on hand for the guys. =:)
Great work....I use 3 of the 4 listed here and can totally attest to their worth. Look forward to reading more of your hubs!
Such an excellent hub featuring your apartment. I like the way you manage it with cleaning products.
Murphy's is great stuff. I love good cleaning products but your mom's priorities were right-on, too! Nice hub!
Great Hub. I loved all your suggestions, only problem is I hate the smell of Murphy's Oil Soap and Simple Green. I grew up with my mom using Fantastik for everything. I've learned over the years that this works great on EVERYTHING (except wood, which I use Pledge for). Thanks for sharing.
pine sol has a new scent! It is blue and smells wonderfully fresh!
I laughed as I read this hub, at the same time learning some cleaning tips from you. Great hub !








































G-Ma Johnson Level 4 Commenter 3 years ago
Aren't you a sweetie...and you seemed to have taught yourself well...I love Murphy's soap and use it all the time...my mom taught me...sorta...it is one thing to have chores and another to keep your own place clean the way you want it...So is still by trial and error I think...plus so many new things come out...and then there are so many environmental problems...Nicely done sweetie...G-Ma :O) Hugs & Peace