1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,560 Does anyone else find it harder to clean when their spouse is 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,080 home? Hi, I'm Ronnie and you're 3 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,120 listening to Clean with me, the podcast where I talk you through 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:12,840 cleaning your house step by step. 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:18,040 And in today's episode, we're going to tackle a messy kitchen. 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,480 And of course, if your kitchen is not messy, you can do some 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,440 deep cleaning tasks while we're in there. 8 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:31,480 I But I suspect a lot of you have a sink full of dishes, 9 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:36,200 maybe a countertop full of dishes, a lot of things left out 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:40,760 of place, a floor that needs to be swept and mopped, and so on. 11 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:43,360 Let's get right into the episode. 12 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,280 It's time to gear up for your cleaning session. 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,000 If your kitchen's a mess, you're probably going to want to put on 14 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:57,040 some shoes rather than walk on a gritty or sticky floor, and you 15 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:02,960 might also want to straighten up the front entrance area of your 16 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,720 home real quick. I like to straighten up my front 17 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:12,520 room before I do pretty much any household task, just so that I 18 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,640 can feel like my house is under control and whoever walks in 19 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,360 will get a good impression. Another thing I like to do at 20 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,160 the beginning of a cleaning session is simply start a load 21 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,600 of laundry. Basically, I like to get my 22 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,760 machines running fairly early in the cleaning session. 23 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:36,240 And by machines I mean my washing machine, maybe my dryer, 24 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,200 and my dishwasher. And I realize you may or may not 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,640 have a dishwasher, but if you do, we're going to get that 26 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,600 machine running too. But right now, you might need to 27 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,160 start a load of laundry. OK. 28 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,280 You also might want to freshen up for the day. 29 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,040 And I know I can talk faster than you can do things. 30 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:01,800 I'm just giving you a few ideas on how to kick off your cleaning 31 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:06,280 session. And then I'm going to be more 32 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,800 specific once we get to work on the kitchen. 33 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:16,240 Another thing you might need to do is gather up any dirty dishes 34 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,680 from around the house, whether you have mugs on the night 35 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:27,040 stands or a forgotten plate on a dining room table or in table or 36 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,760 coffee table. Let's get all that stuff 37 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:35,480 gathered to the sink area as soon as you're done starting 38 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:40,080 that load of laundry or straightening up that front row. 39 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,120 If you have little ones, you might need to get them occupied 40 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,720 often. When you've got a messy kitchen, 41 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,400 the best way to keep your kids occupied is have them play 42 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,880 somewhere nearby that room that can be seen from the kitchen. 43 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,920 I remember at one house I had a little play area that was 44 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:06,840 actually in the kitchen because this particular house had a lot 45 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,840 of square footage kind of wasted. 46 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:15,640 I felt in the kitchen area like there was a huge kitchen with 47 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,440 room for a table and then some kind of the dining part of the 48 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,640 kitchen that was still over a hard floor. 49 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:24,680 I felt like it was kind of wasted. 50 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,840 So my mom ended up having the idea of me making a little 51 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,160 corner for my preschooler and toddler to plan. 52 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,840 And what we did is we put a little area rug in one corner of 53 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,240 the kitchen and a little toy box bookshelf with like 2 shelves or 54 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:47,320 something that allowed the kids to play away from the sink, away 55 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:51,440 from the stove, but where I could see them and hear them 56 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,880 while working in the kitchen. And that was super helpful. 57 00:03:54,880 --> 00:04:00,000 So just something for you moms of little ones for a while At 58 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,240 our current house, we had a gate where we gated off the kitchen. 59 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,880 And we originally did this when we were raising a litter of 60 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,560 puppies, but then it came in handy when the grandkids would 61 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,520 try to get in there while we were cooking or loading and 62 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,959 unloading the dishwasher. Just times you don't want a 63 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:22,160 little toddler around. And that way we could see them 64 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,480 playing in the living room nearby while keeping them out of 65 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,200 the kitchen. So just a few things to think 66 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:35,120 about while you're gearing up for today's kitchen cleaning 67 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,040 session. Now that you've gotten your 68 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,680 shoes on and maybe started a load of laundry straight in your 69 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,400 front room, you know whichever of those things that you did, if 70 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,960 you haven't already done so, gather up all of your dirty 71 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:52,760 dishes. I want you to stay in the 72 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:56,240 kitchen during this episode if at all possible. 73 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:58,600 So I want you to get everything you need. 74 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,160 OK? All of the dishes and some fresh 75 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,480 cleaning rags. OK, Like at least a fresh dish 76 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,840 rag and a clean, dry towel. You're going to need those 77 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:15,920 items, and I don't want you to get sidetracked by leaving the 78 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:17,520 kitchen. The first thing we're going to 79 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:19,920 do is kind of assess the situation. 80 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,040 You may have a dirty stovetop right now. 81 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:28,400 You may have clutter all over your countertop or your island 82 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,320 or even a kitchen table. You may have a dirty high chair. 83 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,960 You've probably got a lot going on if you clicked on an episode 84 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,880 about a messy kitchen. I get that and you probably feel 85 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:45,800 overwhelmed, but the first thing I want you to do is get any 86 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,800 difficult items pre rinsed and soaking. 87 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,680 You know, maybe you've piled things in the sink and you need 88 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,880 to empty it out so that you'll have a space to work. 89 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,480 Or if you have the the kind of sink that has two sections, 90 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,120 maybe you need to empty out the section with the garbage 91 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:07,360 disposal where you're going to be pre rinsing those dishes. 92 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:13,360 OK, maybe you have a little dish pan that you use as a basin, 93 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:18,000 especially if you have one of those single basin sinks. 94 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:20,280 You might have a little dish pan. 95 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:25,080 I've I've got the old school 2 section sink, or maybe the the 96 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,400 one section is the old school and we went back to that as a 97 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:29,920 society. I don't know. 98 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,640 But I've never had the sink where it's just one sink. 99 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,360 It's it, mine has the two compartments. 100 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:42,000 And so I always, you know, empty out the sink when I'm getting 101 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,640 started because I'm going to use one side and fill that up with 102 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,480 the hot water and dish soap. And then the other side I'm 103 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:52,320 going to use to pre rinse and run that garbage disposal. 104 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:56,880 And you may or may not have a dishwasher. 105 00:06:57,440 --> 00:06:59,160 That's OK. This cleaning session is going 106 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,600 to work whether you have a dishwasher or not. 107 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:03,320 I'm going to talk about hand washing. 108 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,960 And if you're like me, when you're facing a dish shaster, 109 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,600 you've got more than what's going to fit in the dishwasher 110 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:13,640 or certain items you don't want to put in the dishwasher. 111 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,880 And so you might be doing a little bit of both. 112 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:22,560 But let's get that sink ready. Let's get it emptied out, you 113 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,720 know, just by placing things next to it and getting them out 114 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:29,160 and then, you know, rinsing it out and just getting it ready. 115 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:35,760 OK, so maybe you're filling up the sink or maybe you just wash 116 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,000 your dishes completely under running water. 117 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,920 I know some people do that, But I get my water running to heat 118 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,720 it up. I run the garbage disposal in 119 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,320 case there's anything in it. OK. 120 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:54,720 And then I put some hot soapy water in that right hand side 121 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:56,840 for me. It's on the right, you know, I 122 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:02,680 plug it, start filling it up, and then I look for any dirty 123 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:07,520 silverware and drop that in. Those obvious items that need to 124 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:12,280 be soaked, I drop those in as I'm filling up one side of the 125 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,520 sink with hot water. You might not be doing things in 126 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,120 exactly the same way I'm describing. 127 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:23,720 Obviously just work on pre rinsing your dishes however you 128 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:28,400 like to do that, but I think it's important to deal with the 129 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:33,080 difficult items first. When you come across something 130 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,360 that needs a lot of scrubbing, I give you permission to 131 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,520 procrastinate on washing that one. 132 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,240 I just want you to pre rinse it and get it soaking. 133 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,240 If it's a cup that's just soiled or a bowl that's just soiled in 134 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,200 the bottom of it, you can just fill that item up with hot 135 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:56,400 water, some liquid dish soap and set it on the counter or set it 136 00:08:56,560 --> 00:09:02,680 in your basin or your sink. OK, but things like the 137 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:08,840 silverware I submerge plates, I submerge, I pre rinse them 138 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,760 first, of course, because you don't want to get, you know, a 139 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,080 lot of debris in the water. You're washing your dishes then. 140 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:21,600 So I grab a dishwashing brush and I'll, I'll scrub a plate 141 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,120 under running water. I'll, I'll scrub a silverware if 142 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:26,800 there's chunks on it. A lot of times with the 143 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,560 silverware I'm just dropping it in but I'll I'll scrub the food 144 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:34,400 off the plate, submerge it OK. But a lot of times if there's a 145 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,400 lot of cups and pans and things like that I'll scrub and pre 146 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,680 rinse them under running water. But the way I'll soak them is by 147 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:46,200 filling them up and then placing them on the countertop. 148 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,240 This is definitely a good strategy. 149 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:53,280 If not everything's going to fit in the sink or if you're going 150 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,560 to be doing multiple sink loads, you know where you're changing 151 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,120 the water after washing several items. 152 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,680 But even though I'm going to be putting a lot of items in the 153 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:06,160 dishwasher, I will get the most difficult items. 154 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:10,880 Soaking those obvious difficult items, the the pot and pan from 155 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:15,920 dinner where the food has kind of dried on or that container 156 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,880 that you pulled out of the refrigerator and threw away the 157 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:20,880 leftovers. By the way, if you haven't dealt 158 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,520 with leftovers, I'm talking leftovers, you're not no longer 159 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,200 going to eat old leftovers. Go ahead and deal with those. 160 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,440 You've got plenty of dishes to do anyway. 161 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,160 Might as well wash those containers that are in the 162 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:36,160 fridge because you're going to need those later. 163 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:41,280 OK, so let's get all these difficult items pre rinsed and 164 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,560 soaking. You might still come across 165 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:47,320 items that are more difficult than others that you're going to 166 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,800 procrastinate on in a good way, but we'll talk about that. 167 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,960 Let's get the obviously difficult items pre rinsed and 168 00:10:55,960 --> 00:11:00,880 soaking and let's get started on those easier items. 169 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:04,680 OK? I'm talking about things that 170 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:09,160 can go straight into the dishwasher or just need a quick 171 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,080 rinse and scrub and then can be placed in the dishwasher. 172 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,320 Or if you're hand washing. I'm talking about those items 173 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,760 that are ready to go in the dishwater or just to be washed 174 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,960 under running water. If that's the way you do it, I'm 175 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,640 not going to keep talking about washing under running water 176 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:27,680 because that's not the way I do it. 177 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:32,640 I pre rinse under running water. I submerge, scrub and then rinse 178 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:37,000 under running water. Again, no judgement here if you 179 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:42,040 don't do any type of a submerge. I feel like it it takes more 180 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:47,440 effort and uses more water so it's not my method of choice. 181 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:52,200 But just be working on dishes obviously whatever that means 182 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,080 for you today. But as I'm pre rinsing items and 183 00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:01,280 placing them in the dishwasher I I'll often come across something 184 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:05,440 that I didn't notice needed to soak during that first step, if 185 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,440 that makes sense. OK, that item is going to get 186 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,920 submerged or filled up whatever the soaking method is. 187 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,560 Depending on the size of the item, I tend to soak those large 188 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:18,680 pots and pans outside of the sink. 189 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,200 Another thing I and just be working on your pre rinsing 190 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,280 while I talk because you're setting yourself up for an 191 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,880 easier dishwashing session when you do the preliminary work, OK. 192 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,600 And obviously, if you're ahead of the game, you can be cleaning 193 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,040 surfaces in your kitchen that, you know, for instance, if you 194 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,760 didn't have any dishes to do today, OK, if you've been 195 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,960 keeping up on your dishes, but I'm assuming you've got at least 196 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:46,000 one big meal to clean up after possibly 24 hours worth of 197 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,440 dishes, maybe more. No judgement here. 198 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,560 I do want you to have the goal of doing all of your dishes 199 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:57,040 every 24 hours and, you know, getting them done before bed. 200 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,760 If if you're perpetually struggling with that, definitely 201 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,520 listen to my crawling out of the whole series. 202 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:08,040 It's one of the bonus episodes that's for financial supporters. 203 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,640 If you're listening on Apple or Spotify, that option is are 204 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,120 already being advertised to you. Another way to unlock those 205 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,880 episodes is through a Patreon membership and there'll be a 206 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,440 link in the description to my website. 207 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:26,080 And you can you can learn more about the options for supporting 208 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:30,560 the show for a small monthly fee, which unlocks more 209 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:34,000 episodes, three or four more episodes per month. 210 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,360 And that can really help you get on my full program. 211 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:41,880 You get a lot more done if you have access to those episodes 212 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,440 and they're typically longer and I get a little more personal in 213 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,760 those episodes because I figure haters aren't going to subscribe 214 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,240 to them, you know? But that's besides the point 215 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,960 anyway. When you come across an item 216 00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:01,520 that is not easily pre rinsed and placed in the dishwasher, 217 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,400 you submerge it if you're using a dishwasher. 218 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,080 That's my method. OK, I know what else I wanted to 219 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:13,320 tell you why you're pre rinsing. One of the other things that I 220 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,760 don't submerge is anything that's sharp. 221 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:22,400 I don't put steak knives, butcher knives, chopping knives. 222 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:27,960 You know, I don't put any sharp knives in the dishwater. 223 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:32,200 You know, I'm not hiding these dangerous objects under the 224 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,600 bubbles and I hope you're not doing that either. 225 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:40,400 Butter knives, sure, but my sharp knives, and I typically 226 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:45,680 have large ones that I need to wash, will submerge those in one 227 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,000 of the large pots that I have sitting on the counter soaking. 228 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,560 Because if I've used a large knife to prep, chances are I've 229 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,720 used my large skillet as well and I've filled it up with hot 230 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,560 soapy water. It's a perfect way to soak place 231 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,840 to soak the knife. Or sometimes I soak it in a 232 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,600 large salad bowl or a large mixing bowl if there's stuff 233 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,240 kind of caked on the knife. If not, you know, if you just 234 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,840 used it to chop onions and it's, you know, going to be easy to 235 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,640 clean, clean it under, you know, running water or whatever, it's 236 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,800 real quick. But you don't soak a sharp knife 237 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,800 in the sink under the bubbles. OK, safety tip there. 238 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:28,160 But as I'm I'm pre rinsing items and loading the dishwasher 239 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,720 lately, I don't run the dishwasher immediately. 240 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,640 I used to say like if you have a dishwasher, you know, maybe you 241 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:38,560 need to do an empty reload, reload and run of the dishwasher 242 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,840 and then wash the remaining items by hand that either didn't 243 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:44,920 fit or that you didn't want to put in there. 244 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:50,320 I used to say that, but I, I worry about the water pressure 245 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,760 not being enough. And since I've had some issues 246 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:58,560 with that. So what I do is I don't actually 247 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,880 run the dishwasher. I just load it and some often 248 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,760 times I don't run it at all until I'm completely done hand 249 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,440 washing everything. I'm going to hand wash, but I'm 250 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,760 putting things in there, you know, as much as as possible. 251 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:19,120 OK. That way when I come across an 252 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,440 easy item, I pre rinse it and place it in the dishwasher. 253 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,960 When I come across a difficult item, it's going to do some time 254 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,000 to soaking to soak. And you may be thinking, OK, 255 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:33,360 well I've got some items soaking, but I've already either 256 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,960 washed the easy items, you know, rinse, washed, rinsed and place 257 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,880 them in the drying rack or I've pre rinsed them and placed them 258 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,360 in the dishwasher. And those difficult items 259 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,200 haven't had very much time to soak. 260 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,200 Maybe I could just leave them till tomorrow. 261 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,120 No, no, no, no, no, you're not getting off that easy. 262 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:55,120 When I said it's OK to procrastinate, I did not mean 263 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:58,360 overnight. Very rarely do you need to let 264 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,920 something soak overnight, you know, unless you have an 265 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:05,560 extremely baked on dish. Maybe you made a lasagna and 266 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,520 then reheated it in the same container in the oven. 267 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,640 Or maybe you you cook something in a crock pot and it's just 268 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,839 really stuck on OK. There might be like one item 269 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:18,280 like that. I don't want you to get into 270 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,920 that cycle of having something perpetually soaking. 271 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:24,920 Even if it seems like your items need to soak a long time, they 272 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,359 probably don't need to soak as long as you think. 273 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:33,240 OK, so once you deal with all the easy stuff, whether you 274 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,440 washed it, rinsed it and placed it in the drying rack or you pre 275 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,040 rinsed it and placed it in your dishwasher that's not yet 276 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:43,000 running, you might need more soaking time for those pots and 277 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,240 pans that you have soaking. OK. 278 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,400 And don't feel bad if you're not completely to that point, you 279 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,120 know, just keep working on the pre rinsing as long as it takes. 280 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:58,080 I realize it can take a while if you know, dishes have piled up 281 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,160 on you. Obviously on this show, I 282 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:06,360 encourage you to try to either do dishes after every meal or, 283 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:12,000 you know, two to three times a day, especially if you have a 284 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:17,240 tendency to feel overwhelmed. Or maybe to have a system where 285 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,320 you load things in the dishwasher throughout the day 286 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,920 and then you run it at the end. You know, that system works for 287 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:30,040 some people, not us. But I realized that there are 288 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,800 these pile UPS, you know, you get busy for. 289 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,160 It happened to me recently. You get busy for a few days and 290 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:37,720 you're just constantly on the go. 291 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:40,960 And maybe you have kids who are dirtying up dishes. 292 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:46,680 And definitely, I've found that even when we have a system in 293 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,520 place and rules in place, if my husband and I haven't been doing 294 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:57,600 dishes, it's it's kind of hard to get the kids to clean as they 295 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,320 go when they're walking into a kitchen that's messy to begin 296 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,160 with. So I definitely encourage you to 297 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:08,120 get caught up on your dishes and then turn over a new leaf. 298 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:11,640 I'm talking about teaching by example. 299 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,320 If you have kids who are old enough to dirty up their own 300 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:18,000 dishes, meaning like prepare their own snacks and meals. 301 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,240 Yeah, I realize some of you, your kids are toddlers and, you 302 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:23,600 know, you're cleaning up after them. 303 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:28,240 I get that. But our current system is that 304 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:33,760 when someone fixes their own breakfast or lunch or snack, 305 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:40,200 that's not one of the family meals, which typically happen in 306 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:46,720 the evening, they have to wash that bowl and spoon or that 307 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,720 plate and fork by hand and place it in the drying rack. 308 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,840 It's not that hard. And then some people have a role 309 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:55,880 where their kid has to pre rinse it and place it in the 310 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,320 dishwasher. If you just say like rinse it 311 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:00,600 and place it in the sink, sometimes they're just 312 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,640 sprinkling a little bit of water on it and then you're still 313 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:08,080 dealing with dried on food. They're not actually filling 314 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,560 that cereal bowl up with hot soapy water and the cereal is 315 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,800 just cemented on the bowl, or the Top Ramen is just cemented 316 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:20,240 into the bowl. So we have that system and then 317 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:23,680 at dinner time, they're allowed to do that more traditional 318 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:28,640 method where they just clear and rinse their plate and fork or 319 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,000 their spoon and, you know, and bowl if it was chili or 320 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,920 something and you know, clear it, rinse it off and place it in 321 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,320 the sink. Then my husband or I do the 322 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,280 dishes when we quote UN quote close the kitchen. 323 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,680 You know that that all important closing shift needs to happen 324 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,280 after dinner or before bed, whatever's best for you. 325 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:56,320 But I don't want people just going in throughout the day and 326 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,560 making these little meals and then just letting the food dry 327 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:01,200 on. And then we have to deal with 328 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:06,480 this disaster again. OK, but it it does happen, you 329 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,800 know, when the family's busy and just things come up or just you 330 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,440 haven't had that talk with them in a while, you know what I 331 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,240 mean? Definitely I encourage you to 332 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:23,840 create some kind of system like set an expectation if you have 333 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:28,960 kids who are able to prepare their own food on how they're 334 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:33,400 going to manage cleaning up after themselves as they go. 335 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:42,120 OK, And then more importantly, follow that rule yourself, OK, 336 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:43,880 and also hold people accountable. 337 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,120 And it can be it can be hard if you have a large family, it can 338 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:50,280 be hard because you don't know who left what nobody's admitting 339 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,040 to it or whatever. But like when you're down to two 340 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:58,200 teenagers, it's pretty easy to know like whose container it is 341 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,280 just by what what they made you know, because I know what they. 342 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:08,080 So it definitely gets easier as your kids get older for those of 343 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,000 you who are still in the trenches. 344 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:15,040 But you you definitely want to hold them more accountable and 345 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,960 teach them to clean up after yourselves and you know, in 346 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:20,920 these and hopefully you're pre rinsing your dishes. 347 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,480 But like I was saying, you might feel like you need more time for 348 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:29,840 them to soak, move around the kitchen and do some other stuff. 349 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,160 That's the right kind of procrastination. 350 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,480 You know, you could walk away and start scrubbing your stove 351 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,520 top. I have a glass cook top, so I 352 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,280 just say scrub your stove top. But I realized you might need to 353 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:42,600 remove burners and clean burner trays. 354 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,920 You know, it might be a little bit of a more complicated job 355 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,000 for you. You might have items on the 356 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,840 counter that don't belong. You might have cereal boxes and 357 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:58,560 seasoning sitting out from when people prepared meals and that 358 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,920 the by people, it might, it might be you, you might be the 359 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,280 problem. OK, let's let's get that stuff 360 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:10,560 put away while those super difficult items have a little 361 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,320 more time to soak. I feel like sometimes I'll look 362 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:15,960 at something and be like, whoa, this is going to need to soak 363 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:20,120 for like an hour or something, but really it just needs a few 364 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:23,240 more minutes. It some of those items need you 365 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:28,240 to go scrub your stove and go clean your countertops and then 366 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:33,320 come back and then maybe drain the sink and refill it with 367 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:37,320 hotter water. Submerge the items again. 368 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,320 There's just something about looking at items with some dried 369 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:47,200 on food and wrongly assuming that it's going to take longer 370 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:52,440 than it really does to soak. OK, but you have other things 371 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,800 you can do in your kitchen. If you're down to just a few 372 00:23:55,800 --> 00:24:01,960 items, even four or five, even 10 items that need some extra 373 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,400 soaking time, you can basically clean your whole kitchen and 374 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,360 then come back to those. You can wipe down your stovetop 375 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:15,120 and countertop, and I usually scrub the stovetop before wiping 376 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:18,640 it down. I'll put some liquid dish soap 377 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,240 on it, get an abrasive sponge and just really scrub it. 378 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:26,640 And then I'll let that soap sit there for a few minutes while I 379 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:31,000 clear the countertops and I get my favorite multi purpose spray 380 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,320 and spray and wipe down those countertops. 381 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:38,280 Then I come back with a, you know, my maybe my dish rag and 382 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:44,560 wipe off that stovetop. Then when I go back to the sink, 383 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:49,440 those dishes are magically easy to wash because they've had some 384 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,440 extra time. And sometimes they do need 385 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:56,160 hotter water put in them for one last two minutes, soak and some 386 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,080 hotter water. But you don't stand around while 387 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,040 your items are soaking. OK, you're either washing easier 388 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,520 items or you're cleaning the rest of your kitchen. 389 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:13,160 And don't forget about wiping your cabinets, the fronts of 390 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:17,360 your large appliances. You know, you start with your 391 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:22,560 upper cabinets and once your countertop, stove top are clean, 392 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,600 you can move down to wiping those lower cabinets. 393 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,480 Sometimes the lower cabinets get neglected and they get 394 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:32,040 fingerprints on them. And and by fingerprints, I'm not 395 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:34,920 talking just a fingerprint, I'm talking about, you know, food 396 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:40,200 smudges and whatnot, OK. And you can even sweep. 397 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,640 And I wouldn't mop before washing all the dishes, but you 398 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:48,680 could sweep, finish washing the dishes and then mop. 399 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,800 OK, This is productive procrastination. 400 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:57,120 The important thing is that you're staying in your kitchen 401 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:01,920 and, you know, letting, maybe letting that dish soap do its 402 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,920 work while you scrub other areas of your kitchen. 403 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,680 You know, sometimes you can even, you know, kind of take a 404 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:13,480 little detour and organize your pantry or your, you know, 1 405 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:19,040 cupboard or whatever. Often I need to reorganize my 406 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:23,640 seasonings because we have this tiny skinny cabinet. 407 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:27,360 Because you know how you, you organize and just be working on 408 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:31,320 washing your dishes, whatever that means for you, whether 409 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,800 you're loading the dishwasher, you know, and maybe you had to 410 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,600 empty a drying rack or dishwasher first. 411 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:40,720 Definitely. I like to keep that task 412 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:42,720 separate. But I realize you might be doing 413 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:44,600 it all right now. Or maybe you're just playing 414 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,920 dish Jenga and adding clean dishes to an existing pile. 415 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,240 I forgot to tell you to put away any clean dishes. 416 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,200 And that's because that's not part of my dishwashing session 417 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,800 anymore. I have delegated that to my 418 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:02,480 teenage daughter. Her job is to empty the drying 419 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,520 rack and dishwasher, of course, put those items away where they 420 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:07,360 go correctly. And she's, she does great with 421 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:10,360 that. Her job is to do that before 422 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:13,880 4:00 PM when we're starting to prep dinner, OK? 423 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,200 That way it it's even easier to clean as we go when we've got a 424 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:23,080 nice empty drying rack and an empty dishwasher when we go in 425 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,120 to make dinner and clean up after dinner. 426 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,840 OK, but I realized that task might fall to you. 427 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,240 A lot of you might want to implement the the habit of 428 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,200 emptying your dishwasher and drying rack in the morning while 429 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,480 your coffee is brewing or while you're making breakfast or 430 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,280 something. Just a thought there. 431 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:47,760 I'm really big on separating tasks into manageable bite size 432 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,200 parts. OK, Breaking things down to 433 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,040 where I don't have to put away a bunch of clean dishes when I 434 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,600 wash them. OK, so just a thought. 435 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,920 But I realize some of you needed to put stuff away, so you might 436 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,920 still be washing dishes and there might be a lot. 437 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:06,280 I get it. I'm trying to give you plenty of 438 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:10,640 time for that. But if if you get nothing else 439 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:14,760 done other than just your dishes in this episode, or if you don't 440 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,240 even get all your dishes done in this episode, I definitely want 441 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,120 you to finish the job. I encourage you to baby put on 442 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:25,960 some music after this, get all your dishes done and wipe down 443 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,400 your upper surfaces and then sweep and mop your kitchen 444 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:31,200 floor. And maybe you'll need a little 445 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,760 break, a little rest break before you sweep and mop. 446 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:39,640 Oftentimes when I'm cleaning a messy kitchen and I get all the 447 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,200 dishes done and the upper surfaces wipe, meaning my 448 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:48,040 countertops, my appliances, my cabinets, OK, you know, cleaning 449 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:53,320 the stove, cleaning the sink. I will sit down and drink some 450 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:57,800 water before getting back up to sweep or mop. 451 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,920 Or I'll delegate the sweeping and mopping, OK, because I've 452 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,360 done the hard part, which is washing a bunch of dirty dishes. 453 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:10,640 OK. So hopefully I've I've given you 454 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,800 kind of a strategy for dealing with all of these dishes and 455 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:21,080 hopefully I've given you that extra push not to assume that 456 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,760 things need to soak longer than they do. 457 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:28,320 The trick is to get the items pre rinsed and soaking, wash the 458 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:32,000 easy stuff and then if you still need more soaking time, maybe 459 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,280 reboot with hotter water and then do some other stuff around 460 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,960 the kitchen. Clean your kitchen and then come 461 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,400 back to those items. Work smarter, not harder. 462 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:48,320 OK, I don't love scrubbing that much, and one of the reasons 463 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,880 that I might be tempted to procrastinate on doing my dishes 464 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,800 is if I see that there's going to be a lot of scrubbing to do. 465 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:04,880 But I don't have to scrub that hard because I rely on soaking 466 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:08,440 things and even re soaking them again with hotter water. 467 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,200 OK, that's the way. Now, obviously there are 468 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,280 exceptions. Obviously there are times where 469 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,040 you might just need to really bust it out and get those dishes 470 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,200 done. Somebody's coming over and you 471 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,760 don't want them to catch you with a sink full of dishes or 472 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,000 something and you want to just scrub. 473 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,240 OK, there's a time for that. That's why you probably have a 474 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:34,800 few different tools, you know, various types of scrub brushes. 475 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,040 I've got one that's always my pre rinse scrub brush and then 476 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,640 I've got one where I keep soap. You know it. 477 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,520 You can put soap inside of it that's for actually washing 478 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:48,120 dishes and that works well for those difficult items if you 479 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:53,280 need to wash them quickly. I also use the like the scrub 480 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,920 daddy's sponges. Lately I've been getting the 481 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,960 ones by that same brand that are just rectangular that still have 482 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:00,800 a soft side and an abrasive side. 483 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:05,240 It's cheaper to get a pack of several of those, in my opinion, 484 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:09,360 and I definitely use this for scrubbing the stove as well as 485 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,640 difficult dishes. But a lot of you by now have 486 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:18,240 finished your dishes. Let's focus on those upper 487 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:19,920 surfaces. Do you need to remove some 488 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:23,840 clutter from your countertops? Sometimes? 489 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,800 If there's someone else in your house who helps you with dishes, 490 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:33,880 that person might not be as bothered by clutter. 491 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,720 Let's say you know, whether you ask your your, your teenager to 492 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:42,040 do dishes or maybe your spouse does dishes, sometimes that 493 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:46,320 person might be letting some some clutter accumulate on your 494 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,680 countertops. I always feel like when I go in 495 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:55,360 and do the dishes, like I'm actually kind of resetting my 496 00:31:55,360 --> 00:32:00,040 countertops to be the minimalist countertops I want them to be. 497 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,840 I'm not just a complete minimalist as far as my 498 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:08,680 housekeeping, but one area where I love to go minimal is the 499 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:10,440 countertops. There's nothing that says a 500 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,720 clean house like uncluttered countertops. 501 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,200 OK, in my opinion, obviously there are people who keep an 502 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,600 Immaculate home and have a lot of decorations and knickknacks, 503 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,880 but I don't want to work around all that stuff, OK? 504 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:30,520 I like to go really minimalist in the kitchen and to me that's 505 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,000 kind of the fun part. You know, when I get my stuff 506 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,960 pre rinsed and soaking, then it's time for me to just really 507 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:41,960 put everything away and like expose my countertops again that 508 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:47,040 my family's been cluttering up, OK and spray and wipe that down 509 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:51,120 and make it shine. And the more stuff I can put 510 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:53,400 away, the better. I mean, there's always that item 511 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,040 that you need to keep out. Maybe it's a toaster, maybe it's 512 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,680 your Keurig, but I even have a separate coffee station so that 513 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:03,760 I'm not cluttering my counter with my Keurig. 514 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,880 OK, I have another piece of furniture over across from the 515 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,320 dining table. It's still in the kitchen, per 516 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:17,560 SE, where I have my Keurig and the little ice maker. 517 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,840 It's kind of just a little drink station and the newest addition. 518 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,000 You know those 5 gallon water jugs. 519 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,360 I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet on the show, but I 520 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:34,720 bought a pump for 999 on Amazon that has you you set the five 521 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:38,720 gallon jug wherever you want it. For me, it's on my coffee 522 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:40,960 station slash drink station area. 523 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:46,000 I set it on that piece of furniture or my husband does 524 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,320 because it's pretty heavy. I mean, I can lift it, but 525 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,320 that's one of those things your husband typically helps with if 526 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,240 you're married. Instead of turning it upside 527 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:57,440 down onto a dispenser, the openings at the top and then you 528 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:00,080 set this pump into it. You know, you take the lid off, 529 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,480 you set this pump on it, and there's a tube that goes down. 530 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,200 Basically the pump. You charge it like every 30 days 531 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:14,920 with a USB cord, but it's just battery operated on that water 532 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:17,800 bottle. I mean, the only drawback from 533 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:21,280 using that versus a water dispenser is that it doesn't 534 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,440 chill the water. But like I said, we've got a 535 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:27,199 little ice maker too, so we can put ice in the water. 536 00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:33,840 And we're saving so much money it it costs us $1.75 to fill up 537 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,239 one of those jugs at our favorite water station, OK? 538 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:43,000 And I mean, by our calculations, it's saving us at least $100 a 539 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:49,400 month, meaning we were spending $100 more than what we're 540 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:54,080 spending on those jugs when we were buying cases of individual 541 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:57,920 bottled water, OK. And I realized there's a happy 542 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:01,040 medium you could get, you know, gallon jugs and different things 543 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,880 like that. But we've just found that this 544 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:08,200 works well for us. So I just wanted to throw it out 545 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:12,960 there in case somebody's interested in in trying one of 546 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:16,600 those pumps. I'll put a picture of it in my 547 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:21,800 Patreon and I'll also put it in the group that's for the 548 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:23,920 Facebook group, that's for supporters. 549 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:27,360 But that's been kind of a kind of a game changer. 550 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:34,920 My point is, I go to great lengths to keep my countertops 551 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,680 sparse. I think it makes a huge 552 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:39,480 difference in the look of a kitchen. 553 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,400 Obviously keeping your kitchen sanitary is the most important 554 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:51,560 thing, but the minimalist look helps too, Especially if your 555 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,400 clutter is not cute decorations. It's just stuff that you're 556 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,320 piling on your countertops. OK, you definitely need a system 557 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,040 for putting away clean dishes too, so that those aren't piling 558 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:04,520 up too much. Clean dishes are better than 559 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,600 dirty dishes. You know, if you're going to 560 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,880 have a pile of something, but your kitchen is going to look so 561 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:12,400 much better if you're getting those put away and you have it 562 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:13,920 kind of a streamlined countertop. 563 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,000 OK, Once you've cleaned all those upper surfaces in your 564 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:21,320 kitchen, again, you're going to sweep and mop and maybe listen 565 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:27,840 to some music while you do that. Your spouse might, might like 566 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:32,760 sweeping and mopping. Yeah, this is, this is just a 567 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:37,320 generalization, but men a lot of times don't like the more 568 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:41,760 tedious aspects of cleaning. So they're more likely to want 569 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:47,200 to run a vacuum or a carpet shampoo or, you know, you even 570 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:50,480 use a broom or a mop. So just a thought there. 571 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:59,560 Same with teenage boys, really. But don't get me wrong, if you 572 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:04,320 have teenagers, OK, regardless of their gender, they need to 573 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,800 learn how to do every aspect of housekeeping. 574 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,280 OK. And in our house, you know, my 575 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:16,280 husband, my husband does a lot of the housework, especially 576 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:19,800 because he's retired. But he, he's always enjoyed 577 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:23,320 cooking and he's always, you know, cleaned while he cooked, 578 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,000 you know, and cleaned up his mess afterward. 579 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:31,840 So my boys do see a role model of a man who does work in the 580 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:36,080 kitchen. I do want to encourage you to 581 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:40,560 continue after this episode if your kitchen is kind of a 582 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,160 disaster. I will say this. 583 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:48,480 It can take up to an hour to clean a really messy kitchen and 584 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:52,600 that's working efficiently. Sometimes it does get that out 585 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,600 of hand. I get that, and I want you to 586 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:59,280 finish the job, but like I said, you might need to take a little 587 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:03,840 break, sit down and drink some water before you deal with the 588 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:07,240 floor. As I realized, not all of you 589 00:38:07,240 --> 00:38:09,680 are able to delegate that task. Today. 590 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:14,040 It might fall to you today, it might fall to you all the time. 591 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:21,760 But definitely as my kids get older, I teach them to do more 592 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,240 complicated aspects of housework. 593 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:29,320 You know, by age 9, your kids should be helping with the 594 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:32,320 dishes, vacuuming. They should, they should learn 595 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:36,200 how to do all that. And then by the time they're in 596 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,200 high school, you should be starting to teach them how to 597 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:42,440 clean a bathroom. And sometimes they do it at 598 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,000 their summer camps. Have you noticed the shift of 599 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:49,480 the culture where? Because I've heard other people 600 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:52,160 talk about it too, like their kids are helping to clean the 601 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,480 bathrooms at summer camp. And at first I was thinking 602 00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:58,240 what, like, we're paying for this and they got the kids 603 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:02,240 cleaning the bathrooms, but it's probably good for them, OK. 604 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,240 And I found out it wasn't just the camp that our kids go to. 605 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,360 My friend's daughter had to clean the bathroom at camp too. 606 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,320 But just in case they're not teaching the kids that a camp, 607 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:16,720 you need to teach them that at some point. 608 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:19,960 You know, obviously it would be gross to have a little kid 609 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:23,000 cleaning a toilet, but when they're in high school, they're 610 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:25,880 more than capable of of doing that. 611 00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,160 And they should know how to clean the kitchen at an even 612 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:32,400 younger age, OK? I'm not saying that they're 613 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:35,560 they're always doing it. Sometimes it's a rotation, 614 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:37,760 sometimes it's a once a week thing. 615 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:42,120 But you do need to teach your kids to clean, OK. 616 00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:46,840 And by the time they leave your house, they should know how to 617 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,840 complete all aspects of housekeeping. 618 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,120 They should know how to shop for groceries. 619 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:56,160 They should know how to cook a few meals. 620 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,680 I mean, they don't need to have a bunch, but they need to know 621 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:03,600 how to cook a few homemade meals, OK, And follow a recipe 622 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:07,480 in a cookbook, OK. And I've taught all my kids 623 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:09,720 those things. I will say my girls have taken 624 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:13,680 more of an interest in cooking than my boys have. 625 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:20,440 But my boys. Can make a few meals, you know, 626 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,440 and they know how to follow a recipe. 627 00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:26,560 Anyway, I hope you got your dishes done, but don't beat 628 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:31,240 yourself up if you haven't. Spend the next 20 minutes 629 00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:34,640 finishing up your dishes and cleaning the surfaces in your 630 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,720 kitchen. Maybe take a break and then go 631 00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:42,200 back in and sweep or vacuum. Special special thanks to my 632 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:47,240 financial supporters who've already unlocked bonus episodes. 633 00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:50,120 But even just listening to these free episodes helps me. 634 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:52,920 I realize not everybody's able to subscribe. 635 00:40:53,720 --> 00:40:56,880 Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate each and everyone 636 00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:59,440 of you. And as always, happy cleaning. 637 00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:01,200 I'll talk to you in the next episode.