# Cleaning tips for the Ultra lazy. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539 "2004-08-06T00:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/41 "2004-08-10T01:52:56Z")
> [@](#): > > …just fill the sink with hot soapy water, add dishes, and add about a half-gallon of bleach. Many dishwashing liquids contain ammonia compounds and should not be mixed with bleach. ---
**Author:** ![SamIAm336](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SamIAm336](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamIAm336)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/42 "2004-08-10T02:01:05Z")
I make my kids do the house work. sometime they actually do it. No, it is not child abuse, they are 21 and 22 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/43 "2004-08-10T02:06:04Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > So here I was faced with the bowl from my Rice cooker. It was full of rice from the day before, that had glutenized and was sticking to the bowl. I was estimating 20-30 second of cleaning. > > But I had a brain storm. I filled it with water and threw it in the freezer. Today I pulled it from the freezer, and put face down in the sink. Turned on hot water. Voila, a single and complete rice sickle falls out, and I only needed about 3 seconds of wiping to clean and dry. I love efficiency. He he he So you found out what thousands of people living in Hawaii have known for years!! Way to go!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/44 "2004-08-10T04:24:10Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Eliminate the middleman! > > Skip the dustpan entirely; sweep the crumbs from the kitchen floor onto the carpet on vacuuming day. HA! I’m SO glad I’m not the only one that does this! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/45 "2004-08-10T04:43:47Z")
> [@zephyrine](#): > > 1. When the cleaner goes on holiday and things get so bad you begin to question the wisdom of your laziness, invite people outside of your intimate circle for dinner. Your laziness will disappear long enough for you to clean the house so that they won’t think you are a complete slob (don’t make the mistake of inviting people you know well to dinner at the same time: they will invariably make some loud remark about the unfamiliar sanitary conditions)… It’s funny because it’s true. So very true. ☹ Fortunately, my best friend knows of my ruse, and is kind enough to refrain from complimenting me on the unusually tidy state of my abode, so she is safe to mix with any other guests. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/46 "2004-08-10T05:35:17Z")
Heh. One of my best friends is a total neat freak. Our friendship got a lot easier when I told her I wasn’t offended that she didn’t like to spend too long in my apartment. Drove her nuts. And hell, it’s pretty nice getting out of this dump and hanging out in her nice, big, clean house. When she came over recently to hang out, I could tell she didn’t want to comment on how clean my place was, out of politeness. She burst out laughing when I said “_look, look, I CLEANED, just for YOU!!_” And I am SO trying that frozen rice thing tomorrow, since I was too damn lazy to put my excess rice in a tupperware tonight and just stuck the whole damn rice cooker bowl in the fridge. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/47 "2004-08-10T06:25:39Z")
Instead of wasting your valuable time matching your socks in the laundry pile and then putting them back in the little apartment called a drawer, put all your socks into a laundry basket sanctuary. Where they can live together wild and free having copious amounts of sock sex, reproducing non-matching albino off sized socks . It is just the natural order of things, why fight it. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/48 "2004-08-10T07:50:36Z")
> [@peri](#): > > Many dishwashing liquids contain ammonia compounds and should not be mixed with bleach. …but cleaning with mustard gas is so much FUN! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/49 "2004-08-10T13:43:38Z")
If you have small rugs, or a bathmat, that gets coated in dirt and stuff, you could do what my mom does, which is bring it outside, hang it up, and beat it senseless till all the crap falls off. Or, do as I do, shake it vigorously inside. Hell, you’re going to be sweeping the floor in five minutes, so it doesn’t matter. This logic is still lost on my mother. I also prescribe to the “cover floor with clothes” theory. It works nicely. Oh, and **masonite** , a half gallon of bleace seems a wee bit excessive. You could probably make do with a cup of bleach, really. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/50 "2004-08-10T14:00:26Z")
> [@masonite](#): > > My cleaning tip for the lazy: Don’t do dishes, just fill the sink with hot soapy water, add dishes, and add about a half-gallon of bleach. Go away for a while. When you come back the dishes will only need rinsing, plus the sink will be clean as well. As others have mentioned, this is not a good idea. That much bleach is waaay too much. It will ruin metal pieces, stainless steel or aluminum or whatever. Both flatware and pots and pans. It will also ruin plastic if you use it that strong and let it soak for a long time. It can also seep into the plates and bowls through the unfinished (unglazed) edges (the rim that doesn’t get glazed, usually the little edge where the plate and bowl sit) and will eventually pit them and make them crack. Also, mixing bleach and dish detergent is a bad idea. Go ahead and fill the sink with hot soapy water and let the dishes soak, just skip the bleach. JFTR, I have a large squirt bottle (it holds 32 ounces) with a bleach/water solution. It’s about 2-3 ounces of bleach and the rest water. I use it to clean plastic food containers that get stained by tomato sauce - I squirt some in, add water to fill and let it sit while I finish the rest of the dishes. Then I wash it and rinse well. Works like a charm. Bleach is very strong and corrosive - A little dab’ll do ya. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/51 "2004-08-10T16:59:56Z")
And I couldn’t imagine how my apartment would smell if I let a _half gallon_ of bleach sit in my sink. Yick. Funny little ancedote. Right after I moved in here, I had to get up early and meet some friends who were helping me move some more stuff in. After sleeping on the floor for only about 3 or 4 hours after moving all day the day prior I was sleepy, groggy, sore and a bit incoherant. I couldn’t find my towels so showering was out of the question. I decide to just spray down my hair and put it up with a water bottle under the sink. After I srayed about 5 or 6 strong sprays I realized I was spraying out of the _bleach/water mix water bottle_! :eek: Even after rinsing my hair and spraying lots of perfume, I smelled like a damn bleach bottle the entire day. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/52 "2004-08-10T17:16:17Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Borax is needed for disinfecting, and washing soda for really geasy/dirty jobs. That is it. The hell’s ‘washing soda’? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/53 "2004-08-10T18:24:34Z")
Washing soda, also known as “sodium carbonate” is a stronger version of baking soda, also known as “sodium bicarbonate.” It’s a very strong, nontoxic, odorless white powder found in the laundry section, an excellent grease/dirt cleaner. Many powdered laundry detergents use “sodium carbonate” as a booster. Adding hydrogen peroxide to it creates “sodium percarbonate,” a nontoxic oxygen bleach. The best way to soax dishes is to rinse, sprinkle baking soda on them, then cover with soapy hot water and let sit overnight. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/54 "2004-08-10T18:32:09Z")
OK, I was exaggerating about the half-gallon part. (Neither do I actually bathe my cats in the way I described! 😃 ) I do tend to bleach the shit out of everything, though, I must admit. I’m the type of housekeeper who can live in utter filth for months, but when I finally decide to clean, everything has to be scorched-earth sterilized. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/55 "2004-08-10T18:55:54Z")
> [@masonite](#): > > My cleaning tip for the lazy: Don’t do dishes, just fill the sink with hot soapy water, add dishes, and add about a half-gallon of bleach. Go away for a while. When you come back the dishes will only need rinsing, plus the sink will be clean as well. Yeah, bleach is probably not the best option here … but I wonder how it would work with Oxy-Clean and no detergent? Can you tell I have a kitchen full of dishes to do? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/56 "2004-08-10T19:34:10Z")
> [@masonite](#): > > OK, I was exaggerating about the half-gallon part. (Neither do I actually bathe my cats in the way I described! 😃 ) I do tend to bleach the shit out of everything, though, I must admit. I’m the type of housekeeper who can live in utter filth for months, but when I finally decide to clean, everything has to be scorched-earth sterilized. **masonite** , meet my wife please. You two would get along great. ---
**Author:** ![DogFriend1675](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DogFriend1675](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogFriend1675)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/57 "2004-08-18T22:08:48Z")
Just wanted everyone to know this is all a hoax. It’s been all over the news about how fake it is - one guy even broke down the story explaining scientifically why this could not be true. Long live the Wetjet!!! ---
**Author:** ![Silocke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Silocke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silocke)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/58 "2004-08-19T23:29:49Z")
Suitable cleaning fluid (for dishes). Boil some water (kettle). Cleaning fluid liberally sprayed all over dishes/pots/pans. Immerse in boiling water. It will nuke your dishes clean. The one that I would love to try out is the aforementioned ironing trick - or something extremely effective at doing the ironing without me (or anyone else) doing the physical work. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/59 "2004-08-20T17:10:33Z")
[ROOMBA!!!](http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=roomba&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ff) ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539/60 "2004-08-21T00:03:36Z")
My advice is to drink heavily. It’s awesome…you wake up with a wicked hangover, but a clean house. Marijuana, in my experience (but only in a country where it is legal), doesn’t work…I sit and sweep the same spot for a looooooooooong time… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-tips-for-the-ultra-lazy/258539.md?page=2)