Saturday, March 6, 2010

Blowing off steam...lots of it!

My Santa came through, as he usually does, year after year, and got me the steam cleaner I had been wanting for the 8 months leading up to Christmas. I told him it was the only thing I wanted. Jared rolled his eyes and told me to just go buy myself one if I wanted it that bad, but I couldn't justify it. Nope, in order for me to not have any buyer's remorse, it had to be a Christmas gift. Jared was actually raised to NOT buy his wife any kind of appliance or household tool that would suggest "cleaning" or "work." I'm very grateful he was brought up that way. However, in the case of marrying an undiagnosed, slightly OCD, Type A woman, all bets are off. If said wife, ASKS, or better yet, BEGS for things to enhance kitchen productivity and cleanliness of the home, I believe her wishes trump any and all parental upbringing on the subject! Fortunately Jared has seen the light and has given in and gotten me those things on my wish list. He insists my practicality is no fun. But, c'mon! It makes me happy! And happy wives make for happy husbands :)

I wanted the steam cleaner, if for no other reason, than to clean the grout in between the ceramic tile in our kitchen and bathrooms and laundry room. Two years of traipsing through our kitchen with four little rug rats and friends can make it really dirty. Here's a BEFORE picture (plus two adorable rug rats).


Here's a picture of first time I experimented with the cleaner. Notice the 3 vertical lines and 2 horizontal ones closest to Jared's feet that are lighter than all the rest? That's what I'm talking about!


And here is an AFTER picture.


Even with the steamer blasting away at the grime, it was still hard work. The cleaner worked great, but it took time and boy my back was killing me. It took me three sessions to complete the kitchen floor and the sessions were not as close as I would have liked. At one point I had half the tile done. It looked silly for a long time. But now, I feel like I have a whole new floor!! Thanks, Santa Baby!

6 comments:

Kim-the-girl said...

THAT is amazing! I have ALL tile floors (which I abhor!) and "white" grout, yep, its nasty. Pass along a tip of what kind of steam cleaner you went with?

Dave+Steph said...

Wow Jen the floors look so amazing...did you put some grout sealer on them after you cleaned? Just a suggestion...it will help keep the grout clean and won't let grout stain. We just tiled our shower and bathroom floors...Love reading your blog...you are a blessing. Love ya guys...Collins Fam

Dave+Steph said...

yes...please do tell us what kind of steamer you got...it is on my list...for now I borrow my friend's and it is awesome! :)

Sonja said...

The floors look fantastic. It's great to catch up.

jjcrew said...

Jared got me the SteamFast steam cleaner. It's a blue canister. Lots of accessories. It feels heavy duty too, not cheaply made. Steph, we probably should seal the grout. The sellers did all the flooring. I think, though, we might want to regrout first before sealing anything. *sigh* So much to do on a house...so little time and money.

JandS Morgan said...

Wow, that looks amazing! Now you can let the kids eat their food off the floor :) I need to finish sealing the tile Jacob put in the bathroom. It is taking a ton of applications. I've done it three times and it is still not done (just as a warning).

I love getting appliances for birthdays. It makes me laugh when I see commercials with wives mad at their husbands for buying them an appliance instead of a ring.