The cleaning conundrum...

[Mrs-M]

Light fixtures, that's the driving force behind this thread.

Spring-cleaning, fall-cleaning, all-year round cleaning... cleaning is always there, it never goes away.

Looking to obtain a consensus, as to what everyone else does Re: light fixtures, and the cleaning of such in your home. One a year? Twice a year? Multiple times a year?

With summer, brings open doors and windows, and with open doors and windows, comes flies. With time at such a premium (large family), I tend to reserve light-fixture cleaning until fall, when the days of open windows and doors has reached it's end, and the flies that plagued all summer long, have died off.

How about you?

[Miss Cellane]

I wash glass light fixture covers in the dishwasher. So, whenever I need to run a load and it isn't full, I'll take a cover off and put it in the dishwasher. And I always clean them when I'm changing the light bulb, if it hasn't been done recently.

So there's no set time for washing them. They all get washed at least once a year, sometimes twice. And the cover over the bathroom light gets washed more often, because my sister, who stays here three nights a week, uses a lot of hair spray in there and it gets covered in the stuff and, boy, does the dust stick. Fortunately, it's easy to reach it.

[Tussiemussies]

I usually do what I call deep cleaning either once or twice a year and that is when I wash them unless there seemd like quite a lot of bugs in there, then just randomly.:)

[Gregg]

Couple times a year in the dishwasher for us. Our conundrum stems from the fact that DD and newly minted SIL just bougt their first house so we have spent many, many days fixing, painting and mostly deep, deep cleaning. The place was a short sale and was neglected for a long time. They got a great deal, but it was gross! Now we don't have any cleaning mojo left for our own house!

[Mrs-M]

What a nifty idea, Miss Cellane! When we first moved into our home (this one), the bathroom fixture looked as though it was a write-off. It was quite literally black (and sticky/gummy), with caked on hair-spray, dust, and filth! But after a good soaking in straight ammonia and a vigorous scrubbing, amazingly, it came clean.

Me, too, Tussie. Once, maybe twice yearly. Let me tell you, I've really slowed down over the past 20 or so years. LMAO!

Isn't that the truth, Gregg. Working for others always seems to zap whatever oomph one had to do their own things, but how lucky your daughter is to have parents like you.

[Tussiemussies]

Yes, I agree your daughter is lucky to have a Dad like you!

[early morning]

Nice, Gregg - I'm sure your DD appreciates all of your efforts very much! Our grandparents helped our parents, our parents helped us, we help our kids - it's a nice cycle, isn't it? And it goes the other way, too....

To your question, Mrs-M - around here light fixtures get washed or vacd when one of us looks up and goes "eeww"! We have three big, old, glass fixtures that look like bowls, and they hang from chains from the ceiling. They are original to the electrification of this house, and they are kinda cool, but they can't be taken down unless they are unwired from their ceiling box, so they just get vacuumed out and dusted off - I'm not putting anything wet anywhere near a socket from the 1930s or earlier!

[IshbelRobertson]

Three or four times a year. The three chandeliers? Whenever the crystals look dull!

[Stella]

Miss Cellane, that is genius!

Sigh. That is not something I am good about doing regularly. These last two springs I have had babies and my spring cleaning has been kind of pathetic. I'm hoping by fall things will have evened out enough that I can get to stuff like light fixtures.

[Blackdog Lin]

I had to laugh at early morning's post, as we have just the same philosophy toward any spring cleaning, or deep cleaning: it tends to get done when one of us notices it and goes "eewwww".....

[Miss Cellane]

Stella, it is surprising what you can clean in the dishwasher. Since I live alone, I only run the dishwasher every two or three days, and there's usually some extra room in there.

The glass plate from the microwave, little plastic bins I use in the fridge and bathroom to organize things, a pitcher I use and keep out on the counter, even the refrigerator shelves and the removable bins from the refrigerator door, little china figurines (much easier than dusting them). I've heard of people cleaning kids' plastic toys in them.

This way, I get a full dishwasher load and don't feel so guilty about using it. And the rest of my house gets a little cleaner, with almost no work from me.

[Stella]

Miss Cellane, I had never thought of using the dishwasher that way, but it makes a lot of sense. I am going to give that some thought. Using the dishwasher could save me a lot of time.

[domestic goddess]

Apparently I'm the only one around here who looks and the light fixtures and says "ewww". I try to see to it that they get washed at least 2 or 3 times a year, or whenever the bugs have collected. There are a couple that I can't get to, and I have to wait until someone will take them down and put them back up for me. Honestly, cleaning never ends! I'm at my brother's house now and he is not into cleaning at all, so I am going to have a busy couple of days cleaning and clearing out our mother's stuff, as it will not happen otherwise. I can't help but wonder what I have gotten myself into.

[Rosemary]

I clean them when it looks like they need it... which is not that often even though, unlike Stella, I don't have any infants to care for.
I think I take them down and clean them about... hmmm, oh, every two years. And they're honestly not gross when I do that. We get few bugs in our house, and it's just not that dusty.
I try to clean the blades of our ceiling fans about twice/year.

[bunnys]

Ok. I confess it seems I don't clean as much as the rest of you. I only have 1 overhead light fixture in my entire house (I replaced all with lightless ceiling fans bc I don't like the harshness of overhead lights.) The one in the foyer was replaced 5 years ago and has never been cleaned. Maybe I would have done it once by now had I thought of the dishwasher idea. The ceiling fan blades? They'll have to wait bc they won't fit in the dishwasher.

[Zoebird]

in our case, the 5 main light fixtures are hanging with an open bottom, glass lamp shade. I dust them weekly when I dust the room. They are easy to reach, and easy to dust. no bugs get caught in them.

the remaining two light fixtures were the 'bowl' kind, and i simply removed them. I like the way that CF lightbulbs look, and these two rooms are "utilitarian" -- the bathroom and laundry. The CF light looks fine, and is easy to dust. I removed the two shades, washed them, wrapped them and put them in a box, labelled them and gave them to my landlady. I did this with all of the random things that she keeps in our house. LOL And then I systematically move them into her big garage. It's not my stuff, but I can't just get rid of it either. LOL

So that solves that problem.

I dont' have any lamps or anything, so, no worries there.

[Blackdog Lin]

Dust things? Light fixtures? Weekly?

Are you mad?!!!

:)

In my defense (and it's a very small defense I admit) I am gardening this year instead of cleaning the house. What with weeding the garden, and picking the garden, and helping DH put up food from the garden.....well, if I added housecleaning there would be no time for naps.

[Zoebird]

well, for one, it's a small house.

and for another thing, it's very easy to dust. I dust floorboards, walls, tops, window sills, and the one light figure in the room each week. It takes about -- maybe 10 minutes to do the whole house? takes me about 30 minutes to do the offices. And, I am on mold watch as it's winter. Which means "dusting" with a damp rag with vinegar on it to kill any mold. If you don't do that, it's stinky and bad.

it's nz. that's just life here. you wake up in the morning and wipe the condensation off your windows. that's what everyone does. that's what it is to live here. :)

so, same with mold watch and then dusting otherwise. :D

[artist]

Twice a year during my spring and fall cleanings

[Mrs-M]

Holy smokes! So many replies since my last visit. Thanks everybody.

I blame it on my upbringing, but I could never let anything get to the "ewww" stage. I have to tackle it ahead of time. Prior to the baby days in our house, I remember how I'd multi-clean things. Pail of hot water w/cleaner (cloth in hand), wipe counters, table, handles, etc, wipe down door casings/jambs, wash/scrub floors. Now, it's like... wash floors, done.

Early Morning. You're always doing this to me... making me jealous! LOL! I can't tell you how much I love the old glass/crystal pendant fixtures! Between your old rotary telephones and turn-of-the-century light fixtures, I'm moving in with you! :)

Ishbel. Crystal chandeliers, are another weakness of mine!

[Gregg]

This thread makes me think of my one aunt who was the family wild child. Her many homes were always substantial and always immaculate. When she had a husband she made sure he had enough money to keep a staff of housekeepers. Not sure how she did it when she was between husbands (which was fairly often). I do know her preferred cleaning style was to have a cigarette in one hand, a martini in the other and a white glove on both to make sure the help didn't miss a spot. She was quite a woman!

[Lainey]

.....well, if I added housecleaning there would be no time for naps.

Blackdog Lin, you crack me up!

[Mrs-M]

ROTFLMAO, Gregg!

[Float On]

- around here light fixtures get washed or vacd when one of us looks up and goes "eeww"! !

Thats my method as well. A benefit of being short I just don't see dust that's up high very well.
My 6'4" 16 year old is now in charge of noticing when the top of the fridge needs cleaned.

[Mrs-M]

LOL, Float On!

[Sissy]

Haha, I am with you Float On! If can't see the top of a lot of things, then it doesn't even count, right? As for light fixtures, well if I don't clean the one in the DR, it is gonna become a fire hazard because of dead (I hope, I mean, how can you tell?) ladybugs. You have to unscrew the bulbs, try to keep the bugs out of the socket, lift the bowl shaped shade without dumping out all of the debris. Now who would be brave enough, or even have enough stamina for that job? I can put a candle on the table!

Actually, since DH hs been sick, I am slowly getting the cleaning done by this sweet girl and these things are on the list. I just add a few things each week so that she won't run screaming! :0! And she is nice and TALL! This week was the French doors and the front storm door and the fans. I will spring the light fixture on her next week. I want to have all of this done before DH gets down and keep things clean and quiet for him. :(

[Mrs-M]

Working in harmony with you, Sissy. I've been tackling all sorts of things over the past several weeks, but as with tradition, the light fixtures will be put off until fall.