Clean is Clean is Only Maybe Clean
Every once in a while I get on a cleaning/organizing kick and bring home a new book from the library from some guru who has a plan to make my life so much neater and easier. Way back in the day (I think when J was a baby) I checked out a book that had me use a cleaning system made of index cards color coded by how often the job had to be done and how long it took. It wasn't a bad system (especially for someone with only 800 square feet to clean and only one mobile child wrecking the place). She had a section in the back of her book with design tips should you ever get to start with a brand new house that would make your cleaning life easier. Most of them I can't remember now, but I specifically remembered her advice about picking a colored pattern for your kitchen countertops because it would hide the gunk that seems to be ever present in a kitchen, making it look clean even when it wasn't. This tip actually survived the mommy memory loss of the next few years. When we bought our current house it was brand new and I got to pick out my countertops (among other things). Mindful of that long ago advice, I chose a neutral pattern that pretty much hides everything. I still like how my counter has to be extraordinarily dirty to look that way. Of course, usually my counters are covered in dishes and other junk so you can't tell, but they just look cluttered instead of covered in drips and dribs of food.
Exhibit A:
More recently I checked out a book from our library here that was for getting clean and organized and decorated when you have kids and a husband messing everything up. There were some good tips in this one except that, unfortunately, I read this book when S was not sleeping through the night yet. So I really don't remember much even though it wasn't that long ago. I do remember that she said to only buy white towels. That way they would always look new (never fading) and you would be certain they were clean instead of having who knows what camouflaged by dark colors. I found that this advice just doesn't work in our house. I have a combination of colors with my towels in this house, including a hefty stack of plain white towels. These towels may be technically the cleanest ones in my house (since they get bleached every time I wash them) but they don't look like it. They are kind of dingy and some of them have quite colorful stains of their own now. My navy blue towels on the other hand look much nicer. Go figure.
Exhibit B:
I've heard the same debates when it comes to flooring too. Do you want carpet where you can be absolutely sure all the dirt has been sucked away? Or carpet that hides the stains? What about tile? Shiny tiles with pure white grout making a beautiful contrast? Or would you rather have grout that is a naturally dirty shade so you never have to bother cleaning it? I chose the hide-it-best versions: the darkest carpet I could get without upgrading and "dirty" colored grout in my small tiled entry so I never have to bother cleaning it.
Exhibit C:
There seem to be two competing philosophies at work. One seems to be emphasizing things looking clean and nice with less work (hiding the dirt, in essence) while the other is about proving to the world that things really are spotless (but since life with kids is rarely spotless, it takes a lot more work to look clean). Clearly I fall into the less hygienic but looking OK group. My sister Camie on the other hand hated my counters because you could never tell if they were really clean or not. Obviously she falls into the group of wanting to know it is clean, dang it! Just looking clean isn't good enough! (If you are a germ freak you almost certainly fall into this category.) Which philosophy feels more comfortable to you?
Exhibit A:
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| My "clean" countertop. This is as good as it gets, clutter and dish free! |
More recently I checked out a book from our library here that was for getting clean and organized and decorated when you have kids and a husband messing everything up. There were some good tips in this one except that, unfortunately, I read this book when S was not sleeping through the night yet. So I really don't remember much even though it wasn't that long ago. I do remember that she said to only buy white towels. That way they would always look new (never fading) and you would be certain they were clean instead of having who knows what camouflaged by dark colors. I found that this advice just doesn't work in our house. I have a combination of colors with my towels in this house, including a hefty stack of plain white towels. These towels may be technically the cleanest ones in my house (since they get bleached every time I wash them) but they don't look like it. They are kind of dingy and some of them have quite colorful stains of their own now. My navy blue towels on the other hand look much nicer. Go figure.
Exhibit B:
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| The white towel is freshly bleached and laundered. The blue towel I picked up off the bathroom floor, where I had dropped it about a week ago. (Actually they both look cleaner in the picture than they do in real life!) |
I've heard the same debates when it comes to flooring too. Do you want carpet where you can be absolutely sure all the dirt has been sucked away? Or carpet that hides the stains? What about tile? Shiny tiles with pure white grout making a beautiful contrast? Or would you rather have grout that is a naturally dirty shade so you never have to bother cleaning it? I chose the hide-it-best versions: the darkest carpet I could get without upgrading and "dirty" colored grout in my small tiled entry so I never have to bother cleaning it.
Exhibit C:
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| My grout is supposed to look like this so it's OK! No scrubbing with a toothbrush around here. |
There seem to be two competing philosophies at work. One seems to be emphasizing things looking clean and nice with less work (hiding the dirt, in essence) while the other is about proving to the world that things really are spotless (but since life with kids is rarely spotless, it takes a lot more work to look clean). Clearly I fall into the less hygienic but looking OK group. My sister Camie on the other hand hated my counters because you could never tell if they were really clean or not. Obviously she falls into the group of wanting to know it is clean, dang it! Just looking clean isn't good enough! (If you are a germ freak you almost certainly fall into this category.) Which philosophy feels more comfortable to you?
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