Go On, Take A Good Look!!!

I promised you when I started this blog that I would always talk about the things that need to be said, but that people shy away from! Remember that I told you that! Okay, let's get to it.

Do you own a washing machine and dryer? I'm sure you do. Most of us do, and we use the hell out of them. When was the last time you actually bothered to clean the machine that cleans your clothes? What do you mean? You don't? Really? That's just stupid! It has to be cleaned. It cleans your clothes but it doesn't clean itself. It's not an oven, for heaven's sake.

Now, let's take it further. Do you have a front loading washer? I'm lucky enough to have one. Love the damn thing. Love it for the low water it needs to be efficient, yada, yada, yah....

I wipe it down on the inside and around the gasket each time I'm finished with it. And, very regularly, I take out the drawer where you put the detergent and bleach etc, and clean that with hot water. Yeah, I'm just Martha Stewart and Betty Crocker all rolled up into one nifty package.

So smug...yep, that was me when my neighbor was in the other day and asked, "Holly are your machines new?" "Nope, five years old, why?" "Wow, they look new," laughs and kids, "Do you use them much?" I come back, "Have you met my husband, Mr. Clean? He thinks it's his job to give me laundry every week; he calls it job security! I use the heck out of them!!"

Yep, smug me...just proves how worthwhile it is to clean down the machines regularly. Especially important when you have your laundry room on the first floor of your home where they're likely to be seen by visitors.

SMUG, I tell ya!

So, last night, I'm looking at the dispenser drawer and I start to ponder that pretty regularly, even though I'm so good, I see what looks like moldy black spots...and that shouldn't be. So, out it comes for one more wipe-down, and then I decided to wipe out the big open slot where the thing lives.

OMG! EWWWW!!!!!! I'd never thought to look in there! Holy Crap! Get me a Hazmat Suite immediately!

Can I tell you? It was coated black...with mold. Yep, all that bleach, detergent, fabric softner, and still covered with mold. I so did not expect that!! But, then I started to consider, of course!!!!; it's always moist and seals tightly!

Go on, take a look at yours! You'll see it! It's there, I promise you....lurking there. Get cleaning immediately!

I battle mold so much in various spaces of the house...like the shower, and places like that. And, I know we didn't have these issues when I was growing up. I never saw my grandmother and aunt fighting against it all the time... and trust me...they were clean freaks. Never heard them even discussing mold as a battle ground.

I know I'm older and likely to sound as though the world was a harder but nicer place, (when I was a kid....fill in the blank...no, I didn't walk 10 miles up hill both ways in my bare feet to school...that was my father's generation,) and I'm not saying life was better, but mold? We never heard about it or saw it. Okay, maybe once in awhile you'd see the caulk around the tub get some funky dark spots, but I swear, that's all! Now, even toilets get mold in them if you don't clean them with religious fervor!

Oh, and speaking of the caulk around the tub? If it's in good shape and you don't want to pull it out because of mold spots, just take a paper towel, wet liberally with bleach, leave it there on top of the spot. In a few hours? Gone! What magic!!!

I think we have such issues with it now because our energy efficient houses are so freaking air-tight that they don't breathe anymore. The air flow is virtually non-existent. Yeah, energy efficient means it's easier on the pocketbook in terms of utility bills etc, but it creates an entirely different issue for the home owner. Now we worry about the toxic nature of all our cleaning products and chemicals...but what's the choice when you're battling mold/mildew/chaos??

So, I promised you I'd tell you this stuff, and here's the lesson for today: go look in places like your front loader and for the love of all that's holy, clean it out! You'll thank me, but not while you're doing it; then you'll be cursing me for writing this stupid blog about mold. Ewww! Gross!!!!

Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly