Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Ultimate Quest


So I’m certain that this post will reveal me for the housewife wannabe that I truly am, but I guess that’s life! 

Do you want to know what was quite possibly the most exciting part of my week?  WELL, let me start at the beginning.

J and I are a little obsessed with Amazon.com.  Let me put it this way: on a scale of 1-10, with ten being equivalent to a Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg (or Christmas Tree, or Turkey, or whatever other holiday shape they come out with throughout the year, as clearly the shapes are exponentially more delicious than the regular cups), we give Amazon an 11.  It’s easy to use, they sell EVERYTHING (often at a cheaper price than any store), and with our “Prime” membership, shipping is 2-day and free.  Needless to say, the UPS man is at our house all.the.time.  So often, in fact, that the dogs don’t even bother to bark at him anymore.  Apparently, to them, he’s like family.

Normally, his arrival isn’t terribly exciting for me.  The things he’s usually delivering can range from vitamins to speaker wire.  Blah.  Occasionally, though, I can be found anxiously awaiting the arrival of the man in the horrendous brown shorts.  For example, the time when I knew he was carrying my wedding gown, I met him at the truck and saved him the trip to the doorbell. 

(SIDENOTE: Okay, I know I said this wouldn’t be a fashion blog, but really.  Can’t somebody DO something about those uniforms?  I mean, shorty shorts for men haven’t been in vogue since the early 80’s.  And even then, whoever claimed that they were okay made a HUGE error in judgment!)

This week’s delivery wasn’t *quite* as exciting as my wedding gown.  But I was pretty anxious to hear that big truck rumble to a stop at the foot of my driveway!  He was bringing me the newest addition to a growing collection of…floor cleaning appliances.  Yes, this is an obsession that I inherited from my mother.  We are constantly in search of the best device to keep our floors sparkling.  (AND this is where the housewife wannabe portion of the story begins.)

Keeping my floors clean is no easy task! Look to the right side of your screen and you’ll see the main reason why.  I L.O.V.E. my dogs.  But their feet mixed with my no-grass-in-sight sandy backyard make for constant footprints on my hardwood and tile.  Also, the shedding and shedding and shedding make for constant tumbleweeds of fur.

Last year my fellow floor-cleaning-appliance addict mother bought me the BEST Christmas gift.  Roomba: a robotic vacuum that took itself on a cleaning tour of my first floor every day at 10 am, then put itself back to sleep when it was finished.  Unfortunately, Roomba (who J and I affectionately referred to as our faithful servant, Jeeves) died.  So now I sweep up the pet hair almost daily.  But now to deal with the footprints…    

I have been known to be taken in by infomercials advertising the newest and best product that you just HAVE to have (FYI- the Perfect Pasta Pot is FAR from perfect, but the Snuggie is delightfully cozy).  Lately I’ve been seeing lots of advertisements for these incredible steam mops.  WOW!  It cleans AND sanitizes with only water!  No more chemicals on the floor, and we’ll save tons of money on refills for the stupid Swiffer Wet Jet!  I HAVE to have one!

I diligently researched which of the steam mops was the best, and decided upon the Eureka Enviro-Steamer.  After a little rationalizing with J about why this was a NEED (I mean really, J, do YOU clean the floors?  No?  Okay, then, I NEED this!), it was in my Amazon cart with just one click.

As for right this moment, the steamer is my dream come true.  No more doggie prints, quick and easy, dries in a flash.

Check back with me in a few months, and I’m sure I’ll be able to convey my disappointment while simultaneously searching for a new product for my dirty floor needs.

6 comments:

  1. Let's share housekeeping tips!

    So, to combat dog hair, I've started a new weekly ritual. It only takes about 15 minutes, and I can honeslty say that it cuts the amount of dog hair on my floor in half!

    What's my secret? I brush my dog's coat! He loves it, there's way less hair on my floors, and I feel like it even has an ongoing benefit. Brushing Cauis' fur seems to make his skin a bit more oily, so he spends less time scratching at himself at night while I'm trying to sleep.

    I also brush my cats because I don't want them leaving hairballs in my garage.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well then you definitely need a Furminator. It's the Cadillac of pet brushes. AH-MAZING how much hair it removes! I got the medium size so I ca use it on the dogs and the cat. It's a little pricey, but look for a good deal on eBay!

    ReplyDelete
  3. OOOOOO I want to be a part of "sharing housekeeping tips" too!!! We have a serious issue in common with the purchasing of the floor cleaning devices- so much that when i scanned down your page and saw the picture of the vacuum I was immediately so excited to see what it was/did, etc... i also brush our dogs and it does help. Now to find out a way to keep their damn footprints off the hardwoods!! At my aunt and uncle's (which you know is the clean of ALL clean houses) when JV's dog comes over they put doggie "booties" on her, LOL. although it is ridiculous, i have to say the thought has crossed my mind more and more lately!

    ReplyDelete
  4. So why is Cadillac the Cadillac of cars? I mean, it's not the most reliable, or luxurious, or even biggest...

    I would have to say that a Lexus is the Cadillac of cars.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sooo??? how's this steamer working out a year later? i'm quite intrigued i must admit!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ang, I am a fickle one, that's for sure. I am no longer impressed. It just doesn't get the dirt up as well as I'd like. The cloth covers tend to just push the dirt around if they are even remotely dirty...and they only stay clean for about 2 pushes across the floor with my dogs! SO, not my favorite. Since this writing, I have also tried a Hoover Floormate...not terribly impressed with that one, either. I'm still looking for the ultimate floor cleaning appliance!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...