Seeing Dirt

What I am about to tell you could be filed under the "Weird But True" category but I'll confess anyway: I don't mind cleaning house.

You might think that living in an RV exempts a person from house cleaning, but dirt is dirt no matter where you live.

Perhaps cleaning is on my "OK List" because I grew up in the original "Hints from Heloise" era. (Her column ranked right up there with the comic pages and Dear Abby when I "read" the newspaper).

Or perhaps I am just one of those people who can see dirt.

It's absolutely true. Some people are unable to see dirt! Initially I thought this might be a gender-based trait but it seems that a fair number of folks are - shall we say - "clean-house challenged".

Cleaning an RV-style home isn't much different than cleaning a home-without-wheels. We just don't carry as much equipment and what we do carry has to fit in small spaces.

The cleaning solution I find most useful for nearly everything is glass cleaner. Spray that on any washable surface and follow with a paper towel. And because there are very few surfaces in an RV that aren't washable. it's my mainstay for getting rid of daily grime. (It's even excellent for spot cleaning carpet.)

Recently, I read that laundry is the least despised household chore. I can see why that would be so; throw it into the machine and walk away, more or less. How difficult is that?

My dear husband disagrees. It is his least favorite chore, and being the clever guy he is, he managed in a few short sentences to be relieved of laundry duty forever.

The conversation went like this:

He: (making noises like he is going to do laundry) "Honey, am I supposed to sort this stuff?"

Me: "Yes."

He: "How much bleach for each load?"

Me: "I'll do the laundry, dear."

I told you he was smart!

For me laundry isn't a big deal. It is just so inconvenient at times. Like when you have parked your home-on-wheels in the middle of nowhere and are loving the scenery, it's the pits to have to pack up in search of a laundromat.

Have you ever researched the Bachelor Laundry System? It goes like this:

Sort clothing into piles: clean, wearable, approach with caution.
If it looks clean and smells clean, it is clean.
Clothing, left alone overnite, becomes wearable again. This works especially well with jeans.
Vacuuming the sheets is as good as washing them.

A person might question the merits of some of those tips, but over the years we have been on the road, I've developed a few techniques to prolong the days between laundry trips.

(I am not alone in this pursuit; I once chatted with some folks who routinely do laundry only every 3 or 4 weeks.)

Here's a few of my techniques, in case you might find them useful:

Purchase an extra package of socks and underwear for each person and hide it in a safe place until you hear noises about the lack of clean clothes. This buys you an extra few days to get to the appropriate laundry facilities.
Hide two of his T-shirts in your drawer. Pull them out on "I'm out of clothes" day and say, innocently- "Look what I found!"
If it looks clean and smells clean, it is clean.

One last hint — when you do finally get to a town to hunt up a washing machine... if you pull up in front of what looks to be a laundromat, or at least the sign says it is, and there are no other people around, and the tumbleweeds have collected in the door... just keep on driving. You probably don't want to go there.

May the road rise to meet you,
and may the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warmly upon your face,
and a laundromat be always handy when you need one.