Holy Crap This is Actually Fun

I have a rough relationship with my bathroom. I love to take nice long baths, but when I found my awesome apartment, it only has a stand-up shower and no tub. It took about a month and a half to figure out how to shave my legs without hurting myself or pulling a muscle - the shower is that small. I bought a cute new bathmat when I moved in, only to realize that it's 16" from the shower to the side of the toilet, so nothing will fit (at the moment I'm using an old towel folded in half, but I'm working on making a perfect size bathmat - details later). I rarely close the bathroom door when I'm getting ready in the morning, but it blocks the drawers under the sink so I can only open them about 3" unless I close the door, and to do that I have to stand in the small space between the shower and toilet. It's a teeny tiny wee little bathroom and I make do.

The place was not necessarily sparkling clean when I moved in, and I am not a clean freak. The kitchen and bathroom are kept up nicely, but there is usually a pile of yarn in one corner and a pile of clothes in the closet. But I HATE cleaning. It's tiring just to muster up enough motivation to spend 15 minutes doing dishes. I do it anyway, because it's more fun to knit in a clean house than a dirty one.

My main problem is this: cleaning my bathroom makes this entire apartment reek of nasty fumes for at least 24 hours. I could clean the whole thing in 15 minutes, but then have to open all windows and leave for a few hours (yes, my apartment is that small). And there is still that slight stain on the shower floor that has been there since before I moved in.

The inspiration came from a fellow Southern knitting goddess, Miss Crazy Aunt Purl. She rocks for so many reasons, and has been on a housekeeping spree. So today I picked up some Seventh Generation shower cleaner and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (heavy-duty) and went to town. Holy Crap the results were beautiful! I sprayed and scrubbed and literally watched however many years of mildew just wipe away. No fumes, no smell, no bleach on my shorts, and now I have a sparkling shower. It even took all the funk off my shower head. This is it. Now I'm officially obsessed with everything made by Seventh Generation. I already use their paper towels (even though they remind me of the ones in my elementary school bathroom) and their recycled toilet paper, which is a lot softer than you would think. Tomorrow I'm getting the bathroom cleaner for the sink, and will see what else they have.

The camera's battery just died on me so there are no sparkling pictures, and I might need a glass of wine to help me not freak out about how fun it was to clean. I think I'll go take a shower and bask in the fume-free shine.