@babymonsterbat - Tumblr Blog

The thing is, even if you were lucky and your parents taught you how to clean, they probably didn't teach you how to clean the stuff you clean stuff with, like brushes, mops, sponges, rags, and so on. Or how to clean your cleaning appliances, like a dish washer, clothes washing machine, and clothes dryer and its ducts (if you have a ducted dryer), or a carpet cleaner, vacuum, Or how to clean up clean messes, like spilled bleach or detergent.

My parents threw away all of these things (even the vacuum cleaners and the dryer) when they got too dirty to function, because no one even told them THAT they could be cleaned. Cost them thousands of dollars over the years.

All I'm saying is that cleaning is not intuitive, and not knowing how to clean is not a moral failing, but it is something you can learn.

I'm going to reblog this post with resources for learning how to clean things and how to clean cleaning things (I'm not at my desk at the moment). If you have any favorites, please feel free to add them in too!

I like this video because it does a great job of introducing the basic foundations of house cleaning (and because he doesn't use bleach, which is a common allergy in addition to being awful to inhale). He also talks a little about how to clean a vacuum. And why you shouldn't put grease from your pots and pans down the sink drain. I also love that he mentions that different houses and different people have different needs and different versions of what clean and cleaning looks like.

He doesn't mention though that the toilet seat comes off. I take my toilet seat off to clean under the hinges and clean the seat more thoroughly once a quarter.

This is another video from the same guy about cleaning and depression. This advice, especially at the beginning, can feel really really difficult and oppressive to hear. However, I find that it's generally pretty solid. But I'm autistic and so is he, so that gets a massive Your Mileage May Vary stamp on it.

I have a favorite part of this video. It's from 10:52 to 12:36. I think we could all use to hear that. There's a HEFTY pause after that one. I promise the narration does come back.

I'm also going to recommend KC Davis' book "How To Keep House While Drowning"

This is a pair of videos about how to correctly load and use a dish washer.

The first one is a quick 1 minute 30 second overview on loading. I can't find the exact video I'm looking for, so consider this a substitute for that. If I can find the one I'm looking for, I'll swap it in.

The second is a half hour deep dive on dishwashers and detergents. The short form of that is you shouldn't need to pre-rinse anything, detergent pods are overpriced and can cause problems, some dishwashers have a filter in the bottom that needs to be cleaned (but most don't), run your sink until the water is HOT before starting your dish washer, and put a little detergent in the pre-rinse dispenser when you're washing extra dirty dishes (or on the inside of the door if your dishwasher doesn't have a pre-rinse dispenser).

Favorite Scrub Brushes + How to Clean Them. The right tools for cleaning tasks make all the difference! Scrub brushes are great tools and it

Here's a blog post about scrubbing brushes and how to clean them.

And a video for all cleaning tools, including scrub brushes. This video does use bleach. I'll try to find some alternatives to that.

How to clean a front load washer (with bleach). This should be done monthly or every time you wash really soiled clothes.

With expert tips and tricks for all types of washers.

How to clean a top loader (without the removable agitator thing). This should be done every 1-3 months depending on you unit, or every time you wash really soiled clothes.

Regular cleaning of a top-load washing machine will prolong the life of the appliance and leave your laundry cleaner and brighter.

How to clean a top loader (with the removable agitator thing). This should be done every month, or every time you wash really soiled clothes.

This video is for pet owners.

These carpet brushes are a LIFE SAVER if you have dogs. This thing allows me to go from vacuuming about 4 square feet before my vacuum is full to vacuuming half the living room (I don't vacuum often enough. You should vacuum weekly, and I just can't.). I have to unclog the vacuum less often. It fluffs up some of the flat spots in the carpet. And I also use the brush to shampoo my rugs in the spring.

A spot cleaner (or a carpet cleaner with a spot cleaner attachment) is another life saver, ESPECIALLY if you can afford to splurge on a heated one. I see them at Goodwill or at yard sales occasionally, and they're worth picking up. The shark one in the video is great too.

This channel is gold. There's tutorials for cleaning EVERYTHING on there. Just go subscribe!

fivekoboldsinacoat

Gonna throw another potential resource at the end of this very long list, which may be potentially helpful for others like me who loathe videos. It's... the weirdest thing that has genuinely been helpful to me in housekeeping. Absolutely full of useful advice, and bizarrely still relevant in large part. (Though, caveat, research ANYTHING to do with chemicals or cleaning products more complicated than vinegar + lemon + water for modern information.)

It's America's Housekeeping Book (1941). Available for free download on the Internet Archive. (Large PDF file at the link here).

The LISTS y'all. The step by step lists. The emphasis on efficiency and arranging spaces for the least resistance possible. The basic concept of "take a tray or basket into a room when you are tidying up so you can put things that belong elsewhere on it and take them out LATER in ONE GO".

My ADHD-having ass could cry.

taturaii

6 hunters fanart!!!!

fuckyeahchinesefashion

Three yaks dance in Lhasa city (cr 情满拉萨，吉吉)(If you do not reside long-term in a high-altitude environment, please avoid intense physical activity at high altitudes, as it may trigger altitude sickness.)

nyxkaikaos

[Three musicians in astonishingly good chubby yak fursuits dance to the tune of Michael Jackson's "Beat it"]

brightgoat

The Ritual

The ritual does not revive the Ender Dragon- it merely re-animates its body, but not the mind. What mind?

Minecraft: My World AU

beardedmrbean

theman

I GOT A FUCKING RAISE THE POTATO WORKED WTF

tattooedzombigirl

This potato works. Every. Fucking. Time.

imanutcase-10

Then bring me luck

thirddeadlysin

the day after I posted this last time I was notified that I was selected for a really cool mentorship gig and got an unrelated glowing review at work

zethsnex

This better work cause I really need smth good tmr

mizeliza

tgis is so fucking funny to me. they accidentally Rock Lee'd a retired racehorse

imagine youre a fat horse and your new neighbour is a personal trainer

horse that reads Marcus Aurelius

I was wrong. they didnt rock lee him. this horse is literally Gai. and i wish he was my dad

catpocalyptic

a little comic drawing practice with the fam 🫶🏻

closet-keys

What are you doing this Pride month?

attending protests, demonstrations, or rallies for LGBTQ+ autonomy

seeing friends & lovers; going to festivals, parties, or community events

continuing year-round organizing to meet needs of those most directly targeted

telling someone the truth about myself for the first time

Voting ended onJun 8, 2025

If you've ever appreciated my posts about LGBTQ issues, this Pride month, as a favor to me, please do something to help my friend Fadel ( @fadel-dani ).

Fadel is multiply disabled. He has thalassemia, a blood disorder, which leaves him incredibly fatigued. The medication he needs costs €400 every month. He has also been in a very serious accident that left his leg paralyzed for a long time, and now he walks with great difficulty.

Over 550 days ago, Fadel's family home was bombed and he was left with iron shrapnel embedded in his body. The medical infrastructure in Gaza has been decimated and he needs to get to a better-resourced hospital to get them surgically removed safely.

He cannot sleep at night because any movement while asleep causes the shrapnel in his body to move, and causes extremely severe pain. He suffers from PTSD, chronic pain, and insomnia from the bombing.

The people of Gaza, Fadel's family included, are going through a severe famine now. They struggle to afford food, let alone his medication. He urgently needs to raise funds for food, medication, travel costs to get to a hospital who can perform surgery, and ultimately for his family to escape this genocide.

Fadel has spent his very limited energy building relationships with strangers in the hopes that enough of us can help him to raise the money he needs. His campaign is vetted by @gazavetters list (#197), @90-ghost, and @a-shade-of-blue.

What you can do:

Donate any amount you can to his campaign

Make a post about Fadel to share his story and encourage others to donate

Share this post with your followers

Send him a kind message and offer your friendship

fadel-dani

I hope all my friends share this post, and I hope all of you share it. Please donate and help me so I can buy my medication as soon as possible and travel and have my surgery as soon as possible. I need urgent surgery to remove the shrapnel stuck in my body.Please donate to me and my family.🤍

sporesgalaxy

Fadel is close to €10,000! He needs medicine as soon as possible, please help him get the treatment he needs!

fadel-dani

Only 439 euros left and we will reach 10,000 euros. Please, friends, donate and share this post so that everyone can help me to undergo my surgery and remove the iron fragments stuck in my body as soon as possible. Please Donate.🤍

400+ people were killed in gaza last night.

my friend tarek has been doing some amazing community organizing in palestine — he’s been teaching classes for children with my other friend farah AND distributing water and providing iftar meals during ramadan throughout rafah! his brother just had a major orthopedic surgery he had to wait about a year for and since food and water is incredibly scarce he can’t properly recover. please donate to their efforts!!!

donate to tarek’s family

donate to provide iftar meals

donate to the water initiative

donate to the challenge classes

quick reminder: tarek isn’t just a word on your screen, he is my friend.

he’s 21, the same age as me. before the war he was studying to be a translator and he dreamt of voice acting, just like so many of you reading this. (he’s pretty good too actually.) he would probably not call himself a poet but every few days he posts something so beautifully worded that he might as well be a poet laureate. he recently wrote: “gaza is sick of being praised by anyone. gaza is tired that its image is on satellite tv. gaza is sick of its name in the sad poems. gaza is tired of the repeated endings.” the message is clear — sentiments are not enough, his people need HELP.

every day i tell him im doing everything i can. and it’s true, i am, but its barely anything, as i’m disabled and bedridden. i’ve kept that fact from him out of shame because i see what he has to endure each day, but i feel SO POWERLESS. every time an announcement breaks that more bombs have dropped in the night or more innocent people were gunned down in broad daylight, my heart sinks with terror and i wonder if i’ve lost my friend. it really would mean so much — not just to him, to me — if you could donate anything you can spare to tarek and his family. he deserves the whole world and more.