2008年12月9日星期二

白色的 White = the new color of my kitchen...

So today went relatively smoothly until later but I’ll save that story for later. As I told you before, my kitchen, although a great set up, was going to need some work. Today, after class, I stopped by at the local store. It is something between a 7-11 and a full blown grocery store. It has rice, the basic staples for flavoring food, cleaning supplies, drinks, snacks, some dishes, etc. I picked up a pair of gloves (which I bought at the last moment and they ended up being a lifesaver, of in this case, finger saver), stainless steel scrubber, dish soap, window cleaner and a heavy duty cleaner called Mr. Muscle. (I did not need a sponge since I’d found a new one left behind by the owners.) Now, let me tell you, Mr. Muscle is something amazing and yet at the same time you know that this is one of those chemicals that is definitely banned in the States. I personally think it could be the leading cause of China’s water pollution problems but I used it anyway. You can’t argue with results, at least not in China. (Just kidding^_^)

Anyway, after climbing my seven flights of stairs and eventually entering my apartment I looked at the kitchen and realized it was going to take much more than some elbow grease to get rid of the mess. (Which, ironically, was mostly grease (old, old grease)) Thank goodness for Mr. Muscle!!! You have to realize that this grease had been allowed to accumulate for years, collect dust and other grime and solidify. There were layers! To say that it was grows would be an understatement. In fact, I think to truly understand how disgusting grease like this is you have to experience cleaning it up.

So I got to work, at first bypassing the most difficult job, and headed straight to the sink and the surrounding walls. I put Mr. Muscle to the work and soon had the walls, sink, and rack/knife holder above the sink spick and span. After completing this task I glanced over at the stove top, contemplated starting that challenge and instead decided to start work on the spice rack and counter tops. I finished the spice rack and the underside of the above-sink-shelves. Then, I realized as I was working on the counters that even the countertop near the stovetop had a buildup of grime… not cool. At this point I figured out that my sponge just aint doing it so I finally pulled out the stainless steel scrubber and got to work. It worked like magic and with a little elbow grease and cut through the filth. Unfortunately, the countertops are some sort of black stone and it was difficult to see the grime so the going was slow.

Eventually, I finished and I had no other place to go and must start of the stovetop and nearby area… the next part of this story is not pretty so if you are a young impressionable child or like clean kitchens or maybe your just American; read at your own discretion! To this point had not taken a close look at this area so it came as a surprise when I realize that not only was there grease of the countertops but also the “backsplash” (piece of wood), the surrounding tiles (the worse was on the windowsill where the grease had accumulated so it looked like the tile was black), the window screen, the actual stovetop (movable), and even the countertop below the stovetop. I decided to start with small steps and just sprayed the area with a bunch of Mr. Muscle and then went to work on the wooden back splash. After I was done with that I figured it was time to really start and began to scrub the area with my stainless steel sponge… it did not really work. It the end I had to resort to using an old knife to scrape away huge chunks of fat from all the surfaces… it took awhile… Then I was able to begin using the metal sponge again.

After finally cleaning the surrounding are and the stovetop (which had grease on all sides but the bottom) and began work on the stove’s hood. The inside was also covered in grease but I got it done. To accomplish this job, though, I had to pull out my handy-dandy crank charging flashlight. It worked great and I was able to see what I was cleaning plus, I used it to look at the kitchen countertops and see any grease I had previously missed. Finally, I only had two chores left; cleaning the cabinet doors and scrubbing the floors. I started with the cabinets and, like my mother thought me, cleaned all sides till they shined or at least looked better. I had to continue to use the stainless steel scrubber because the sponge had gotten so bad at this point that I’d needed to through it out. Then I cleaned the floors. The center of the floor was relatively clean but the sides near the counters were actually black… not good so I sat down on a little stool and slowly worked my way around the floor scrubbing with a little scrub brush. It did not take too long and then I wiped it dry without bothering to remove the soap… that way I can use the same soap next time (^_^)

THEN, I WAS FINALLY DONE!!! Wait, actually no… … … While I had been cleaning the sink had accumulated a ton of grime… a ton! So I had to clean it and then I put a kettle of boiling water through the pipes. Should be good. In all, cleaning the kitchen took about 4 ½ hours. Now I just have to get to the bathroom, clean the fridge, do some laundry at some point, and wash the walls… just a little more…

Too bad I did not take pictures of the process but here is 1 before and a couple after photos!





没有评论: