Happy First Day of Spring!

Feliz First Day of Spring!

It is a beautiful day here and I am celebrating the first day of Spring 2013 by doing- what else?- some Spring Cleaning!

This is part of an ongoing attempt to restore some order to my life.

I gathered up a linen closet full of sheets and blankets and bagged them up.  Since we no longer own twin beds, I  am pretty sure we do not need twin sheets.

Bye, bye twin sheets!

I also gathered a zillion other sets of sheets, some clothes,  a Bratz CD player and tossed them all into the back of my car.

Whew! I feel six bags lighter already.

Then off to Goodwill:

I love that Goodwill has a drive through!

Home again, I decided to clean the doors to the kids' rooms. Fingerprints and stickers galore and all need to go,

And does anybody else have BROKEN doors because their children have tempers?  

No?!

I was afraid of that. 

I have TWO broken doors because someone slammed one too hard and the other one got kicked because one sister wouldn't let the other one into the bathroom. Or something like that. I am not naming any names here, though.

Anyway. 

Here is your Spring Cleaning tip:

Lighter fluid will take stickers and tape off of any surface. Even painted surfaces. Without harming those surfaces. The fumes on the other hand can be pretty lethal.*

I practically bathed these doors in lighter fluid. I may still be a little bit high and the chinchilla was definitely feeling woozy until I turned the fan on for her.

Boy's door. 

I stopped removing stickers once I realized this door is also cracked.

But even this is a huge improvement. There was a 21 year old poster of Barney here, too.

Yes, the Purple Dinosaur. His sisters put it there. 

I was using a little of my favorite Method all purpose cleaner and some paper towels to clean.

Then I turned around and there was only cleaner.

Hmm? Where did I carry those paper towels off to?

I foolishly wasted about ten minutes looking for that roll of paper towels in the house before it dawned on me who might be able to enlighten me.

 What is Carlos tearing up?

O!! There's my roll of paper towels.

Hope everyone has a wonderful first day of Spring and your Spring cleaning goes smoother than mine.

* Disclaimer:  Check the lighter fluid on an inconspicuous spot before spreading it willy-nilly. Be careful of the fumes. Not responsible for high chinchillas, ruined paint on doors or anything else. Use at your own risk. That said- I've never had any problems, only success, using lighter fluid as a cleaning product.