I'm one of the last of a dying breed, I love being a housewife and stay at home, no worky-outside-the-home woman. That doesn't mean I am lazy or even uninvolved with the outside world and I am no moron. I've had two computer user groups, one for Macs and one for PCs and a paper crafter's club. I managed a thriving ministry for my late husband and created and maintained the website for a television network. I've written and published hundreds of newsletters, so as a rule I'm a busy woman.
After my first husband of 34 years passed I knew I wanted to remarry. I love being a housewife and I'm good at it. The man I finally married after being a widow for two years used to say, "I like things clean, dry and serviceable". I always added, "and aesthetically pleasing"! When we dated he showed me the home he had built for his late wife (also married 34 years). It was 5400 square feet of Mission style awesomeness. I thought to myself, "whoever gets this will be one blessed woman". I didn't dream at the time that it would be me. I lived in a 550 square foot barn converted to a bachelor's apartment by it's previous owner. My first husband had made it pretty and liveable for us when our home had to be completely re-plumbed. This huge home my then "boyfriend" built was completed all but the interior finishes. He and his late wife had already purchased the oven, stove, microwave, and they awaited installation in the 1200ft. garage.
After we were married hubby began talking about finishing the "big house". After two years of arguments, compromises and a lot of hard work on his part it was done. We moved in this past March and I've been working to make it "cozy" and our sanctuary. One of the things we compromised on was the floors. He wanted WHITE shiny tile throughout the house. (Back to that "clean, dry and serviceable" thingy.) I imagined myself on my hands and knees trying to keep the floors shiny. He imagined me with a janitor's mop and bucket (which he purchased). Along came my lovely daughter with the Norwex floor cleaning system. I'd never heard of Norwex and was extremely skeptical with it's efficacy. (That's fancy for effective! I learned that from reading some of my daughter's blog posts. I homeschooled her to love learning and she has far surpassed me in a bunch of areas. She is presently homeschooling and raising three kids of her own. Wild). Anyway, I let her demonstrate the system to me. Shiny floors are a lot of work if one uses the traditional mop and bucket method. Plus, the water here is so hard you can get a concussion in the shower. Hubby purchased a pricey filtering system from a well guru in Florida and we still have hard water, it's just not AS hard as it was!
I began purchasing Norwex products to replace ALL of my old cleaning products. I learned I could dump all the toxic and harsh chemicals I'd been using before. Not only that, but in dumping the poisons I'm also saving money! More importantly, my home can remain "clean, dry and service" for a modicum of labor. I use the Norwex microfiber dust mop first. I can get the entire 4200 square feet of floor in about an hour. Then I do rooms that need scrubbed. I typically use the tile mop head (they are all velcro onto the metal mop head and interchange). It took us a while to figure out the best way to mop. I learned that the best way to deal with shiny floors is to use distilled water in a spray bottle. I use the tile mop (DRY) and spray a few of the 18" tiles at a time. I go over them with the mop and then move on. Because I use distilled water, I am not forced to polish the floors. I don't use wax, the shiny finish is simply there because there are no chemicals, no cleaning products or residue from even vinegar water. Hubby tried to prove that mopping and then rinsing the floors with vinegar laced water would work, "just as good". It left one heck of a mess that the Norwex mop cleaned with 1/10th the effort. He had spilled sweet pickles all over the floor. The janitor mop and soapy mess left a dull film ALL OVER THE FLOOR! I was so unhappy. He has come to the conclusion that I am the housewife and I truly know how to keep things the way he likes them. He's better at NOT HELPING. Probably because I don't like help that isn't help.
I must add that a great deal of Norwex microfiber products are laced with silver making them germ removing wonders. The silver works to inhibit bacterial and microbial growth, so it isn't creating super germs in the cloth itself. Independent clinical tests proved that Norwex Baclock microfiber (1/200th the thickness of a human hair) leaves surfaces 98% germ free. That's far better than the most popular cleaning chemicals on the market. I do NOT get a single penny for sharing this information with you. I am recovering from an autoimmune illness and do everything in my power to stay clear of chemicals that assault my system. If it works for me, it can help others. I am ALL for that.
My home is "clean, dry and serviced" and I like to think aesthetically pleasing. That's amazing considering we usually have four rescued cats, a rescued chihuahua and beagle in the house all day long. Our two male cats are wild as march hares and keep me on my toes like a mother with fourteen toddlers. Keeping footprints, cat hair and spilled food and water up is a daily maintenance job and I wouldn't even try with traditional methods. Norwex even has pet care products and I own those as well! Written by Cerise Cherry
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