Cleaning procrastinator

I confess I still loathe cleaning and my steam cleaner although it has made a small difference. It does not save any time because you do a portion of a floor and it collects all the dirt and then to avoid smearing it all over again you have to turn it off and wait it for it to cool and then switch pads.

If there is an easy way to use it, I am not seeing it. It does give a deep clean but I usually have to run through two or three pads for that to happen first, plus refilling it with water and giving it time to heat up again and that gives me time to get distracted and not complete my chores. 

I find it difficult to motivate myself to clean but once I get going I power through unless the pain is really bad or time evaporates but usually I just make excuses not to do it and then feel disappointed with myself.

I'm trying to get better at this so I just created an upbeat cleaning playlist on youtube and that way I won't have to scroll through my songs to find energetic songs and use that as an excuse to forgo getting up to tidy. 

I'm also trying to go back to positive affirmations as that has definitely helped me in the past.

A tip that I found when randomly browsing was that you can put essential oils on the pads itself but not in the water tank to give a room that extra burst of freshness. I'm still using bleach wherever possible to keep it sanitized.

Lastly I am going to be more organised and schedule a regular date and time so that I can get into a routine. It is always so satisfying when everything is put away and I can look around at my home knowing it has been scrubbed vigorously. 

I'm not looking for perfection. I just want some order and a presentable space that I feel comfortable showing visitors into.

The supposed non plumber route

A long long time ago back when I was just a little naive I made the terrible mistake of flushing a wet wipe down the toilet and from then on it has had frequent to many blockages, now that I know better I have never done it since. The guilt still haunts me but now Youtube is going to rescue me.

My toilet is unfortunately blocked since yesterday and I have been googling frantically for a easy, cost effective solution. I don't have a plunger and my supplies seem to be limited so I was reading the feedback on what people tried and found to be the most effective.

Washing up liquid and hot water to make a sudsy concoction seemed to be the most practical answer I found. Unfortunately I am currently out of washing up liquid, so a few substitions were recommended. Shampoo, liquid soap, with detergent being controversial to the longterm health of the toilet.

I had this crazy wish that it would clear up by itself with a good flush and a liberal douse of bleach but the water kept rising although it didn't spill over thank heavens. My first round I tried liquid soap and hot water. It just kept draining slowly. Then I tried shampoo and hot water and it was the same effect.

Next I tried hot water on it's own but trying to fill the bowl as much as possible but that didn't work either and I was getting frustrated and defeated. Whatever I tried didn't seem to get sudsy enough so I used hot water blended with a little powdered detergent that I melted first.

Hot water versus boiling water is also controversial with some stating it may end up cracking the porcelain while others say it is necessary to remove the clog. I just used water from the tap, which I let run for a bit. In all my attempts I have not tried to flush it though. I'm conflicted about whether it is too soon.

I think I will have to keep trying because I am desperate and something has to work. I'm hungry but I can't face having anything until I see some visible improvements. I've just been drinking lemonade. I guess if there is no positive signs I am going to have to do a grocery run. I need supplies anyway but I have been making do with what I can use at home, simply because the thought of queueing up is terrifying me. I'm not going to be able to stand it for very long and what if there are a lot of people ahead of me.

I just want the supermarkets to stock up on supplies so everyone has enough and we aren't all to the point of desperation anymore. I give up on trying to book a Tesco slot anymore as I suspect there is a backlog and only the critical are approved slots. Two or three times I have seen free slots available and have tried and failed to book any because it prohibits me and then when I refresh it says they are all taken.

Sigh. I just tried to flush and it is still blocked up. I thought I had made some progress. It looks like I need the washing up liquid after all. After a fretful nights sleep I got up early and braved it. Everything was hurting but luckily there were no queues but sadly no space to sit on the bus either, well not for my needs. Tesco had my tissues, handwash and washing up liquid all in healthy stock. I didn't even realise that there was no need to pay fares. I just thought the front door was busted on the bus.

Wish me luck as I am starving. I am trying now to use more concentrated washing up liquid than water now so it isn't diluted to see if that will do the trick. In the end I just had to admit defeat and call in the professionals as I am not an expert and the home remedies I tried had little to no effect and I can't stand being out of my depth any longer. I honestly did try my best to sort it out by myself considering the lockdown but I am out of options and cannot manage a resolution.

Tonight the plumber is on route and I should get a call just prior to that saying the person is on their way. I hope it is an easy fix or that the hot water helped on the progress. I just don't want to hear I have made things worse. In this place I can't recall ever having a blockage. 

Mystery solved even if I had gone out and bought a plunger it would not have made any difference. All he did was top up the water in the tank/bowl, plunged and charged me £165. I didn't know the water pressure could get too low or run out. Ouch. On the one hand, I can eat again and on the other. I have to do some serious budgeting.