The Secret: Frequent cleaning is...

green cleaning.  I was contemplating cleaning the other day (yes I do that a lot) and I think it is accurate to say that to clean more often is to clean greener.  I came to this conclusion while looking at the grout in my own shower stall.  It is a classic example of this truth.

I have lived in my apartment for over six years now.  The lovely robin's egg blue bathtub has held up well.  The surrounding tiles with their grout have not.  I've been following my 30-minute Clean Freak calendar and washing a little bit of tile every two weeks - this has made it better but it still looks bad.  It is when, through lack of care and attention, household items aren't maintained that drastic rather unearthfriendly steps have to be taken.  In the case of my shower stall it needs to have the grout re-done and re-sealed or it needs some pretty caustic cleaners to restore it to its former beauty.  Note to building managers: if it had been resealed regularly this would not have been an issue.  Note to self: if you had cleaned it more regularly over the years this would not have been an issue.

I suppose what I am going on about is the importance of regular maintenance versus having to spend the time, materials, money, cleaning products on an item that is starting to fall apart.  Using gentle products regularly prevents the microfilms and molds from setting up shop in the first place and wreaking havoc on your home.  This is why I believe that frequent cleaning is green cleaning.