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4

Parenthood brings messes that are very different and much more stubborn (and mind-boggling) than those in other areas of life.

So what is your genius way to clean up one of the persistent messes that we've been blessed with?

My 4 year old taught me today that Goo Gone removes crayon from the doors very easily.

asked Jan 7 at 23:26

mkcoehoorn

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Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2010-01-07 23:38:51Z UTC

8

Wooden floors.

It's a pretty radical solution admittedly, but they're pretty and so much easier to clean up than carpet...

answered Jan 7 at 23:38

Jon Skeet

community wiki

	+1 for no carpets. I've considered rolling out plastic over the entire living room, but settled for borrowing a steam cleaner a couple of times a year. – Scott♦ Jan 8 at 3:36
	All the rage here in Swissland, not quite so comfy bare-foot mind you, but better than tiles for falling over and banging little heads on... – Benjol Jan 8 at 6:08
	+1 for no carpets too. I have also heard that wooden floors are great to walk around on barefoot, the wood neutralise's static build up or something along those lines!! (We have wooden flooring to and a couple of rugs here and there) – Emi Jan 8 at 6:32
	We had hardwoods in our last house. Very easy to clean up, but not so much fun for walking around barefoot in the winter - ended up with frozen toes. – mkcoehoorn Jan 8 at 15:33

Kate · Answer 2 · 2010-01-08 00:35:18Z UTC

6

Hard flooring, a dog & Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. Oh and only washable ("Crayola washable") markers, crayons & paints.

answered Jan 8 at 0:35

Kate

community wiki

	+1 - I was going to say "Dogs" :) – Fun2Dream Jan 8 at 2:38
	+1 for the dog! I wonder if I can use that as an excuse to hubby for us to get a dog? – Lin Jan 8 at 2:53
	+1 - the dog shows it usefulness after you have a baby. But I caution not to get a puppy at the same time (then you have two babies). :) – Scott♦ Jan 8 at 3:34
	@Scott: Definitely! moms4mom.com/questions/2127/… – Kate Jan 8 at 5:56
	+1 for magic erasers (just be careful if you have cheaper paint on the wall as they can remove that as well) – nikjoyce Jan 8 at 15:23

Benjol · Answer 3 · 2010-01-08 06:09:35Z UTC

I bought some tablecloth vinyl off the roll by the metre and put it under our daughter's highchair to save our floors. A quick wipe after meals with sanitiser and we've got peace of mind for when she drops food on there next time and we give it back to her.

Sometimes I also strip her off but her nappy, placing her directly on the vinyl and she just munches on messy things like fruit, then it's straight in the bath!! Things taste better when you can make a real mess!

Emi · Answer 4 · 2010-01-08 07:14:38Z UTC

Wet ones. Wet Wipes... I discovered a nice brand that was a quarter of the price of the branded ones ( Nivea, Huggies, etc ) and they smelt like soap. We got so used to living with them that we still buy them in batches now.

The really really weird thing is that they manage to get stains out of literally anything. Particularly great for:

food stains on upholstery garments
pen stains on tables,
general cleaning of office table,
great for wiping down white drawing board
cleaning the blackboard side once in a while

and even great wrapped around those very thin metal rulers and used to clean in the areas between the keyboards.

EDIT : The brand is called Mendix-pH 5.5 alcohol free (producers for fresh&soft since 1957)

If anyone has watched the movie "My big fat Greek wedding" they will recall the father character and his bottle of "Windex" that was good for cleaning and healing everything :))

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