Category Archives: housekeeping tips

anecdotes, housekeeping tips

Hard water stain removal…

Here in the Stuttgart area, the water is full of minerals.  The minerals may be good for one’s health, but they aren’t so good for shower stalls and glassware, which stubbornly bear the hard water stains like badges of dishonor.

I had been watching with dismay as my glass shower stall became more and more opaque with the mineral stains.  Some enterprising soul in our local Facebook group asked what could be used to remove the residue.  Although I had some luck with German bathroom cleaner I was using when we first got here, I hated the way the stuff smelled (like cheap men’s cologne).  So when I went to the Real the other day, I decided to pick up some cleaner that was recommended by people in the know.

Evidence of hard water…  No amount of scrubbing with Soft Scrub or window cleaner would get rid of these hard water stains…

Frosch vinegar cleaner…  You are supposed to dilute this with water, but I didn’t have a sprayer handy.  I ended up using it straight.  Essig is the German word for vinegar, while Reiniger means cleaner.

New and improved look…  

Frosch vinegar cleaner does a good job of getting rid of those pesky stains.  It smells very strongly of vinegar and, truth be told, I probably could have just gotten some plain white vinegar and water and gotten the same result for less money.  I’ve heard lemon oil also works, though I haven’t tried that yet.   I’ll probably need to clean with it a few more times to get rid of all of the stains.  It also helps to use a squeegee…

Handheld squeegee useful for cleaning and reducing calcium deposits after showering.  Just use it to encourage the hard water to go down the drain before it dries on the glass.

This particular cleaner is vegan (!) and free from harmful chemicals.  The bottle is made of recyclable materials.  It’s also very effective detergent.  I used it to get rid of the hard water stains, but it does a good job of cleaning, too.  And it doesn’t smell like cheap men’s cologne, either.  I call Frosch vinegar cleaner a winner.

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Keeping our cool on July 4th…

Recently, Europe has been in the grips of a heat wave.  It’s been over 90 degrees for the past several days and will continue to be hot for at least the rest of the week.  When Bill and I lived in Germany last time, we simply grinned and bore the hot weather.  It didn’t last long and, besides, while air conditioners were available, we never heard about them because Facebook was less of a “thing” then.

Fast forward six years… It’s our first July in Germany since 2009.  My office in the house we currently live in is perfectly temperate most of the year, except for the summer.  In the morning, the sun beats down on my desk, making the room unbearably hot until the afternoon.  It’s still pretty hot after 1:00pm.  The windows near my desk do not have rolladens and I can’t easily hang curtains.   So today, Bill and I decided to hit the Toom Baumarkt in Herrenberg and see if we could score an air conditioner.

There were lots of people shopping today, and quite a few were looking for fans.  I didn’t see any Germans wanting an air conditioner.

This was my first time at Germany’s answer to Home Depot or Lowe’s.  I must admit I was impressed.  Aside from a large inventory of tools and items for the home, the Toom Baumarkt even had a cafe and a couple of wurst stands.

I love how civilized the Germans are when it comes to shopping.  Who needs a McDonald’s when you can have wurst and pommes washed down with beer?  They also have a public restroom, which is good to know they have.

We located the air conditioner we wanted to buy, but had to wait a bit for customer service.  Some guy was chatting with one of the workers over a fan that cost 24,99.  Until they were done speaking, the rest of us waiting didn’t exist.  I don’t necessarily think that is necessarily a bad thing; it’s just different from the way Americans tend to do things.

We settled on a machine capable of cooling down my big room, then searched for a window air lock. Unfortunately, we were not able to find one.  I checked Amazon.de and see that they are also mostly out.

We bought a floor model; hence no need for a box.

Our new AC…  on our way out of the parking lot, we had to wait for a biker to get directions from the guy ahead of us.

The new machine was easy to set up, though we had to improvise to block out the hot air.  This will have to do until I can get my hands on an air lock kit.

At least the towels block out a little sun.  

Bill hooked up the machine and the room is cooling down.  I’m thinking it was totally worth the 479 euros we paid, even if we don’t end up having to use it much.  I am amazed at how hot the hose is when I touch it and how quickly the room started to feel more comfortable.

Of course, we could have cooled down the old fashioned way…  Toom Baumarkt sells ice cream, too.

In other news, this morning Bill and I took our dogs on a three mile walk.  We were on our way back and were crossing a wheat field when a big Siamese cat suddenly hissed and jumped out of the wheat, scaring the bejesus out of me, Bill, and our dogs, Zane and Arran.  Both of them went nuts and made it even more challenging to get home to the relative coolness of the house.

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Wet basement…

For the third time since we moved into this house, I have awakened to the sight of a wet basement.  For some reason, water backs up into our washing machine.  Twice, the landlords have had a plumber come out and check the pipes for blockages.  Nothing was found either time, other than toilet paper and the other stuff one finds in the toilet.  We moved here in September.  This happened for the first time in December and again in February.  Now it’s May.  We were told they never had this problem before, but I’m beginning to doubt it.

I took these photos after I drained the washer.  The drum was full of warm grey water from my husband’s shower.

I had noticed water seeping from the wall a couple of days ago.  I told Bill about it and he said he didn’t want to tell the landlords because they have to call a plumber and that costs them money.  Yes… but I am the one who usually finds and cleans up these messes.

I don’t know what is causing these problems.  It’s a major pain in the ass.  I fear whatever is wrong is going to involve a big repair which is never a fun thing.

ETA:  Hopefully, a plumber will be able to fix this today.  Otherwise, we’ll be having a shitty weekend.

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anecdotes, housekeeping tips

My new Eckbank Gruppe…

In our storage, Bill and I have a pub table and five chairs.  We used to have six chairs, but one of them broke, so we got rid of it.  I also inherited a bunch of barstools from my mom that don’t match anything.  We didn’t bring our big table and chairs with us because we were only given enough money to move 5000 pounds to Germany.  Also, I didn’t think it would survive the trip.  Our table and chairs are pretty cheap and have been slowly falling apart, thanks to all the moving we’ve done.  The table has at least one bum leg that is missing a screw or two.  We brought a small table and chairs set Bill bought at Bed, Bath, and Beyond ages ago.

About a month ago, I got tired of the shitty $100 dining set Bill and I have been using.  Bill bought that set when he was single and broke and we used it a lot when we first got married.  But it’s not very comfortable or solid.  It’s only big enough for two people and I know we’re going to have at least one more houseguest this year.  Besides, I’d been wanting an Eckbank Gruppe for ages.

When we were in the States, I actually did find a nice set on a site called Furniture from Germany.  I almost ordered it, but never got around to it.  It was rather pricey and didn’t really match my decor that well.  Even if I had bought it, we might not have been able to bring it with us because of its size.

Now that we’re here and will probably be living in Germany for awhile, I decided to order a small Eckbank Gruppe.  You’d think something like this would be easy to find in Germany.  I got one from Amazon.de of all places.  It’s not very fancy and, in fact, I had seen it for sale on a number of sites.  I just got the best price from a Marketplace on Amazon.  For about $766 (including shipping) I got a very solid spruce table and chairs.  I had to wait a month for it because they produce them on demand.  It arrived in seven boxes this morning, delivered by a cranky German guy who wasn’t amused by my lame attempts to speak Deutsch.

When I get it put together, it’s supposed to look like this…

 

After unloading all seven boxes, this is what we have so far…

I think I’ve sort of figured out how this is all supposed to fit…

 

Unfortunately, the directions are a series of diagrams that are a bit confusing.  Even if there were printed directions, I doubt they’d be helpful since they’d be in German.  Anyway, I see lots of holes, but they don’t seem to match up with other holes, which is usually the case with these things.  I think I might need a power drill and I don’t think we have one.  Also, I’m not a carpenter.  This may turn out to be a job for a professional…

On the other hand, these chairs (which I didn’t have to assemble) are really solid and very nice.

So is the table, which I did have to put the legs on.  I need a wrench to tighten the bolts, though, and I don’t have one…  

I like my new furniture, even if it does sort of create decorative chaos in the house.  I look forward to having it all assembled and rearranging our living room/dining room so it doesn’t look so weird now.  I wish Bill were home so we could figure this out… or hire a heimwerker to come by and do it for us.

I’m sure we will enjoy this new table and chairs and it will see many good dinners and boozy drinks.  At some point, I’ll probably want to put a new finish on it.  And now that we have a new table and chairs, we have more seating for friends.  Guess it’s time to make some.

ETA:  I just got an urgent email from the furniture company.  It was hard to figure out what it said, even with Google Chrome translation, but I think I pieced together that they were concerned that I hadn’t gotten my order.  I wrote back in English that I got the table and chairs and offered a phone number, but warned that I speak almost no German.  I’m working on it, though…  In fact, today I think I’ve used more German than I have since we got here.

Though I doubt that is what he’ll say when he tries to figure out how to construct this thing…

ETA:  Now it turns out I only paid for the corner bench and still owe for the table.  *Sigh*

ETA again:  Once I had paid for everything, it came to about 1100 euros.  I am writing this in December 2015 and, I must say, we love this table and bench set.  It’s very solid and comfortable.  The dogs love it, which means the cushions have lots of hair on them.  But it’s the right size for us.  Someday, I will stain and lacquer it.

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Even more adventures in German laundry…

This morning, I went down to the basement to start a load of laundry.  Unfortunately, I was still half asleep when I set the machine.  I ended up using the “bettdecken” setting instead of “pflegeleicht”, which is what I usually use for washing clothes.  No matter, though…  both cycles take a long time, so it probably doesn’t really make any difference.  But then I got to thinking.  Americans who live in Germany and have to use German washing machines may not always know what settings are best.

The first time we lived here, we borrowed a German washing machine from the US government.  We never had any problems with it, though I have read on Facebook that some folks haven’t been so lucky with their borrowed machines.  The nice thing about the German machine we used first time we were here is that it had a timer on it.  You could see how long the cycle was.  Given that some cycles can take a couple of hours, that was a very useful feature.

This time, Bill and I had to buy our own machine.  I picked one off Amazon.de.  It’s a pretty good machine, except when I find it full of grey water (though I think that’s a plumbing issue rather than a machine issue).  Unfortunately, when I bought the machine, I didn’t get one with a timer.  It took a few cycles before I learned which cycle was what.

My trusty washing machine.

Most of the time, I use the “pflegeleicht” setting.  Plegeleicht means “easy care”.  I haven’t actually timed the cycle, but I’d say it runs for about 90 minutes or so.  When I wash my sheets, I use “bettdecken”.  Bettdecken is for bed clothes and duvet covers.  I don’t know how it differs from plegeleicht.  I just use it because I’m supposed to for bedding.  It also runs for about 90 minutes or so.

There’s also the Baum-wolle Eco setting.  That one is kind of the default if you push the play button before making an alternate choice.  Baum-wolle is for cottons.  It’s a very long cycle– like over two hours.  I never use it unless I have nothing else to do all day.

There’s a Wolle setting for wool, which I never use because I rarely wear wool.  And there’s also a Koch-Buntwasche setting, which I think is another all purpose setting.  I never use it because it’s too long.

My machine has a “baby care” setting, which I find funny because it’s in English.  Not having any babies, I’ve never felt the need to try that setting.

Sometimes I use the “Kurz-30” setting, like if I’m washing bathroom rugs, tablecloths, or napkins.  It’s supposed to be a short cycle.  I’m not sure if the 30 stands for minutes or not.  I can’t be bothered to time the cycle.  Maybe I should in the interest of science.

There’s also a silk/delicate setting (feinwasche), which I never use because I don’t wear silk or delicate items anymore.  My clothes are strictly no frills Eddie Bauer and LL Bean jobs that can take a lot of punishment.

My machine goes up to 1400 RPMs, but I never use any settings that go that high because I see no need to.  The ones that go up to 800 RPMs are plenty powerful enough for me.  I never notice my clothes being any less clean with lower RPMs.  (My German friend Susanne says the higher RPMs are actually for getting the clothes more dry.  I suppose that may be one way to save money on drying.)  My machine also goes up to 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit).  I usually use the settings that go to 40 degrees Celsius.  The water gets heated in the machine instead of in the house.

One thing we had to get used to is leaving the door to the machine ajar.  If you don’t, the machine will stink of stagnant water.  It will also get moldy.  I imagine I will soon need to run a cycle with vinegar in it to help descale the hard water deposits that can form after awhile.  I have also had to learn how to drain the machine and clean out the filter, which I never had to do with my trusty Roper top loader back home.  And God forbid you use American soap in the machine.  I’ve done it a few times with no serious problems, but a lot of American detergents are too sudsy and can clog up the machine if you use them too often.  Supposedly, you can use the new fangled American detergents for high efficiency machines.  I haven’t tried that yet because I kind of like the way German detergents smell.

I do think my German washing machine does a pretty good job cleaning my clothes.  Unfortunately, it only holds 7 kilos at a time, so I have to do smaller loads.  We had an American dryer last time we lived here because American dryers run on 220 voltage and can handle more clothes.  This time, we bought a Turkish dryer that vents outside.  It does alright and didn’t cost much, though it’s not the most energy efficient machine out there.

Our Turkish dryer.

Maybe as the weather improves, we will embrace using a clothesline or a “spider”.  The people who lived here before us sold us theirs.  It can be an effective way to save money and helps clothes smell “April fresh”, too…  Well, perhaps as long as the field adjacent to our yard hasn’t been freshly fertilized.  I think they spread some manure in the field yesterday because the air had the pungent aroma of shit.

I think doing laundry in Germany can be a daunting experience for some American folks.  Some never get the hang of it.  The clothes washer is not a problem for me; I’m having more problems figuring out the dishwasher.

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German detergents…

Every time I live abroad, I take notice of the local tastes in things.  This morning, as I was scrubbing the toilets and wiping the surfaces in our bathrooms, it occurred to me that Germans have different tastes in what cleaning products should smell like.  When we first moved into our house, I asked Bill to pick up some toilet cleaner and bathroom spray.  I thought he’d get them at the commissary and I’d be using the same Lysol products I usually use.  But no, it was more convenient to get the stuff at the local Real, which is sort of like Germany’s version of Wal-Mart (only it’s way nicer and less irritating).

So he brought home two bottles of Zekol for the two bathrooms and two cans of WC Fix (now that’s a pretty cut and dried product name, don’t you think?) for the toilets.  First off, let’s look at the WC Fix.  Now, one can purchase toilet cleaner in Germany that is like what we have in the United States.  It comes in a plastic bottle with a curved neck for easier aiming under the rim of the toilet bowl.

But for some reason, Bill bought two cans of spray that foam up like Scrubbing Bubbles or shaving cream.  So instead of the blue syrup I get with Lysol toilet cleaners, I get whipped cream in my toilet. And I guess if there’s anything in there that wasn’t scrubbed away before I sprayed, that will just add to my imaginary toilet sundae.

I could have some serious fun with this toilet cleaner if I tried…

 

What’s even more interesting about this foamy German toilet cleaner are the available scents.  The yellow can pictured below smells kind of lemony, which I guess makes sense.  American products that smell lemony are usually furniture cleaners, but I can see why Germans would want their bathrooms to smell like citrus fruit.  It beats the alternative, right?  Americans seem to favor the “fresh chemical scent”, based on what I’ve seen back home.  Most of my bathroom cleaners at home in America smell like industrial strength germ cleaner.  The other can of WC Fix Bill bought smells like lavender.  I don’t think I’ve ever run into lavender scented toilet cleaner before I moved back to Germany.  It’s not unpleasant, just different to this American.

Eau de cheap men’s cologne…  It even says “bad” on the label.  😉

Now, the Zekol bathroom cleaner is even more interesting.  It’s a good product and does a good job cleaning the sink and especially the glass enclosure of the shower stall.  But the scents are really something else.  The bottle pictured is the “Classic” formula and it smells like really strong cheap men’s cologne.  It’s kind of sweet and cloying and I don’t like it that much.

The other bottle, which is pictured below, has a scent called “Purple Rain”.  Given that  I am a child of the 80s, that name immediately cracks me up.  Yes, I’ve seen Prince’s screen debut many times.  But then I think about it some more.  “Purple Rain” is written in English on packaging that is otherwise in German.  And what’s so clean about purple rain, anyway?  I think if I saw purple rain falling from the sky, I’d be afraid we were having some kind of nuclear attack or something.  Even more interesting is the way this product smells.  It doesn’t smell purple.  It smells like strawberries.  Yes, I’ve always wanted a strawberry scented shitter in my house!

Purple Rain, Purple Rain… Purple Rain, Purple Rain… come on, you know you want to sing it too!

 

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to make the product smell like something purple, like grapes?  How about eggplant?  If you’re going to make a toilet smell fruity, I would think eggplant might work.

This isn’t the first time I’ve used products I thought were funny in some way.  When I lived in Armenia back in the 1990s, I used to buy an Iranian laundry detergent called Barf.  I’m not kidding.  It does exist and many other people have blogged about it.  Apparently “Barf” is the Farsi word for snow.

This appears to be somewhat new packaging.  In my day, Barf was sold in boxes with Russian letters.  That made it even funnier.

 

This is a very silly post, but it’s put me in a good mood.  Now I’m going to spoil it with a rant on my other blog.

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anecdotes, housekeeping tips

My kitchen annex…

I haven’t taken any photos of our little kitchen because, frankly, it’s a bit of a mess and I didn’t feel like cleaning it just so I could get a few pictures.  But I did want to post a few photos of how we used one of the little rooms on the first floor.  We have two small rooms down there that aren’t really suitable for bedrooms unless you have very small kids.  I decided to turn one of them into a pantry.

I bought the refrigerator last week to supplement the small “dorm sized” one the landlords supplied.  It’s an AEG model and so far, I’m pretty pleased with it.  It’s a good size for two people and gives us a  better place to store all the things that take up too much space in a little fridge.  We put all the magnets we collected on our many trips on that fridge.  I caught one of the neighbor kids looking through the window at them.  😉

 

The shelves I bought years ago at Rose’s.  They are very sturdy wood and fold out conveniently.  I usually use them for books, but we didn’t bring many books to Germany on account of our 5000 pound shipping limit.  They make a great place for my china and some dry goods, along with bakeware that doesn’t fit in the kitchen cabinets.  And you can also see the obligatory twenty pack crate of beer…

I bought this handy little cart from Amazon.de.  The top opens up so you can store stuff under it.  There are two drawers, room for wine storage, and space under the rack and drawers for other stuff.  The wheels make it easy to move.  Although this cart is pretty heavy, I think we’ll probably take it back to the States with us.

 

The vacuum is a Dirt Devil.  I’m not all that happy with it because it has a design flaw.  The on/off button is on the side of the machine, so if you accidentally run into the door or something, it shuts off.  Also, the head isn’t powered, so it’s not that great for carpet.  Luckily, we don’t have much carpet in this house.

Another shot of the shelves.

The other small room we’ve turned into the trash sorting room.  In Germany, you have to sort your trash by what it is.  It’s not just putting recyclables in a recycling bin.  It’s separating paper, plastics, metals, biodegradables, and residual trash.  That means having just one trash can isn’t feasible.  I don’t mind separating trash, I guess, though I really need to find a single trash can with several compartments in it.

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