To think that boiling water is the most underrated cleaning aid ever?

[Mirroredbox]

Need to mop a dirty floor? Use boiling water and you will hardly need any cleaning fluid. It Just cleans so fast! Ditto cleaning cupboard boards,walls,bathrooms. Obviously you need to not splash it over your feet and wear gloves for the cleaning cupboards but it has cut cleaning times in half and got me better results than years of standard cleaning. Am I wrong?

You’re right to an extent, and adding natural lemon juice helps a little too, but boiling water alone def won’t de-grease a cooker hob, Sunday roast oven tray, crud and mank under the fridge or cooker.

I agree actually.

The booking water loosens grease and dirt far more easily than tepid water.

I agree. Degreased is needed for anything greasy. Still boiling water and degreaser would still work in half the time of cold water. It also sterilises to an extent as well.

The trick is not to let your floors / cupboards get so filthy that you need boiling water

Yes, I pour boiling water on the mop when cleaning the kitchen floors - no need for any special floor cleaners.

Probably a stupid question but how do you clean with it though? Pour into a bucket and use with a mop? Even with gloves it would be too hot to use on a cloth, surely?
am a cleaning philistine

I used to use boiling water and my mop but the glue which held the sponge to the plastic melted with the heat. I've got a steam mop now and love it

For a cupboard I would use a small amount per not the shelf then use a sponge with gloves on. I did have a steam cleaner and loved it before. I opened it to refill before it was cool enough. The resulting release of steam gave me sore eyes for weeks! You can also nearly boil the kettle which works almost as well.

Oh you are so not being unreasonable.

I was just procrastinating on mn before tackling my properly filthy kitchen floor so figured I'd try this out.
One bucket of boiling water and the last little bit of flash left in the bottle later and my floor is all shiny clean in record time. Normally takes way longer with cold water and bleach (and on a less dirty floor too!)

Thanks for the tip!

Boiling hot water and white vinager! Smell of vinager goes away quickly and is safe and kills germs. Also helps get rid of cooking smells too

People mop their floors with cold water?

Yep. I boil my microfibre cloths in an old casserole pan to clean the shit out of them. Just add a bit of Ariel powder and job done.

Yes, I am that sad.

Baking soda and white wine vinegar in equal amounts down the drain, 10 mins later pour boiling water and you've got a clean, odour free drain.

How funny, I was just thinking this. My counter tops look fab after I chuck on a bit of water from the kettle and wipe.
The less chemicals the better.

I mean... duh, what've you been using? Luke warm?

Boiled kettle into mop bucket with a splash of wood cleaner

You are welcome @greenlobster. It seems I arrived late to the boiling water party -everyone’s been doing this for a while then? It’s so little effort it seems almost wrong, but I am NOT complaining

Jaded I will try baking soda and vinegar for the sink. It kind of reminds me of science lessons- will I get a sink volcano?

I hate washing up but when we didn't have a dishwasher (or a hot water tap in the kitchen) my WU method was this:

Line up dirty plates
Boil kettle, fill sink
Dunk plates in for rinse using scrubby brush thing
Re-line-up plates
Empty sink
Refill with kettle water + enough cold to make it comfortable to touch + washing up liquid
Wash plates properly with cloth

Was soo much quicker, many times less unpleasant, no need to change water 150 times because the "proper" cleaning water doesn't get anywhere near as manky.

But the water is not actually boiling when you use it and to sterilise something it must be boiled for 2 minutes constantly. Just boiling water and then using it does not sterilise. It’s just very hot water.

If you really want to sterilise, you need disinfectant (vinegar, bleach, etc) or use a steamer.

plan but why would you want to sterilise the kitchen floor?

I agree op. I love my steam cleaner, which is basically the same principle. And no cleaning product residue!

@rivergreen
Me? I do not. Perhaps I am misunderstanding.
Normally I hear “boiling water” in context of sterilising something for example baby bottles or to make safe drinking water. So is “boiling water” an Englishism for very hot water?

Ah sorry Plan I misunderstood you.

It is a bit of a Britishism I suppose. We'd say boiling when it has recently boiled and is still very hot. Not scientifically accurate!

Thank you rivergreen. That explains my confusion!

Absolutely. Boiling water and a drop of Fairy will clean 99% of every thang.

Using boiling water to wash floors mean they dry quicker making it safer from a H&S point of view :)