life in a tiny apartment.

June 5, 2013
blacksilt

Tip #67: Clean the curtains and window sills.

Revisiting post #65 for a little bit of clarification, commiseration, and hopefully some helpful advice.

In that post, I wrote about thinking seasonally and embracing about new and different spaces that appear in your tiny home as the seasons shift along with your habits. Since then, a few of you have written in–either in the comments, or in messages to me directly–about the pesky black silt that can form on open window sills in the city. (I suspect that you’re mostly concerned about the face brush I leave on my bathroom sill).

We’re lucky to have an exceptionally leafy back yard for an apartment in a big city, and so our dust tends to be more of the green and brown pollen-y variety. But it’s here, and I’ve known that black silt, too.

Here’s my best advice:

1. Invest in curtains that can be easily washed. And then wash them. At least twice a year. It’s kind of a bummer of a thing to do, until you actually do it. The best metaphor that I have is that washing curtains is kind of like the opposite of using those Bioré Face Strips that we all used in high school; an experience of sheer and utter wonder at the erasure of the grime and silt and filth. A return to bright, clean, white! In all seriousness, drawing the curtains during the day does a pretty good job of preventing some of that silt from flying around the entire apartment, and washing them prevents your place from looking like Miss Havisham has taken up residence.

2. Wipe down your window sill, daily. If you skip a day, you will notice. The world will also keep spinning.

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4 Comments

  • Reply Lauren Ashley June 5, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    I just went on a cleaning rampage and washed all my curtains recently, what a difference!

    1
  • Reply Harri Davison June 5, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    Uh, as per usual you have the best tips & remind me of the little things that I never think of. Going for a clean ASAP!
    Harri x

    at-rubik.blogspot.com

    1
  • Reply netanya June 5, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    Thanks for responding! Hmm, I think it's kind of like how you told us that when you asked your mom how often she cleaned the bathtub, you were surprised by her answer. I definitely don't clean our window sills every day…but I guess that would clear up the problem! I do want to take your curtains advice though!

    1
  • Reply Anonymous June 8, 2013 at 4:56 pm

    You can also wash the window screens more often. It's amazing how much silt collects on them to block out the precious summer light. Just pop them out and rinse off in the shower if there is no where to hose them off.

    1
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