Managing the mundane, er, I mean, microfiber.

I have pinned and pinned on Pinterest, and now I'm finally coming around to using some of those ideas and suggestions, particularly when it comes to the thorough apartment-scrub before school starts. Last week I cleaned out the microwave using a (get this) microwaved water-vinegar mixture, and that worked great. Today it was time to tackle our microfiber dining chairs. Thrilling stuff, I know.

I like how I haven't blogged about the weddings I've been to, or the summer classes I taught, but I'm blogging about this. I think I'm truly going stir-crazy with only Jonesie to keep me company during the day.

Jonesie was overly enthused about tackling this chore.

When we inherited our dining room chairs (figure of speech-- no dining room in this apartment :) from a good friend, we were so eager to have somewhere to sit while we ate that we overlooked the minor stains and water marks on the microfiber cushions. As we further destroyed the built-in cushions, it became harder to ignore. In vain, I tried to rub out some of the stains using water, but that only made the stains spread. This was quite the conundrum until Pinterest rescued me with this link on my main page:

551 East Furniture Design: How to clean a microfiber couch

Aw yeah. So today, in a fit of pinspiration, I ran over to the local Rite Aid to pick up a bristle brush and appropriately-colored sponge. The above article recommends that you use a sponge that more or less matches the same color of your microfiber so as to reduce the chances of color transfer. Our local Rite Aid is pretty much the only store within walking distance that was going to even carry sponges, let alone a white or beige-colored sponge. And I only had pink, purple, and blue sponges in the apartment.  So I took a risk with a yellow sponge and guess what? That was totally fine-- no color transfer. I also had to trim down the blue bristles on the only scrub brush they sold.

Here are the dirty culprits:

Here's what I needed to get through it:

Thank you, Starbucks iced coffee.

Sprayed the microfiber down with rubbing alcohol, scrubbed with sponge, let dry.

Polished N.'s dress shoes while I waited for the cushions to dry. 

I might not cook, but I do a lot of other things, eh?

Once the cushions were dry, scrubbed 'em with the bristle brush. Et voila! Clean cushions for our tushies.

Then I operated the web cam on my computer for the first time ever and took this awesome, celebratory picture with Jonesie. It's all kinds of summer vacation glamorous. Chores, errands, and the beginning of procrastinating on lesson planning, oh my!

What do you think, Jonesie? Jonesie?!
LOOK AT THE CAMERA AND CARE ABOUT THIS PICTURE, JONESIE.