Cleaning Baskets in the Sun (or Shade)...

Thursday 18 September 2008



As you may already gather from this post, I have a big love of baskets. Our flat at the moment, with the weather getting colder, is becoming quite a haven for mould. No it's not very nice and yes, I know it's not at all good for our health. But we're off, so I don't really loose much sleep over it. The problem is though, apart from the teabags and flour I had in the cupboards going mouldy (sorry I couldn't offer you a cup of Peppermint tea Mum!), all my baskets have taken on a light tinge of green!

I couldn't live without my baskets (well I'm sure I could really) to contain all the silly clutter that flutters around my life. I absolutely love anything that can be classed in the 'Things to Put Things In' catergory... I like my surfaces clear and easy to clean, so for me the basket is the epiphany of clutter containment.

I thought I'd have a go at cleaning them, since they will be going on the 'by sea' journey to India. I'm not sure how long they will last in the monsoon humidity, but they may as well come along for the ride instead of going up in the loft.

The wonderful Rhonda Jean wrote a post a while back on just this subject and the lovely Julie (Oh bugger, you wern't on my blogroll... why isn't my google reader updating my list properly?), wrote a post about how she transformed her baskets in one of her super duper 'Doing/Making/Garden/Dinner' frenzies. (Simple Days she calls them!)

So with a little help...

...we collected up the mouldy baskets and using a little antibacterial, supposedly 'natural' washing up liquid from Sainsburys, (a little dig there because I thought I was buying eco, no more eco than 'Herbal Essences'!) we scrubbed and showered them down (I wasn't about to get the cold hosepipe out in this weather). Now the next step is to leave them to dry in the sun for a few days... yeah right! As the weather here is not quite as predictable as one would hope and the only patch of sun I could find in our little yard was a bit too high up to string up my basket collection, I settled for the cold shade.


So when they do finally dry, I will take an old cloth and rub them over with some Olive Oil to give them a new lease of life, fill them with beautiful things and post them off to India to meet me in the sun...

2 comments:

rhonda jean said...

I am really pleased to know that my basket post helped. Baskets are a big part of my life too and I would hate to lose any of them. I'm sorry you don't have enough sunlight. I doubt you'll have that problem in India. I send you my best for your journey towards the sub continent.

emmani said...

Thanks for the tips Rhonda, I would never have thought to clean them if it wasn't for you! I bought them inside in the warm overnight so they are dry now... Thanks for dropping by, I know you're a very busy lady, It means a lot to me...