This post is sponsored by HomeRight, however all opinions are 100% mine. Affiliate links may be contained in this post.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat at the kitchen table or been driving the car having a conversation with one of the part-time children about their day and all of a sudden they say, “So I told him you would do it.”
Stop.
Hold the phone.
Shut the front door.
You did what? What did you just volunteer me for child?
To buy ad space on a t-shirt.
To help sell peaches.
To makeover the locker room.
While there are countless more events to note in this department, today I would like to talk about the time I was volunteered to makeover a football locker room.
What had happened was…
Bill, the 17 year old, is very interested in what I do for a living – blogging. He has figured out the basics of it and knows that I have pretty decent painting skills.
He knows enough to be dangerous.
Not to himself though – to me.
He loves to try and explain to people what I do.
And then he loves to volunteer me.
Now, in all honesty, I really don’t care. I love helping the kid out. This locker room makeover though – I don’t think we’ve ever wanted to rip out each other’s throats more.
So he finds out his football coach wants to makeover the locker room. Bill promptly tells his coach that I would probably help out. Bill comes home and talks to me and I said sure, it’s a great idea. He even says it can be his senior project. Great. We’ll have this thing knocked out before his senior year.
That was in the spring.
Summer rolls around and nothing has been decided on this makeover. Bill and I have a discussion that it would probably be best to wait and do this until after football season so that we get a few uninterrupted weeks of work without players there. Sounds good.
It’s late June now. I’ve been over at my Dad’s one Saturday. I come home that day and Bill informs me that he just decided to go on and start on the makeover.
You did what?
Keep in mind, this is the child who has spray painted his cleats multiple times now and never puts anything under them, so I have three different shades of cleat outlines on my garage floor.
I can tell he isn’t telling me everything, but he says he’s going to finish it and take care of it after FCA camp – which he leaves for the next day – he says I shouldn’t worry about it.
We drop him off at camp for the week.
Halfway through the week, I’m out in the front yard when his coach stops to talk (he lives in our neighborhood). The first words out of his mouth are, “Have you seen the locker room?”
At that point, I knew three things.
1. Obviously, the locker room was in bad shape.
2. My upcoming weekend was going to be spent in the locker room.
3. I was going to strangle that child.
I picked him up from FCA camp Thursday morning, promptly took him to the dentist for his scheduled root canal and then drug his butt to the locker room to work.
This is what I found, minus the plastic sheeting, I failed to take a picture when I first got there as flames were shooting from my fingertips, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. Basically I was a human fireball.
With the exception of a few random newspapers scattered here and there, none of the benches or floor had been covered. None of the helmets or pads or lockers themselves had been cleaned out either.
Overspray from the spray paint coated everything.
I fed him some pain meds the doctor had given him and told him to get to work. Root canal or not, we had to fix and finish this locker room by Sunday because football started up again on Monday. We worked all Thursday afternoon, all day Friday, and all day Sunday (Saturday just happened to be the 4th of July) to finish the locker room.
He’s never started another project without me since.
Overall, the biggest thing I was worried about was the spray paint all over the floor. After we got all the lockers finished on Friday afternoon, I walked in there on Sunday armed with multiple scrub brushes, floor cleaner and my HomeRight Steam Machine.
I told Bill I was not cleaning up the mess he made, I would only supervise, so he’d better find help. Lucky for him, he has good friends, otherwise he’d been scrubbing for a looooong time.
This flooring was some sort of rubber flooring. We found the best way to remove the overspray was to wet it down with a mix of water and floor cleaner (that’s what’s in the big bucket) and scrub, then follow with bursts of steam and scrubbing from the Steam Machine.
It totally did the trick. The Steam Machine ate through any of the really tough spots on the flooring. Here’s a good idea of what we were dealing with…
The far left side has been scrubbed. The right side still has the overspray. Those straight lines of the overspray you see is where he had just thrown newspaper down. Randomly.
#SMH
After scrubbing with the Steam Machine, we did go back over the whole thing with a mop to pick up the scrubbed up spray paint residue.
And in the end, we did manage to get a pretty good looking locker room…
He, however, decided to do something else for his senior project.
#imaginethat
What awesome uses have you found for a steam machine?
You might also want to see…
How to Clean a Disgustingly Gross Shower
Disclosure: This post was a collaboration with HomeRight. However, all opinions and children who call me their white mama are 100% mine.
I’d definitely use it on my nasty kitchen and bathroom tile floors!!!
My whole house, the floors, the toilet, the curtains, the grout, the oven… I would use that thing everywhere.
I’d use it on my tiles in the bathrooms and laundry room.
All.The.Things. I *hate* to scrub our shower, so anything that might make it faster, better, cleaner, would totally rock my world.
Why am I not surprised that you have teenage “children”? They are irresistible. What an awesome way to put back into the world.
Well done,
The Other Marian
Thank you, Marian. I’m pretty lucky to have them!
I would use this in my kitchen and in my bathroom….
I would use it on my tile floors
LMAO!
You told me about it but… Wow. I had no idea paint was everywhere! I shouldn’t laugh but… Only your child!
Bill is so lucky to have y’all!
Everywhere. I really don’t think anyone could have imagined how bad it was until they saw it. SMH!
I broke my SteamMachine Plus and would love to use this to clean my dirty home.
I would definitely use the Homerite Steam Machine on the carpet in my boys rooms.
I would LOVE to have this steam cleaner from HomeRight! I use some of my screened-in porch for summer housing soft succulents. The grit, soil, dog hair and beverage stains on the ceramic floor would turn new again! (Although I never saw them new myself). The posts and screen ledges would take on a revived sense of health, not to mention the rafters. We utilize this space for neighbor weekend wine wahoos. Boy, would I LOVE to get some oooos and ahhhhs from our friends! Thanks for this opportunity.
I would use this on my bathroom immediately. We are re-doing an older home and have not yet completely redone the bathroom. We’ve done some cosmetic decorating, and, of course, it is “clean”…but it just doesn’t *feel* clean.
Kitchen and bathroom floors could really use help – this might save them!
Thanks for putting my name in the hat for the drawing!
Oh sweet White Mama…..you should be at the top of the list for the next Nobel Peace prize!!! This whole thing had me laughing and moaning at the same time. Yep, you should most certainly get the prize!
hahahaha!!! I would not have been at the top for Nobel Peace Prize when I walked in that locker room for the first time. I would have probably been at the top of the Department of Human Services list. haha!
Bathrooms. Kitchen. Laundry room. Bam.
The showers…basement and upstairs – both a huge pain to clean!
The steam machine is very impressive! I saw your post on cleaning your husband’s shower with it and I could defiantly use that in my own shower… #idontscrubanything
It’s part laziness and part I don’t want to ruin my manicure! The steam machine would be perfect for me!
It did do wonders on my husband’s shower, Jessica! And girl, I’m so jealous of you and your manicure! Mine never look good for any longer than a day!
Oh my gosh, I would use it on everything in sight and some places that nobody sees!
I would use on floors
My mom’s nasty kitchen and bathroom tile… You know I love your blog. You totally crack me up.
You wouldn’t think anything would get that paint up off the tiles. Amazing! And what a GREAT compliment they call you their white Mama. They must think the world of you.
Well, I’m just lucky enough to get to borrow them!
I would use it everywhere! I have a rock fire place this would be perfect.
I didn’t think anything except paint thinner could remove spray paint!
I would clean my slipcover chair. I think that if this machine works well on curtains, it should also work well on slip overs. They are the devil to take off and put back on and sometimes it’s only one or two spots that you’re working on. Wouldn’t it be great if this was the answer?
Preach on, sister! I don’t have a slipcover right now, but I used to and they were such a pain to get off and then on again and then perfectly placed!
I would use it on my garage floor!
My bathroom tile could rely use a good steam cleaning. That would be my first job.
I would use it everywhere in my house. But to start I would use it on the caked on greasy cabinets, the floors, Every thing in the kitchen. Next I would steam clean the bathrooms. Who likes to do that chore? With the steam cleaner it would be done in a flash & be sparkling clean & deodorized. Would love to win this machine! Thank you for the giveaway & God bless.
I could really use this because of my dog
I would use it on the tile floors as well as removing old wallpaper.
Kitchen and bathroom! Then the carpet in my car!
Shower! Takes care of the soap scum.
I WOULD USE IT TO HELP GET THE OLD WALL PAPER ADHESIVE OFF FROM MY BEDROOM AND BATHROOM WALLS.
The boy bathroom in our house could totally benefit from this!!
I would love to use the steamer in my bathroom to keep it sparkling clean.
My kitchen has a brick floor. The grout is a mess!
I would use the steam machine all around the house. The locker room turned out great. I bet Bill will wait on you next time…LOL!!!
Girl, unless he wraps plastic around everything first, he’d better!
I would use this on the floors!
I would use it in my bathroom and kitchen
I have been searching for a good steamer for the longest!! Pretty sure every inch of my house would be steamed including my child. 🙂
I would use it on my kitchen everywhere! It sure could use it and the bathroom in the basement. I want them both to shine like new for the holidays!
Umm…4 kids, the whole house needs this amazing steam tool!!
The BATHROOM is where I would start, but then watch out!
I would go to work immediately on the tiles in the bathrooms and then follow with the laundry room.
I would use it everywhere, but I’d start in the bathroom.
I would use it for cleaning my bathroom.
Totally would go straight to my boys bathroom….followed by their actual rooms…how are boys so gross! Was Jesus this disgusting…sorry maybe I crossed the line. FYI I would guess Jesus was not gross and dirty being perfect and all! Lucky Mary!
**no offense everybody!!! girl u know me, I’ll say whatever…the backspace/delete is broken on my iPad it seems !lol
It’s such a said day and time when we must give disclaimers In Every other sentence
hahaha!!! I don’t know that its possible to cross the line around here, Jenny!!
kitchen and bathroom
I would use this to help clean the floors.
I would use the steam machine on our floors.
I’d definitely use it in the bathroom to clean the tile. I’d also like to try steam cleaning my mattress, never thought of that but might have to give it a try!
I’d use the Steam Machine for removing wallpaper, the kitchen countertop and stovetop, bathroom fixtures, floors and cleaning my car. That’s a start!
With dogs & cats in the house it would be great for the furniture and rugs!
This will definitely be used on my bathroom.
I could use this in the musty basement. I could use this in the bathroom! The shower doors! I know I’d come up with a lot of other places soon enough, too.
I would use this on my tile floors.
I would use this on the kitchen floor and it would be so wonderful.
I would use this on my grout and on my floors.
My oven, washing machine, car, bathroom shower enclosure – I have very hard water – creased drape … but mostly I want to freshen my mattresses, the shedding pugs sleep with their ‘mama’ 😉 I sooo want one of these machines!!
I would use it in my bathroom and kitchen and I would help my neighbor take down all the wallpaper in her house as she remodels.
Hmmmm….I have several projects in mind!
I would love to use it to clean the floors in my home!
I’d love to use it on my bathroom floors and on my curtains.
Oh my goodness! this machine looks amazzzzzing! How would it work on cement?
I haven’t used it on cement before, Jane, but I don’t think it would damage it.
I would use it on my kitchen and bathroom floors.
I love that it has a long hose and large attachments. I would definitely start with my grill. Thanks for the chance to win!
This would come in very handy to use on my kitchen and bathroom floors.
Kitchen and bathroom floors, definitely!
I would use this to clean my bathroom and also my stovetop.
I would use it on my carpets and grout.
For now, I would use it on my 1970’s linoleum in my 1970’s kitchen 🙂 When we put in our new kitchen and hardwood floors, I will use it on that! 🙂
I would use it on my shower first! 🙂
I would use this to clean my nasty bathroom floors!!
I would use it for the bathroom.
I would start by using the steam machine on the Fridge to clean and sanitize it. Then move on to the kitchen floor.
I would use it inside and outside, kitchen, bath, basement, I’d clean my grill, outdoor furniture, lawn mower….
Where wouldn’t I use it! My bathroom especially… Yes!
I would definitely try it on doggy pee spots!
I’d use the steam machine for my carpets and curtains!
I would love to try a steam machine on my tubwhich I HATE cleaning we have well water which is hard water and it causes our tub to get discolored and soap scum. Yjanks for the chance to win!
I would use it on my floors and it would be great for cleaning the bathroom.
would use on everything especially kitchen and bathrooms
I would start by steam cleaning the bathrooms and shower/tub.
i clean my baseboard they get so dusty
I would use it in my kitchen and in the bathroom.
Furniture and and drapes
I would use it on my oven.
the grout and tiles in our bathroom
I would use it on the bathrooms first and then tackle the basment and storage rooms clean the floors real good
Today I would use the steamer on my patio furniture before putting it away for the winter.
I would use it on the bathroom tile. It needs steam!
I would use this on the floors in my kitchen and bathrooms!
I would use the SteamMachine for my bathtub tile.
I would use on my bathroom tiles
id use it on everything
I need this for my bathroom really bad
I would use this on the showers.
I would use on my shower
i would steam clean my daughters bed she moves around a lot in bed and rips plastic so bed smells like pee
I would use it on my kitchen and bathroom floors.
I would use it on the couch.
I would use this on my floors and showers
I would head straight to the bathroom if I won this.
We had exactly this problem and I was looking for options. Thanks!
You are welcome! Hope it works as well for you!
I would use it on the carpet.
Kitchen & bathroom!
I would use it in my shower and also my rugs that have stains from my pets!
We would definitely use it first on the boys bathroom. After that I want to do my kitchen.
I would use to clean the kitchen floor
i would use it in my kitchen
I would use it on pretty much everything in my kitchen and bathroom.
I would use it to clean my kitchen floor and to clean my throw rugs.
I would use all around the house particularly the bath and kitchen
I would use it to clean my floors and shower. This looks like an extremely useful product for sure.
I would use it on my kitchen and bathroom floors!
I would use it for possible paint over spray and on my linoleum floors.
I would put it to work in my kitchen first! The kitchen floor and cabinets could use a really good cleaning!
I would use it in the bathroom.
I would use it in my kitchen, on the stove top, counter tops and cabinets!
I’d start with the kitchen and bathroom. The front and back stairways and the basement are in desperate need as well. The whole place really really needs a solid, in depth cleaning! Thanks!