I Love Grime

I do love grime.

That does not mean I want to live in it or smell it on a continuing basis (and no judgment to those who do or don’t mind it).

And maybe you’re thinking, “Ew! Gross! A House cleaner who loves grime? What the…??!?”

And that’s fine. I get it. It’s perhaps a bit counterintuitive. But grime is history. As I’ve stated in other blogs, it’s evidence of having lived in a place. There’s the livingness and the placedness in it. Rooms that are neglected don’t accumulate grime, they accumulate dust and their related bunnies. Grime implies touch. It implies a place having been used, patterns of use over time, the usefulness of a spot, the touching of a spot. Repetition. Hands reaching for the same place to balance going up/down the stairs; hands opening the cabinet for spicing food; hands holding the weight of the body as it leans to remove shoes.

And –

Not all records of existence need to remain. Some records might even be challenging to remove, perhaps after a child has outgrown the need to balance, or after a loved one who annoyed you so with their insistence on opening the cupboard with dirty hands passes away. More on cleaning after loss in another post. But even those memories don’t need to persist in that spot.

I personally love to live in my home. I don’t want to be afraid of living in my home, even as much as I want to care for my home and my belongings by not destroying or neglecting parts of it or its furnishings. There are aspects of grime that can be gross, both mentally and physically. Grime consists of a stubborn sticky, and it takes a little extra effort to remove it.

Grime benefits from a bit of pre-treatment, which actually allows for some time and spaciousness in its removal. And that time/space can be a good time to honor the lived-in-ness of the spot before removing the evidence. It’s a built in pause, perhaps to let some shame unravel for having let it get so “bad” or to release some judgment for the people who touched that spot over and over and over with “dirty” hands.

No frenzy is needed for the removal, just patience (its own wisdom) as solvent. And when it comes time, some good ol’ fashioned elbow grease. If it were effortless to remove, it wouldn’t be grime!

Our thoughts and patterns can get grimy, too. What “dirty” (again, don’t love this word, but be playful with it) thoughts have revealed themselves to be stuck to us over time, adding layers of evidence of negativity to our hearts/minds? Which thoughts have become beliefs, adhered to my way of viewing, experiencing, and filtering reality? Where am I feeling groggy, not because of lack of sleep but because of the stickiness of repetitive wear patterns of unhealthy thoughts? What’s my mental pre-treament/soak for those? How do I factor in some time/space and honor that those thoughts actually served me and are evidence of having lived?

Grime has a way of sneaking up on me. One day the cabinets look “normal” but the next it’s like someone poured syrup and sprinkled dust and their bunnies on while I was sleeping. That slow, subtle accumulation can actually take time to notice. It can take attention. It’s a good practice for me to ask myself what I’ve become accustomed to seeing, what I’m overlooking, what I’ve become blind to.

And… with any kind of regular wear/use, grime happens. It’s not a sign of neglect, or an embarrassment. I don’t know how many times I’ve not noticed the build-up until I invited someone over (more on this in another post), and all of a sudden it’s screaming at me. I don’t need to feel shame about it, rather just note I have a clear signal for what to attend to first. It’s not a reflection of my identity even if it might be a reflection of my mental state or emotional well-being.

So. A little elbow grease and a lot of love – attention, care, devotion, playfulness, reframing, and acknowledgment. A little goes a long way. May the grime be honored even as it’s removed.

Tip: Dr. Bronner’s castile soap has been amazing for me with grime. I use the liquid full strength on cabinets and stairway railings, and watered down on less grimy surfaces. I don’t get any money for saying it, I’m just sharing what works for me. I use the Baby Unscented, which doesn’t mean Baby in strength – it’s just unscented so that when it’s used on babies, they smell most like themselves and less like a scent.