Home Ec 2, Fourth Period 1/12

[screwyoumarvel]

There were more than just brooms today, so hopefully the students wouldn't be as bored. "So," Steve said with a clap of his hands, "now that you've got your space tidied up, you need to clean it. And keep it clean. You should vacuum at least once a week," he said, gesturing to the vacuum cleaner in question. "Yes. Really. If you're from another timeframe, the vacuum cleaner may seem alarming--it's pretty loud--but don't worry, it can't hurt you unless you do something extremely inadvisable." No, he was not going to elaborate on what that might entail, or at least, only in the most roundabout of ways: he demonstrated how to use the hose and said, "Don't stick your fingers or anything you might want to get back soon in here for any reason. For the same reason, you should pick up cords and small objects like socks off your floor before you vacuum."

Moving right along, Steve expounded on the virtues of a feather duster versus a dustcloth versus those Swiffer things that he wasn't sure what they were made of but they picked up EVERYTHING (fascinating stuff, right?) and then on to, "Now let's talk about how to clean your space and not poison yourself!" with a cheerful clap of his hands. This was important. "First off, there are different cleaners for different surfaces," he said, gesturing expansively to the vast array of bottles on one of the tables. "In my day, we mostly just used bleach and soap, but now..." another gesture to the bottles. "The first thing you need to know is that you should never, ever, ever mix bleach and ammonia-based cleaners, because you'll poison gas yourself. Some cleaners can be flammable, or poisonous. Some can be harmful to the skin, meaning you'll have to wear gloves to use them. The most important thing to do, as with anything in life, is read the instructions. If you can't read the instructions or don't understand them, ask for help. Caustic burns are no fun. You'll also want to store your cleaning chemicals in a cool, dark place away from anything you might, say, eat." Sometimes with the teenagers he felt like he had to state basic logic like that.

"So, your assignment for class this week is to pair up and clean something in the classroom--" there were kitchen stations, so they had options beyond their desks or worse, mopping "--with at least one of these cleaners. Your assignment for the week is to dust your dorm rooms and clean the windows. And don't forget to sweep and tidy up!"

Comments

Activity Time

[screwyoumarvel]

Why yes, yes he is. Pair up. Read labels. Clean things. He wants to see them sparkle.

Re: Activity Time

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

Cleaning? Seriously? Didn't they do that last week?

Juliet slowly pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and went over to a kitchen station, where she studied a bottle of cleaner in lieu of actually cleaning. She didn't want to use anything that wasn't thoroughly biodewhateverable.

Re: Activity Time

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Not gonna drink that, are you?" Alex asked, pulling on his own pair of gloves and wandering over.

Re: Activity Time

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

"Of course not!" Juliet protested, but couldn't work herself into sounding too insulted. "I was just making sure it was safe for the planet. I don't think we're supposed to drink anything that color."

A pause. "Are we?"

Re: Activity Time

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"You'd be amazed at some of the colors of booze I've seen," he said, glancing at the bottle. "You an environmentalist or something?"

Re: Activity Time

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes." Not really. "I just don't want to spray something around that might give us cancer. My health is very important to me."

Re: Activity Time

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I don't think you're gonna find anyone arguing with you about not catching some disease by cleaning up in a home ec class," he said, refraining from rolling his eyes.

"I think as long as we don't drink or bathe in this stuff, we'll be fine," he assured her. "This isn't even the cheap stuff and I've used the cheap stuff for years. No harm done."

Re: Activity Time

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

Oh, he was poor. Juliet had the social skills not to comment on it, but she couldn't keep a sympathetic wrinkle from forming in her forehead.

"So it's safe," she repeated, managing not to sound too dubious. "That's good to know. So ... where should we start?"

She frowned at the sink as she said that. There seemed to be some kind of ... sheen to the metal that didn't look very wholesome.

Re: Activity Time

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Wanna wipe down the sink?" Alex asked, noticing that sheen as well. "Shouldn't take too much of this stuff to do that. And it won't kill any butterflies or ladybugs either."

Re: Activity Time

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

"We're inside a school in January," Juliet pointed out, as she started spraying the sink down with about three times as much cleaner as the job needed. "I don't think ladybugs or butterflies were hanging around anyhow."

Re: Activity Time

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Well, you were concerned for yourself so I thought maybe that carried over to butterflies and ladybugs," he said, watching her cleaning skills with raised eyebrows. He didn't say anything though. "They're part of our environment too."

Re: Activity Time

[longislandiceme]

Bobby couldn't help but feel that the arrangement of cleaning products on the counter near the kitchen sink bore a vague resemblance to a police lineup.

Now he just had to make sure to pick the right one...

Hesitantly, he reached out towards one before changing his mind at the last minute and going for the lemon-scented spraybottle.

[fleeing for work now, back around 6pst if anyone would like to pair uuuup.]

Re: Activity Time

[glacial_queen]

"These shouldn't be in spray bottles," Karla decided. "It just makes me want to spray one at you."

A cleaning supply fight would be kind of awesome! First the fight and then the kitchen would be soaked in cleaning chemicals they could use to give the place a thorough cleaning! A perfect plan, if one ignored the possibility of getting caustic chemicals in people's eyes, mouths, or skin.

Re: Activity Time

[longislandiceme]

"It's all fun and games until someone starts screaming 'oh god oh god my eyes'," Bobby deadpanned.

Re: Activity Time

[glacial_queen]

"Oh, so you've played this game before?" Karla laughed. "It's how I used to help wash dishes when I was little. Only with soapy water and not caustic chemicals."

Re: Activity Time

[longislandiceme]

"I mostly just got in the way," Bobby admitted with a bit of a grin. That... pretty much summed up most of his experiences in the Drake household, actually.

Re: Activity Time

[glacial_queen]

Karla gave him a half-smile. "I know how that goes," she murmured. "I spent a lot of time sitting in a corner of the kitchen or the stables. Or biting tutors."

Re: Activity Time

[longislandiceme]

"You, a biter?" Bobby feigned a shocked look. "Never woulda guessed."

Re: Activity Time

[glacial_queen]

"I'm very subtle like that," Karla said with a nod. "And filled with secrets."

Re: Activity Time

[longislandiceme]

"Is one of those secrets the secret to a sparkling clean sink?"

Re: Activity Time

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully had to do this at the Clinic all the time anyway. But it did make her wish, briefly and frivolously, for superpowers to make the job go faster.

Re: Activity Time

[icecoldfrost]

Emma actually wasn't bad at this; she did spend a lot of time cleaning up after Hank when she was home, after all.

She selected one of the kitchen stations and set about washing down the counters with a mix of vinegar and warm, soapy water. Didn't these people know that manufactured disinfectants caused germs to mutate?

Re: Activity Time

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy... would not know that, no. Definitely a manufactured cleaning product user.

"Looking to be star pupil?" Making your own disinfectant felt like going rather above and beyond the requirements of this little exercize.

Re: Activity Time

[icecoldfrost]

"I don't like the chemical stuff," Emma replied, wrinkling her nose. "It smells horrible and makes my eyes water."

Also, she didn't used to have money for it.

"And this way I don't have to worry about poisoning myself, because God knows I would somehow manage it otherwise."

Re: Activity Time

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy had no problems with cleaning up a kitchen station. After all, she did it all of the time back home. She was fairly good at it.