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7 Steps to Cleaning Your Vacuum

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  Cleaning the Vacuum Cleaner We try to clean our home and keep up with the housework on a regular basis. Maybe it’s every few days, once a week, or less often? But how often do we think to clean the vacuum cleaner? No matter what kind of vacuum you use, I’m pretty sure it’s a veritable work horse with all the dirt, debris, hair and who knows what else we have it suck up. Sometimes it truly amazes me mine runs as long as it does, especially when my younger kids are vacuuming. So treating your vacuum and the accessories that came with it, to a good cleaning on a somewhat regular basis can’t hurt. It’s not a time consuming job and something that can be done when the weather’s keeping you indoors. Step 1: Be sure the vacuum is unplugged. I’m sure this bit of instruction isn’t necessary but you never know. Step 2: If parts need to be removed, make sure you know how to put it back together by taking pictures or labeling. Step 3: Use mild soap and water to clean the accessories and the
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Plumbing Updates You Should Make When Winterizing Your Home

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Did you get around to winterizing your plumbing? If not, it’s not too late to avoid unpleasant plumbing surprises. Cold weather is notoriously rough on plumbing systems. There are sure to be more days when the mercury dips and water freezes. Here are a few ways to make sure your home is ready for cold weather. Outdoor Precautions First of all, head outside. Disconnect all hoses, drain them and put them away; any leftover water trapped in them can freeze, expand, and ruin your equipment. Check your faucets to make sure they are not dripping, leaking or cracking. Frozen pipes and expanding ice turn minor cracks into major leaks. If your home is equipped with a shut-off valve for your exterior faucets, close it. It’s also a good idea to get a foam faucet insulation kit and use it to cover your outdoor faucets. The Water Heater Cooler temperatures force your water heater to work harder. Giving it an annual checkup and maintenance is a good idea. You should flush out your heater to rem
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Cleaning Around the House with White Vinegar

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I know you see posts all the time about the using white vinegar to clean around the house and I as well post about the many uses. These are some of the questions we get asked often by our clients. You may not realize it, but white vinegar is environmentally friendly, it’s a germ fighter and you probably have it on a kitchen shelf already as you may use it to cook with time and again for tenderizing meats, pickling your garden veggies and bringing out the flavor of some foods. I have to say, I think my bottle of white vinegar is used more for cleaning around the house than for using in my recipes. You can use it to sanitize the washing machine, make your own window cleaner and so much more. Vinegar can be used all around the house, from the kitchen to the bathrooms and even used to clean certain types of floors.  Vinegar is quite effective for killing household germs, bacteria, and killing most molds due to its acidic nature. However, because of its acidic nature it will damage st
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Preparing Your Home for Christmas Guests

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Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the lights, the smells and especially the holiday music. One of my favorite Christmas songs is Perry Como’s “There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays”. Christmas is also a time when family and friends are gathered around the kitchen counters eating and chatting happily together. I love these days, the festivities, and the crowd of loving people around me. For many of us, the holidays also mean we’ll be sharing our home with guests . I enjoy my guests and I like making them feel special when they’re here. Here are some quick and fun ideas that will make your guests feel at home.  Make Welcome Baskets for Your Guests One way to make your holiday guest(s) feel special is to make a welcome basket. These are fun to create and so helpful to guests.  Here are a few tips for putting your welcome basket together. Bedroom Guest Baskets For the bedroom where your guests will be staying, have a nice basket that holds towels, , bath
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How to Clean Light Scratches From a CD or DVD

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First let me say you may not be able to reverse the damage done to the disk, but the method below might help the disc be readable again. If this does work, I would suggest, if possible, you consider making a copy of the disc. If the CD or DVD contains software, contact the company and they may send you a new disk or send you a link where you can download the program. Cleaning the CD or DVD Prior to taking the steps to reduce the scratch, make sure the surface of the DVD is clean. Don’t clean the surface of your DVDs or CDs by wiping them on your clothing. Our clothing can be rough or the disk can rub against a button or a heavy seem on jeans which can cause more scratches on the surface of the disk. You also should not use a paper towel or anything similar as these are too abrasive. Start by using a bulb air duster (not a can of air, the blast of air is too strong) and carefully blow the surface. I use the bulb duster I bought for my camera. If you don’t have one of these then blo
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5 Tips for Removing and Preventing Stinky Garbage Disposal Smells

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Disposal Odors and How to Rid of Them Cleaning the kitchen is one thing but how many of us forget about the disposal? I’ll admit, I sometimes forget until I get some phantom smell in the kitchen that isn’t coming from the garbage can. The garbage disposal is a powerhouse when it comes to grinding up particles of food and when you think about it, some of the things that go in may cause some funky odors to come out. Below are some things you can do to remove and prevent odors in your garbage disposal. Run cold water when using the garbage disposal. After rinsing pots, pans and dishes, grease and oils can run off into the disposal area. Using cold water will help solidify any grease and oil so it can be chopped up before reaching the trap where it could otherwise sit and accumulate. Freeze white vinegar in ice cube trays. I use the silicone trays because popping them out is so easy and it really doesn’t matter if you use large or small square trays. Vinegar is a natural deodorizer th
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Using Your Old Toothbrush to Clean Tight Places in the Bathroom

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If you’re like me, you save a few old toothbrushes instead of throwing them in the trash. They come in handy for cleaning in tight places. One of the reasons I like using an old toothbrush is they are already worn down and it's lost the stiffness, then I don’t have to worry about scratches – not to mention I don’t want to waste a new toothbrush for cleaning gunk. So, if you have an old toothbrush, don’t throw it out, not yet anyway. Get more use out of it before tossing it in the trash. Cleaning Hard to Get Places in the Shower One of the places I use my old toothbrush is cleaning the bottom of sliding glass shower doors. If you have this kind of shower door you know how soapy water can run down the glass and into the tracks where water pools. If this is left you end up with soap scum in the tracks and on the bottom of the glass which can be hard to get at with just a sponge or cleaning rag. This is where the old toothbrush comes in handy to scrub the shower tracks, the
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