House Cleaning Tips

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. I work from my home and I love it when I can open my office window, let the fresh air in, listen to the birds and watch them as they eat from the bird feeders (yes, I do manage to get work done). Spring is also one of the larger cleanings we do around our house. I want my house as fresh on the inside as it is smells on the outside. Spring Cleaning 101 Here are some of the basics of any large cleaning. These will help you keep track of all you are doing, what’s already been done, and so forth. 1.    Make a list of all the areas in the house you want to tackle and what you hope to accomplish. I type everything on the computer in columns with checkmarks. This makes it so much easier to cross things off the list, and I have a copy for my next spring cleaning that I can easily add to if needed. Here’s a sample of what a section of your list could consist of, let’s use the kitchen as our example: Cleaning the Kitchen Dust a...

Hardwood floors are gorgeous when they’re clean. I love it when either natural light or ambient light shows just how stylish they are. Hardwood floors add a touch of elegance to a home, don’t you think? Hardwoods are a great option as they are durable, they come in different colors and a variety of styles, and they are easy to clean and maintain. Sweeping the Floors Cleaning hardwood floors is a pretty basic task when done on a regular basis. If you use something like a Swiffer sweeper to sweep your floors, this simple task will keep the floors shiny and dust free. I particularly like microfiber sweepers like the Swiffer. They are lightweight and the materials are designed to attract and trap dust particles, which is so much nicer than in the old days of brooms which just pushed the dirt around. Sweeping the floors is also an easy task to put on the kids chore list, especially the younger ones. They’ll get a kick out of watching the dust bunnies stick to the Swiffer. For large mess...

We all know that cleaning the house is a chore we wish we could skip. But how many of us can stand to look at or sit in a home where dust is accumulating in thick layers, carpets look dingy, clothes are piling up, or use a bathroom with dirty sinks, showers and toilets? Yuck! If you're anything like me then I know you won't stand for all the dirtiness! Make an easier time of cleaning by following our suggestions listed below. These house cleaning tips will make your cleaning day more effective and more efficient. Have all Cleaning Supplies Together Before you start to clean, make sure you have all your supplies together. This really does help in the amount of time it takes to clean when you don’t have to go back and forth fetching cleaning supplies. My cleaning tote has everything in it I’ll need so I won’t have to stop and possibly get sidetracked. Your cleaning supplies should consist of things like: Cleaning cloths (for wet and dry) Cleaners Window cleaner Vacuum cleaner ...

I used to only use cornstarch when I was making a gravy, desserts, or sauces. But just like white vinegar and baking soda, cornstarch has many uses around the house other than baking. So, how can you use cornstarch? Follow me on down the page and let's take a look. Help Athletes Foot by using a little Cornstarch Put corn starch on your feet between the toes, and sprinkle it inside your shoes prior to wearing them. This will help keep feet dry. Cornstarch can also be used to absorb and remove odors in shoes. Cornstarch can be used to help Sunburns Make a paste of cornstarch and water. Apply to the skin, let dry about 20–30 minutes, then rinse. You can also add 1 cup cornstarch to the bath and soak for 20 to 30 minutes. Treating Blackheads with Cornstarch and White Vinegar Make a paste by adding white vinegar to 1/2 cup cornstarch until a paste forms. The paste should be just thick enough for it to stay on your face and not slide off, but not so thick that it just clumps and can’...

The holidays are over and you’ve taken down and put away all the holiday decorations (or most of you have). Now it’s time to take a good hard look at your carpet and any spills and stains you may not have had the time to get to as they happened. Even though they may have remained on the carpet a little longer than you’d like, it shouldn’t be much of a problem to get these stains out. Before we get into cleaning stains, let me mention some of the cleaning ingredients I use and many of you may already have in the house. Some of the Ingredients I Use Here’s a short list of some of my go-to cleaning products: Dawn Dishwashing Liquid When I refer to a dishwashing liquid, for the most part I use Dawn dish soap. It’s always been what we buy. Dawn contains enzymes that will break up grease and proteins and is pretty effective in eliminating many kinds of messes. It’s cleaned up many of our messes around the house! A tip when using dishwashing liquids: You only need to add a small amount t...

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may already know that vinegar has a ton of uses around the house. Maybe you’re like me and keep loads of it around. Even our cleaning crews use it when cleaning houses, so we keep gallons on the shelves at work, while I keep gallons at home. Besides all the proven uses of vinegar in the home, did you know that regular old vinegar is also an effective weed killer? I have a patch of garden where I haven’t planted anything for quite some time, and the weeds get totally out of control. I thought I’d save myself some backbreaking work and use a vinegar solution (recipe below) to kill the weeds. It works really well and when the weeds are brown, dried, and dead, I’m a happy camper—it makes cleaning them up a bit easier! Vinegar Weed Killer Recipe 1 gallon white vinegar (regular household strength) 2 tablespoons Dawn liquid dish detergent 1 cup salt Add the salt and vinegar to an empty sprayer, the garden variety kind. If you don’t have one ...

Are you one of those people stuck in the house on Saturday morning cleaning before you can get out and enjoy the day? Maybe its summer and you want to take a trip to the zoo, farmers market, or the movies, but first you feel compelled to get the house picked up and cleaned. I can’t say I blame you—I absolutely hate coming home to a dirty house. On the other hand, who wants to clean their house first thing in the morning? There have been times when we’ve left a messy house to go enjoy our day, then walked back into that same messy house hours later. Then, it’s like all that great adrenaline and giddiness from all the fun we just had has been taken away in one fell swoop! Darn. We have to clean! When I come home from an outing, all I want to do is kick back, relax and talk about what we did. But no, if I didn’t get the house clean earlier - I gotta get it clean or the mess will drive me nuts. Is this the way you feel too? Why not consider hiring a house cleaning service? It can defin...