Clever Carpet Cleaning Tips

Carpet manufacturers recommend that you have your carpets professionally steam cleaned once a year; twice if you soil them heavily.  Cleaning your carpets any more than this will break down the fibers and shorten the life of your carpet.  So what do you do in between cleanings when you find you have a little spot of something on your carpet?  Here are some carpet cleaning tips that will work wonders.

The first thing I like to try on stains is a very simple and natural one.  I have had success with this system on a juice stain that was two months old!  Mix a solution of 1/4 cup white vinegar and 3/4 cups water.  Decant into a spray bottle and saturate the stain with the mixture.  Then, dampen an old towel or washcloth with warm water and lay the cloth over the stain.  Using an iron with steam, iron over the towel until the stain is lifted.

For water-soluble and greasy stains, try this carpet cleaning formula: spray the area with a mix of 50% ammonia to 50% water plus a few drops of liquid soap.  Allow to sit for just a few seconds, then vacuum up with a shop vacuum.  Repeat until the stain is gone.  This technique is superior for preventing stain “ghosting”, where the stain is removed initially, then miraculously reappears a few days to weeks later.

Another trick to try that is simple and gentle is to rub a slightly damp bar of Ivory soap on the stain and then scrub with a toothbrush.  If you are out of Ivory, try using your husband’s shaving cream (if he uses the white, foamy kind).  Simply rub a small palmful of foam into the stain and wipe up with a cloth.

Coffee, tea and red wine stains remove quite well with the use of soda water.  As always with carpet cleaning, it is important to treat the stain as soon as possible.  First, blot up the excess tea, coffee or wine with a cloth then pour an ample amount of soda water on the area.  Let sit for a minute or two and blot with a clean cloth.

Clean Windows Like a Professional

Hiring a professional window cleaner can be quite expensive.  Why not learn how to do the same job yourself for a fraction of the cost?  All you need to clean windows like a professional is the proper tools, a little instruction and some elbow grease!

Having the correct tools is important when you want to clean windows like a professional. Luckily, the tools you need are simple, inexpensive and easy to find:  a squeegee, a scraper, lint-free towels and a scrubbing wand or natural sponge.

Professionals use a special technique to get their windows sparkling.  If your window is really dirty, you will want to give it a pre-wash.  With a bucket of warm water and cleaning solution and using your scrubbing wand or a natural sponge, wet the window to get most of the grime off.  Then, use your squeegee to remove most of the dirty water.  

If you discover debris that can’t be removed with the sponge, use your window scraper to get it off.  Then wet your window a second time.  This time, start at the edges and scrub up and down, loosening the remaining dirt.  Next, starting at the top of the window, begin cleaning in a circular motion all the way to the bottom.

At this point, with your window covered in soapy water, you can start to squeegee.  If you want to clean windows like a professional, always squeegee from side to side, not top to bottom.  Make sure the blade of the squeegee is in good condition and is straight. Now hold it to the window at a 15 to 20 degree angle and make a wiping motion from side to side.  

After one stroke across the window, wipe the squeegee blade with the towel to contain water drips.  Continue until you have completed the window, then use the lint-free towel to detail the edges; that is, make sure there is no water or debris in the edges or corners.  These few simple instructions will allow you to clean windows like a professional in no time!

Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Hardwood flooring is stunning–and expensive.  If you have hardwood floors in your home, you will want to follow these simple tips to protect your investment and keep it looking good for as long as possible.

When cleaning hardwood floors, sometimes prevention is the best policy.  Placing door mats at entryways and in high-traffic areas like kitchens can help protect your floor from scratches and water damage.  There are rubber-backed floor mats that are made just for hardwood — they are nonskid and come in designs and colors to match any home decorating style.

In addition, make sure you have window treatments to protect your floors from fade-out over time.  Also, remember to use skid pads or a blanket underneath any furniture that you are moving to avoid scratches and gouges in the wood.  In fact, it is a good idea to use protectors on furniture legs to avoid marks from day to day wear as well.

Cleaning your hardwood floors often will minimize damage and help maintain the floor’s beauty longer.  First, purchase a good quality broom and sweep often to remove debris and dirt that can scratch your floor’s finish.  Alternately, you can use a vacuum without a beater bar to finish more quickly or to get hard-to-reach places with the hose attachments.

Most hardwood floors are easy to care for, which means all you have to do next is to mop using a 8″ x 14″ terrycloth mop.  Get one with a rotating head to make cleaning along baseboards and in corners a breeze.  If you have tough spills or stains, be sure to use whatever professional cleaning products were recommended for use with your floor.  This will help remove stubborn stains without dulling your floor.

One cautionary note: when cleaning hardwood floors, don’t use ammonia cleaners or oil soaps — they will dull the finish and make it difficult to reseal the floor later, if it becomes necessary.

A Clean Refrigerator in No Time

Despite what you might believe, it doesn’t take a lot of time to get your refrigerator sparkling clean.  In fact, if you have about a half an hour you can have a clean refrigerator in no time.

First, gather your supplies: a refrigerator coil brush, a multi-surface cleaner, a trash bag, a scrubbing sponge, dish soap, paper towels, and old toothbrush, a lint-free cloth and some white vinegar.  Then, unplug your refrigerator so that you can use the coil brush to dislodge any dust and dirt that might be building up on the coils.  This will clean this area and improve the efficiency of your unit.

Now, empty everything out of the fridge.  This is a good time to toss anything past the sell-by date and anything that might look like a science project.  This is also the time to wipe down pickle and condiment jars that might have sticky drips and spills.  Putting these back in your clean refrigerator will only undo all your hard work.

Remove all drawers and put them in a sink full of hot water and dish soap.  You can let them soak while you move on to the next step or, if they are not very dirty, simply give them a once-over with the sponge, rinse and let air dry.

For a really clean refrigerator, spray the entire interior with your multi-surface spray.  Wipe down all walls and shelves and remember to clean the rubber door gaskets and shelf seams. If you have built-up grime in any of these areas, use your old toothbrush and some cleaner to remove it easily.

Plug your fridge back in, return the drawers and put all usable food and condiments back.  If you wish, you can open a box of baking soda to keep your clean refrigerator smelling fresh or use a commercially available fridge fresheners.

Finally, clean the exterior.  For enameled steel, use your cleaning solution and paper towels and for stainless steel, simply soak a lint-free cloth in white vinegar and wipe in the direction of the grain.  Now you have a really clean refrigerator and it only took you 30 minutes!

Planning Meals Ahead Of Time

To make meal time and the rest of the day run smoother, it is helpful to plan meals ahead of time, usually a week in advance, or two if you’re lucky to find the time! I know it sounds like a daunting task, but, once you find your stride, you’ll be amazed you didn’t do this before!

First, you should have paper and pen either on your refrigerator or your pantry door. Always take a running inventory of what you have used, what is running low, or what you will need for a recipe. The easiest way to keep this list current is to write down the item prior to grabbing it, such as last four eggs in a carton or the last splash of milk in your coffee.

Second, to easily plan meals ahead, you need to designate one to two hours a week, preferably in one sitting, to view your grocery’s stores weekly flyer against your list. Staples such as eggs, butter, flour, etc. are not normally on sale, but sometimes you will luck out. You will also find that sale items will help you plan meals ahead of time as they usually are paired items. Normally, chicken, rice, and soup will be on sale at the same time and make a delicious casserole.

Third, when you plan meals ahead, you will want to make foods work for you more than one night. If you plan to make tacos one night, brown two pounds of beef, and then store the other pound to add to store bought red sauce for a semi-homemade meat sauce to serve over pasta as an easy, meal one night of the week. You can almost plan meals ahead of one staple meal. The extra soft shells and lettuce from taco night can also go into a wrap for lunch! Just don’t forget to write your weekly meal plans down!

With a small chunk of time each week, you can easily plan meals ahead of time and save yourself time and trouble!

Organizing Cleaning Supplies

You can easily organize cleaning supplies, regardless of location or space in just a few easy steps. First, you will need to read the labels and make sure not to store things that could be dangerous near each other. Just keep them in mind as you organize. Pull everything out of your storage space, usually under a sink, and toss out anything empty, expired, or questionable.

Next, separate your dry cleaning supplies, such as rags, washcloths, sponges, and brushes into separate piles. Wash any rags or discard very old ones. Neatly fold them and put them aside.

After that, you can organize cleaning supplies into sections of use. Place similar products into a plastic shower caddy. These are easily found at any big box store when the college kids go back to school or even at a dollar store. I suggest ones that are as square as possible so you can fit them into your cupboard or closet easily. Also, put a plastic cup in the caddy to store any wet rags or sponges you use while cleaning, so they do not drip as you carry your caddy back to its spot.

Label the handle of each caddy, to keep the organized cleaning supplies in their correct places. This can be done directly on the caddy with a permanent marker, on masking tape, or you can get extra fancy and use a label maker.

Finally, take an old shoebox and place any extra sponges or rags inside for use while the others are in the wash or have been disposed of. There you have it! With about half an hour of work and easily attained supplies, you can organize cleaning supplies in no time!

Organizing Make Up

Your need to organize makeup is based around how frequently you wear it. But before we get into that, the first place you should start is sorting through and deciding on what you will keep and what you will need to throw away.

If you cannot remember the last time you used a makeup product, or if the last time you used it was pre-child with the desire to wear low-rise jeans, throw it away! From here on out, whenever you open a brand new product to use, mark its expiration date on your calendar or add a reminder to your phone.

Surprisingly, these are useful tools to help organize makeup and keep it that way! Anything you will put your fingers in to scoop needs to be thrown out after six to nine months due to bacterial growth. Mascara and eyeliner are out after three months, powdered anything get 18 months. Wash your makeup sponge after each use and throw away after one month.

Now, you should have dwindled down your supply to healthy amount and can organize makeup accordingly. If you are a minimalist, I suggest an over the door clear shoe pocket holder. You will be able to see everything, mark dates right onto the pouches, and any messes are easy contained. You will also be able to store hairbrushes, flat irons, and other daily tools.

If you’re like me and cannot get enough, you can organize makeup in a few simple steps. For brushes, which should be cleaned once a month, store them upright in a mesh pencil container. Store powder and liquid brushes in separate containers on the counter, so they will be within easy reach.

Next, organize makeup by type, then color, and then hue if you have enough. Using several small makeup bags, store each kind in a designated pouch. My brown eye shadows are in one bag, while my other colors are in another. Once you have them in their respected pouches, add the smaller pouches to a large, clear bag. This way, if you ever need to run out the door or pack for vacation, you have your organized makeup ready to go.

Bathroom Cleaning Tips

To keep a bathroom looking like new and easy to spot clean for unexpected guests, I have a few bathroom cleaning tips to divulge in:

Deep clean your bathroom. This may sound tedious, but, with frequency, it will not take as long as the first bathroom cleaning. Start by washing your shower liner in a large container of cold water and half a cup of laundry detergent. Squish and knead, as though you’re making bread, to remove any build up.

While that is soaking, spray your tub with a mix of 3 parts water to 1 part white vinegar. Scrub the entire tub with a medium abrasive sponge and then rinse. Rinse your liner and rehang it, opening it all the way so no water pools in the folds.

Your next bathroom cleaning tip is the toilet. Always start top to bottom. Jumping around brings bacteria and germs from the seat to the handle, interior to exterior and makes the entire bathroom cleaning useless. You should end the cleaning with the seat up and the bowl ready to be scrubbed.

Once your toilet is clean, it’s time to tackle the sink. Using the same vinegar spray, wipe down the counter, faucet, and basin. Allow to dry and do a once over with an anti-bacterial wipe. Last, crumple up a page from the newspaper and spray it with window cleaner, to wipe down any mirrors or windows. The newspaper will not leave behind any streaks. Lastly, sweep and mop.

To make most of the deep clean bathroom cleaning tips, you should clean daily. After you shower, use a small squeegee or terry cloth to wipe down the shower walls and curtain. Hang up towels to dry on their own bars, do a quick once over with an antibacterial wipe on your toilet and sink every other day and soon you’ll find your bathroom is clean and you’ll find less effort will be needed for bathroom cleaning!

Home Recycling Tips

Here are a few tips for home recycling:

1. Have an organized recycling area.  Clearly label each gathering container.  I like to use a set of lookalike trash cans lined with recyclable clear bags.

2. Make sure cans and containers are rinsed thoroughly to avoid bad smells, sticky messes and bugs.

3.  Check to see if there is a local charity collecting anything the family could be saving.  In Indiana, a mom supported a garden club with aluminum cans.  I recently discovered the local Ronald McDonald House is collecting pop tops.

4. Make a game out of discovering new things to recycle.  Begin a list of what is already being recycled around the house.  Encourage household members to review the list of recyclables found on community websites and add new items to the list with the name of the person beside it.  At the end of the month the person who adds the most items to the list wins a prize.

5. If there are children in the household with some items headed for the recycle area and the trash, make a fun start to a multitude of craft projects.  Things like cardboard rolls from toilet paper and paper towels, lids from pop bottles, ketchup, and dish soap, junk mail, and CD’s are interesting materials for new creations.

6.  Make an effort to find out what the materials in your recycle bin are used to make. Read labels of products to discover which one have been made from recycled materials.  Somehow seeing concrete results helps instill the importance of recycling.

Do you have tips you would like to share? Please leave your comments below!

Tips To Create An Attractive Home Garden

Growing admirable plants that provide an appealing look is one of the major desires of today’s home makers. Creating and maintaining attractive home gardens, require some effort and interest. Let us see some of the options for making your home gardens, a fascinating place to hang around for anyone who visits your house.

Maintaining the lawn

Home gardens without lawns are like cars without engines. Most people feel that maintaining a lawn is a difficult task, but it is not. Maintaining a healthy lawn requires three easy steps.

• Watering your lawn once in 2 days.
• Mowing your lawn whenever possible.
• Fertilizing it with nitrogen and potassium fertilizers, occasionally.

Gardening Plants

The combination of cactus, chrysanthemum flowers, fragrant flowers and dwarf plants would make the home gardens more beautiful. Based on the weather conditions of your region, you can place some of those plants that grow only in your region.

You can fix the garden watering system, if you want to reduce your effort in the maintenance of your home gardens. Apart from the beauty aspect, by maintaining a home garden, you can incorporate peace into your life.

Ideas For Decorating Your Bedroom

For those who would love to improve the aesthetics of their bedroom, two of the best bedroom ideas are listed below:

Color Based Themes

Just imagine a color for your bedroom. For example, if you want to make it look girly, you can choose pink, yellow, maroon or light blue. Make everything in your bedroom, involving the wall paint, carpet, bedspread, pillow covers, table covers, decorative items, and wall hangings, to be of that same color scheme. Just imagine this and you will feel a pleasant environment around you. This is one of the best bedroom ideas that are easy to implement and maintain.

Printed Walls and Bed Spreads

Printed art on the bed spreads and either printed or dye art on the wall is one of the popular bedroom ideas that are being adopted by large number of home makers. You may also hang some beautiful paintings on the walls and wrap the night lamps and other objects within the room with attractive art works. These are the two best bedroom ideas that are becoming more and more popular.

How Should Home Buyers Choose Their Neighborhood

Finding the right neighborhood is as important as finding the right house. So home buyers should have more focus on the neighborhood and should not be satisfied just for the house alone. Below are some of the most critical factors that one should look for in a neighborhood.

1. Availability of proper schools to get your children educated, without having to travel a long distance (unless you plan to homeschool)
2. Availability of hospitals within the neighborhood is one of the most significant aspects that home buyers should look for
3. It is important to look for the traffic conditions in the neighborhood, as the increased level of traffic would result in a stressful situation for the home buyers
4. Another important factor required for a peaceful life is to know the crime rate in the neighborhood. If the crime rate is high, it is not a safe place to live and insurance rates will be higher
5. Find out the transport facilities available in the neighborhood
6. Home buyers should acquire some knowledge on the future constructions that are likely to be made in the neighborhood and analyze the impacts of it

Home buyers really should never buy a house just because the house suits their requirements. The neighborhood should be given equal importance within the search for the perfect home.

Eight Important Tips For Home Buyers

While buying a house we put in all our money that was saved by working hard day and night. So is it not ideal to spend some time and give a good amount of thought before buying a house? Here are some tips that would help the home buyers to choose the right house.

1. First thing that concerns the home buyers is their budget. Based on your budget, decide whether you are going to buy a new house or an old one. Old ones are never a bad choice.
2. Based on your family requirements, decide how many rooms you will need.
3. If your family size is just three or four, even a single bedroom house will be fine.
4.  Be aware that the re-sale value of a single bedroom house is at the lower side when compared to double or triple bedroom houses.
5. Home buyers should give more importance to the type and the number of bathrooms.
6. As a home buyer, you should be looking for a house with more than one bathroom or one bathroom for each bedroom.
7. Find a house where you will find shops for all your basic needs, within a close proximity.
8. Try to find a house with a good neighbourhood. After buying a house, we have to live among them and hence it is good to know about the neighbourhood in advance.

Home buyers should keep these tips in mind, as it would help them to make more informed decisions. The goal for the home buyer is to find their special dream house.

Break Chores Down Into Small Everyday Projects

Cleaning is rarely anyone’s favorite pastime. More often than not we groan inside when we remember that we have a house to clean. But cleaning does not have to be the evil that we so frequently think it is!

One of the biggest reasons that cleaning can be so frustrating is because we end up having a whole list of things that need to be done. Instead, if you could break down that big laundry list of chores into smaller everyday projects, the big clean up wouldn’t seem so bad.

A good way to do this is by setting aside just 15-30 minutes every day to do a different, usually neglected chore, such as mopping the floor or dusting shelves. By doing a little every day, you are largely able to avoid the big gnarly clean-up days that we each dread. After all, it is much easier to maintain a clean home a little everyday than it is to drain yourself completely scrubbing away all day.

At first it may seem hard to set aside that time, but once you get into the habit it will not seem like a sacrifice. If you thought about it, you’d realize there probably is an extra hour in your day that ends up getting drained away by something less productive anyways. You’ll be thanking yourself in the end when your big clean-up day isn’t as bad as it would’ve been.