Category Archives for "cleaning tips"

0 You Can Clean Up your House In a Week

It may sound barely possible to most housekeepers, but you can actually take care of your entire home in a week since it needs cleaning every now and then. There is dirt and dust reaching every room, dirty dishes in the sink,since the sink is used daily, clothes in the washing machine, tones of mail that needs to be sorted out. Busy daily schedules and active lifestyles tend to leave to that and lessen your housekeeping time. But, however, if you feel ready to take action and make major changes you’d better read on.

This article is designed and tends to help you bring back some order and organization to your home duties in a week’s time in order to have a lot of more free time.

In the following few days you are going to do some basic cleaning for each room in your home from top to bottom without skipping even the hardest to reach corners.

Each room or section in the house shouldn’t take you more than half an hour of care per day to complete. Keep in mind that this is not deep cleaning, but what is called surface cleaning, it is a lot easier and you can do it by yourself. For deep cleaning you can contact professional cleaning companies after you have finished what you have started, or in simple words after you have set the start of this job with the cleaning basics. If you have kids at home  try and work approximately around their nap times during the day or you can even try to involve them in little ways with some simple yet important work you think they would be capable of. Do not forget that children love to “dust” and “sweep”, it is like a little game to them and they often do not see it as a job and have fun with it. Don’t overwhelm yourself. That is  why you are scheduling the cleaning work of your home over a week’s time.

To make this plan work fully you should continue to keep up the basic order in your house by putting things away every day. Wash up the dishes after you have cooked and eaten, nobody wants a sink full of dirty dishes, this actually complicates your duties. Put away clothing. Clear off the surface of the glass, mirrors, drawers, shelves and tables in every room, throw away the rubbish and sort out the mail! Start off the beginning of every day with a clean slate.

You can work through each room in the order that you have created and think that is most comfortable and time-saving for you. The layout below is based on how I tackle with the problems and duties in my home. This planning is individual based on everybody’s work and energy level. You can follow the article or do it your own way, which is probably the best way after all.

I also find it helps a lot  if I have a list with steps of what I have going on for the day and the present week. This keeps me away from becoming disoriented and not being organized ending up procrastinating the duties which follows with nothing getting done.

That is where the role of these checklists comes into use. There are cleaning checklists for each area and every different room of the house including  for instance planlists for the kitchen, bathroom to name a few. Even if you are aware of how to take care of them, sometimes it helps having the steps ordered right in front of you.

So, to conclude, involve the people you live with in this process to work things faster, make a planlist for each room and do your daily routine housework regularly to prevent transforming your weekends into a complete cleaning nightmare after you have not cleaned anything during the current week.

Good luck

0 Dusting Tips And Interesting Facts About Dust

Dust in residential and commercial premises contains various sources of tiny particles such as human and animal hairs, human skin cells, outdoor soil dust, dirt and debris, different fibres and other materials.

Dusting is an inevitable part of domestic cleaning procedures that should be done as frequently as possible in order to avoid any unwanted allergic reactions. Living in a big, vibrant city such as London entails daily accumulation of dust particles of various nature. No matter how often you dust your living area, dust particles seem to multiply with remarkable speed. Millions of tiny dust particles adhere to every nook and cranny of your home and they might be the reason for various skin irritations and allergies.

There is not a single place in your home where it is impossible for the dust to settle – your carpets and rugs, draperies and curtains, covers and mattresses are the perfect breeding ground for domestic dust. A most favourable place for building up of dust and consequently of various germs are carpets and area rugs, which should be thoroughly cleaned at least twice annually.

To fight dust accumulation in your home you should air the rooms regularly, run the vacuum cleaner daily and dust all shelves and units as frequently as possible.

Prevention is the best method for reducing to minimum speedy dust accumulation. Using entrance mats is a great idea to reduce dust accumulation at your home. Regular changing of air filters improves the air quality of your living area. Micro fibre clothes are the perfect tool when it comes to dusting since they have the ability to entrap even the smallest particles. Make sure that the cleaning tools you use are clean – thus you will not only move dust from one place to another.  Regular brushing of your pets also contributes to reducing dust build-up. To avoid double dusting of the same area you should dust it from top to bottom. Dust control might also be successful if you reduce the clutter and all unused items to minimum. We cannot eliminate dust forever by any means; we may just prevent the rapid build-up of dust particles, and thus make our homes cleaner, more comfortable and healthier.

An interesting fact about domestic dust is that in a residential area of six rooms, located in a temperate climate zone, about 15 kg of dust are accumulated annually. One cubic centimetre of air contains between 50 000 and 100 000 dust particles. Seven percent of natural dust is due to volcano eruptions. Most of the domestic dust presents dead human skin cells.

0 Cleaning Aluminium Cookware And Surfaces

For cleaning aluminium cookware, you will need some cream of tartar, some lemon juice, some vinegar, some water, a steel wool soap pad, some baking soda, and a pair of rubber gloves.

1. Wash the aluminium pan do get rid of dirt and then dry it.

2. Make a mixture of one tablespoon cream of tartar, lemon juice or vinegar and one quart of water. Make enough to fill the pan.

3. Place it on the stove that is heated on medium settings and wait until the water starts to simmer.

4. If you have some aluminium serving utensils, put those in the pan as well.

5. Let them boil for 10 minutes.

6. When the pan has cooled, put on a pair of rubber gloves and start scrubbing the pan with steel wool pad.

7. Do the rubbing in back and forth motions – not circular ones, as they will cause an uneven look.

8. Don’t apply a lot of pressure or you will scratch the aluminium.

9. Use a nonabrasive cleaner or some silver polish to clean the outside.

If you have an aluminium sink that you want to clean, you will need some Borax, some clean soft cloths, some water, and a pair of rubber gloves.

1. Using a mild dish detergent, wash dirt and grime and then rinse the sink.

2. Sprinkle Borax on the entire sink.

3. Dampen a cloth with water and rub to remove any leftover dirt.

4. Rinse with clean water.

If you want to clean outdoor aluminium surfaces, you will need some mild detergent, a bucket, some warm water, a solvent for special stains, some clean soft towels, a pair of rubber gloves, and a water hose.

1. Do this on a day with warm (but not hot) weather.

2. Mix warm water and mild detergent in a bucket.

3. Wipe the aluminium with a clean cloth dampened in the soapy water to remove debris and dirt.

4. Rinse with clean water. If you have a hose, you can use it.

5. If there are stubborn stains such as tar, for example, you will have to use a special solvent to clean. They can be found in home improvement stores.

6. Before using it on the stain, try the solvent on a small patch of the aluminium to make sure it won’t do any damage.

7. When the stain is gone, wash again with some mild detergent to remove the solvent.

8. Rinse again and then dry with a cloth.

0 How to Make Your House Look Clean and Cosy

There is no other place like home. It is a warm, cosy, safe and irreplaceable part of our everyday life and often an isolator keeping you far away from work and stress.
Here are some tips on how to take care of such a special place like your house in a short period of time.

Do the dish washing regularly after meal time,nobody likes dirty dishes being forgotten in the sink.Clean the dust every week. Use your hoover between 2 and 4 times a week if you have pets, this is against unwanted fur on the furnitures that can later cause unpleasant allergies or even asthma.
Clean all the glass surface in the house,make everything look shinier, in that way you make the whole house brighter and neat. Don’t forget your fridge. Throw away the food that is out of date or you won’t eat, organize what is left, then clean the shelves with some water and baking soda. Clean all the electric gadgets in the kitchen as often as possible, so next time when you need to use them they will be clean and ready to be used.

And last but not least, keep in mind that most of the time when you have people around your place they will need to use the bathroom,so prevent everything from the toilet seat to the shower from bacteria.

To make your rooms look cosy buy paintings and cushions in different bright colours that match, put some flowers in the vase and you will see that your home looks probably at its best.
Let some fresh air in all rooms every once in a while, for example just open the windows in the mornings for less than half an hour and that would be enough. Do not turn the lights on too often, sun light has always been better.
Use dimly lit lamps and new sheets in your favourite colour for your bed that match with the colours of your curtains,cushions or carpet.

Throw away old furniture, clothes and things you no longer use, leave some space for walking and put flowers instead (but not in your bedroom).
Sunbeams and lighter colours for the walls make every room look bigger, so let some sun shining in your home.

The golden rule is the less furniture you have,the better your rooms look,good luck!

0 After Birthday Cleaning (Step by Step)

Preparing your home for a birthday party is a long, though exciting process. However, cleaning after the party might be a real trouble as the excitement might have worn out. It is always very difficult to return the harmony to your home after a celebration that is why we need to be really organized and patient.  Here are a few steps that might help you get through this experience in a less stressful way so that your home becomes the cozy place you know and are used to.

1. Throw away all of the rubbish – gather all of the boxes, envelops, present bags, ribbons and all the decorations, sort and store them in piles, then go through all of them and decide what you want to keep. For example, you may want to use some of the boxes for storage or use the bags and envelops for future occasions. Once you are ready with that, you can throw away everything else.

2. Arrange your new presents – after every birthday you are left with a lot of new things which have to be stored and put away. It is recommended that you sort them as well. Then you can go on to wash the new clothes or arrange the new books in the bookcase. You can also find a place for every little souvenir such as a candle or a vase, or you can simply keep them stored in boxes or cupboards.

3. Throw away everything you do not need anymore – having received a lot of presents, you can now replace some of your old belongings with new ones. For instance, you can clear your wardrobe and make some space for your brand new clothes. The shirts, trousers and skirts you will no longer wear might be sent for charity.

4. Clean the kitchen – this is the place that probably made the event possible as the delicious food everyone indulged in was cooked there. However, the aftermath of the celebration is sure to be quite visible there. I would recommend that you start with getting rid of the products you will not use again. After that you can gather what is left from the ingredients needed for cooking the dishes for the party and try to use them before they have expired. Clear out the fridge as well and throw away what is no longer edible. Once you are done with the sorting, you can proceed to wash the dishes. There is no doubt it is one of the most unpleasant things you have to do after a party but remember that it was worth it.

Having cleaned your home after the big party, you can now enjoy the presents you were given – you can lay the new tablecloth or put on the blouse you got. Next year you can do that again.