You’ve just settled down in a comfy chair with your favorite cup of java and get an alert on your phone. Unexpected guests are coming over and you have little time to prepare. It is the nightmare scenario we have all faced a time or two. If it has been an exceptionally busy day or week, you feel the stress settle in and are now noticing all of the spots around your house that are not ‘guest ready.’

If you have run low on any of your products and are pressed for time, we have solutions for you! Having a few useful cleaning tips utilizing items laying around your home can help make your process quick and easy. Of course, you always have the option to check into a service that will eliminate all of your need to worry as well…

Coca-Cola Removes Tough Stains

This classic soda is loaded with phosphoric and carbonic acid which makes it super effective in busting through rust and hard stains. One of the best locations to test this out is in your bathroom. Grab a can of Coke and pour it around the rim of your toilet allowing it to flow down into the bowl. Let this sit while you focus on other areas of the house. Upon returning, you can use your toilet wand to scrub off any stubborn stains that have not already dissolved. Flush and you’re done!

Grapefruit and Salt for a Sparkling Tub and Sink…with a Bonus!

You have probably read about the cleansing power of lemon and vinegar; it’s all true. Grapefruit, however, is just as effective and leaves behind a bright citrus scent in its wake. It is important to note that while it is a great cleaning agent for grime, it does not have antibacterial properties and should not be used as a substitute for areas where bacteria might abound. If you have tub rings or sink stains, simply slice your grapefruit in half, sprinkle salt on both the fruit and the surface you intend to clean, and scrub vigorously. The rind can be used against particularly stubborn areas. Rinse away the remaining salt and pulp with warm or hot water, and voila!

BONUS: Your used grapefruit halves can be boiled in water for a few minutes before tossing out to add diffused fragrance to the air (do not eat/drink!) or dropped down your kitchen garbage disposal to freshen/clean the piping and blades.

Coffee Filters for Clean Screens

Coffee filters are a perfect substitute for traditional feather dusters and can do an even better job at leaving behind a shiny surface. Because of their rippled surface and anti-static properties, you can use fresh filters on just about any screen in your home; television, tablet, phone, laptop, computer, and more. Run them across wooden surfaces – especially dark colors – to watch the dust lift off in an instant with a streak and lint free sparkle.

Eliminate Grease and Smudges with White Bread

Do not toss out stale bread or unwanted end-pieces! The sponge-like surface is loaded with gluten that can absorb grease, dirt, and stains. Notice fingerprints or grease on your kitchen walls? Gently dab and brush the surface with a piece of bread and watch those unwanted marks disappear. The perks do not end there! If you drop a glass object and it shatters, you can carefully press the slice down onto the tiny shards to help lift them for disposal.

Combat Dust with Dryer Sheets

Just like coffee filters, dryer sheets can bust through dust while making every room smell like fresh laundry! Take your sheets and run them along baseboards, blinds, chandeliers, light fixtures, and mirrors in order to lift and repel dust. Dryer sheets are so effective in preventing dust from resettling on your delicate surfaces, you will notice your need to swipe these spots will decrease overall.

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Your dishwasher is always hard at work cleaning your dishes, but what cleans the dishwasher? Often times dishwashers operate for years without receiving the attention that they need and required in order to continue to run efficiently and not fall apart. Out of all of the things in your house, often times this one is neglected. Here is a list of things you will need to get your dishwasher looking new:

Sponge
Distilled white vinegar
Baking soda
Screwdriver (if needed)
Dish soap
Toothbrush (for small to reach areas)
Microfiber cloth
Stainless steel cleaner
Multipurpose cleaner
Instructions
1. Empty the dishwasher. Cleaning the dishwasher while it is full just won’t work.

2. Remove the racks and and other compartments that can be removed from the inside of your dishwasher.

3. Wipe the bottom of the door and any dishwasher grates that you might have (the bottom part underneath the door). Often times dust and crumbs will accumulate here because water cannot reach there.

4. If you have a filter in your washer, it’s a good idea to clean it periodically.

5. Wipe the door seal and by soaking a cloth in vinegar, then wipe around the door seal. Make sure to get into the small areas with a toothbrush or Q-tip also soaked in vinegar.

6. Clean the utensil rack with a soapy toothbrush or dish brush. Then rinse and wash off the top and bottom racks of your dishwasher and put them back into the dishwasher.

7. Run an empty cycle with vinegar, this will help to remove hard water deposits and clean any other areas you may have missed during your cleaning. You can add 2 cups of vinegar to the bottom of the dishwasher and run the dishwasher. Stop the dishwasher halfway through the cycle, and let the vinegar stand on the bottom for about 20 minutes. Turn on and complete the cycle. * Please note that vinegar is acidic and should be used with caution.

8. Clean and polish the exterior, sides, and all buttons on the panel with a cleaner that is made for the type of surface that your dishwasher has, such as a stainless steel cleaner or an all purpose cleaner.

9. You’re all done! Repeat once a month or as needed. Now it is time to move on to other tasks in your home.

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A lot of work goes on in the laundry room, but how often does that work include keeping the laundry room itself clean? If you’re like most people, very little time is ever spent keeping the laundry room clean. These simple steps are an easy way to make sure your laundry room space is just as clean as your whites.

Keep it Clean!

Where do you start? From the top and work your way down.

• Wipe down any shelves with a wet microfiber cloth. Starting from the top allows the dust and dirt that you don’t collect fall down to the ground, where you will take care of it later. On those shelves, over spray and splashes of detergent can leave surfaces sticking and gross, making them a great spot for dust, link, and even bugs to accumulate.
• Next, run your washing machine with an empty load an don a hot cycle.  Use two cups of vinegar to keep the machine fresh and clean inside. After completing the load, wipe down the interior where soap has accumulated.
• Remove the lint trap from your dryer and soak the trap in hot water and a quality soap.   After it has soaked for a few minutes, you can scrub the trap to remove any extra buildup.  If you are feeling super motivated, you can also soak the knobs from your washer and dryer as well (if they are removeable).  This will put a nice clean touch to your laundry room.
• Wipe the outside surfaces of your washer and dryer with a microfiber cloth and a quality glass cleaner.  This will help to make them shine and repel dust.
• Don’t forget to remove the dryer hose and use your vacuum to remove link that has built up on the inside of the hose.  Not only is this a good cleaning tip, it is a good safety tip as well, as it keeps your hose from turning into a fire hazard.
• Use a vacuum that has a good attachment that can clean behind, under, and between your washer and dryer.
• Sweep and mop the floors.

Keep it organized

If you’re like most people, you have a small laundry space with huge piles of laundry.  There are also probably way too many products in the room and not enough time to get everything done.   As a result, it’s easy to let a laundry room go so long without a proper cleaning.  If you can add organization to your laundry room, it can make your life and laundry chores much easier.

• If possible,  extra shelving can be very helpful with organization.  Add shelving where it’s most convenient.  This often times would be right above your washer and dryer.  This allows you to store bleaches and detergents out of the way, along with other products you might use.
• Periodically sort through the products you have and discard the ones that you do not use.
• When not in use, hang your ironing board on the wall.   This will free up a lot of extra space.
• Hang hooks from shelving or you can install a retractable drying line for a place to hang clothes.  This helps to keep them from wrinkling and doesn’t take up extra space.
• Use several laundry baskets for storing and separating dirty and clean laundry.
• Keep a small container somewhere safe for storing items left in pockets.
• Keep a trash can in the laundry room!  This will help keep clutter down so you have a place for lint, dryer sheets, and many other items that might just end up on your floor.

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When trying to avoid sickness cleanliness is basic. There is of course factors outside our homes that will inevitably lead to sickness a couple times a year, if not more. The fact of life is that you will get sick, and if you do not take the appropriate measures the rest of your family will get sick too. Getting sick may be inevitable, but you can always prevent disease from spreading by disinfecting surfaces and following healthy habits.

You probably already know that hand-washing is the single most efficient way to prevent the spreading of illnesses like the common cold. What you might be forgetting is that in most homes people use the same towels to dry everyone’s hands. Hand towels should be replaced as often as possible during this time to avoid spreading bugs around. Consider paper using paper towels as well; this is not a very ecologically friendly approach, but it is an option to be considered.

Our second recommendation would be to maintain a clean bathroom. After all that is where most of us will be washing our hands. Keep your sink handles and toilets clean to avoid more cross contamination. Another good idea would be to limit yourself to use one bathroom and avoid maintain this habit until everybody is feeling better.

If you have little ones that have fallen ill, a good thing to do would be to clean and disinfect toys and play areas. You may do this on a regular basis already, but it is especially important to maintain toys and common areas disinfected. Along with the idea of cleaning toys, make sure the “toys” of the older children are also clean. Of course we are talking electronics: Keyboards, TV remote, and video game controllers are great things to keep in mind.

If you are sick enough to miss work, you will probably spend a good time of your “time-off” stuck in bed. You need to make sure your sheets and pillow are clean and disinfected after your get better. You want eliminate the source of the illness altogether; you probably don’t want to sleep on dirty sheets anyways. While you’re at it you might also want to flip your mattress.

Another benefit of maintaining a clean home is the comfortable feeling you get walking into a tidy place. If you are already feeling down, the last thing you need is to feel even sick in the space that you are in. Nobody wants to clean while under the weather, but the feeling afterwards is totally worth it.

Cleaning your home is not a bulletproof way to stay healthy, there are external factors that will eventually get you sick. Cleaning will make sure that you are not spreading the bug around your family and hopefully will shorten the time you spend under the weather.

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Basic Care
-Vacuum or sweep daily
-Clean tile with a mild detergent and warm water, using a rag or chamois-type mop, rather than a sponge mop
-Exchange the water frequently throughout the process; this will increase the shine and glossy look of your floors
-For everyday simple clean up you may use a clean damp dust cloth
-Make sure to dry the floor with a dry mop whenever you use water wile cleaning; this will help prevent future dirt from building up

Deep Clean
-Mop the floor using a gallon of warm water and ½ cup of vinegar
-Rinse the floor with clean warm water afterwards
-Dry using a dry mop

Ways to get rid of Grout
-Use a #2 pencil eraser to remove dirt in small sections
-Use baking soda and water to make a paste, and then scrub with a toothbrush
-If either of these don’t do the trick, using bleach is always an option. Mix beach and water at a 1:3 ratio, then e a toothbrush or sponge to scrub
-After the stains are removed, wait until the grout is dry and then use a grout sealer to finish it off

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Here is a check list to make sure you cover all your bases and don’t miss a thing!

Kitchen
• De-clutter your counters and get rid of unnecessary kitchen utensils and tools
• Wipe down top and front of cabinets
• Wipe down backsplash
• Clean inside of oven
• Clean microwave and toaster oven
• Clean refrigerator
• Vacuum under all appliaces
• Clean out pantry and get rid of unwanted food
• Sweep
• Mop

Living Room
• De-clutter anything you don’t need, want or use
• Dust all cobwebs
• Vacuum couches
• Sweep/vacuum/mop/shampoo floors
• Wash curtains and blinds

Bedrooms
• De-clutter clothing, shoes and anything unneeded
• Wash all bedding
• Flip mattress
• Vacuum/sweep/mop/shampoo floors

Kids and Pets
• De-clutter broken toys
• Disinfect toys
• Bathe pets
• Wash water/food bowls

Bathrooms
• De-clutter toiletries, cabinets and drawers
• Wash Shower curtain
• Clean tub and toilet
• Sweep/mop floors

Laundry Room
• De-clutter cleaning supplies you don’t need
• Clean washer and dryer inside and outside
• Sweep/mop floors

All around the House
• Clean all ceiling fans
• Wash windows and mirrors
• Change batteries to smoke detectors
• Wipe down walls and baseboards
• Clean air vents

If this still isn’t motivating you to get it all done- Let us take it off your hands!

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