Household Cleaning

Spring cleaning time is over and with summer in full swing, you might notice your house gradually getting dirtier again. Keeping your house clean can be tricky. There are so many spots that go unnoticed. Only once spring cleaning time rolls around again, do you notice how grimy these areas are. Spring shouldn’t be the only time you get to enjoy a clean house, though. Summer is one of the best times of the year to have a clean house. Here’s how you can keep your house clean all year round.

How to Manage Cleaning Tasks

The easiest way to keep your house clean is to regularly clean different areas. Conversely, letting cleaning chores pile up before you do them leads to the house slowly becoming messier and dirtier.

Once your space is clean, maintenance is a lot easier than letting chores pile up and cleaning from scratch again.

Get into the habit of cleaning as you go. It will save you a ton of work later and make your yearly spring cleaning so much easier.

Setting up a Chore List

Setting up a chore list is one of the best ways to ensure you don’t forget to clean any areas in your house. Have a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly list for cleaning different areas.

For instance, your daily list can include doing dishes, wiping down counter tops and sweeping the floor. The weekly list can add dusting, vacuuming and washing the floors. On your monthly list, add things like cleaning your windows, cleaning out your fridge and repacking your grocery cupboard.

When listing each chore on the list, break it down into smaller sections whenever applicable. So, when you list dusting, list areas in your home that need to be dusted so you know you got all of them. When listing laundry, list bedding, towels, light colors and dark colors separately.

Having a checklist of this nature will help you break big tasks down into smaller sections. Add one or two of your weekly tasks to your cleaning schedule each day and you’ll manage to knock off all the items on your checklist quite easily.

On your yearly list, include home maintenance tasks and special cleaning tasks.

Make a Habit out of Keeping Your House Clean

The best way to keep your house clean is to get in the habit of cleaning as you go:

• When you used something, put it away straight after, or do a daily tidy up session.
• When you spill something, clean it straight away. Don’t wait till later to clean it.
• When someone else leaves an item where it doesn’t belong, put it away as soon as you see it.
• Don’t leave garbage laying around. If you sat eating a bag of chips on the couch, throw the bag in the bin as soon as you get up.
• Include chores like doing dishes or washing the laundry into your schedule to ensure it doesn’t pile up.

Teach everyone else in the house to have the same mindfulness and keeping your space clean will become much easier.

Clutter Makes Cleaning Much Harder

If your house is cluttered, there’s a good chance it’s also dirty. That’s because it’s just so much harder to keep a cluttered space clean. Cleaning as you go is easy if you can wipe countertops down without having to clear a ton of things from them first. Vacuuming floors is easier if you don’t first need to move a bunch of things too.

When your house is cluttered, you’ll spend twice as much time cleaning things than if it weren’t. One half of your cleaning time will be spent shuffling your clutter from room to room as you clean, while the other half will be spent on actual cleaning.

Avoiding Clutter in Your House

The best way to manage clutter, is to make sure everything in your house has its own space. Make sure that the place you store each item makes sense. If you use an item regularly, don’t put it away where it’s out of reach.

If your broom is hard to reach, for instance, you’ll get to a point where you just don’t put it away at all. Either that, or you’ll leave it stored away and neglect sweeping your floors. You use your broom every day, so make sure wherever you store it is accessible.

The same rule applies for everything else in your home. If an item is hard to reach, you either won’t put it away after using it, or you won’t use it all. Because of this, you shouldn’t store things you want to use regularly in hard-to-reach places.

Reserve hard-to-reach storage spaces for storing things you only expect to use occasionally. Things like camping gear or seasonal holiday decorations can be put away in hard-to-reach storage places, as you’ll only need to go through the effort taking these items out and putting them away again a few times yearly.

The more you expect to use an item, the easier it should be to put away after using it. Also store things where it makes sense to have them.

It makes sense to have your coffee and sugar close to your kettle in the kitchen, for instance. That is, after all, where you make your coffee. It also makes sense to have storage for kids’ toys where your children usually play. If your children play in the lounge, put down some baskets to collect toys. This will make it easier for kids to clean up after themselves.

What if There isn’t Enough Space to Store Things?

Hoarding can make it much harder to manage clutter. While some homes are cluttered because there aren’t proper designated spaces to store items, some homes have more stuff than can realistically be stored.

Getting rid of clutter is an important part of keeping your house clean. Try not to buy more things than you can store. Be realistic about how much space you have for things. Just like you need to stick to a financial budget to live within your means, you must live within your means when it comes to your space.

You only have so much space available to you, which means you must use it wisely to get the most from it. Like financial debt, getting more things than you can store in your space will cause stress and lower your quality of life.

Be honest with yourself about what you need. There are a lot of clever gadgets available for different things nowadays, but you probably don’t need most of them.

If you struggle with a small space where you don’t have enough storage for everything you need, try to look out for some clever ways to maximize your storage space, such as a bed base with drawers, or a coffee table with storage underneath.

How to Keep Your House Clean on the Outside?

It’s easy to get so focused on the inside of your home, that you forget to clean the outside too. You don’t need to clean the exterior of your house as regularly as the inside, but you will need to do it occasionally.

Pressure cleaning is one of the best ways to keep the exterior of your home in good shape. You can call a pressure washing professional to clean various different areas of your home exterior. The following exterior areas of your home can be pressure washed:

• Sidings
• Roof
• Driveways
• Patio or deck
• Garage floor
• Walkways
• Outdoor furniture
• Picket fencing
• Gardening equipment (wheelbarrows etc.)
• Outdoor play areas

Booking an annual session for your home will ensure that the outside stays clean. This will improve your home’s curb appeal and make a good first impression with people visiting your property for the first time.

Cleaning your house on the outside is also necessary if you want to repaint it soon. The same applies for when you want to redo the finishing on your patio or deck.

Kleanway Pressure Cleaning offers pressure washing and window cleaning services in Miami. Get in touch to book a cleaning session at your property.

Keeping a house clean can be a difficult task. Often times, all the occupants in the house are so busy with work and school, cleaning isn’t very high on the priority list. Before you know it, dishes are piling up, the laundry basket is overflowing and countertops are dusty. A lot of homeowners struggle to know how to keep a house clean, especially if everyone in the family have busy schedules. There’s no doubt that maintaining a cleaner house is on many New Year’s resolution lists. Luckily, there are some general house cleaning tips to help families keep their homes neater and cleaner.

House Cleaning Tips for the Family

In families where everyone is busy at work and school daily, it’s important that everyone also contribute their part to keeping the place clean. Here are a few house cleaning tips that could help busy families:

• Give every household member their own personal glass and coffee mug. Whenever anyone wishes to enjoy a beverage, they’ll need to use their own personal mug. If the mug or glass is dirty, they’ll have to rinse it out beforehand. This might seem like it won’t make a difference, but you’d be surprised how much cups and glasses contribute to dirty dishes.
• Allow each family member to fold and iron their own washing. On washing day, sort the piles of clean laundry by who owns it and leave washing in their rooms so they can put it away.
• Give everyone a specific chore, even if it seems small. For instance, one person can be responsible for feeding the pets, while another is responsible for dusting surfaces.
• Set up an exact schedule for cleaning so that the whole family can know what to expect. If everyone knows which days are laundry days, they’ll be prepared for the extra task of packing away their clothes.
• Teach everyone in the family to clean up after themselves. When they spill something, be sure they know to wipe it clean. If they used something, make sure they put it away.

The Benefits of Family Teamwork

Cultivating habits of cleanliness is beneficial for the whole family. Especially children, who are still learning new life skills every day. Parents won’t always be around to clean up after their kids, so it’s important that children learn how to maintain a clean space from a young age.

Although many parents feel like they should be solely responsible for cleaning, both parents work full-time jobs in many families. If children are old enough to clean after themselves, it’s good to set guidelines for them.

When everyone contributes to cleaning according to a schedule, parents are also able to teach their kids the importance of teamwork. However, it’s best to cultivate clean habits from a young age. This is why even younger children should be encouraged to help with small, easy tasks.

General House Cleaning Tips

A lot of homeowners struggle to keep their house clean even if they don’t have a family. The demands of a full-time job combined with personal obligations towards friends and family can be challenging to balance with housekeeping tasks. Here are some general house cleaning tips to help keep things manageable.

Do Small Things Daily

Set a list of easy daily cleaning tasks. Things like washing the dishes, wiping countertops and putting away clutter can take less than an hour each time if you do them daily.

Doing some basic cleaning every day saves time as opposed to letting things get worse. Once cleaning starts piling up, it takes much longer to get even basic tasks done.

Create A Schedule

Create a cleaning schedule to break cleaning tasks down into manageable portions. Have set times during the week for doing laundry, cleaning floors and other tasks.

Spring Clean over Weekends

Set aside two to three hours every weekend to do some spring cleaning. You won’t have to spend all your time off cleaning. If you simply wake up at 7 on a Saturday morning to clean, you can be done with everything before eleven. This means you still have a large part of the day all to yourself to relax.

Find New Ways to Save Time

Find ways to save time in other areas of your life so you’re able to clean. For instance, if you find ways to save time cooking by making only meals that take 30 minutes or less, you’ll free up some time.

If you’re allowed to work flexi hours at your job, consider going into work at about 6 a.m. This will allow you to skip traffic and leave earlier, so you’ll be saving time that’s normally wasted on the frustration of being stuck in traffic.

Find Ways to Speed up Cleaning Times

Find ways to get great cleaning results without spending as much time. For instance, you can spray you shower with a cleaning solution right you arrive home from work. Later in the evening when you go take a shower, simply use a scrubbing brush to clean the shower out while you’re busy.

The benefit of this is that you can stand in the shower with the water running while you’re busy cleaning, so rinsing will be easy.

You can also avoid a lot of ironing by simply hanging t-shirts out on clotting hangers straight after washing them.

Lastly, you can save time cleaning around the house by avoiding clutter. It’s much easier to wipe surfaces and clean floors when you don’t have to move a whole pile of stuff every time beforehand.

Even if it takes a bit of time, sort through your things and throw out what you don’t need. Make sure that all the things you keep have a designated storage place packed away.

Always Clean up after Yourself

Cleaning up after yourself is an easy way to build positive habits that make your life easier. Practice being more mindful about cleaning things at home sooner rather than later.

Simple things like looking inspecting the contents of your fridge every time you open it help a lot. Not only does this enable you to use all your food before it goes off, you completely avoid the unpleasant task of having to clear out spoilt foods every month or two.

Every now and then, do small things. If you notice your mirror is full of marks while getting ready for work, just take a minute to wipe it. Doing so doesn’t take long and it helps maintain the overall cleanliness of your home.

House Cleaning Tips for Outside

A lot of homeowners think about the inside of their homes much more than the outside. However, the outside of your home also gets dirty over time.

If you have a deck or patio, be sure to sweep it every now and then to get rid of debris. Make sure you also wash the deck surface after having a barbeque there. Use a damp cloth to wipe your outdoor furniture from time to time. After a while, a lot of dust accumulates on outdoor furniture, which makes it appear duller.

But it’s not just your deck and outdoor furniture that need cleaning. The windows, sidings and roof of your house also need to be kept clean.

The good news is that you don’t need to do all this work yourself. Hiring a Miami pressure cleaning company can help you keep the outside of your house clean with minimal effort. You can simply schedule to have your sidings, driveways, roof and windows cleaned regularly. A lot of pressure cleaning companies also offer windows cleaning, so you don’t even have to work with multiple companies.

Baking soda is gaining popularity thanks to its multi-purpose usefulness around the house. Cleaning with baking soda is simple and offers a great alternative to traditional detergents. But what exactly is baking soda?

Baking soda is an alkaline compound that produces carbon dioxide when combined with an acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice. It’s mostly known as a rising agent used in baked goods such as cakes and scones. However, this is changing, as baking soda has been discovered to have various uses for hygiene and health. It’s now a popular choice for household cleaning.

What’s the Hype around Baking Soda?

Contemporary cleaning trends have given way to the rise of minimalist, natural and eco-friendly products to substitute commercial chemical-laden products. The growth in demand for eco-friendly products has, however, lead to “greenwashing” (a situation where ecolabels are overused and misused) by detergent manufacturers.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has expressed uncertainty over some ecolabels in determining what products are truly eco-friendly. Consumers can’t be guaranteed safety simply by buying products that claim to be eco-friendly.

What better way to counteract all this uncertainty than to resort to home-made cleaning products? It’s in this scenario that baking soda finds itself emerging to the top as both an effective and healthy alternative for cleaning.

Cleaning with Baking Soda: 14 Ways to Use Baking Soda in Your Home

Baking soda is that one magic ingredient that’s simply got to be found in every kitchen cupboard. Apart from cooking, there are so many other ways baking soda can be used around the house.

1. Baking Soda for Cleaning the Oven

After roasting that delicious turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, all the sticky grease left behind can be cleaned out by simply using baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice. In a spray bottle, mix 1 cup of vinegar with ½ a cup of lemon juice and spray the bottom of the oven. After 10 minutes, sprinkle some baking soda and wait another 10 minutes before wiping it clean.

2. Stove and Kitchen Surfaces

Sprinkle baking soda directly onto your greasy stove top and wait for 5 minutes before scrubbing gently with a damp sponge. Mix it with water to clean microwaves, stainless steel sinks and cooking utensils.

3. Washing Fresh Fruits and Veggies

Soaking your fruits and veggies in a mixture of baking soda and water for 15 minutes removes up to 96% of most pesticides.

4. Clean and Refresh a Smelly Refrigerator

Wipe away old food residues from inside your refrigerator with a mixture of baking soda and water. To keep it odor-free, place a small container of baking soda inside the refrigerator to absorb any lingering strong smells.

5. Refresh and Clean Dish Cloths and Sponges

To remove strong smells, soak your dish clothes and sponges in a mixture of 4 tablespoons of baking soda and a liter of warm water overnight.

6. Make Pots and Pans Sparkle

Baking soda makes restoring the original sparkle of pots and pans possible. Mix 3 parts baking soda with 1 part water and scrub your pots and pans with a scourer before washing as usual.

7. Remove Coffee, Tea and Rust Stains

Baking soda gets rid of those ugly stubborn coffee, tea and rust stains from your mugs, cups and baking trays. Simply soak them in a mixture of 4 tablespoons of baking soda and 1 liter of warm water for a couple of hours or overnight before washing as usual.

8. Deodorize Trash Cans

Sprinkle some baking soda into a fresh bin bag to absorb any unpleasant odors. Keep the trash can itself in good condition by washing it with baking soda and water once a week.

9. De-clogging Drains

Pour half a cup of baking soda and half a cup of vinegar down the drain and let it fizz for a while, then pour 6 cups of hot water down the drain.

10. Remove Soap Scum

Sprinkle some baking soda onto a wet cloth or sponge and gently scrub on sinks and bathtubs to remove soap scum and grime buildup.

11. Clean Shower Grout

Brush a paste of baking soda and lemon juice on grout lines with a toothbrush and let it sit for a while before wiping it off clean.

12. Clean the Toilet

Pour 1 cup of vinegar into the toilet and let it sit for a minute. Sprinkle 1 cup of baking soda and add a further 2 cups of vinegar, which causes a fizzing action. After 10 minutes, use the toilet brush to sweep the mixture all over the bowl so it can reach stains above the water line. Wait for 30 more minutes, brushing occasionally until all the stains are gone and then flush the toilet.

13. Freshen Drawers and Closets

Place an open box or glass jar of baking soda on a closet shelf to keep musty odors at bay. For drawers, fill an old sock with baking soda and place it inside the drawer to absorb unpleasant odors.

14. Deodorize Mattresses and Carpets

Vacuum the mattress or carpet first and then sprinkle baking soda generously over the surface. Wait for 30 minutes then vacuum thoroughly.

Cleaning with Baking Soda: Bonus Recipes

Cleaning with baking soda can be fun. You can follow different recipes to create your own baking soda cleaners.

Baking Soda Washing Powder

Adding ½ a cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle helps freshen clothes and boost color.

Baking Soda Air Freshener

A mixture of baking soda, water and a few drops of your favorite essential oil can be used in the place of store-bought air fresheners.

Toy Cleaner

Wipe your little one’s toys with a sponge dipped in a baking soda and water solution to make them look new again.

Wall Cleaner/Crayon Mark Remover

Scrubbing those crayon-covered walls with a damp sponge sprinkled in baking soda not only cleans the walls but also leaves the paint intact.

Shoe Freshener

Generously sprinkle baking soda into your sneakers and let it sit overnight. Toss it out in the morning or the next time you wear them. The baking soda will absorb the foul odors and sweat residue out of your shoes.

These are some ways baking soda can be used to clean around the house. A lot of people are turning to natural ways of cleaning their homes. Even though it requires some good old-fashioned elbow grease, baking soda is an excellent mild ad abrasive “wonder cleaner”.

Benefits of Cleaning with Baking Soda

Baking soda is an ingredient that’s found in almost all households. It is cheap in all grocery stores and using it to clean your house means you don’t have to stock up on numerous cleaning products.

It’s an all-in-one, multi-purpose household cleaner that works for every room in your house. This means massive savings in the long run.

Baking soda is edible, non-toxic and odorless. It can easily be used with bare hands by most people without causing any health issues.

It can easily and inexpensively be mixed in your own home and guarantees you safety from all the toxic chemicals found in commercial cleaning products. You don’t have to sacrifice your health on the altar of hygiene.

Are Commercial Cleaning Products Harmful?

According to the American Lung Association, most household cleaning products usually contain harmful chemicals. This includes products advertised as “natural” which may cause health problems like respiratory illnesses, headaches, sore eyes and cancer.

These chemicals are not only harmful to human beings, but also to pets and the environment. Some ingredients in chemical cleaners are not biodegradable and end up in our water system, affecting the quality of water, harming fish and wildlife.

The plastic bottles used to package cleaning products pose another environmental problem in that they contribute to the mounds of solid waste, most of which cannot be recycled.

Also, most cleaning products are made of petroleum-based chemicals leading to its depletion and increasing America’s dependence on imported oil.

Baking soda is a safer cleaning alternative as it is good for scrubbing out stubborn dirt, deodorizes, cleans and freshens most utensils. It is even more effective when combined with vinegar, which is also a natural cleaning ingredient.

Should you need the convenience and added power of commercial cleaners, choose products with the lowest impact on your health and the environment. This can be done by avoiding products bearing signal words such as Danger, Warning or Caution, as they are highly toxic.