More Clutter Control Tips

It’s often said that neat desks can be suspiciously neat, and that only cluttered desks are indicative that their owners are really getting any work done. While that is true to a certain extent, it’s also true that (1) cluttered desks are indicative of cluttered minds, and (2) it’s far too easy to lose track of important stuff if everything’s all jumbled atop your desk or any other place.

Whether you’re in the office or at home, chances are you’re waging a constant, never-ending war against clutter. Here are some clutter control tips to help you put some order into your life and get more done with less trouble.

1) Don’t just dump stuff where it’s convenient, even if you’re really busy - put things in their proper place. Taking a little time out to do this every time, no matter how busy you are, will definitely save you a great deal more time (and heartache) later on.

2) It might be a good idea to invest in storage containers if you haven’t already done so. For all you important things, filing cabinets might help, or, better yet, buy large plastic sliding drawers, which combine the durability of the usual metal filing cabinet with light weight and translucency (which makes it easier to peek inside without necessarily having to open the drawer).

3) Don’t forget to label your storage. This will enable you to know what’s in which particular box and you won’t need to go rifling through every single box in search of whatever you need.

4) All the storage boxes and nooks and crannies in the world won’t help you if you don’t have a good system of prioritizing things and putting stuff away where it belongs. We’ve all heard those funny (or perhaps painful) stories of people who’ve painstakingly taken time out to put some order into their chaotic workspaces. After organizing everything, they have to mess it all up again because they are frantically searching for things they couldn’t locate. Ideally, only your most important things should sit on top of your desk (of course confidential or high-security items are exceptions to this rule) or close at hand.

5) Lastly, once every few months, take a weekend out to go through your storage containers (i.e. filing cabinets, boxes, chests, drawers, bins, etc…). Some things you might have thought important might not actually be so important after all, and you might want to consider moving them to the basement or some other area to free up space. In addition, you might want to see if everything’s in good condition - batteries may have burst, for instance, or mice might have made nests in some boxes. You’ll want to be able to deal with these and other such problems ASAP.

Organizing yourself will help you live a less stressful life.  When you know where everything is, all the rest falls into place.  Just remember that organizing all of your clutter of years of collecting it doesn’t happen overnight.  Don’t get stressed over decluttering.  Take your time and do it right.  In the long run you’ll be happy to have everything in it’s place and well labeled.

Cleaning Marble Floors

Marbles are a real beauty and no one can deny the magnificent beauty that they can bring.  Still, cleaning marble floors require some knowledge to maintain that shine they possess. If treated poorly, the marbles luster will just slowly fade away, leaving you with a dull lifeless floor.

But not to fear! There are a lot of means to efficiently clean marble floors without hurting them. Marble is made of calcium carbonate components and because of that its compound will not work well with any form of acid. If by mistake you use acid on your marbles, the acid will get into the cracks of the porous rock and will slowly destroy your marbles until the polish is gone. Even eco-friendly vinegar should not be used for marbles since it contains acid. Choose a product for cleaning your marbles that doesn’t have an acid substance.

When cleaning marble floors, it is best to sweep or vacuum your marbles regularly. This will also remove the daily grit the marble floor encounters. Dust coming from inside and outside of the room will also cause the marble floor to wear off.  So it is advisable to regularly sweep and mop the floor as much as possible.

Use a soft bristle broom when cleaning marble floors to remove dust and dirt. Then use a sponge mop to mop the floor. You can use soap and water for cleaning but be cautious to rid the floor entirely of soap and rinse it well with water. You can also use a commercial product meant for marbles to make your marbles shiny. Find a mild product with a neutral PH level 7. This product also works well with cleaning spillages from coffee, wine, soft drinks, tea, and milk.  Remember that when spills occur, it is better to mop them right away, especially if it is a wine or coffee spillage.

Jewelry Cleaning Tips

I love sparkling jewelry whether it’s on me or someone else. Every piece of jewelry is like a work of art waiting to be admired.  Therefore it is very important to take proper care of your jewelry to ensure that it lasts forever.  Even art can look dull if not taken care of properly. Each piece of jewelry requires a different method and different tools to clean it and keep it sparkling for years of admiration.

Many jewelry cleaning tips can be found in books and magazines.  You can even hire a professional cleaner if need be. However, why hire someone to clean your jewelry when you can do it yourself right in your own house.

The market offers a variety of jewelry cleaning solutions and tools you can use to clean your precious jewelry. Basic jewelry cleaning products and tools include the following:c mild detergent, ammonia, a used toothbrush, clean lint-free cloth/ tissue paper, isopropyl alcohol, olive oil, and toothpaste.

You must always know how to treat your jewelry with proper care.  For example: when you remove your jewelry, always put it back in your jewelry box.  This will prevent dust from settling and possibly scratching it.  The more air that gets to jewelry, the faster some jewelry will tarnish as well.

Even if you do take good care of your jewelry, proper cleaning should be applied. The aforementioned tools always come in handy especially when you opt to do the cleaning yourself.

Basically, a general rule when cleaning your jewelry is to not over scrub.  The last thing you want to do is wear down the metal, enamel or precious stones on your jewelry. Rubbing it too hard can in fact, scratch any type of jewelry you have.

What you need to do is just lightly scrub your jewelry with the right cleaning solution, either with a mild detergent or ammonia solution which works for gold, silver and even diamonds. Run it under warm tap water and tap dry with lint free cloth or even a tissue. With pearls however, do not use any harsh or abrasive cleaners since they will damage those elegant sea gems. Instead, polish your pearls with a clean cloth and a drop of olive oil. As with other jewelry, always rinse well and tap dry using a clean cloth.  

Remember to be gentle with your jewelry.  With proper, regular cleaning your jewelry will be sparkling for years to come.

Penny Cleaning Science

The circulation of money from one hand to another causes the sparkling appearance of coins to eventually fade. So if you have dull and dark pennies and you want to clean them to give you a particular level of satisfaction, there are several easy steps that need to be followed. This process is a cheap and amusing way to revive the shiny layer of your pennies.

This simple process will require you to prepare your kitchen.  First, get some lemon juice and salt. Then, dissolve one tablespoon of salt on two tablespoon of lemon juice. When the mixture of salt and lemon juice is ready, put the penny in the solution. Be sure that the penny is totally dipped. After a few minutes, take it out of the solution and polish it with cotton cloth. Now you have a sparkling penny free from copper oxide accumulation. 

Pennies are made of copper and copper oxide makes pennies look tarnished. Copper oxide is formed when it bonds with oxygen or air. The mixture of salt and lemon juice is a simple way to make a weak hydrochloric acid solution. Chemical reaction occurs when you soak a tarnished penny into the salt and lemon juice solution. The bonding of chloride ions and copper ions gets rid of layers of copper oxide giving your old penny a facelift. 

Another method thereby requires the use of a pencil eraser. The process is simple. A clean eraser is all you need to scour the penny. Use a pencil-size eraser if you have a lot of pennies to clean. You can also use a vinyl eraser to polish the penny.

Kitchen Cleaning Hints

Why do men always come back to their mother’s kitchen even after they get married? No, it is not because they are a mama’s boy. It is because they have always loved that smell from their mom’s kitchen. However, you do not have to be one of those moms to have your boys return to the kitchen all the time.  All it takes is a clean kitchen.

Of course, to keep the kitchen clean, one must remember how to properly dispose of garbage.  Make sure that the lid is always on.  This will keep the flies away.  Also, wash the dishes right after you use them. This way, your kitchen sink is always a beauty to look at. Plus, it keeps the rats and cockroaches away.

But when you gather your kitchen cleaners, avoid using tools that can actually spread more bacteria. Sponges look clean but once you start using to wipe your counter, you are spreading countless germs around.  It is better to use paper towels.

Cooking with gas is one of the most economical ways to prepare your food. But burners can easily become clogged thereby decreasing their efficiency and increasing your gas bill (a yellow flame, as opposed to blue, is a sign of a clog). To clean them, take an old toothbrush and make sure no dirt is plugging any holes. Never do this with the gas turned on! It is a must that you clean your oven top after you have used it. It is also a good idea to clean under your oven as well.

When cleaning your kitchen, it is wise to use bleach when drying.  This will disinfect your tiles overnight.

But a word of caution: When you use bleach on surfaces make sure that you are not cleaning marble surfaces because it is not advisable to use bleach on marble since marble requires a milder detergent.

Best Carpet Cleaning Methods

Although carpets can be a great accessory to a home, cleaning them is not a fun task.  There are a lot of unavoidable accidents that can occur especially in homes inhabited by children and pets.  Carpets can be cleaned using common chemicals especially made for carpets.  These different chemicals are effective but some are unsafe.  Luckily, there are some eco-friendly carpet cleaning products that do a great job.

 

Using chemicals and products with toxic materials can greatly affect our health. It can greatly affect the environment we live in. However, since more and more people are becoming aware of the threat of these chemicals, manufacturers have been producing green carpet cleaning products plus some other household agents that are available for us right in our kitchen.

 

One of the best carpet cleaning products that is available right in your kitchen is vinegar. Make a solution with half water and half vinegar and blot your carpets to remove stains. You can also use brake cleaner for food stains, WD-40 for grease on your carpets, and club soda for red wine stains.

 

For those dirty looking carpets, the hot water extraction method is the most recommended. The dirt is forced out by a fine spray of water.  The water can then be sucked out by using a vacuum. This is an effective way to prevent the accumulation of dirt to start again and to stop humidity from forming in the carpet and thus preventing the formation of mold and mildew.

 

Finding green sources instead of using chemicals and toxic materials can really be a life saver.  Once more and more people use these simple eco-friendly alternatives, we not only save ourselves but we can also save the earth.

Eco-friendly house cleaning products

The majority of the world’s leading manufacturers of household cleaning supplies today, offer customers so called eco-friendly products. The use of eco-friendly detergents and cleaning supplies significantly reduce the risk of allergic reactions for people with skin diseases and various allergies. Make sure that when you are purchasing an eco-friendly product that it has been regulated. Be skeptical of products that give vague claims such as “non-toxic”, “environmentally-friendly” or “ecologically-safe”. A seal from a governing body MUST back these terms or else they don’t mean anything. Unfortunately, companies are permitted to label their products in this manner leaving it up to the consumer to be knowledgeable about what they are buying.

The main thing to look for is not only statements such as “biodegradable” and “non-toxic” but also if the product has been certified by a third party such as the EcoLogoM Program or the Design for the Environment Program (DfE) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has specific requirements that need to be met.

Certified eco-friendly or organic products:

· are produced from substances made up of plant and mineral origins;

· do not contain mineral oil and synthetic fragrances;

· do not contain ingredients that are harmful to the skin;

· are biodegradable and thus do not cause damage to the environment and water sources;

· are very concentrated and economical;

· do not contain chemicals (chlorine, dioxin, etc.);

· do not contain dyes;

· do not contain petrochemical components;

· are not tested on animals;

· are granted numerous awards.

Certified eco-friendly detergents almost ultimately decompose in the environment. There are many commercial formulas claiming to be eco-friendly however, their ingredients contain chlorine, nonylphenol ethoxylate, phosphates and other toxic ingredients, which are not very eco-friendly. Make sure to read the label when buying eco-friendly, environmental or organic to ensure that the product is made from natural ingredients only.

There are certain American companies whose products meet the requirements of U.S. law. However, Americans demand that only surface-active ingredients be subjected to biodegradation. As a rule, these ingredients make up 2-20% of some detergents. No other components in the U.S. are required to biodegrade. In Europe, this requirement extends over the entire product, concerning all its ingredients.

Another caution is that it is better not to trust companies whose salespeople use Greenpeace as one of the key elements of promoting the products. Some company’s distributors inform potential customers that they have a certificate of Greenpeace, confirming environmental safety of their products. It is absurd by definition, as Greenpeace, has never issued any certificates to anyone.

Be sure to carefully read the label when purchasing eco-friendly products. This will save you and your family from spending extra money on a product you may think is safe when in fact it could in turn harm your family and the environment. Remember that the main thing to look for is that a third governing party has certified the product because they have specific requirements that need to be met.

Spring cleaning the interior and exterior of your house

Well, it’s that time of the year again…spring-cleaning!  Time to remove the days of winter and get ready for the summer breeze. To be able to effectively execute your spring-cleaning, some reminders may be needed:

Plan a family weekend where all of you can do spring cleaning together and hand each member of the family their designated responsibilities. You don’t have to do the spring cleaning alone since this may take most of your time and days. Make a list of things needed to be done for each room such as the items needed to be cleaned in the kitchen, like the refrigerator, cabinets, sink, and more. The same goes with the other items in the living room, bedroom, and bathroom.

When starting your spring cleaning, ready all your necessary cleaning tools and always take them with you to avoid going back and forth just to find the necessary cleaning tools. Start dusting from the top and work your way down. The same goes when you are washing walls. Always aim to finish an area or an item before leaving or cleaning another area. Clean up as you go should always be your goal when cleaning.

When all is done inside the house, do not forget to clean the outside of the house as well. You also have to make the outside of your house tidy since it has suffered the wrath of winter as well. Get those dirty films out from your windowpanes, clean your gutters, and wash the siding.

There are a lot of things needed to be done when doing your spring cleaning. In the “The Ultimate House Cleaning Checklist Book” you’ll find more cleaning tips to help you clean your house in record time…all year long!

Cleaning with Vinegar

Who wants their house full of stains and dirt? Of course no one in their right mind would want a house that is unsanitary. Cleaning is just a natural process we do for our house. If we don’t clean our house then this will also present health problems for us. But another factor to consider when in the process of cleaning is the cleaning products that we are going to use. And because more and more people are becoming aware of the threat in using chemically-based antibacterial cleaners, searching for a much better alternative is on the rise.

One natural way to do house cleaning is cleaning with vinegar. Vinegar is safe for people to use and when combined with even a pinch of baking soda, vinegar becomes an effective natural tool in cleaning the house. Because vinegar is purely acid, the effect of vinegar on household items is just like a miracle. Cleaning with vinegar will allow you to save more cash since you don’t have to buy commercial cleaning products. Just learn the power of vinegar, how to properly utilize it and you can save more and clean more.

Here are some ways to clean your house with vinegar:

If you are going to clean your pots and pans, and even your floor, you can make your own homemade cleaner. Mix baking soda, vinegar and liquid detergent together to create a thick and creamy paste texture. This mixture will allow you to clean and scrub difficult areas, and your pots and pans as well.

If you want to create a cleaning solution to clean your tiles, glass and ceramics just mix equal parts vinegar and water. You can use this solution on carpet stains by soaking up the stained area.  Spray a mixture that has ½ vinegar and water on the affected area and leave it for 2 or 4 minutes. Carefully dab the affected are with a towel. Repeat the procedure until you see the desired effect.

Undiluted white vinegar can also be used when getting rid of mold, dust and mildew in the house. As you can see, vinegar has many uses.  The only thing you cannot clean with vinegar is marble. Because the acidity level of vinegar is high, it can tarnish its color and thus vinegar is not safe for marbles use.

In case you are still in doubt about using vinegar to clean, search it’s effectiveness and even ideas on the Internet.  Give it a try, I guarantee you’ll be very happy with its effectiveness.

Complete Carpet Care

 

Carpets give such a cozy feeling to any home and come in an array of colors and fabrics.  They can also cost a pretty penny so it’s very important to take care of them and ensure that they are properly cleaned.  Also, carpets can hold many germs and allergen so knowing how to take care of them is imperative. 

The first step in carpet care is vacuuming on a regular basis; this will keep dirt from imbedding itself deep into the carpet fibers.  Vacuuming at least one or twice a week should do it in most cases, however it you have pets, you should vacuum daily or at least every two days if possible.  When you vacuum make sure to go slowly so that everything gets picked up.  Think of carpets like your lawn.  For best results, it’s better to vacuum once, slowly in one direction and then again in the opposite direction making like a checkerboard effect.

The best type of vacuum to use is one that uses water instead of dirty filters.  The water sucks in the dirt and does not spit it back out into the air.  Another good way to keep your carpets clean is with steam.  You can purchase great carpet steamers at affordable prices if you shop around.  It’s a good idea to have your carpets professionally cleaned once or twice per year.

No matter what how clean you try to keep your carpet, you will never be able to stop a stain; it’s inevitable, it will happen.  Someone will spill wine at a party or the kids, in frenzy will run in with muddy boots.  Think of carpets like your clothing, in most cases you don’t have to get it “dry-cleaned” but whatever you do…DON’T RUB THE STAIN!  When something drops on the carpet, don’t panic and start rubbing…it goes for your clothes, by the way.

Here are some tips for getting out stains:

§        Minor stains – blot club soda with a clean rag.

§        Oil – sprinkle cornstarch or baking soda.

§        Coffee or chocolate – blot with vinegar.

§        Ink – blot with rubbing alcohol.

 

***When blotting a stain, always blot in ONE direction to avoid spreading the stain.

§        If you are going to purchase a carpet cleaner, make sure you know what type of carpet you have.  Most cleaners are safe but just to be on the safe side, ensure that the cleaner is right for your carpet type. 

§        Try to purchase eco-friendly cleaners that are safe for your family and pets.

§        Be sure to avoid all type 4 spot removers. These products contain tetrachlorethylene, which is extremely toxic to people and pets.

 

Keeping your carpets clean can keep your family safe from germs and allergens.  Set some ground rules for your carpeted areas – i.e. no food or drink on the carpet, no shoes and wear socks or slippers.  Did you know that sweat can damage your carpet just like shoes?  It is vital to know your carpet and how to take care of it so you can enjoy it for years to come.

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