Spring Cleaning Carole’s Way

I had to open the windows the other day. Of course, to a clean freak, that means you have to actually clean the windows. But my ‘to-do’ list was pretty full too.

So I just cleaned the windows that I opened that day. Spent about 10 minutes each on 3 windows. A roll of paper towels and some glass cleaner. I cleaned the window before I opened it. I cleaned the storm that was going up. Put the screen down - Wiped the screen. Wiped out the ledge.

The next day it gets warm enough, I’ll do the other 3 in that room.

When I was in the laundry room, I took a big trash bag and filled it with some clothes that had been there for years, not worn and threw them out! Probably 2 minutes of effort - I was in that room anyway.

I washed some of the comforters that we won’t use anymore this year ( I hope!) and put them away. Laundry pretty much does itself. It’s not like it takes a tremendous amount of time or effort - unless you still have small kids. Boy, then it does - all that spot cleaning! I used to keep a jug of laundry soap nearby and put it on spots right way when the clothes went into the hamper. And I made sure to do one load pretty much everyday. Then it didn’t get overwhelming.

That’s my whole approach to housecleaning. Little things in spare minutes here and there.  I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have a whole day to devote to house cleaning. I can come up with a little time here and there.

Try it. Next time you’re going to the laundry room - take a trash bag with you. When you’re heading into a room, make sure to take things that need to be returned to their proper place in that direction. Think about how you can get one little thing done heading in the direction that you’re going anyway.

If you want the whole system laid out for you step by step - Click here to find out how to clean your house fast, and keep it that way!

Get a Jump on Spring-Cleaning

It’ll be summer before you know it! Now’s the time to tackle the spring-cleaning that needs to be done. I don’t know about you, but once it gets warm - I want to play!

Forget waiting until spring to start spring-cleaning. I mean, who wants to be cleaning when it’s warm outside? Use the impending warm weather as motivation to get you moving during this frustrating time of year. Your house will be clean and you’ll be free.

Here are some tips that will help you make sure you are ready to play once the temperatures get warm.

Pick one of these tasks anytime you have a little extra time.

Wash your figurines. I use dish soap. Just be careful that
the paint on the figurine can stand up to being immersed
in water. I’ve ruined a couple of antique ones where the
paint came off in water. Oops.

Wash your silk plant arrangements. You can either take
them Apart and wash them, or you can use the special
sprays designed to clean silk plant arrangements. I
recently took mine apart and washed them in the new
Dawn dish soap with Bleach Alternative. They turned out
very nice. My big pride and joy arrangement on my desk
is over 10 years old and people still rave about it.

Give your wood furniture a good cleaning. With the right
care and cleaning, your wood furniture can look great for
another 100 years. Here’s my tips for deep cleaning your
wood furniture >>>

Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Move the furniture and vacuum
behind. Edge. Vacuum the furniture. Vacuum your blinds.
Vacuum your mattresses.

Keep your animals brushed. That will cut down a lot of
work in the long run. Besides, most of them love it.
You’re keeping your house cleaner, and spending quality
time with your pet. Such a deal!

Wash your window treatments.

Clean the range hood. Even if you just work at it 5 minutes
at a time until it’s clean. Something I call the wear away
principle. I talk about it in Secret Confessions of a Clean
Freak. (leave the oven until you can open the windows.)

Above cabinets-
If you have open space above the kitchen cabinets, get up
there and clean it! If it’s really bad, you can use orange
409 and steel wool. If it’s really, really bad, spray generously
with orange 409 and let it sit for 15 minutes. Use a scraper
to remove the tough layers of gunk. Then clean again with
409 and steel wool.

Wipe down cabinet fronts.
If you’re not in the habit of wiping down your cabinets on a
regular basis, you should get in the habit. It will keep your
cabinets looking great a lot longer. Wipe wood cabinets
down with Murphy Oil Soap. If it’s gotten really bad, you
may have to revert to the wear away principle. Don’t get
overzealous or you may scratch the cabinets!

Wash the walls. Especially in the kitchen, bath and hallway.
Do a little at a time. Don’t kill yourself. Even if it’s one wall
At a time.

Some things just don’t make sense to do now. Cleaning
the carpet when we’re coming into muddy season doesn’t
really make much sense. Won’t hurt either - but you’ll have
to do it again later either way.

Just do a little here and there, and by the time April
comes around- there won’t be much left to do inside.
You’ll be able to get outside and feel that warm sunshine.

Besides, you’ll get some exercise so you can look great
when it’s time to put on those skimpy clothes!

Need more help? Click here to find out how to clean your house fast -and keep it that way >>>

Spring Clean Like The Rich

We need to talk about a poor mentality.  

Not a poor mentality like being negative, but thinking like a poor person. And just what does that have to do with spring cleaning?  

How many bottles of stuff do you have around that you never use, but you’re keeping because you might run out and need it in a pinch – and you might not have the money to buy a new one? Or you haven’t thrown it out just because you feel guilty wasting it?  

How many little bits of leftovers are in the fridge that no one will ever eat? 

How many pieces of clothing do you have that you will never wear, except maybe to paint the house?  

How many ratty towels and sheets are you keeping?  You’ve got to let go of this stuff. You can’t expect abundance if you’re still practicing poverty thinking.  

Think about this. How much did the item cost you in the first place?  That half bottle of shampoo? That really outdated shirt?  

Now, how much is it costing you in space, clutter, and lost peace of mind to keep hanging on to it?  

As you go about your household chores this week, when you run across this stuff – throw it out! Feel that rich person taking control. You’re not putting up with this poverty thinking anymore!  

If the item is useful – really – and it’s in good shape, put it aside to take to charity later this week. But it has to be this week. You have to get it out of there before you can be free of it.  

If it’s really garbage, just throw it out! You can save the buttons, OK? Those come in handy sometimes.  

Feel the freedom as you let go of these things – not to mention the space you’ll free up!  

Once you get past the guilt for throwing it out – it’ll feel great to be free of it.  

Now, I’ve got to go throw some things out!

Carole

(Need more help with how to clean your house fast?)

get the house clean and have a life too

Did your mom teach you how to clean house?

I’ll bet if she did, it was probably the old weekly marathon event. Remember that? Every Saturday morning… Wasn’t that awful?  But that’s what Mom knew.

The ritual began with picking up, sorting laundry, throwing laundry in, scrubbing (and I mean really scrubbing) the bathrooms, dusting and vacuuming end to end, washing the floors, taking out the garbage, and then - there was still yard work (unless Dad finished it). And what about that range-hood? Ick. That got ignored for months.

But we just don’t have a day to dedicate to house cleaning, and even if we did, who wants to?

Now days, a lot of people still leave housework for the weekends. They come home and plop in front of the TV every night. By the time Saturday rolls around, it takes an atomic bomb to get it clean - so it never really does get clean. And it’s so depressing, isn’t it?

 That’s not for me! How about you?

I have some secrets.

I only do a top to bottom cleaning of the bathroom about once a month. Sounds gross, doesn’t it? But it’s clean - all of the time. I just don’t have to spend a back breaking day to do it. I use a squeegee, or sometimes a daily shower spray when I remember to buy it (I love the Method ylang-ylang one). I wipe up things every night - takes a few seconds.

I do one extra wipe up in the kitchen every night when I do the dishes. One night the cabinets, one night behind all the stuff on the counters, one night the microwave.  I wipe down the stove every night before the stuff dries up on it. The kitchen is always clean. And since there’s never any build up - it only takes a few extra minutes. It’s a breeze.

 I throw in a load of laundry almost every day. No build up there either.  And how much time does that really take?

I have 2 cats and a dog, so I vacuum a lot. That’s where my biggest amount of house cleaning time is spent. I keep the furnace filter clean. So there’s not a lot of dusting. A lot of times I cheat and just do a quick feather dusting.

That’s it. Just a few minutes here and there. And you’ll still have plenty of time for whatever else you’ve been wanting to do!

Of course, if you’ve been letting it go for a while - it’s going to take some concentrated effort to get it to where you can clean like I do. But I can help you with that too. In Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak, I give you a step-by-step plan to get the whole house tip to bottom clean.

It’s like anything else in life - once you have a system, it’s easy!

Click here to find out how to clean your house fast - and keep it that way >>>

Dishwashing 101

My daughter has a complaint. And it’s a valid one. She says, “People don’t know how to wash dishes.”You see, at her father’s house, they just pile stuff in the sink without rinsing and leave it for her to clean up. I myself have seen people complain about how hard it is to keep up with dishes. Washing dishes should only take a few minutes, it you do a few things first -When you’re done eating, scrape the leftover food into the garbage or garbage disposal.

Thoroughly rinse the dishes.

If you’re using your dish washer, you will skip the next few steps. I don’t care if you have one of those dishwashers that can handle washing plates full of food, If you want cleaner dishes, and your dishwasher to last longer, rinse them off first.

Place silverware and plates in the sink first, they are flat and you can place bowls and glasses on top of them.

Run hot soapy water.

You can’t fit all of the dirty dishes in the sink at one time. Run some hot soapy water in the pans to be washed.

Let dishes soak for a little while. Go take a walk or something.

When you come back - washing the dishes will be a breeze.

Let them air dry.

Put them away.

After washing the dishes, wipe down the stove before everything gets too dry and caked on. Take a few seconds and wipe down counters, range-hood, fridge and stuff like that. If you do it all of the time, it only takes a few seconds. Get in the habit of taking just a few extra minutes and your kitchen will always be clean.

You don’t have to work hard to keep your house clean - Just work smart.

Click here to find out how to clean your house fast, and keep it that way!