Spring Cleaning Dread is Upon Us

The House is feeling kind of cluttered after Christmas:  Snow is coming and going, the birds are going to return soon.... It's about time to start thinking of Spring Cleaning. UGH. Well here's some pre-spring cleaning tips:

1: Turn your hangers around in your closet. If you turn your hangers around so they face towards you, once you wear something you turn the hanger back the normal way. Then by the time spring cleaning rolls around, you know which clothes you don't wear and can donate them.

2. Put worn shoes on the top shelf. If you place the ones you wear the most on the top shelf you'll know that the ones on the bottom you aren't going to wear.

3. Find a basket and put your makeup in it. It looks cute, accessible. But when you use something, put it back in your normal spot. After a month (hopefully a special occasion or two later) you'll see the stuff you don't use and throw it out.

4. Get a bin and put the kids toys in it. Same concept with the makeup basket. Let them play in it and have them put the toys they play with back in their regular spot. After a week, donate the unused toys in the bin.

5. Start checking expiration dates. Every time you use a condiment or make a trip to the pantry, check the expiration date of the thing you are using. If its good put it back on the shelf, if not, just throw it out. Also, clear off a shelf one by one, use Saran Wrap Press and Seal to cover the shelves after they're clean. That way if something spills simply rip it up and replace.


As for the Spring Cleaning itself, we have many ways to help you out: Check out our Printable House Cleaning Checklist for references on what you'll need to get done. Or want to have done. ;)

Thanks for reading, I hope it helps!


Tiffany

Moving! Lots of Fun! (Sarcasm included)

Spring is in the air, and you can almost taste the excitement of the new house you just bought! Except, maybe they weren't the cleanest. Maybe you weren't the cleanest. Eep- when you moved the couch the wall behind had SODA on it… when’s the last time the kids had soda!?

This task is overwhelming, and stress you don’t need added to your moving experience. Most people prefer to do it themselves to save money, but in the long run, even some help doing the easy stuff is much needed. Let’s start with our company.

Our pricing is based on a square footage size, and covers every single surface in the interior- (unless of course you live in a house with 50 foot ceilings). We include: Blinds (excluded are mini blinds), windows, baseboards, walls, light fixtures/ceiling fans within reach of a two step ladder, fridges, ovens, cupboards and cabinets inside and out, all bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and closets.  For more information you can visit our website, care-cleaning.com, but if you needed more motivation here are some “before and after”s-

 Let's start with the tub, here is a before and after of our volunteer's master bathroom!

Floors can also be a pain in bathrooms, they get so much water on them that builds up.

Pretty nice, right? This was done meticulously with a scrub brush, and tooth brush.

 Moving on to the cupboards. Sometimes stuff just gets stuck in them due to the nature of the products stashed in there.

Moving on to the Laundry Room/Mud Room

 The lighting is ACTUALLY different because one has a dirty light cover! As you see we do the walls and floors

Windows are included on the insides, including tracks:

And Finally to the Kitchen!

 Pretty sure my fridge looks like this. Even when you aren't taking the fridge with you to the next house, it's nice to make it look pretty appealing.

Voila!

And the Oven can be tricky- All sorts of gunk gets baked on

Still on the fence about needing help? Call us and get a bid today!

Tiffany-

How to Clean Your Washing Mashine

How to Clean a Top-Loading Washing Machine

-Experts recommend cleaning your washing machine once a month. This helps to get rid of the mold, mildew, and bacteria that grow inside your machine- Yuk! Nothing like getting your clothes “clean” than washing them in a germ-infested machine, am I right? There are several things you can use to clean your machines. You can buy special washing machine cleaners, or you can use either white vinegar or bleach if you are cheap like me.

Step 1: Fill your machine with hot water.

Step2: Dispense 3-4 cups of bleach OR vinegar (do NOT combine!) into the dispenser. I used my favorite lavendar scented bleach. (Vinegar works very well if your washing machine has hard water build-up)

Step 3: Let it soak for up to an hour, but no less than 20 minutes.

Step 4: Continue the machine on wash cycle and let it complete.

Step 5: Using a rag and a gentle cleaner wipe out the machine to remove any last residue. Clean off the strip, dispensers and removable parts, all the nooks & crannies under the lid, as well as the outside of the machine.

Along with deep cleaning your washing machine regularly, here are a couple of other tips to help keep that dingy mildew smell from invading your washer:

-Don’t let your wet clothes sit in the washing machine for hours or days at a time. Life gets busy and we forget about laundry, but leaving wet clothes in your washer is a main contributor to mold and mildew build up. Also, your clothes will smell funny so you just wasted a whole load of laundry.

-Let your washer air out. Leave the lid open for an hour after your last load of laundry. Closing in a damp washer only promotes bacteria growth. If you have removable dispensers, place them in a nearby sink until they are dry. 

-Carrie

Cleaning Out Your Vacuum: Video

Hello! This Is from our wonderful boss and Owner of Home Comfort Care. Need to figure out the best way to clean up your vacuum! Take a gander:

You can view our other videos on our YouTube Channel: Home Comfort Care LLC

Rants and Raves of a Mother

In the words of a famous probably-not-natural blonde cartoon character that we watch on the TV way too often: "Let it go?!" 

Cleaning with a house full of kids (and hubby) is hard. Throw a few pets into the mess and whew! It's a constant struggle. Kids are alway throwing toys around, dishes pile up, laundry gets as high as Mount Everest. How in the world are we supposed to deal with that?

Most days I keep to my schedule (see below blog) but I have a hard time not wanting to sit on my butt and watch Netflix with my Dr. Pepper or chocolate... or both. Most of our customers end up calling us after the mess is already so overwhelming it weighs them down. That I understand, such a messy house can make you depressed! You could always follow our suggestions in the blog previous, or you could take some of my advice. Everyone needs to relax. It's good for your sanity! All of these I have done at least once.

1. Switch to paper plates. Less dishes for you and lots more garbage for hubby!

2. Wear less clothing. You know those comfy yoga pants that make your butt look fabulous? Yeah wear 'em to death.

3. Stop buying toys. They have enough. They're always playing with toilet paper and that stick from the backyard anyways.

4. Buy some of those glade plug in things. Hey, it works.

5. Push brooms are NOT just for the garage. 

6. Repeatedly threaten to throw away everything and have nobody listen.

7. Start the dryer (again) to make it seem like you've accomplished something for the day.

8. Febreeze equals Miracle spray. 

9. Browse crock pot dinners on Pinterest. 

10. Children sleeping? Take a nap. 

So, excuse me while I sit down with my chocolate and soda in my yoga pants that I do not use for yoga, and watch something that has nothing to do with child education. I'll get to that mess... tomorrow.

And, as always, we are here to help you if you need it!

Tiffany

An Expansion: Parts of Your House You Don't Think to Clean Often!

Easy Tips to Keep Your House Cleaner:

We all clean the basics of our houses, but do we really keep our house sanitized and clean? There are a lot of things we simply don't think about because we're too busy with toilets and dishes! Here are some good tips from us on parts of your house that gets missed often.

1. Change your furnace filter often. Follow the recommended time limits on your filter, this will help cut down on dust in the house. Especially people with pets.

2. Clean your vacuum once every two weeks. Take it apart, wash the filter, rinse out the canisters and so forth and let air dry, this also cuts down on dust in your home. A buildup can make your vacuum actually spit dust back into the air. If you can, once in a while just get some canned air or use an air compressor and try and blow off the motor too.

3. Run the dishwasher and washer with vinegar in them once a month. This helps clean any germs and removes tough water stains over time, or prevents them from building. It is a great disinfectant as well!

4. Don't dry dust! A slightly damp rag will catch more dust and then you can just happily wash it down the drain in your washing machine!

5. Pour a bit of bleach down the drains after you clean them out and don't rinse for 30 minutes, this helps prevent any smells. (You know what I'm talking about)

6. Lysol spray your doors, fridge handles, and railings and light switches. No scrubbing required!

7. Run your exhaust fans with the doors open, and open a window or two once in a while. There are lots of pollutants in your home. Clearing the air, so to speak, will help freshen up your house and swap out the bad air for good! I do this often in my home, especially when we are all sick. 

8. Wash your throw blankets, decorative pillows and if possible, curtains, once a month. Gets rid of a build up of pet dander, dust and who know what else. Pillows especially are dust magnets.

9. Don't shut your garage door until after the car has been turned off for a minute. Especially for people who's houses are above or attached to the garage. This prevents exhaust air from getting into your home as much. Exhaust air is dirty, and very bad for those who have asthma in particular.

10. Wipe your walls! If you go get a flat mop, and just get the pad slightly wet, you can reach higher along the wall. Walls get dusty too! Just "mop" the wall once every couple months or so, no need to do it more often. Unless your children find the crayons.

Well there's my 10 tips for keeping my house cleaner, what are yours? Feel free to comment below.

Tiffy

White Sinks are Not Your Best Friend

White Sinks are Horrible to Clean-

Yeah, the above statement is totally true. They look gorgeous when they are nice and white and pretty, until you stick something in it. If you leave metal sitting on it too long they get these horrible rust marks on them. If you pour coffee or juice on it and it's allowed to sit for more than 10 seconds it starts to color. Here's what mine currently looks like:

Ok so what do you do? Stop using it?

Step One: Clean out the sink- use a sponge and some soap and scrub it down good.

Step Two: Fill it up with COLD water and pour 1/4 cup of bleach into it. Let sit for 30 minutes.

My horribly expensive cheapo bleach

Step Three: Still using the cold water (drain some if you need to) take a clean sponge and start scrubbing in slow small circles. 

Step Four: Drain and spray down with hot water, this deactivates the bleach and helps remove the smell. Vinegar will actually help remove the smell if you do a quick scrub around the inside with hot water.

Mine still isn't horribly pretty but better than it was!

This can take one to several applications over time. Rust stains in particular are the worst. The best thing to do for your white sink is to get a plastic dish tray and place in in the bottom so no dishes can touch the bottom. Or just ignore it by making the hubby do the dishes ;)

Tiffany