Showing posts with label steamer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steamer. Show all posts

Friday

5 Things To Remember when Spring Cleaning


The painters were coming to paint the Lounge and a few other rooms this month so my overhaul plans for the house were changed and I decided to Spring Clean the Lounge even though it is not Spring time.


When we were working on the Lounge I thought about 5 things not to forget for next year  PLUS  a Bonus Tip.








All of these of course could refer to practically any room in the house but because I was working on the Lounge my examples are based there.









1.  Furniture Pads

When you buy a new piece of furniture you should fit felt pads to the furniture feet or legs;  especially if you have wooden floors..

If you haven't got ones fitted then do this while you are Spring Cleaning.

If you have fitted them then check each time you are Spring Cleaning to see if any need replaced or any have come off and put new ones on.
In this case the pads had been on since we bought the Nesting tables 10 years ago and were still doing fine BUT note they always catch all the hairs and fluff so need to be hoovered well regularly too (see pic on right & this was after I had pulled off some of the hairs) .




The best thing to do is to buy more pads than you need to start with so that if one gets dislodged or has worn very thin and needs replaced then you have one of the same type and thickness to put on because you do not want to end up with a difference in those chair legs  -  no wobbling.

New suite - Furniture pads were added




2.  Scratches and Scrapes

No matter how careful we are the longer we have an item the more scratches and scrapes will appear on it.

When you see them during your very detailed Spring cleaning either write down a note about each of them or take a picture of them.




This is to remind you later what you have to go back to touch up and what colour it is because at the time you find the scratch you probably will not have the right product to do the touch up.

You know you will forget about this later when you are not seeing it each day.

I have to get black scratch touch up colour for the bottom of our Clavinova (electric piano) and a dark reddish brown for the piano stool.




3.  The Grooves in Furniture

I love to damp dust rather than ordinary dusting because it doesn't just displace the dust (and annoy my nose).

But even with that some items with grooves and ridges still hold that dust unless we take that extra bit of effort.

I have two items like this in my lounge - The Roll Top Desk and the Clavinova.




They don't look bad from these angles.
(Also reminds me of the fact that we need to remember to dust all sides and backs of items - you never know know who will have a different view of your furniture etc. depending on where they are sitting or standing in the room).

We even think they are dusted ok because we went along each one with the cloth but later sitting to the side of them the dust can still be rather noticeable.






The only solution for me is to get a small thin brush, put a furniture cleaning wipe over the bristles and use this in between the ridges.





I use a wipe and not the cloth as the cloth is just that bit thicker and then the brush doesn't seem to get right in to the depth of the grooves.





See the difference even after just a few grooves are cleaned with the wipe on the brush.




4.  Vertical Blinds and Roller Blinds

We tend to remember to take down the curtains and get them cleaned but quite often we just dust over the blinds.

Not always good enough because if we let them go too long they can be really hard to get cleaned and I know all about that from when I moved into this house 4 years ago.

This time I saw two parts of the blinds that needed my attention, one on the left of the window and one on the right.




So out comes one of my favourite gadgets talked about in a previous blog post  


Yes my Steamer and this is the result even looking in closer.






5.  Candle Wax.

More and more we are all bringing candles into various rooms and setting them in different places.

The more candles we burn the more chance of candle wax dripping and staining items and if this goes unnoticed for too long we just may not be able to get rid of the marks.





As you can see I have marks on the logs in my grate but I don't mind that too much.
In front of the grate in plain view I had no drips and if I had they would have been noticed and cleaned up shortly afterwards but we had never checked in under the grate until now and that could have meant the Sandstone fireplace being stained and I may have had great difficulty getting rid of that but fortunately the wax had only dripped on the logs.

Oh does anyone know how to get candle wax off logs - in case I do decide to try it?



Well that covers my 5 Things to Remember when Spring Cleaning.




And I haven't forgotten


 The Bonus Tip. 



DON'T FORGET  -  The Things Dropped Down between Seats of the Sofa

We don't see them but they are there or rather they may even be on the floor under the sofa which you haven't moved for months.





Yes folks we lost the remote control of our DVD player in the lounge.

It was a DVD player which did not have all the necessary buttons on the player itself so it really needed the remote to be suitable for our family who are lazy when we sit down to watch dvds together.
No doubt you can guess what had happened after several months - because we watch a lot of dvds.


Yes we went out and 
bought 
another DVD player


Then this month we sell our suite and there is the remote control lying on the floor where the sofa had been.












5 Essential Items to make the Housework Easy PLUS a Bonus TIP

Yes I have   

                             5 things 

                                             that 

                                                      are essential 


for making the Housework as easy as possible in any room.





No matter what room, these 5 things will really make your jobs easier.








1.   STEAMER





 Since I bought my steamer I will not tackle a good cleaning without it
  • windows
  • floors
  • tiles
  • showers
  • toilets
  • baths
   these are just the main things I use my steamer on but not the only things.

Remember the fridge in the kitchen last month - yes I used the steamer to get the stain off the bottom of the fridge.   You are probably thinking  "Is she mad?" but if do then you haven't seen my fridge so click on over to  Is This the End of the Kitchen?
The flat attachment is great for a lot of areas but then there is also the nozzle attachment which means you can get steam into small areas and corners and along edges.
Plus most of the time you don't need to use any cleaners because the steam is such a great cleaner and what could be healthier than water and no chemicals.

Only one problem with my steamer  -  it's green, oh if only it were BLUE!





2.   VINEGAR



You only need to go on Pinterest to realise what a great item white vinegar is,  there are just so many uses for it  - but please remember you want brown vinegar
when it comes to chips (French fries)



Of course vinegar is even more powerful
                when it is combined with the next item















3.   BICARBONATE of SODA / BAKING SODA





This can be used with water to make a paste and is a great cleaning product.
Check it out in Pinterest and see the many suggestions there.

Or mix it with water and vinegar to have a sizzling cleaning experience.
Again check it out in Pinterest and see the many suggestions there.

Also have a look at a previous post where I gave a link to the 
Toilet Bombs















4.   SPRAY BOTTLE



Use the spray bottle with a mixture of water and vinegar to help clean loads of surfaces etc.
Check it out in Pinterest and see the many suggestions there.

Or mix water and vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to have a stronger cleaner.
Again check it out in Pinterest and see the many suggestions there.

A spray bottle is great because you can spray a little cleaner or spray, spray, spray for a bigger amount and much more easy to control that trying to pour something out.


The bottle in the picture is from a Tea Tree Oil product which I used while in Belgium because it was not harmful to the environment but unfortunately my husband was not too keen on the smell so I don't use the product now just use the bottle.

Of course it is cheaper to use the water and vinegar than to buy a that cleaner.




5.   TOOTHBRUSH





Well this is that little tool that can get into the smaller places, corners, along ridges, and can be used for a light brushing or a heavy scrubbing.


Then combine this with any or all of the above and what can escape your cleaning attack.

















These last 4 things are kept in a plastic container with a handle that is easy to grab and take with me to each room (pity the steamer can't fit in too!).



OK I bet you thought I was forgetting about the bonus TIP I mentioned 

in the title of this post.



No way would I forget something!         Okay just don't ask Fred how true that is PLEASE



The Bonus TIP


I keep a packet of Cleaning Wipes in various places especially the

  • bathroom
  • ensuite
  • Guest Bedroom ensuite
  • Back Toilet
  • Utility Room
  • Kitchen

Then when I am in any of these rooms I can do a quick wipe over before I leave the room.


For example 
I go to use the bathroom so before I leave it I just check if the wash hand basin is ok and if not I grab a wipe and a give it a quick wipe over and leave.

If there is a small spill or stickiness in the utility room or kitchen I can get a wipe out of the packet quickly and deal with it rather than let it wait until later or waiting for hot water and getting a cloth out and dirty for the small job.  Just wipe and go no need to dry off.




Maybe you have the same essential materials or maybe you have something else you feel you can't manage without - if so let us know.