Archive for the ‘Homekeeping’ Category

Need some help around the house with your cleaning?  Who doesn’t!  I found a list that will help you choose age-appropriate chores for your children.  Not only will this help you with the housework, it will help your children be successful and develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments.  You’ll also be that much closer to getting the spa treatment you’ve been putting off!

Toddlers Ages 2-3 Can:

• Pick up toys and return then to the toy box
• Put books back on the shelves
• Take dirty clothes to the laundry
• Put socks on their hands and dust their furniture

Preschoolers Ages 4-5 Can:

• Dust furniture
• Set the dinner table
• Clear the dinner table
• Help put away groceries

Kids Ages 6-8 Can:

• Vacuum
• Take out the trash
• Take care of the family pet
• Fold laundry
• Put away laundry

Kids ages 9-12 Can:

• Load dishes in the dishwasher
• Wash and dry dishes by hand
• Help make easy meals
• Clean the bathroom
• Do yard work such as raking leaves and pruning small bushes

Teens Ages 13-17 Can:

• Help with the laundry
• Clean windows
• Clean appliances in the kitchen
• Vacuum all of the house
• Prepare meals
• Shop for groceries

Well…I guess I’m officially on a cleaning kick since Monday!  Sick…I know.  Hahah.  We have had some really nice weather in the past couple of days which I guess is where I’ve gotten my inspiration to clean the house.  The sun shows all the dust!  Anyway, I’ve listed a few tips below to help make your cleaning a bit easier and hopefully you will be less encouraged to pull your hair out!

• Put a dish of hot water in the microwave for easy clean up.  Add a slice of lemon and boil the water for about 2 minutes until steam is produced.  Keep the door closed another 5 minutes and then wipe the interior with a damp cloth.
• Use a soft toothbrush to clean corners and crevices.
• Pour salt on a fresh liquid spill and let it set for an hour.  Vacuum or blot the salt with a paper towel.  Change towels as they become saturated.
• Remove finger marks on stainless steel by buffing them out with a small amount of baby oil on a clean cloth.  Then rinse off with a cloth dampened with club soda.
• Remove rust stains on sinks, toilets, tubs, and tile by using a fresh lemon dipped in salt.  The citric acid oxidizes and eats away the rust.
• Clean toilets overnight with denture-cleaning tablets.
• Steam it clean by running a hot shower for about 10 minutes before you’re ready to clean.  The steam from the hot water will penetrate mold, mildew and hairspray deposits for quicker cleanup in the bathroom.
• Remove musty odors in any room by applying fragrance to a few cotton balls and placing them strategically out of sight around the room.

Enjoy!

I’ve started my spring cleaning today by dusting some of my window blinds.  We have 2 inch faux wood blinds everywhere in our house and some of our windows are quite large.  So, after 4 of the window and several of the Swiffer dusters later I thought to myself…there must be a better way of doing this!!  So I started to look online for better ways to clean your blinds and i honestly didn’t find much out there.  There was one idea of using a sock on your hand and another idea of using the vacuum cleaning and I found that the Swiffer duster worked better for me.  The downfall of this method is the amount of those dusters you go through is insane!  Anyway…I gave up after 2 more windows only because I ran out of the refills!  I will continue the blinds when I get more of them in the next couple of days.

While I was looking online I came across a handy Spring Cleaning checklist, which of course was done up by none other than the “Queen of Clean” Martha Stewart. It is a fairly thorough list and I am going to do most of what she has on this list plus a couple of other things that aren’t on here that I like to have done at my house.  Below is a condensed version of her list as well as the link to the full version.  Enjoy with a dose of lithium and a full glass of wine!

Throughout the house

• Wipe walls and ceilings
• Reseal grout lines (using a grout sealer)
• Vacuum and shampoo rugs
• Dust books and shelves
• Clean upholstered furnishings
• Polish metal door and window hardware
• Dust your home thoroughly
• Wax wooden furniture
• Ensure fire safety
• Wash window screens
• Clean window treatments
• Wax non-wood floors

Room by room

Kitchen

• Dust refrigerator coils
• Defrost the freezer

Living room

• Swap heavy curtains, rugs and throws for lightweight ones (um…do people really do this??)

Bedrooms

• Rotate bed and change blankets
• Clean pillows

Bathrooms

• Discard expired cosmetics and beauty products
• Update first-aid kit

Home Office

• Organize files
• Clean computers (and she doesn’t mean erasing the hard drives…LOL)

Closets

• Replace cool-weather clothing with warm-weather clothing
• Donate apparel you no longer use

Utility Spaces

• Clean attic and basement, giving away or discarding unwanted items

Outdoor Spaces

• Clean porch ceilings and walls
• Scrub decks, patios, driveways and walkways
• Wash outdoor furniture
• Inspect light fixtures

Martha Stewart Spring Cleaning List