After cleaning my bathroom floor the other day, I noticed some discoloration in the grout between the tiles. It is much easier to clean the tiles but mildew and dirt can be a bit more stubborn when it comes to your grout. If you want to give it a real good cleaning, use a grout cleaning brush. These can be found at your local “Home Depot,” “Lowes” or other type of home improvement store. However if it isn’t too dirty, you may be able to get away with using a toothbrush (of course, it goes without saying that it shouldn’t … Continue reading →

Keeping your house clean can get expensive. Every time I go to the grocery store I’m amazed at how expensive cleaners can be. Everything from window cleaner to laundry detergent just seems to keep getting more and more expensive. In this economy who can afford to spend money on something they are going to wash down the drain? I prefer to use natural things to clean my home. I don’t want all of those chemicals in the air and on the surfaces my family touches. However, not everyone is a fan of using vinegar and baking soda. Commercials have done … Continue reading →

Did you know that in less than 30 minutes a day you can clean your house? I’m not talking about a deep cleaning. I’m talking about a surface cleaning and then time spent focusing on one room or task. Let me give you an example of how I do this. Let’s take Mondays. On Mondays I concentrate my effort into cleaning the kitchen. But I also make a sweep through our other main rooms to get them in order. It really does take me less than 30 minutes. I start by sweeping the kitchen floor (1 minute) and then I … Continue reading →

I used to love hardwood floors. But my love has now turned to laminate flooring. So we are slowly starting to put that throughout our house. Laminate flooring is pretty inexpensive and comes in all sorts of colors and styles. It is also very durable. If you haven’t invested in laminate flooring, I highly recommend it. But what about cleaning? Cleaning laminate flooring is different than other types of flooring. What I noticed in the beginning of trying to keep my floors clean is that they streak very easily. The surface is so glossy that any spots or streaks left … Continue reading →

Slate is all the rage with homeowners looking to update their kitchen, master bathrooms or entryways. The natural stone features a fine texture that comes from mixing small silt and clay particles under high heat and pressure. The bonding of these particles makes the material resilient and highly resistant to stains. These features make slate an ideal choice for flooring, especially in high traffic areas. Another reason slate has become a popular choice in flooring is that it looks as good as it is practical. Slate comes in a variety of textures and colors, including black, red, green, gray, and … Continue reading →

It’s that time of the year, my Golden Retriever is shedding. Her great balls of fur look like tumbleweeds and detract from the “clean” look of my home. This is one of those times I am grateful for hardwood floors. I remember the days of carpeting and how difficult it could be to get fur out of the fibers. Needless to say I vacuumed on a daily basis, which is one of the keys to tackling dog hair. Of course, brushing your dog is also important. When I do this on a daily basis, it greatly reduces the amount of … Continue reading →

I may have mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. I hate to vacuum. I don’t know why. It’s one of those jobs that I really don’t like, so I don’t do it as often as I should. The result is carpet that looks terrible and is worn before it’s time. It’s important to vacuum your carpet daily, this keeps the dirt from getting ground in and ruining the carpet. I know, I know, just run the vacuum and be done with it, but I just can’t make myself do it. I would rather clean every toilet in the … Continue reading →

Photo is My Living Room Windows This past weekend I spent a few hours deep cleaning both my living and dining rooms. I scrubbed the floors, wiped down the walls, took down every picture and dusted it, cleaned the ceiling fans and so on. But I decided to do more than just clean. I moved furniture around. In fact, I ended up taking out the coffee table that was in my living room, which really opened up the space. I also decided to allow more light to come in. While I always open our blinds in the morning, I leave … Continue reading →