Category Archives: House Cleaning

Spring into Spring

October 21, 2021   Matt

Spring into Spring

Hasn’t time flown? Already we’re into the last quarter of the year and isn’t it perfect timing to clear out the cobwebs of winter and prepare yourself for the next few months of sun, sand, surf or is it work, work, work?
You know it’s time to take action when:
You have difficulty finding things
Your colleagues make comments about your mess
You can’t see your desk for the mess
You cut your fingers in the filing cabinet when you try to dig out a file
You have to push your body against the cupboard door to close it.
The bookshelves are beginning to break because of all the weight.
You’ve forgotten what your office floor looks like because it’s buried under the mess
In his bestselling book “Clutter’s Last Stand, Don Aslett, America’s No. 1 Cleaning Expert says:
“Most of us attain, accumulate, collect, but plenty always seems to require more. Enough is never enough.
Clutter Costs
We have to pay for it, keep track of it, protect it, clean it, store it, insure it and worry about it. This takes energy and effort (in fact, a great part of your life). Later we have to move it, hide it, apologise for it, argue over it.
Clutter Stifles
It requires so much of our time to tend. Not only are our houses, drawers, closets and vehicles so crowded we can’t breathe, but our minds, emotions and relationships are crowded into dullness and immobility.
We’re so surrounded with stuff, we don’t even have time for the people whom mean the most to us.
The Final Revelation
Finally, often too late, we realise that most of that which has surrounded us, choking out good living, squeezing out the physical and emotional life out of us, is just junk – clutter!
Clutter in the Workplace
Clutter is costing businesses thousands, if not millions of dollars!
Here are a five reasons why:
People waste time searching for things. In fact, The Wall Street Journal conducted a survey and reported that white collar workers spent on average SIX WEEKS A YEAR looking for things in the office!
Clutter occupies space. Floor space costs money! One of the most common complaints I hear is “I have no room, there’s not enough space.
Extra money is spent on stationery and office supplies which have already been bought. The trouble is people can’t easily find them in a cluttered environment so they order more.
Money is wasted on excess office furniture and storage to hoard the clutter.
Clutter makes you feel busy. Combined with a busy workload, clutter will dramatically increase your stress levels. It is extremely easy to be distracted with so much ‘stuff’ surrounding you.
Time to Take Action
Make a decision to rid yourself of excess clutter. Clean out your workplace and your home. Now is the best time to start. Stop making excuses that you don’t have the time…guess what? You do.

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Organize Your Seasonal Home Decorating

October 16, 2021   Matt

Organize Your Seasonal Home Decorating

I don’t spend a lot of money decorating my home. Many people
don’t want to spend the time or money to decorate with the
seasons, but over the years I have learned some ways to
creatively seasonally decorate that have cost little or next to
nothing.
Because I work a lot, I don’t spend very much time decorating my
home. When I’m updating my home to a new seasonal theme, I don’t
spend more than a couple of hours arranging and rearranging to
get a nice seasonal effect. Here are some of the ways I’ve
learned to organize my seasonal accessories:
– I store my seasonal decorations in several large stackable
Rubbermaid containers: two for Christmas, one for Easter/spring,
and one for autumn/Thanksgiving. When I’m ready to change themes,
I get out the one(s) to put things away in, dust or otherwise
clean the area(s) where the new decorations will sit, and then
get out the new decorations. The storage containers get put back
away, and everything is still organized for next season. Make
sure you mark the containers in some way to know which one is
which. Color coding them buy buying different colored containers
works well.
– You will inevitably forget to put something away and stumble
across it when you’re cleaning another day. In each bathroom I
have a corner of a closet shelf reserved for miscellaneous
seasonal decorations. Or if someone gives you a seasonal gift you
don’t have anywhere else to put at the moment, this is a good
place to put it.
If you find the task of re-decorating your entire home
overwhelming, look for certain areas of your home that would be
good for displaying seasonal decorations. In my home the kitchen,
dining room, and living room are the focal areas of our home.
There are certain areas where I concentrate when decorating for
the seasons:
– Kitchen: I don’t do a lot of seasonal decorating in the
kitchen, but there are a couple of easy things you can do to
liven it up a little. Seasonal dish cloths and hand towels are
really cute, as well as seasonal floor mats. If you use the
towels for decoration only, like hanging from your oven door
handle, they will still be nice for the next year. Seasonal
refrigerator magnets are also easy to update.
– Dining Area: Our dining room table is the focal point of our
dining room. We have a long oak table that is great for seasonal
decorating. A table runner makes a nice seasonal addition. I have
one made out of Easter fabric for spring, a floral one for
summer, and one of Christmas fabric. I just need to get one for
autumn. You can accessorize with seasonal place mats, napkins,
and napkin rings. These you can make yourself or pick up at yard
sales or clearance sales off-season. I also like to decorate the
center of the table for the season. A lot of times I will use a
vase of seasonal flowers. For autumn I have a vase of artificial
fall foliage. I accent the vase with Indian corn, gourds, and
artificial fall leaves.
– Living Room: The main areas of the living room I concentrate on
are the fireplace mantel and hearth, a corner curio shelf, and
the entertainment center. I lay a garland across the top of the
entertainment center that can be changed with the seasons: fall
foliage for autumn, flowers for spring and summer, and evergreens
for winter. On the shelves of the entertainment center and the
curio shelves I rotate my seasonal knickknacks. The last place I
decorate is the top of the piano. Sometimes I just decorate with
houseplants and photographs, but it is also a great place to
showcase collections, like my angels at Christmas or my bunny
village in the spring. I also have a piece of fabric draped over
the piano that I can change with the seasons.
– Other: Window clings are great for any season. Door wreaths can
also be rotated any time of year. My grapevine wreath goes up in
the autumn and is soon replaced by my Christmas wreath. You could
have one for every season. Although I don’t have one yet, a lot
of people have seasonal flags or banners displayed outside of the
house. These you could buy or make yourself.
These are just ideas to get in the mood of seasonal decorating.
Learning to bring the outdoors indoors can be fun–there are many
easy, inexpensive ways you can change the look of your home to
get in tune with the seasons.

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Installing your new bathroom tiles

October 06, 2021   Matt

Installing your new bathroom tiles

Laying your bathroom tiles with a dynamic flooring pattern or a deep wall color can make the difference as you remodel your bathroom floor. A nice bathroom needs a ceramic tile floor.

Before laying the bathroom tiles, start by removing your old carpet and carpet strips. Use a cutoff saw to make room for the bathroom tile to slip under the doorjambs. Place a portion of the tile pattern starting at the doorway to set up a centerline and then strike a chalk line.

Cut the bathroom tile with a wet saw or tile snips. Work your way up one side of the room and down the other. Allow 1/8″ for grout lines; spacers can be used for consistency. Mix the thinnest using an electric drill with a mixing bit.

Mix small amounts at a time, adding water slowly to maintain the right consistency. Mix enough to lay down a dozen or so bathroom tile at once, and be ready to go to work as the thinnest dries quickly using a trowel to apply the thinnest to the floor.

When the bathroom tiles are all in place and some-what dry, use a grout saw to scrape the excess thinnest out of the joints where the grout will go. A shop van will clean most of this up, but use a wet sponge to get the surface clean. Once dry, begin applying the grout with a rubber trowel.

One more sponge cleaning will be required to get up the film once the bathroom tiles is dried completely. It’s recommended to apply a grout sealer after about 48 hours or so to help avoid any staining problems that occur during normal use.

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Tips on How to Clean Vinyl Siding Without Really Maintaining It

October 01, 2021   Matt

Tips on How to Clean Vinyl Siding Without Really Maintaining It

Yes, we know that vinyl siding is the most durable and may be the most lasting siding material next to brick and stone. But don’t treat it like Iron Man, because it isn’t. It is somewhat brittle and heavy objects unceremoniously propped onto its side will cause it to break and sport holes that will only be repaired by replacing, at worst, the entire area.

Aside from that, vinyl siding is very maintenance free. You’d only have to periodically wash its surface to remove dirt, dust, and stain that may have gotten on its surface. And just like any plastic, it can be cleaned with a regular soap and brush. Vinyl is also remarkably durable; it only needs to be replaced every 30 years minimum. It outlasts aluminum for that span of time; it is highly probable that aluminum by then will be sporting dents, holes and depressions here and there. Barring coloring problems, vinyl can withstand easily any force.

However, there’s always a set of commandments that should be followed to ensure that these vinyl sidings last that amount of time. Here’s a countdown.

* Vinyl is a hard plastic that can be brittle. Avoid plunking heavy objects onto its face. If necessary, prop it with care.

* Earlier models are poorly rated for colors that cover the surface. This is evident when scratches upon the face reveal lighter colors. In today’s manufacturing, however, colors are baked into the depth of the vinyl siding. When scratched, those lines will often be invisible since colors are now true and uniformly the same underneath. Still, it is best to avoid scratching the siding even if only to retain is natural glossing.

* Since its construction only involves in snapping the edges together, vinyl sidings tend to leak a lot. So, check periodically channels and punch holes into bottom siding to allow penetrated water to escape.

So, the next question would be how to clean vinyl siding. As was discussed, soap and water can do the job. Even casual rinsing with a moderately powered hose will be enough as long as you take care that water won’t be entering forcibly through the gaps.

There will be time when stains appear and conventional detergent can’t remove them. So, how to clean vinyl sidings with this kind of dirt is our next point of interest.

Using Restora® Heavy Duty Cleaner available at www.flood.com is an immediate answer. This cleaning agent removes deep stains such as mildew, oxidation, chalk, and even algae stains. You ca use it in junction with the Restora® Lo-Lustre Vinyl Revitalizer. This product restores vinyl surfaces to a “brand new” surface and shine.

Be very careful though, on using strong cleaning agents. Some agents will completely remove coloring of vinyl or severely damage it.

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Caring For Your Suit

September 26, 2021   Matt

Caring For Your Suit

Suits are one of the most expensive clothing purchases people make. With all the money you invest in a good suit, it is important to be sure that you care for it properly. However, exactly what is involved in caring for your suit?

The first thing you should do to keep your suit looking great is to hang it properly. Over the years, cheap hangers will create permanent puckers in the shoulders of the suit coat. Look for a good quality wooden or padded hanger that is designed to hang a suit.

If you have a wool suit, you should also be concerned about preventing moth damage. Ideally, you should hang your suit in a cedar lined closet. However, few people have a closet that is lined with cedar. One alternative is to use mothballs, but they have a strong, distinctive smell that lingers after the suit leaves the closet. A more pleasant alternative is to keep your suit in a special storage bag, which is airtight and keeps moths out.

Of course, one of the reasons that moths and carpet bugs eat suits in the first place is because they are put away before they are cleaned. If you have a suit that is used only for one season, such as a lightweight summer suit, you should never put it away without having it cleaned even if it doesn’t look dirty. This is because a suit may look clean to you, but actually has sweat stains and skin flakes on it that simply are not visible to the human eye. They act like bug magnets.

Most dirty suits need to be dry cleaned, but sometimes people just don’t have time to run to the dry cleaners. Luckily, there are some products that enable people to clean their suits at home.

1. Home dry cleaning kits are a great way to freshen a suit that doesn’t need to have any deep cleaning done. However, you will need to be sure that you don’t end up shrinking a wool suit when you use these kits.

2. To spot clean a wool suit, you should always be sure to test any spot removers on a spot that isn’t noticeable before you use them. Don’t ever rub at a stain, since you could damage the fabric. Instead, blot the stain and then rinse it in cold water.

3. If your wool suit has picked up an unpleasant odor, but you need to wear it the next morning, try hanging it in the bathroom, turning on the shower for a few minutes, and then leaving it to air out overnight.

Finally, don’t be afraid to press your suit yourself. Just make sure that you use the steam setting and press the suit on the wrong side so that you don’t make the wool shiny.

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Buy Golf Accessories at Unbelievable Prices

September 21, 2021   Matt

Buy Golf Accessories at Unbelievable Prices

Playing golf without accessories is a bit like eating
bread without butter – possible, but really yucky!

Golf accessories can include the basic must-haves like
balls and cases for your clubs to the high-end,
nice-to-haves like handheld computers for keeping
scores or tailor-made gloves.

As you may imagine, not only are these accessories
terribly expensive but frills quickly become
necessities in no time at all. So how can a golf
addict buy these accessories at reasonable prices

Local golf club stores, as anyone will vouch, are
quite expensive. So the alternative is to check out
the local classifieds in the good old newspaper or
online websites like Craigslist and eBay.

Keep track of flyers in your neighbourhood supermarket
and keep one ear cocked for gossip and word-of-mouth
information. The moment you hear that someone is
getting rid of their golf accessories, swoop in for a
killing.

You can get great discounts and unbelievable prices
when others are spring-cleaning or upgrading their
golf accessories. You get good, durable equipment and
accessories for a small fraction of the retail price
or almost for free.

If you have a mentor who wishes to discard their
collection of accessories or if you are friendly with
a senior citizen who is no longer capable of playing
golf, well, you have hit a gold-mine.

You can either purchase or borrow your choice of golf
accessorise at little or no cost. Let camaraderie and
networking also help you along so that when someone is
moving home or is picking up a new sport you can ask
them for their set of golf accessories.

Who says that all good things in life, especially a
neat set of golf accessories, are necessarily
expensive?

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