How to make life easier with savvy spring cleaning tips!

Keeping your house and your family clean can be easier than you think if you keep in mind a few quick – but effective – cleaning tips. By: The "Healthy Housekeeper" Laura Dellutri www.healthyhousekeeper.com

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. • Blot the carpet, don’t rub. As the nice weather approaches, kids will be playing outside more frequently and will most likely track more dirt and mud through the house. If you do find a muddy footprint on the carpet don’t rub, blot! Blot the stain working from the outside in. Allow the mud to dry completely and then vacuum up.
2. • Make your own furniture polish. Dusting furniture can be a never ending job. Try making your own furniture polish with one cup of olive oil and a ½ cup of lemon juice in a spray bottle. Spray mixture onto your dusting cloth and rub with the grain. Never spray directly onto furniture, over-spraying can leave a residue.
3. • Do laundry faster with large capacity high efficiency washers. Having a family also means having a lot of laundry. If you currently use a standard agitator washing machine, now is a great time to switch. By using a high efficiency (HE) washing machine you can double your load capacity and save money and energy. Just remember to use an HE specific detergent, like Tide® HE, which is specially formulated to provide a deep clean in HE washing machines.
4. • Sanitize the bathroom in seconds. Bathrooms are one of the most over-used rooms in the house and can be the messiest. However, dirt and bacteria in the bathroom often goes unseen until it’s too late. Keep a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide full strength and spray all your areas as they become dirty. Ordinary hydrogen peroxide is a great cleaner that sanitizes without harsh fumes! Next time you are in the bathroom, give a quick spray to countertops and other areas to keep surfaces clean and sanitary.

Tips & Warnings

• Did You Know? High Efficiency washing machines can save money and time. There is less water to heat and the machines can hold up to twice the amount of laundry as your standard agitator washing machine. Just remember that these machines require the use of an HE specific detergent like Tide® HE to get great cleaning performance out of your HE machine.