Tag: spring clean

Spring-clean your home naturally: Ditch the chemicals for a sparkling clean (and healthy!) home

Spring-clean your home naturally: Ditch the chemicals for a sparkling clean (and healthy!) home

At long last, spring is in the air! Birds are chirping, flowers are emerging and that nagging feeling to deep clean your home is probably kicking in. But before you reach for those harsh, chemical-laden cleaning products, consider a gentler, more eco-friendly approach. Natural cleaning products are not only better for the environment, but they’re often safer for your family and pets and can be just as effective!

Here’s how to spring-clean your home naturally using everyday ingredients you likely already have in your larder:

The powerhouse ingredients

  • White vinegar: A versatile disinfectant, deodoriser and degreaser.
  • Baking soda: A mild abrasive, deodoriser and all-around cleaner.
  • Lemon juice: A natural disinfectant, brightener and delightful scent booster.
  • Essential oils: Add fragrance and antimicrobial properties (lavender, tea tree, clary sage and eucalyptus are popular choices).
  • Olive oil: Excellent for polishing wood furniture.
  • Castile soap: A gentle, all-purpose cleanser.

Your natural spring-cleaning checklist

1. Kitchen sparkle

  • Worktops: Wipe down with a solution of equal parts white vinegar and water. For tougher stains, sprinkle baking soda and scrub gently.
  • Oven: Create a paste of baking soda and water, apply it inside the oven and let it sit overnight. The following day, scrub and wipe clean.
  • Microwave: Heat a cup of water with a few tablespoons of lemon juice for a few minutes. The steam will loosen grime for easy wiping.
  • Dishwasher: Run an empty cycle with a cup of white vinegar in the top rack.
  • Sink: Sprinkle baking soda in the sink, scrub and rinse with vinegar, followed by hot water.

2. Bathroom bliss

  • Toilet: Pour a cup of white vinegar into the bowl and let it sit for at least 30 minutes before scrubbing.
  • Shower & bath: Spray with a solution of equal parts white vinegar and water. For soap scum, create a paste of baking soda and water, apply and scrub.
  • Mirrors & glass: Combine equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and use a microfibre cloth for streak-free cleaning.

3. Living room refresh

  • Dusting: Use a microfibre cloth dampened with water or a few drops of essential oil for dusting furniture.
  • Wood furniture: Polish with a solution of olive oil and lemon juice (a few drops of each mixed together).
  • Carpets & rugs: Sprinkle baking soda on carpets and rugs, let it sit for 15-30 minutes, then vacuum.

4. Bedroom renewal:

  • Mattress: Sprinkle baking soda on the mattress, let it sit for a few hours to absorb odours, then vacuum thoroughly.
  • Laundry: Use natural laundry detergent and fabric softener alternatives like vinegar or wool dryer balls.

Important tips & considerations

  • Test on an inconspicuous area: Before using any natural cleaning solution, test it on a small, hidden area to ensure it doesn’t damage the surface.
  • Proper ventilation: Always ensure adequate ventilation when cleaning, especially when using vinegar.
  • Storage: Store your homemade cleaning solutions in labelled spray bottles or containers.
  • DIY vs. shop-bought: You can create your own natural cleaning products or purchase pre-made options from reputable brands.

Benefits beyond clean

By choosing natural cleaning products, you’re not only making your home sparkle, you’re also:

  • Protecting your health: Reducing exposure to harmful chemicals.
  • Benefiting the environment: Using biodegradable and sustainable ingredients.
  • Saving money: Many natural cleaning ingredients are budget-friendly.

This spring, ditch the chemicals and embrace the power of nature to create a clean, healthy and vibrant home. Your family, your pets and the planet will thank you!

How to keep your home clean during a busy family summer

How to keep your home clean during a busy family summer

Summertime is the best, isn’t it? Spending lots of time outdoors, barbecues, sea, sand, picnics… the list of fun activities you can do in the summer just goes on and on. Following in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis, when last summer was virtually ‘cancelled’, we have all the more reason to have a blast this year.

While summer is all fun and games, it can be hard to keep your home clean during this busy season; especially if you have kids or pets – or both! Your home can quickly become a dumping ground for toys, sand, grass, wet towels and other summertime debris! So, how can you keep on top of your home chores without sacrificing fun days out in the sun? In this post we’ll take a look at how to do just that. Strap in for a summer of fun, here we go!

Cleaning products

Clean during the evenings

Most of us think of cleaning as a daytime ritual, right? We set aside a few hours during the day to clean up the house, tidy, do laundry and generally set things straight. However, during the summer, you may find that your weekends are filled with fun social engagements that require you to soak up the sun at every opportunity – and you shouldn’t miss out on that!

An easy alternative is to change your cleaning ritual so that you mainly clean during the evening. This allows you to spend as much time as you want having fun outside during the day, and still helps you to keep up with your indoor chores.

Robot vacuum cleaner

Get an automated vacuum cleaner

Another way to keep your home clean during the busy summer months is to let your tools do all the work. An automated vacuum cleaner will clean up your floors without you having to lift a finger. Your only responsibility is emptying and charging the vacuum cleaner, while your new machine does the rest while you are out having fun! This is a perfect summer solution to the grass and sand that will inevitably make its way onto your floors this year.

Room full of clutter

Minimise your home’s clutter

If you want to keep your home clean with minimal effort, then it’s time to get minimal! The less clutter you have lying around the house, the easier it will be to give the place a once-over at the end of a long summer’s day. Clutter gathers dust, gets in the way and can generally increase the feeling of having a dirty or over-filled home.

So, before summer really begins, make sure you spring clean your home and get rid of any unwanted belongings. You could give them to charity, auction them off or recycle them – just ensure you don’t go into the summer of 2021 with excess baggage in your life.

Final thoughts

Summer is built for fun, not chores. If you want to reduce your chores while keeping your home a clean, clear and healthy environment for all, use this guide to help you achieve that harmonious balance this year.

[disclosure*]

Why you should prioritise cleaning your carpets

Why you should prioritise cleaning your carpets | H is for Home

Carpets are the cosmetic polish of a home; adding a splash of colour, elegance, a touch of texturing and cosiness to any room. Carpets not only look good, adding visual warmth, sometimes they can help your central heating in winter, providing a barrier between the warmed air and a heat-absorbing concrete or hard wooden floor.

Carpets tend to run from wall to wall and are often fixed into place by carpet layers who carefully cut the carpet to precisely fit your home. However, rugs – large squares of carpeting, neatly bound and finished at the edges – can also give your home the benefits of a carpeted floor without the expense, and leaving access to some areas of flooring – more about which below. Whether you have rugs or carpets, there are some issues that can arise with carpeting. Let’s take a closer look at these.

Cleaning your carpets is a specialist skill. Using the wrong products, even in a high-end carpet cleaner, can result in your carpet being permanently stained or faded with unsightly blotches.

Carpets can age badly. Choosing a lovely pale carpet may seem sensible when you’re young and enthusiastic during a beautifully dry summer, but given a rainy year, and the addition of a puppy or a baby: suddenly, that wonderful pastel shade begins to lose its attractiveness!

Carpeting a whole room can result in uneven wear, with the areas with highest footfall showing loose or worn threads, while those areas underneath sofas and chairs remain pristine (even if they get a little dusty!)

The ideal is, of course, to have a carpet that’s soft and springy underfoot, while retaining its original colour, and remaining sturdy and durable for years. How can this be achieved?

Choose carefully in the beginning. Decide if you’re buying a carpet or rug to last a year or two, before you move from rented digs into your own place; or if this carpet is going directly into the home where you plan to stay for decades, if not, for life. Invest as much as you can in your carpet – indeed, in all your furnishings and fittings – if the latter is the case. Buying a sturdy, dirt-and-wear resistant carpet is an excellent investment, and will set your home up to look great for years to come. This is where rugs may be a better option. If you can plan to leave high traffic areas – access to other rooms, entryways and so on – uncarpeted, they are easier to keep clean and tidy.

Keep the carpet clean by ensuring that people wipe their feet thoroughly before walking on it, or have them remove their shoes entirely – nothing is more homely feeling than (clean) bare feet on a soft clean carpet! Vacuum the carpet at least once a week, more frequently if you have pets, lots of young children or live in an area that attracts a lot of dust, pollen and wind-borne detritus.

Once a year or so, have your carpet professionally cleaned – a quick Google search of your location, for example, carpet cleaning in Glasgow, will throw up a directory of skilled operatives such as this cleaning company. A professional carpet cleaner can remove depths of dirt and residue that your domestic vacuum cannot touch, plus they can wash heavily soiled areas, then removing most of the water with an efficiency that householders would struggle to match.

There are commercial treatments available that you can apply to your carpet after it’s been professionally cleaned to keep that freshly-cleaned, crisp appearance for longer. Carpet cleaning, once mastered, need not be either expensive or time-consuming in the long run. Speak to your carpet cleaning professional for more hints and advice on how to keep your carpet in great condition for longer.

[disclosure*]

Controlling allergies in your house this spring

Controlling allergies in your house this spring

Spring breezes are welcoming and everyone looks forward to the warmer weather. But along with it, harmful contaminants can also be floating through the air. Are you or a family member prone to suffering from allergies? If so, you may dread the change in seasons. Fortunately, with a few techniques and perhaps some help from your doctor, you can find relief. Here are just a few things that you can incorporate into your lifestyle this spring and summer when allergy triggers are out in full force.

Allergy signcredit

Do you have allergies or something else?

How do you know if you simply have a cold or if you’re having an allergic response to stimuli? Allergy triggers, such as pollen exposure, create some specific symptoms including:

  • Red, itchy, watery eyes
  • Sneezing and throat irritation
  • Nasal congestion and runny nose
  • Fatigue and headache
  • Difficulty breathing in severe cases

It’s important to get an accurate diagnosis from your doctor. They’ll perform specific testing to confirm if you have allergies, and what triggers them. They may recommend avoiding exposure to certain stimuli as well as an antihistamine, corticosteroid, or other medication to help control some of the symptoms.

Dust mitecredit

Deep clean your carpets

One way to reduce your exposure to dust and contaminants is to deep clean your carpets. They hold an array of dirt and bacteria that can trigger a severe allergic response in sensitive people. This is especially true if you’re moving into a new apartment or home where you’re unsure if the previous owner had pet spills that weren’t cleaned and extracted properly. One tip would be to have a complete pest inspection in your home. Underlying infestations from fleas, bedbugs or other biting insects can trigger skin allergies. Qualified pest control in VA and other areas focuses on treating the problem and future prevention. Choosing a company who uses a natural cleaning solution is the best way to ensure that the process will produce effective, harmless results.

Pollen covered bee on a yellow flowercredit

Improve air quality in your home

When the plants and flowering trees start to produce flowers, many allergy sufferers retreat indoors. When the wind kicks in, it can make pollen scatter. Small particles can easily reach the inside of your house when windows and doors open. This is why sometimes the air quality in your home can be affected. Other allergens, including dust, can also create an allergic response. Spring allergies are some of the worst because if your furnace has been off for a few weeks or months and then you start your air conditioner, all of the old dust, as well as new dust particles, can quickly circulate in the air. An air filter is one way to help boost air quality and purify the air that you breathe. Air filters range from a cheap disposable filter that needs to be replaced every few months to a permanent, reusable electrostatic filter that helps trap more air particles and reduces the amount of dust and debris that gets into the air. Air purifiers also help remove allergens in the air and are a welcoming addition not just in spring, but year round.

Sunlight shining through a window showing up dust in the air

Clean your air ducts

The inside of your air ducts sees a lot of debris flow through it. It pulls air from the cold air return and then it flows through the furnace. Whether your central air conditioning unit is on or the furnace is heating the air, it all passes through the same way. During this process, it can pick up things like pet dander, bugs, mouse droppings, pollen and dust and pull it through the air ducts. These things can get trapped inside and lead to allergy triggers such as mould growth, and dust build-up. That’s why it’s important to have a professional come out and clean and disinfect your air ducts. They use a specialised vacuum that sucks out all of the debris and extracts it safely from your home. From there, the ducts are cleaned, sanitised and deodorised. The result is a fresh smelling home and fewer particles in the air.

Installing foam insulationcredit

Consider weatherproofing

You may not be thinking about weatherproofing your home in spring, but now is the best time to make sure everything is airtight. This starts with insulating your home properly. Fill any gaps with spray foam insulation and make sure you have windows and doors that fit tightly and properly. If not, apply weather stripping. The result will help to control airflow intake that could contain pollen or other polluted materials that could trigger hay fever or an asthma attack.

Getting a grip on your allergies starts with breathing in clean air. Do your part to make your home a safe haven for your health this spring and summer.

[disclosure*]