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Frugal Carpet Steaming

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

When we got our townhouse in Massachusetts, the carpets were riddled with dirt & grime. I was pregnant with our son at the time, and the carpets were so disgusting that I refused to even take my shoes off, for fear of how filthy my socks would get from our carpet. The house had been owned previously by a rental company and, let’s face it, many renters do not care about keeping a home nice that doesn’t technically belong to them.

When my in-laws saw how horrible the carpets were, they offered to purchase a small steam cleaner for our new place. They took us to Target and invested in a small Bissell Steam Cleaner for our new home and some bottles of cleaner for us to deep clean the carpet.

Despite our best efforts, we ended up having to replace the carpet throughout the entire house and then two years later, we moved here.

The Bissell Steam Cleaner has been sitting in the basement the whole time we have lived here despite having some carpet in this house. Other projects have come before deep-cleaning carpets, but the other day as I was vacuuming, I realized that one of the reasons I do not like our lower level carpet is because the carpet doesn’t seem clean to me.

A light bulb went off and I ran downstairs to grab the steamer and cleaners. I poured the cleaner into the steamer and started steaming our playroom. The water that I dumped out was a murky gray and I made my husband come in and look at all the yuckiness I was able to suck up. After all, isn’t that what husbands are supposed to do? What is being married all about, if not for the fact that we can witness the grossness together?

After steaming those floors and feeling the pride in how clean they were, I was ready to steam all the other carpets and rugs in our home. Unfortunately, the cleaner had run out so I would have to invest in some more of the carpet cleaner… Or would I?

I ran downstairs and started searching on the internet to try and find if there were any alternatives to the pricey carpet cleaners. Sure enough, I came up with several recommendations from the commercial carpet cleaning companies.

If you do not want to buy the cleaners, simply fill the tank with the hottest tap water possible and throw in a cup (or two for a large tank) of white vinegar. Begin steaming as you did with the commercial cleaners and stand back in amazement as you notice that this inexpensive solution works just as well as the pricey cleaner.

My main concern with the vinegar was that it would make our carpets smell like vinegar. I need not worry though because vinegar has great odor neutralizing properties , so after about an hour my carpets smelled fresh and they no longer harbored the bad smells or the vinegar smell.

Now that I know how cheap it is to do this, I am more motivated than ever to keeping our carpets fresh and clean.

What are some of your favorite homemade remedies for cleaning items in your home?

Tags: Cleaning, Cleaning Recipes, Frugal
Posted in Cleaning | 16 Comments »

Spring Cleaning Tips

Sunday, February 27th, 2005

With spring comes all of the beauty of the changing season. We finally began to see our grass; we enjoy seeing the new buds on our trees, and the sweet smell of a good April shower. What also comes along is the dreaded ritual of spring cleaning. Maybe you went through this awful experience as a child. Your mother would be pulling all the linens, washing the drapes, deep cleaning every nook and cranny of your home and then collapse after a full day of cleaning. I don’t remember this as being a fun ritual for our family and have decided to try a different method of cleaning in our own home.

Spring cleaning ironically is not as necessary as it once was. Back in the olden days, spring cleaning was a much different concept then it is today. This cleaning was a necessary routine because of how they had to heat their homes and keep them lit. Using kerosene, wood, gas, oil, and candles caused the house to develop dark sooty grime around it. This grime created the need for a deep cleaning of the home. Their deep cleaning restored the beauty of the home and also gave them the opportunity to get out the lighter linens, rugs, and furniture that they used during the warmer seasons. Not only did they divulge in spring cleaning, they also did fall cleaning as well to prepare them for the cold season of winter.

Today we do not have the need to do spring cleaning although in many families it is a ritual that brings about peace and renewal in our homes after an entire day or week of intense cleaning. In this day and age, however, it is hard to be able to set aside that much time to get all of these tasks done. Our schedules and days are so full that it hard to devote more than the few hours necessary just to keep our home running smoothly.

Instead of doing one deep cleaning I have vowed to “spring clean” all year long rather than trying to set aside a specific time to do this. With a very busy toddler and just the daily maintenance of my home, there are days when I feel really proud of myself if I can get out of my pajamas. If you are anything like me, try and incorporate these tips into your daily routine so that you can relax while everyone else is tired and haggard from their day of spring cleaning. Here are a few ideas for getting these tasks done:

Begin by making a checklist of everything that you would normally do during your spring cleaning. Things like washing all the linens and drapes, wiping down baseboards, washing windows inside and out, cleaning out your pantry, washing your shower curtains, organizing your linen cabinets, wiping down walls, and cleaning doorknobs and light fixtures.
Take inventory of your cleaners and the tools that you will need in order to accomplish all of the necessary cleaning. Nothing is worse then getting ready to do your task and then finding out that you are missing that one component needed to complete your task. Put the items that you will need on your shopping list and get these items on the day that you perform all of your errands.
Continue doing your normal daily routine, but add an extra hour each week towards accomplishing just one of these tasks on your list. Check off the items that you accomplish and press on to the next one. By just devoting one hour a week towards your spring cleaning goals you will have a more manageable deep cleaning routine.
Clear out as much clutter as you can. Make a box for trash and a box for charitable donations and fill these with all of the unnecessary clutter in your home. By donating these items to those less fortunate you will gain so much. Not only will someone who needs these items more benefit from your donation, but you can receive a tax break and reclaim space in your own home. I have decided to look at every item in my home in a new light. There was a time when I used to want to fill my home with loads of stuff. Now I look at everything as one more thing to dust and care for. If you don’t like to dust it, don’t love the item, and want an organized home- donate it!!
Keep a caddy of cleaning supplies on each floor. I find it much easier to clean my house when I know that the tools that I need to accomplish my task are just a few steps away. Keep your checklist either in one of your caddies or somewhere that is accessible so that you can always stay on track with your deep cleaning.
Do your cleaning when it is convenient for you. Some people work better during morning hours while others of us would rather be snoozing and do better in the evening. Take advantage of the times that you work best. If you would rather break the hour into smaller increments that is totally up to you. The idea behind all of this is to make it as easy as possible so fit it in wherever and whenever you can.
Put your spring cleaning task on your calendar each week. It sounds silly, but don’t you remember your appointments and engagements better when it is written on your calendar? It is hard to ignore scheduled tasks in glaring print. Write your tasks in red, capitalized, or exclamation points- anything you can to draw your eye to the one task for the week.
Enlist your helpers to help you on these tasks. Your children and your husband can be active participants in getting your home organized just like they help to contribute to the clutter. Schedule dad for clearing out the garage, taking inventory of the tools you will need to do your gardening, cleaning out the basement, or other tasks inside and outside of the home. Children can aid in cleaning their own rooms by helping to remove some of the clutter in the house. Involving your family can be beneficial in showing them all that you do to keep your house running smoothly.

It is hard to accomplish tasks around the house if you have a poor attitude about what you are doing. Unfortunately, every house requires a little maintenance and your attitude towards your work can be the difference in your spring cleaning being bearable or just plain awful. I certainly don’t jump up and down when I clean and it isn’t my favorite thing to do, but I take great pride in keeping my household running smoothly. Turn on some fun music, watch television while polishing tables, do whatever you can to make getting your home clean easier and fun.

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Organize Your Week – Daily Tasks

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004

Introduction

I am a big fan of the Flylady website because I think they give such great tips on keeping up with your home. I wish that I could say that I follow them all and have a house that is in fantastic condition all of the time, but unfortunately I have not been that diligent about it. I do take basic principles from the site and try to apply them in my home, but I have worked out a system of cleaning that works for me. Maybe my system will not work for you, or maybe you can take ideas from it and make it your own.

I divide my system by days of the week, but I do have those chores that come up daily that need to be accomplished. If I can get these simple chores done and not even accomplish the day of the week chores, I am pretty pleased with myself. These are the things that I must get done in order for me to feel a sense of accomplishment for the day. You can really tell that I have a toddler because my list seems to get shorter and shorter as my son becomes more active. Here is my to-do list each day:

Amy’s Daily Routine List

1. Make the Bed

As soon as I get out of it and not a second later. If I wait any length of time on this chore, I can guarantee that it will not get done.

2. Do the Dishes & Wipe Down the Kitchen

This includes loading and unloading the dishwasher for the day. I try to unload the clean dishes by the end of the day because this helps me stay ahead of the game for the next day. I also do the dishes as I go when I am cooking and preparing our meals. By doing this, I end up with less dishes at the end of our meals. I wipe down the counters, stove, and appliances before I got to bed. I always have a clean sink at the end of the night as well as a clean dishtowel and washcloth to work with for the next morning.

3. Wipe Down the Bathroom

Now my routine may seem a little ridiculous, but it works for me. I wipe down the bathroom when I am getting ready to take my shower. While I have the water warming up and I am getting ready to hit the tub, I work on wiping down the bathroom instead of wasting that time. Each minute to me is invaluable and this is the perfect time for me to get this done. I wipe down the bathroom with a bathroom cleaner, pour the toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet, and empty the trash while waiting for the water to fill up. After my bath/shower, I then scrub the toilet, clean the tub out (this I only do once a week), and then dispose of the trash as well as the dirty towels. To save time on this chore I keep bags underneath my trash bag in use, that way I always have another bag ready to go when I empty the trash. I also keep household cleaners in each of my bathrooms and in the kitchen. I find that if I have a shelf of cleaners in the room with me, I am more inclined to use them more frequently and I have less of a chance of putting it off. I know this makes me sound like the laziest person in the world, but if those cleaners are not in the same room, then you can forget about me cleaning it. I have a basket of cleaners in almost every room of our house so that I can get my chores done.

4. Do the Bills

I do the bills as they come in because I don’t like to have them pile up on me and to have to do them all at once. As soon as I get the bill I put it together and get it ready to go minus the stamp. In the stamp spot, I write the date for when the bill is due. I put all of my bills in order with the bill that is due first on top. I also separate these bills into two piles with a post-it note. The reason for this is that my husband gets paid every two weeks. Since we are always written down to the last dime I save those bills until he gets paid and send out the first batch with his first check of the month and the second batch with the second check of the month. I have found that this system saves me from a lot of late fees and has enabled me to be on top of these bills. Some people save even more time and money by paying their bills either online or having them automatically withdrawn from their accounts. Personally, timing is everything for me and because we have to be so careful with our money, I don’t want to chance it with automatic withdrawals considering there are times that there just isn’t money in our account to cover the bills.

5. Make Dinner

This is one that I do almost every day with the exception of a meal out once in awhile. I try to do all the prep work in the morning so that I can save my time later in the day. I lay out any meat that needs defrosting, cut up any vegetables that are going in my dishes, and lay out the dishes I will need to prepare the dinner. By doing all of the prep work ahead of time, I find it much easier to accomplish a nice meal within a timely fashion. I have found that the crock-pot is a busy mom’s best friend as well. If I use this, I put everything in it the night before and stick the crock in the fridge. I then take it out in the morning and have it ready to go in plenty of time for the dinner hour.

So now that you know my everyday routine we can begin discussing how to break the other tasks down into more manageable chunks. Once again, you can make your daily tasks fit your daily life. Maybe you have obligations in the evening or during the day that would not allow you to accomplish what I get done. In this case, you feel free to change my schedule around to fit your needs.

Posted in Cleaning, Home, Organizing, Time Management | No Comments »