The living room is often the center focal point of ones home. It’s often known as the family room. This is where the family gathers after a long day, where you visit with friends and family, and where you enjoy the holidays. Because of that, it’s important to keep a clean living room. Today we’re sharing living room cleaning tips that will help you get your living room on the right track.
Living room cleaning tips
Declutter
The first thing you want to do when cleaning your living room is to make sure that it’s not cluttered. A lot of times people confuse clutter with dirt. Just because something is cluttered, doesn’t mean it’s dirty. So first things first, declutter your living room. Make sure everything has a home and if it doesn’t toss it in the donate pile.
Dust
Next thing you’ll do is go through and make sure everything is dusted. Grab your microfiber cleaning rag and dusting spray and wipe down any wood furniture, shelving, blinds, end or coffee tables, etc. This is also the time to go around and disinfect any surfaces that need disinfecting such as the remotes and the tables.
Divide
After you’ve decluttered and dusted, nows the time to divide and conquer. By that I mean, work section by section cleaning the windows, washing any upholstery covers, changing out any air fresheners, and cleaning the floors. It’s best to work from the inside of the living room out.
Need help cleaning your living room?
The key to a clean house is keeping consistency. That means you’ll need to clean often. We know this can be hard to do when you have a career and a family to take care of. Which is why we’re here to help. Our professional house cleaners live for this type of work. It’s what we’re here for. Contact us today for a free service estimate.
Bedroom Cleaning 101
There are two types of people in this world. Those who make their beds in the morning and those who don’t. Those who don’t are usually those who don’t clean their bedrooms very often. If this is you, you might need a little help in the bedroom cleaning department.
How often should I make my bed?
Realistically speaking you should be making your bed every single morning when you get out of it. I know it seems like a lot, but once you get in the habit of doing it, it’s not that bad. Making your bed every morning not only helps you keep a clean bedroom, it helps you achieve balance in your daily life.
How often should I wash my sheets and blankets?
If you’re sleeping on your sheets every night, you should be throwing them in the wash weekly. It doesn’t matter how much you shower, our bodies naturally secrete oil and when you’re sleeping that oil ends up on your sheets. So it’s ultimately best that you throw your sheets and blankets in the wash at the end of each week.
How often should I clean the mattress and pillows?
When it comes to bedroom cleaning, you want to make sure you’re cleaning your mattress and your pillows regularly too. Ideally, you should clean your pillows once a month. You can clean them easily by putting them in a mesh laundry bag and throwing them into the wash. Your mattress, on the other hand, can be cleaned once every two to three months by vacuuming it.
How often should I dust and vacuum?
You should be dusting your bedroom at least once every two weeks. And you should be vacuuming your bedroom weekly to help prevent further dust buildup. Make sure you’re dusting everything in your bedroom from the nightstand to any shelving and even the corners of the wall.
Overview
Need help cleaning your bedroom? Contact us today for a free estimate and one of our specialists will follow up with a free service estimate. Our professional house cleaners are trained to clean household rooms such as the bedroom. And we would love to work with you.
How to Clean Your Kids Toys
If you have a toddler or a baby in the house, we know how easy it can be for toys to take over your house. This also means that when the toys takeover so does the bacteria. Which is why it’s important for you as a parent to clean your kids’ toys on a regular basis.
With a few tips, you can easily clean your kids’ toys using:
The dishwasher
One option for cleaning your kids toys is to throw them in the dishwasher. When using this method make sure you are only cleaning toys that are small, hard, and or made of plastic. You wouldn’t want to throw a teddy bear in the dishwasher, it could cause a lot of damage to it.
Vinegar
Soaking toys in vinegar is another great way to clean your kids toys. This is one of the more natural and green ways to clean your kids toys. Simply fill a bowl with cool water and a cup of vinegar and let them sit for 30 minutes. Be sure to rinse thoroughly when you’re done.
Soap & water
You can clean anything using soap and water. Fill the sink with warm water and antibacterial soap and let the toys soak for 30 minutes before taking them out. The rinse any soap residue off and let them air dry.
The washing machine
With the help of a good ole fashion mesh laundry bag, you can wash any of your kids plush toys in just a few minutes. Carefully place any stuffed animals inside a mesh laundry bag and pop them in the washer and wash using a mild detergent. Your child’s favorite friend will come out looking like new. To help kill any germs or bacteria that may be harboring around the stuffed animal, add a cup of vinegar to the wash.
Overview
We hope you found these tips helpful for cleaning your kids toys. If you need help in any other areas of your house be sure to check out our blog for more cleaning tips. Or if you’re looking for a professional house cleaner, get a free service quote today.
4 Unique Household Cleaning Hacks
Learning how to clean your house using innovative cleaning hacks can save you a lot of time and energy in the long run. Today we are going to show you how to clean your house using things you already have and things you probably didn’t know you could clean with.
Cold Water Cleaning Hack
Try treating fresh stains like barbecue sauce stains using cool water. Using hot water to treat a stain is a common myth. Water that is super cold or hot can press the stain further into the surface. Using cool(not cold) water works wonders as a pre-treatment. Just pour the cool water on the stain and soak it up with a towel before putting the item in the washer.
Showerhead Cleaning Hack
Classic buildup on your shower head can easily be cleaned using vinegar. Yes, the vinegar you have in your kitchen pantry can remove limescale and soap scum from your showerhead. Just unscrew your showerhead and let it soak in pure vinegar for 30 minutes or so and that’s it! If your showerhead doesn’t come off, fill a sandwich bag or small grocery bag full of vinegar and tie it to the shower head until it’s fully immersed.
Dish Wand Cleaning Hack
Did you know that your dish wand is the perfect cleaning tool for more than just your dishes? Using the interchangeable sponges your dish wand can be used for a variety of tasks around the house including showers, tubs, and toilets. Just fill it with a solution of half dish soap-half vinegar to help fight soap scum and toilet stains. And voila! You’ve got the ultimate cleaning tool.
Grease Stain Cleaning Hack
Aside from vinegar, cornstarch is another must-have pantry item that’s good to keep on hand for certain stain emergencies. Cornstarch works wonders as a pre-treatment for treating grease stains. Pour cornstarch over the entire grease stain and allow it to sit for 15 minutes. Then wipe away using cool water(or vacuum depending on the surface).
Need Help?
There’s always help when you need it. Finding time to clean your household each and every day can be difficult. But there’s help available. Here at Spekless, we offer one-time and routine cleaning services to help you achieve the needs of your household. Contact us today for a free estimate.
Bathroom Cleaning Checklist
Bathroom cleaning is one of the most important cleaning tasks in a household. The bathroom should be cleaned weekly. In our efforts to help you save some time and energy we’ve created a bathroom cleaning checklist (and list of supplies) to help you get the job done right.
Bathroom Cleaning Supplies
When cleaning the bathroom you want to have all your supplies in one place. The best thing to do would be to purchase a caddy or a tote to hold all of your supplies under the bathroom sink. After you’ve gathered all of your supplies you can begin working on your bathroom cleaning checklist.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Caddy or tote
Sponge
Rubber gloves
Toilet bowl brush/scrubber
Microfiber rag
Mini broom/dustpan
Glass cleaner
Bathroom all-purpose cleaner
Bathroom Cleaning Checklist
As a general rule of thumb, when cleaning you always want to work your way from the top to the bottom and from the inside of the room out. Grab out your cleaning basket, remove any rugs, and then begin with the following:
Empty Trash
After you’ve removed all or any bath mats or rugs from the bathroom you can start your cleaning checklist by emptying the trash. This is also when you’ll want to remove any dirty laundry and anything on the countertops.
Dust
Next, take your duster and work from top to bottom dusting the entire bathroom. Dust any light fixtures, the top of the medicine cabinet, the back of the toilet, etc.
Disinfect
Now spray everything down with your bathroom cleaner slash disinfectant. This is your tub, sinks, toilet, and counterspace. It’s also a good idea to spray your trash can down too. They can get a little dirty sometimes. Once you’ve sprayed them, let the solution sit for at least two minutes before moving on to the next step.
Wipe/Scrub
Taking your microfiber cloth, wipe down all surfaces you just sprayed. If your bathtub needs a little TLC, take your bathroom cleaner and spray it again and then use your sponge to help remove some of the soap scum and grime from it. Once that’s done you can take your glass cleaner and a clean microfiber cloth and wipe down the mirror before heading to the last step.
Pro Tip: After you’ve wiped down your surfaces take a dry microfiber cloth to buff and shine the surfaces.
Floors
Finish up your bathroom cleaning checklist by vacuuming and mopping your floors from the inner corner out. It’s best to use a microfiber mop on the bathroom floor to really make it shine.
Need Help?
There’s help when you need it. Finding time to clean the bathroom in our everyday lives is difficult. If you’re too busy to clean the bathrooms in your help or it’s becoming overwhelming, there’s help available. Here at Spekless, we offer one-time and routine cleaning services to help you achieve the needs of your household. Contact us today for a free estimate.
Wood Cleaning Tips: How to Clean Wood Your Floors & Furniture
Wood cleaning is one of those household chores you can breeze through if done right. But it can also be challenging. Especially if you don’t have the right resources.
It’s important to make sure you clean your hardwood flooring and furniture if you want to keep up their appearance. It’s also important to make sure you are using the right materials to prevent any unwanted damage to the wood surface.
How to Clean Hardwood Floors
The first thing you want to do when cleaning your hardwood floors is to make sure that the floor is properly prepared by moving everything out of your way and sweeping it. Think of it like cleaning your car. You wouldn’t want to wax a dirty car, would you? I didn’t think so.
The next thing you’ll want to do is mop the floor using wood floor cleaner. It’s important to use a floor cleaner that’s specifically designed to clean your wood floor so that no damage occurs from the chemicals. Once the floor is dry you can begin waxing it to finish your cleaning.
Start by spreading the wax on the floor in an even and thin layer. Following the directions on the bottle of wax let it dry for the suggested amount of time. You may have to apply a second coat of wax once the first one has dried – use your best judgment to decide this. And that’s pretty much it! You’re all finished!
How to Clean Wood Furniture
Carefully caring for your wood furniture will pay off in the long haul. It will keep your furniture durable, long lasting, and shiny. Take a microfiber cloth and rub your wood surface cleaner into the furniture following the wood grain. And just like with your floors, waxing your wood furniture every now and then can be essential to the appearance of it.
Need Help?
If you need help with wood cleaning in your home, contact us today for a free estimate. Our professional cleaners are here to help. We clean wood flooring, furniture, and more. Let us do the work for you!
How to Spend Less Time Doing Your Laundry
When it comes to laundry many people can be easily divided up into two categories. There are people who take pride in doing their laundry and there are those who would give it up altogether if they could. Which type of person are you? Do you love doing laundry Or do you wish you could spend a little less time on it?
While we would love to be able to provide you with a magic wand and make it all disappear, we, unfortunately, don’t have that kind of power. But what we can do is share some time-saving tips with you to help you spend less time doing your laundry.
How to Spend Less Time Doing Your Laundry
Have Separate Bins
One of the best ways to spend less time doing laundry is to keep your dirty clothes in separate bins so you don’t have to sort through them later. Have a designated basket for whites, darks, and colors. This way when you go to do your laundry all you need to do is empty the basket.
Do a Load Each Day
If you have a big household, or one with kids, doing one load of laundry each day will cut your actual laundry day in half. Just throw a load in and switch it when you can.
Use a Good Detergent
Sometimes it can be tempting to buy a cheaper laundry detergent when your working with a budget. But sometimes those cheap laundry detergents actually do more harm than good. Cheap detergents will have you washing the same load of clothes more than once causing you to spend more time doing laundry than you would have liked to.
Contact Us
Have you ever wondered how hiring a professional cleaning service could actually help you? Our trained professionals can help you save even more time. Here at Spekless we are dedicated to providing you with the utmost quality cleaning service in the area. Contact us today for a free estimate.
The Importance of Dusting When You Have Allergies
Dusting with allergies
Allergies are the worst. Anyone who suffers from them will tell you just how inconvenient they are. There are many things can cause an allergic reaction but one of them is the dust and dirt in your house. Things like mold, dust, dust mites and pet dander are often triggers for allergy sufferers which is why dusting when you have allergies is important.
In efforts to help you allergy-proof your home, it’s recommended that you dust your home on a regular basis. In fact, The Mayo Clinic recommends having a weekly dusting routine. Once you establish a frequent cleaning routine the easier it will be to control and reduce household allergies.
Preventing allergies
Next to the importance of dusting with allergies, you also want to make sure you’re working to prevent further irritation. One of the ways you can do this is by committing to a weekly routine. A routine that consists of removing specks of dust from all surfaces, shaking out all rugs, vacuuming floors using a HEPA filter, and mopping any hard floors.
Other tips & tricks
Replace your HVAC air filters with HEPA air filters
Check air ducts monthly for dust build-up and clean if needed
Vacuum and steam clean carpets every four to six months
Take down and wash drapes and curtains every couple of months
Use a HEPA air purifier in the home
Keep the temperature of the house 70⁰ F or below and dry(relative humidity at 50% or below) to create an indoor environment that’s less hospitable for dust mites and mold spores
Get a quote
Naturally, our professionally trained house cleaners can proactively take care of the dust in your home so you have fewer allergens. And so you have more time to do the things you enjoy. Call(571) 882 2712 or click here to contact us for a free estimate. We were maid for this!
