Bath towels should be washed before you use them to get rid of any dirt or grime accumulated in the store. Fabric softener should not be used – it affects the absorption power of the towels. Each person should have his or her own bath towels (ugh – can you imagine sharing them, even with family?) and they can be used more than once. That’s a personal preference – some people use them one or two times, while others use them for a week. Whatever you decide bath towels should be washed at least once a week on hot water to kill germs and bacteria. They can be put in the dryer on medium heat. I don’t recommend putting them on a clothesline to dry because they can accumulate lint that way. Since bath towels are heavy and take a long time to dry they should be washed in a group by themselves, sorted by color since hot water will cause the colors to run sometimes.

Caring for your bath towels is not complicated, and done properly you can have towels that will last you five or more years.

If you need a creamy soft scrubber for the bathtub, simply mix ½ cup of baking soda with enough liquid detergent to make it creamy like frosting.  

Instead of buying Windex, make your own window cleaner by mixing ¼ – ½ teaspoon of liquid detergent, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, and 2 cups of water.  Pour all the ingredients into a spray bottle and shake lightly. 

If you need an all-purpose cleaner, combine 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of borax, 2 cups of hot water, and ¼ cup of liquid detergent.  Put everything except the liquid detergent in a spray bottle and shake.  Add the liquid detergent and stir gently.

You can make your own furniture polish by combining ½ teaspoon of olive oil and ¼ cup of vinegar or fresh lemon juice.  Mix the ingredients in a jar and dab your rag in it before polishing.  When finished, seal the jar and you can store it for later use.

Do you want to freshen up your carpet?  Combine ¾ cup of baking soda, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, and ¼ cup of perfumed talcum powder.  Sprinkle it on the carpet; let it stand for about 15 minutes and then vacuum.

There are also single ingredients that will work around the house.  Use white vinegar to cut grease or remove mildew and odors.  You can use cornstarch to clean windows, polish furniture, or shampoo carpets.  You can also use vinegar or lemon juice to remove rust stains and hard water deposits.  Just let it sit on the stain until it removes it then rinse.

In the bathroom:

• Take shorter showers to conserve water.
• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and washing your hands.
• Reuse a towel for repeated showers (less laundry to do).
• Use real cups instead of disposable Dixie cups.

In the kitchen:

• Use hand towels instead of paper towels.
• Wash your clothes in cold water instead of warm or hot.
• Replace bottled water with filtered tap water.
• Use natural products for cleaning.
• Set your refrigerator to 37 degrees and your freezer to 0 degrees.
• Replace your paper coffee filter with a reusable filter.

Around the rest of the house:

• Keep the lights off as much as possible –open your curtains on sunny days.
• Lower your water heater to 120 degrees.
• Set your thermostat to 78 degrees during the summer.
• Replace your traditional light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs.
• Unplug unused appliances and electronic devices (even when not used, they still draw energy)
• Use both sides of printer paper before discarding.

Going green is not only good for the environment, but also good for your wallet.  Just take a little time to notice things around you and you can find many easy ways to conserve around the house.

OK, you get it – I hate laundry.  But I did hear a really good tip that has helped me with keeping the laundry under control.  I heard it from someone at the hair salon a few weeks ago and it really works.  She suggested that you get rid of hampers, or if you use a hamper you clean it out every day and bring the laundry for the entire family to one central location.  Get three laundry baskets and sort the clothes by lights, darks and whites.  I actually do four because I wash towels and sheets separately.  You sort the clothes out at the end of ever day and then whatever basket is full you do that load of laundry that day.  Some days you might have two loads, some days you might not have a full load and don’t do any laundry at all.

What this does is save me time and energy.  If I run downstairs after the boys go to sleep I can throw a load of clothes in quickly.  If I forget to put them in the dryer that night before I go to bed, I go and throw them in the dryer first thing in the morning.  I try to time the dryer cycle to end while we are having breakfast.  The boys are in their booster chairs and I fold clothes while they eat.  Once they finish breakfast they help me to put their clothes away.

I know this might sound silly or stupid, but it really does work.  You don’t have to struggle carrying heavy hampers down the steps to your laundry, or sort through piles of dirty clothes to get your loads together.  Plus this method puts an end to those days when it seems as if your washer and dryer are running constantly.  I don’t think it cuts down on the number of loads of laundry you do – I think it just makes it easier on the person responsible for doing the laundry.

Start by taking everything out of the medicine cabinet.  Give it a good cleaning with white vinegar and baking soda or with a disinfecting cleaner.  While the cabinet is drying, take everything out of the box and examine it carefully.  Throw away any outdated or expired prescriptions.  Remove the labels from the bottles before throwing them away.  Go through your over the counter medicines and remedies.  Get rid of anything that has expired.  If you have two bottles of something, either get rid of the older bottle or mark it clearly with permanent marker that it should be used first.

Since you’re going through what you have in your medicine cabinet, take a moment to see if you are missing any kind of treatments or medicines.  Don’t forget to buy replacements for the outdated medicines you threw out.  Some of the things you might want to make sure you have in your medicine cabinet include:

• Antibiotic cream
• Several different sizes of Band-aids
• Cotton swabs and cotton balls for applying topical medicines
• Stomach medicines to treat diarrhea, heartburn and nausea
• Allergy medication like Benadryl
• Cough and cold medicine
• Vapor rub
• Topical pain treatments like Aspercreme or Absorbine Jr.

When you put everything back you might want to prioritize based on what you use on a daily basis.  Any medicines should be well out of the reach of children.

On a regular basis go through your medicine cabinet to make sure you have all the supplies you need and that nothing has expired.  This way you’ll always have the medicine you need on hand.  What could be worse than getting a cold and not having cough medicine, or needing some over the counter medicine in the middle of the night to find out you don’t have it in the house?

There is an alternative way to clean your home with products that are both kid safe and environmentally friendly.  Vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, borax, baking soda and salt can be used to keep your home clean and safe for your children.  Here are the ways you can use these non-toxic products to clean your home.

Instead of using an ammonia based window cleaning product, water mixed with vinegar and lemon juice will do the job just as well.  Vinegar mixed with salt and water can be used to clean your kitchen and bathroom as well.  Borax can be used as a disinfectant and for cleaning your toilets.

Olive oil and lemon juice are effective for polishing your furniture.  Lemon juice mixed with a bit of salt will polish your copper cookware.

When cleaning the bathroom you can use some baking soda and warm water.  Baking soda mixed with vinegar makes an effective drain cleaning solution.

It might not be as convenient to use these products to clean your home, but using the non toxic ingredients mentioned above is a better way to clean your home keeping it safe for your children and the environment.

• Take everything (yes, everything) out of the fridge.
• Throw away anything that has expired, including the leftover pot roast.
• Pull out the storage bins to wash and dry using dish soap.
• Clean the shelves.  If you’re lucky your shelves are removable and you can do this task in the sink.  If not, use a clean dish rag with dish soap to clean them.  Baking soda can help to remove the tough stains.
• Return the shelves and bins to the refrigerator.
• Put back all the food that hasn’t expired.  Try to find a spot for it that works and always return the item to that spot.
• Open a new box of baking soda and put in your refrigerator.  Remember to change it every three months.
• Clean the outside and top of the refrigerator.

Here are some other things you can do to keep your refrigerator in good shape.

• Aluminum Foil placed under your milk cartons will prevent leaking.
• Try not to buy too much food.  Don’t keep more than two of any item – any more and you run the risk of having it spoil.
• Defrost your freezer once a month (if you don’t have a self defrosting one).  A box of baking soda in the freezer helps to maintain freshness as well.

There are the obvious cleaning tasks that are necessary in the kitchen – cleaning the stove, sweeping and mopping the floor, doing dishes, and cleaning the countertops. Here are a few quick suggestions you can consider to make your kitchen cleaning a bit easier.

• Try baking soda as a cleaning agent for your countertops, stove, and refrigerator. Like the commercial says it was strong enough to use to clean the Statue of Liberty but gentle enough to not cause any damage.
• Toothpaste works to remove skid marks from linoleum floors.
• Keep the clutter on your counters to a minimum to make cleaning them easier. Put away all pots and pans, dishes and flatware after you’re washed them. Store as many appliances in the cabinets as possible.
• Replace your dish rag and dish towels often, as well as the sponge you use for cleaning dishes. If you have a dish washer you can run your sponges through it to kill germs.
• To clean your coffee maker use vinegar. Pour in vinegar as if you were making a pot of coffee. Run the coffee maker (without a filter) and repeat this process until the water runs clear.

As hard as it is to do sometimes, the more often you clean small messes the less often you’ll be faced with large messes. Try to take the time every day to keep your kitchen clean so you won’t be stuck with marathon cleaning sessions. The only thing worse than cleaning the kitchen is cleaning the bathroom!

Spending time with the family is the most important thing to any mom.  Who wants to spend the few hours they have free every night or the weekends cleaning the house?  Cleaning services are more and more in demand as families decide the time spent with the children is worth more than the money it costs to have someone clean their home.

If you are looking towards starting your own business, why not consider a cleaning service?  If you don’ t like to clean this probably isn’t the right idea for you, but if you like to make things look nice why not give it a try?  You don’t have to make it a large business right away – you can start with just a few clients and work from there.

A very important point to keep in mind is that you are going to have to provide exceptional service and do an outstanding job in cleaning a home.  When  you do your own home you might be satisfied with “skimping” on certain things – cleaning the windows every month, for example.  If you’re paying to have your home cleaned you’re going to want everything to look sparkling clean.

If you’re going to start a cleaning service, then you’re going to need to stock up on your cleaning supplies.  Some customers will provide the products they want used in their home (environmentally friendly ones, ones with bleach, etc.) but for the most part your clients are going to expect you to come in with everything you need to do a good job, including (but not limited to): bathroom cleaners, kitchen cleaners, floor cleaners, vacuum cleaner, broom and dustpan, dusting supplies, etc.

Since you’ll be going into people’s homes (often unsupervised), you will want to purchase insurance.  Check with your insurance agent to see what coverage you need to be protected.

Call around and see what the other local cleaning services charge to determine what rate is fair.  You might want to try to price your services lower than the going rate to get business, but just remember it’s harder to raise your prices with existing customers than to look for customers willing to pay the higher rate initially.  Cleaning is very hard work – you want to make sure you are well compensated for your efforts.

No one ever said starting a business is easy, but with some hard work and determination you can make your cleaning business a success.

• Use toilet bowl cleaner on the inside of your toilet and allow to sit while you do the next few steps.
• Empty the trash can, and replace with a clean plastic liner.
• Get all the dirty clothes into the hamper.
• Use a disinfectant cleaning spray to clean the sink, tub and counter.
• Use a bathroom cleaner to clean the inside of your shower (my favorite is Scubbing Bubbles).  Use the hose from your shower to rinse down the inside walls.
• Scrub the inside of your toilet with a brush.  Clean the outside of the toilet bowl and toilet seat with a disinfectant cleaning spray.
• Use a glass spray like Windex to clean your mirrors.
• Sweep and mop the floor.  (I like to use a Swiffer dry cloth and then a Swiffer wet cloth for quick clean up.)

Thank goodness the dirty job is over.  Taking a few steps every day will help to keep your bathroom clean and make the weekly cleaning job easier. What can you do?

• Use a shower spray cleaner after every shower.  Get your husband and older children involved and ask them to do this task themselves every day.
• Use disinfectant cleaning wipes (like Clorox wipes) to wipe down the outside of the toilet bowl and toilet seat every night.
• Wipe down the counter and sink every night.
• Empty the trash can every day.

Keeping your bathroom organized will make it easier to keep it clean.  Put hooks on the wall for your hair dryer and curling irons.  Get some cheap plastic boxes to store your bobby pins, scrunchies, and such.  Keep the cabinet under the sink stocked with paper towels and cleaning supplies to make the daily cleaning easier.

Taking a little time every day will help to make the chore of cleaning the bathroom so much easier.  It’s worth the ten or fifteen minutes every day to prevent a disgusting job every weekend.