Posts tagged cleaning
Spring Cleaning: How Often to Clean Everything In Your Home
Dust furniture and vacuum your upholstered sofa and pillows..

Ah, spring.

The flash of color from early flowers. The smell of freshly cut grass.

The sound of sneezes as everyone around quickly states emphatically, “It’s just allergies…”

Spring means lots of things to many people. Growth, rebirth, fresh start. But to many of us, it means spring cleaning! 

Let’s delve into spring cleaning, and look at how often you should clean many items in your home.

Everyday Cleaning

Let’s begin with things that should get some attention every day. That’s making your bed, doing the dishes, washing out the coffee pot, and cleaning out the kitchen sink. You also should wipe down the kitchen table and counters. 

Pro tip: wipe up messes in the oven and the microwave as soon as they happen. It’s much easier to clean them when they are fresh rather than when they are baked on. 

In the bathroom, it’s a good idea to disinfect your faucets, the toilet handle and seat, and wipe down shower walls with a squeegee.

A Few Times a Week

Give some attention to your floors. Dust mop those made of hardwood, sweep or vacuum entry mats, and vacuum any high-traffic areas, particularly if there are pets, kids, (or messy spouses!) in the house.   

Once a Week

It’s usually enough to go through the kitchen and wipe down the appliances weekly. Also, inspect the fridge and throw out expired food items (and those pesky, unidentifiable things that tend to get put back in until you’re sure they are bad. C’mon, no one is really going to ever eat those things!)

In the bathroom, sanitize surfaces. Dust furniture and vacuum those pieces that are upholstered. Change the sheets and pillow cases on beds that have been used. 

Vacuum or sweep and mop floors. 

Every Three to Four Months

You should clean your oven, whether it’s a self-cleaning model or one you have to buy oven cleaner for. Give the dishwasher a good cleaning — that means checking the filter for gunk and running it through with a vinegar cycle. Clean the lint out of the dryer vent as buildup can be a fire hazard. Wash the comforter living inside your duvet cover. Throw the bed pillows into the washing machine. Wash the range hood filter, this is where grease can really build up. Dust your ceilings and walls. Move the heavy furniture and vacuum underneath it. 

Twice a Year

Give some love to the gutters, whether you do them yourself or have them cleaned out professionally.

Annually

You can clean out your fireplace in the spring, after the fire season. (Have the chimney inspected in the fall before you start up again.)

Steam clean or shampoo carpets and furniture.

By no means is this little list exhaustive; there are many other items in the house that deserve the Cinderella treatment, from the pet bed and toys, to draining sediment from the water heater, your lampshades and curtains, the furnace filters, refrigerator coils, the windows, garage and basement, the handrails on the staircase, and the cup your toothbrushes sit in. 

What item is on your spring-cleaning list that you are about to get to?

No Moving Violations Here!
A Simpler Life Now following COVID-19 safety protocols while moving a client

“2020 is the perfect year,” said no one ever.

But perhaps 2020 actually was once on your horizon as “the perfect year” — the perfect year for you to make things Simpler and get to that downsized new home. 

Although this year has not been described as anybody’s perfect ANYTHING, if that move was on your to-do list, I’m here to tell you not to let the pandemic get in the way of that particular dream.

Throughout the pandemic, I have worked with many people who are finally realizing their dream and moving to a smaller, more manageable place.

Keeping Your Move Safe and Stress Free

You do have options, and putting off your move may feel right to you now. But if you are ready to move ahead, or if you have limited flexibility in being able to postpone your move, we have protocols in place that will ensure the safety of you and your family during your move and will keep it as stress free as possible. 

  • All our employees and vendors will wear a mask and gloves when in your home and when handling your possessions. Coronavirus can be spread by people who are asymptomatic, so we take this very seriously.

  • Safe social distancing will be adhered to at all times.

  • Anti-bacterial wipes and sprays are our friend! All moving vehicles and equipment are sanitized regularly. We hire subcontractors that also maintain the highest level of cleanliness.

  • A lot of our conversations can be had virtually, cutting down our face-to-face contact.

  • We make sure that we have abundant packing and unpacking supplies on hand to reduce the number of times we have to enter and leave your new home.

  • We will sanitize as we pack, making sure to wipe down suspect areas so that when we unpack in your new home your items are already clean.

  • All high-touch areas in your new home will be cleaned and sanitized.

Do let us know if you or anyone you have been with lately is ill, or has been exposed to anyone exhibiting Coronavirus symptoms or who has tested positive so that everyone involved in your move can remain symptom free and healthy.

Moving at any time is stressful. Moving during a world pandemic is even more so. But following these important procedures and protocols will allow for maximum satisfaction with minimum risk, allowing you to have A Simpler Life Now.