Comments Off | Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Your Guide to Keeping House Cleaning Under Control
From the kitchen to the bedroom here is a how to for keeping your home neat and tidy.
Linda, the Queen of Clean, shares her secrets for a shipshape home.
FLOORS
The key with floors is to focus on high-traffic areas. If you keep those clean, your floors will stay fresh looking forever — well, almost.
Each week, attend to the most heavily traveled areas of your home. These include the hallways and entryways where your family walks all the time, and of course, the kitchen floor.
For wood floors: Vacuum with an appropriate vacuum or dust with a good microfiber dust mop to pick up dirt before you wash it. Then put hot water and up to six tea bags in a bucket. Make it strong. And wash the floor with that. The tannic acid in tea is really, really good for wood floors. It doesn’t stain; it’s inexpensive, natural and it’s safe for pets and kids. When you wring out your mop, wring it until it’s just damp; you don’t want to put a lot of water onto your floor.
For vinyl: Again, vacuum with an appropriate vacuum or dust with a good microfiber dust mop. Then put a gallon of plain water, or water with just a tablespoon of Borax, into a bucket. And wash your floor with that same microfiber mop.
For tile: As with all hard flooring, vacuum with an appropriate vacuum or dust with a good microfiber dust mop first. Caution, that ceramic tile owner’s stay away from vinegar-based cleaning products, it’s an acid and can etch your grout, she notes. Instead, you can use an all-purpose cleaner or a tablespoon of Borax in water, and remember to wring out your mop well as you’re working.