Woman,Legs,Out,Of,A,Pile,Of,Clothes,On,The

Stop clutter coming into your home.

by Home Organising

Are you fed up with the constant stream of clutter coming into your home? I hate having loose items on the side that really don’t have a home and I am sure you do too.

A few ideas

I have put together a simple list if ideas to hopefully stop clutter clogging up your home.

Make sure you have plenty of bins so you can put rubbish in them straight away rather than leave lying around.

Empty your bag or coat pocket as soon as you come home so the rubbish is dealt with straight away.

When you receive items through the post that come in big packaging break the boxes up straight away and take straight out to the recycling bin.  You don’t want these lying around taking up room.

Have a recycling box by the back door and empty this daily.

Do one extra organising job each day on top of normal cleaning. For example clean out a drawer or cupboard that’s become cluttered this way it doesn’t get so out of control.

Cancel any magazine subscriptions that you no longer need,  stopping the need of unwanted magazines and leaflets coming in.

Register with MPS online to stop receiving junk mail. https://www.mpsonline.org.uk. alternatively add a note to your front door alerting people not to put junk mail through.

Only purchase what you need.  Stop buying on impulse and bringing items into the home that you don’t really need.  When you visit the shops list the items you need and stick to it.  Don’t be tempted with offers.

Say NO to useless freebies that you pick up at exhibitions and trade fairs  How many branded pens do you really need.

Ask for receipts via email.  Most shops are offering this service these days and it is such a great idea.

Don’t pick up takeaway and restaurant menus as most are available online.

When the children bring in letters from school with important dates on, add into your phone calendar or dairy and disregard the letter.

Avoid going to sales, most of the time you impulse buy for the sake of it.

Buy a good mesh shopping bag that easily fits into your hand bag rather than having a store cupboard full of empty carrier bags.

Reducing filing by scanning and saving copies of warranty documents, important receipts, letters etc. One back up hard drive or flash drive takes up far less space than piles of paper.

Put things away. You quickly see whether you have room or not and if you don’t, something has to go.

Follow this rule. If something comes in, then something goes out.

If you need a bit more motivation check out my 50 things you need to throw guide.

Water,Splash,Of,The,Washing,Machine,Drum

Washing Machine care

by Laundry

It’s so important to keep your washing machine nice and clean as detergent alone isn’t enough to keep your clothes smelling nice and fresh.

Washing machines gain horrible smells from the build up of odours caused by the dirt they remove from your clothes and the hard water. Dirt sticks to the drum and builds up hence the reason we need to keep our machines nice and clean.

Tips to keep your washing machine clean

When your machine is not is use try to leave the tray open slightly just so this gets some air and dries out.  This little tray is on and off being wet and never really gets the chance to dry out. Once a week take your tray out and soak it in warm soapy water and then dry it well before you pop it back in.  Also clean the space it comes from putting your arm right in and giving it a good clean and dry.

FullSizeRender

When your machine has finished a cycle try to take your clothes out immediately don’t leave them in for too long as this can cause damp smells.

If you use your machine a lot a once a week give it a good deep clean is good.  Just run the machine on an empty wash along with a washing machine cleaner, a do-lap of white wine vinegar or a cap full of bleach. Follow the instructions of the brought washing machine cleaner but for the bleach or white wine vinegar option put this into the detergent tray or straight into the drum.

This will help keep your machine smelling nice and fresh.

Then wipe inside the machine all around the drum with a nice clean soapy cloth.

Also weekly try to give the rubber seal a good wipe, you can use your detergent for this or mix some bicarbonate of soda with some white wine vinegar into a paste and use a small brush to get right into the rubber.  The rubber seal picks up all sorts of dirt from your clothes and will also pick up minerals and hard water.

The filter at the bottom of the machine will need to be emptied regularly, try to do this at least once a month. Plus if you can access the back of your machine easily check the water supply pipe for any build up of dirt.

My recommended brought washing machine cleaner is the Dr Beckmann there products never fail to let me down. I have found a really good offer for you too just CLICK HERE

I also recommend you buy your white wine vinegar in a bigger bottle online to save you money. I have picked a great 5l bottle for you too. Just CLICK HERE

There are so many ways you can use natural cleaning products around the home like white wine vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, I have put together some great ideas which will help you save money and clean naturally HERE

As always thank you for reading my post
Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxox

this post contains affiliate links 

LQOC4-49

Cleaning Tips for Moving into a New Home

by Cleaning Tips

Moving into a new home is a very exciting time but it’s so important to give your new home a good clean before you move in to make it feel like yours. Other people’s grime will be polluting the surfaces and door handles!  You will notice the previous occupants marks of habitation which can make you feel uneasy in your new property but never fear a few antibacterial products and a drop of bleach here and there will help your home to feel brand new and all yours.

My advice would be to start at the top and work your way down!

1 – Firstly dust those ceilings concentrating well on the cobwebs and the corners. Have a step ladder to hand and go over with a large feather duster.  It will be satisfying watching the dust drop to the floor.  Ceilings harbour dust so it’s important that you get these clean.

2 – Door handles, light switches and other buttons all need a really good clean with antibacterial spray.

3 – Get all the windows and doors open and give the house a really good air.

4 – Pull up any unwanted carpet and rugs and pull down old curtains, blinds and  lampshades and get them straight to the tip. This items will smell and if they don’t go the smell won’t go!

5 – Add a good amount of neat bleach to all the sinks and baths and leave to soak to really help kill those germs.  After a good soaking scrub clean with an antibacterial spray until it comes up like new.  if you have a shower replace the shower head these harbour a lot of bacteria and germs.

6 – If you are keeping the toilets make sure you replace the seats with new ones and really scrub the pan clean.  Pour a cheap bottle of coke down to ensure the pipes are clean and there are no unwanted blockages that can create nasty smells.

7 – If appliances have been left and you are keeping ensure you scrub them clean, invest in a good over cleaner and use baby oil to really shine that hob.
8 – A bit of neat bleach on a toothbrush will help you get the grout in-between any tiles clean and bring them back to life.

This rigorously but well needed clean will now make your home feel like yours and is now ready to move into.

And most important of all enjoy your new home.

As always thank you for reading.
Lynsey Queen of Clean xox

lynseyimagecleaning11

How Often Should you Change your Bedding

by Cleaning Tips


Recently I surveyed local people in my community on how often they changes they bedding. 80% of the people I surveyed said they only change their bedding once a month.  Someone admitted that they hadn’t changed there sheets in the past 6 months and others where on average once a week or once every two weeks.

I than run a similar survey with the people that follow me on my social media platforms and was very pleased to see that many people are like me and change their bedding on a regular basis from twice a week to once a week.  When people are suffering with a cold or a bug they then change the sheets and this is exactly what I do.  You don’t need any further germs to take up nesting in your bed.  I also discovered that many people like to air their bed before making it.  You can’t beat a cold icey aired bed.

Personally I change my bedding once a week, there was a point where I was doing this every other day.  But time was against me and I was forever washing sheets and ironing them.  In my opinion no point in washing them if you aren’t going to iron them.  Having the freshly ironed lines on the bed is just a must for me its like seeing the lines on a freshly mowed lawn.

Now I just stick to #cleansheetssunday

My method

I hoover the mattress and I always do this with a clear cylinder so I can see what comes out, I then very lightly steam and finally spray with a Dettol spray. I will then leave the mattress to dry off and air before I put on the freshly ironed sheets. Monthly I also use my Vorwerk mattress cleaning system.

Its good to use a good pillow protector, and a good mattress protector as these will prolong the life of your pillows and mattress and give you some extra comfort.

bed

For those that don’t do this you are creating a nest of germs.

We are not alone in our beds

Dirt and dust can quickly build up in our beds and unfortunately we’re not alone in our beds, our beds are full of dust mites.

But dust mites aren’t the only hidden surprises lurking in our sheets, and we only ourselves to blame for their presence. Every night we shed a million skin cells, accompanied by oil and sweat. If you don’t wash your bedding regularly, this adds to your bed’s attraction for mites and their breading.

Bedbugs are small blood-sucking insects that live in cracks and crevices in and around our beds. They crawl out at night and bite exposed skin to feed on blood. Disgusting!

bedbugs

Though Bed bugs and mites aren’t known to transmit disease or pose any serious medical risk, the stubborn parasites can leave itchy and unsightly bites. However, bedbugs don’t always leave marks. The best way to tell if you have a bedbug infestation is to see the live, apple-seed-size critters for yourself. Unfortunately, once bedbugs take up residence in your bed they can be difficult to exterminate without professional help.

Bed bugs are flat, round and reddish brown and about the size of an apple seed. They don’t have wings and can’t fly or jump.

Keep bed bugs and mites away and make changing your sheets a regular part of your cleaning routine.

Thanks for reading
Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxox