How to Survive the Pet Shedding Season

With the warmer weather that the spring brings us, we are all shedding layers and coats of… clothes or fur. If you live with a pet, you can probably already feel this on your skin. And the carpet. And the furniture. And clothes.

So how can you handle all this hair around your house, alongside with the regular house cleaning, plus the big spring cleaning? You probably won’t be able to get rid of all the hair, but there are a few things that might help you reduce the amount of it around your house to a manageable degree.

Here are a few tips from cleaning pros from Oasis Natural Cleaning that should make your life less fuzzy.

Make Lint Rollers Your Best Friends

After your pet’s, of course. These handy things can be lifesavers when it comes to exceeding shedding of your furry companions. They really practical, super affordable and super-efficient when it comes to cleaning your furniture and clothes from the pet hair.

Make a stock in order to be sure you never run out of them. Also, keep them at hand, for example, under the couch. Use them to take care of the hair piles regularly and prevent them from accumulating too much. You can have one in your bag, just in case, the natural light reveals some secret souvenirs your beloved pet endowed you with.

A wet sponge is a good alternative for cleaning furniture as well, so make sure you have enough of them in your house. Rubber gloves can also be useful in this matter, although they’re not suitable for all types of furniture.

Get Furniture Covers

To save your lovely upholstered sofa from being swallowed by your pet’s hair, get some nice covers which are easy to clean and maintain. You can use lint rollers as well and wash them regularly. This combination should help to keep them hair-free.

Changing and washing the covers is certainly much simpler than cleaning and rubbing the furniture every day. Deep house cleaning can be expensive and time-consuming, so make sure you don’t have to do it too often. Even if you don’t want to use the covers all the time, it can be a convenient solution if you have unexpected guests coming over. So make sure you always have a nice and clean cover at hand.

Clean Your Carpet Properly

There are three steps which will help you to keep your carpet as clean as possible. Of course, they are the most efficient when combined, but even if you use them separately, they will still have a visible effect.

You should first dampen your carpet a bit (not too much), and then use a brush to gather all the hair. After this, vacuum the carpet to get the rest of the hair that might have remained hidden in deeper layers.

Finally, to be absolutely sure you got them all, use a squeegee over your carpet. You don’t have to do the whole “procedure” every time, but make sure you do at least one of these things regularly.

Brush That Pet

Whichever furry pet you might have, you should brush them regularly. Do it on the terrace, or in the yard, somewhere where all the hair can run free without ending up on your furniture, clothes or any other part of your house.

This way, you will get rid of all the hair that had already fallen off and which would have eventually ended up on your carpet or elsewhere in your home. Take the time to find the right brush which will at the same time be efficient in removing the hair, but which also be pleasant for your furry friend, as in order to do anything, you’ll have to get your pet to cooperate as well.

How to Clean Different Surfaces in Your Kitchen

When it comes to cleaning, the kitchen is probably the one place where you don’t want to take the task lightly. This is the place where you prepare your food and where you eat, so you’d better clean it right.

However, cleaning the kitchen can be a complex task. It’s not as simple as cleaning your bathroom where everything is made of ceramics and you can use one or two cleaning products for the whole room.

Depending on the materials used in your kitchen, you may need to use different products and different cleaning methods. We asked experts at Maid Easy to tell us their kitchen cleaning tips. This is what they shared.

Stainless Steel

A lot of your kitchen elements and appliances may be made of polished stainless steel or aluminum. Luckily for you, you don’t need to know the difference between the two when it comes to cleaning them.

Both stainless steel and aluminum are typically highly polished surfaces and as such, they tend to attract stains such as fingerprints and food remains. However, just as they are easy to get dirty, they can be pretty easy to clean, too.

If the staining is just minor, you can put some baby or coconut oil on a cloth and wipe the whole surface. If, on the other hand, your polished metal surfaces are pretty messy, you can use some dish soap and water with a cloth, followed by a detailed buffing with a dry and clean cloth.

Granite Countertops

Granite has been a favorite countertop surface for over a decade now since it is far less porous than marble. It absorbs fewer stains, attracts fewer bacteria, and is much easier to care for.

Most home cleaning experts will tell you to clean your countertop as soon as the spill occurs to protect the surface.

When it comes to regular cleaning, you can use dish soap and water or a solution of rubbing alcohol, since it adds disinfecting properties.

It is important not to use vinegar (even though a lot of people use this handy substance for a variety of cleaning purposes). Vinegar is acidic, and that can damage the coating of the countertop and the stone itself.

Wooden Surfaces

Most kitchens have at least some wooden surfaces. Be it chairs, the table or even cupboards, wooden surfaces require regular attention.

A soft cloth with warm water is required in order to clean the wooden surfaces from stains. You can also use a specialized cleaning product for wood, but do not use dish soap, as it can dry out the varnish and stain wood.

If you want your wooden surfaces to keep their sheen and glow, you can have them re-oiled or re-varnished at least once a year, though carpenters recommend doing this twice as often.

Glass

Windows, doors, tables and more kitchen segments can be made of glass. Unlike glass in other rooms in your house, kitchen glass is exposed to a lot of changes. It is exposed to cooking and changes in temperature and humidity from the cooking. And let’s not forget the stains from food.

Keeping your kitchen glass clean and looking good is pretty much the same as keeping any glass surface, but you probably need to do it a bit more often.

Start by wiping down the glass with a dry cloth to get rid of dust and similar particles. Next, repeat the same process with a cloth dipped in hot water. If the glass is really dirty, adding isopropyl alcohol to the hot water can truly do wonders to clean the glass. Finally, wipe the glass with the dry cloth again.

There are some other types of surfaces in the kitchens as well, but these are the most common or require the most special attention.

Clean Your Oven Effectively and Thoroughly

If you use your oven a lot, chances are that you are no stranger to persistent stains and residue that is not only ugly to look at, but also fairly difficult to clean. Or, you aren’t exactly a keen cook and have suffered an accident which not only killed your desire to use the oven, but also made a (what seems to be permanent) mess on the inside of your oven.

Well, it is difficult unless you know exactly how to do it. We asked cleaning experts at The Moxie Maids to reveal their cleaning secrets. They agreed to share the best way to clean an oven.

 Empty the Oven

One thing you need to ensure in order to clean your oven is that it is not hot and that you have access to the whole oven. That means that you will have to remove everything from the oven, including the oven racks.

If your oven racks are dirty too, which they probably are, you can simply use the same method to clean them as well, although separately. Speaking of empty oven, that means any debris and food remains you can get out of the way before you get to the grit.

Mix Your Cleaning Solution

If you aren’t too thrilled about using strong (possibly toxic) detergents on your oven, you can use one of the oldest and the most successful cleaners we have ever had – baking soda. The sodium bicarbonate is great at tackling grease, so it can be used as a cleaner.

Create a paste out of some baking soda and water and apply this paste on the inside of your oven. It will take a bit of time to work its magic, usually until the next morning, during which time you can address the issue of dirty oven racks and the glass part of your oven.

The same paste is applied to the oven window as with the rest of the oven. The only difference is that you will be able to clean it off much sooner. In about an hour, you will be able to use a damp cloth to completely remove the paste and the caked dirt from your oven window.

Two Ways of Cleaning Racks

You can use the same method you used for your oven and make a cleaning paste out of baking soda and leave it overnight to react, removing all of the baked-in grease and other dirt. This will be fairly effective and you will end up with a great looking and shiny oven racks.

On the other hand, you might want to apply a different solution. Simply put some washing powder or dish soap in hot water and submerge your racks overnight. In the morning, the dirt will come off even after the lightest of scrubbings.

Get the Stove in Order, Too

If you are ready to continue cleaning, you can clean the top of your stove as well. Make a very similar paste, using some baking soda and water, and salt in equal proportions.

Apply it all to your stove and then scrub it off after about half an hour.

Finish the Oven the Next Day

The following morning, the baking soda will have had enough time to react and remove all of the built-up dirt from your oven.

All it takes is a damp cloth to remove all of the paste with the dirt on it. However, if you are having problems with a particularly difficult area, a gentle silicone spatula should be enough to help you remove everything.

In order to remove all of the baking soda effectively, use a spray bottle with water and a bit of vinegar, followed by another run with a damp cloth.

Your oven should now be clean and ready for use once again.

How to Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Being comfortable in your own home is definitely its most important aspect. Having everything you need, everything being practical, functional and well-designed is what people mostly focus on.

But once you make sure your house is just by your measure on the inside, you might want to pay some more attention to the way it looks from the outside. It will much nicer for you to look at your home from outside and enjoy what you see.

It will also make your neighborhood look better and maybe even inspire your neighbors to do the same. Here are a few tips from DlouhyDoors Inc. on how to make the exterior of your house look better without spending a fortune.

Green is Your Friend

If you want to add some life to the looks of your house with minimum investment, you can try adding some new flowers and greenery.

It really doesn’t have to be too expensive, nor does it have to demand a lot of effort. Find the plants that are easy to maintain, yet look good and effective. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a whole new garden. A few window boxes in the right places will actually do a great job.

You can also use planters, standing or hanging ones, depending on how much space you have. On top of this, your lawn can also contribute to your house’s appeal, so make sure it’s well maintained.

Light is the Key

In architecture, light is one of the secret weapons, one of the accessories which give a completely new look to the same old place. So lights can do the same to your house.

Location, angle, strength, nuance, all these play part in creating the overall visual effect. That means that a dark entryway is definitely not an option if you want the exterior of your house to be more appealing. You can try with new hanging lamps or light posts.

Also, since the light makes every detail visible, make sure you clean everything in front of your house, including the spider webs, as it all contributes to the overall impression.

Look at the Doors

The door is one of the first things people notice about a house. If you are not in the position to get a new door, try to refurbish and repaint the old one.

You can add some cute and funny sign if it matches the rest of the image. You can also get a new nameplate, maybe even a new doorbell. The main door of your house is not the only one you can redecorate.

You can do the same with your garage door by repainting it. Of course, it would be great to get a new garage door as there as so many beautiful and affordable solutions, but until that happens, simply changing its color gives a new life to the place.

Don’t Forget the Details

This really shouldn’t require too much time nor money but could do wonders for your house’s new look. You can start from such small things which are yet the first to notice, such as your house number. You can start by getting a new plate, in a different color and with a different font.

While you’re there, you can consider getting a new mailbox, or redesigning the one you have already got by painting it or adding some cute new details. You can also think about freshening up your fence.

You don’t have to paint it all or get a new one, but you can definitely add a bit of color in some places, put some plate or hang the lights.