Cleaning

Are you still online? You’ve been here for hours! Those listicles can be addicting, but you’ve got to come up for air sometime. Stretch your body a bit. Get something accomplished. Hey! How about doing a little cleaning? You can get some serious sprucing-up done in just 15 minutes. Then you can watch YouTube videos with abandon. Promise. When people come to your home, do they know you have pets? It’s likely not because of the wagging or purring.

Moving in with your significant other isn’t all sunshine, rainbows and picking out throw pillows. It’s a struggle to learn to live together. Think about it: You’re two different people who grew up in different houses around different people, and you’re coming together under one roof for the first time—bringing with you two totally distinct sets of home habits.

In my post, 5 Apartment Therapy Tips I Use All the Time, I noted that keeping fresh flowers around the house inspires me in unexpected ways—it lifts my mood and helps me keep a neater home. Makes sense? Sounds hokey? A little of both? Turns out there’s some science behind this! We’ve included buying flowers in the Cure assignments for years. Maxwell has promoted this simple practice as an easy and affordable way to add beauty to our homes and lift our spirits.

Since moving out to the prairie a few years ago, I’ve had a hard time finding full-time employment. I have, however, taken over our family’s housework almost completely (I do not mow). It seems to take forever because housework is boring, but truthfully, I have no idea how much actual time I contribute to the household each week. So, I decided to find out once and for all how much time I actually spend cooking and cleaning.

Despite all the love we have for beach hair, beachy cocktails, and creating a beach house vibe at home—even in the middle of Denver—the beach needs to stay at the beach. Frolic on the sand all you want, but then try these nine tips for keeping sand out of your home and at the beach where it belongs. The number one thing I came across whilst Googling “how to get sand off feet” was “baby powder.

Have you ever heard of a “sandless” beach blanket? Well, we hadn’t either until recently. When I first introduced the idea, my fellow AT staffers threw out words like “sorcery” and “urban legend” but mostly, it was a barrage of ???s. No one could wrap their head around it, so we had to take it to the test lab (my local beach) and find out if, in fact, someone could stay sand-free on the shoreline while using one.

Abbreviated summer hours are a great perk in any workplace; they offer you the chance to get out of the cubicle and kick off your weekend early to enjoy some of the great weather. Or—hear me out on this—you could take advantage of the extra free time on summer fridays to get a head start on housework.

Nobody likes to throw away money. Even though kitchen sponges are, like, 50¢ a piece, there are still some small, simple habits you can do to squeeze more mileage out of your most hardworking kitchen tool. Ta da! Instantly, your tools last twice as long. Chances are, a smaller sponge can still tackle all your normal use with finesse. In fact, it might make it easier to get into tight nooks. Get yourself a sponge holder that will keep your sponge upright and let air flow all around.

I grew up without a dishwasher in the house, so nobody really ever taught me how the whole thing was supposed to work. After a few years on my own in dishwasher-equipped apartments, I’ve got the big lessons down (it only takes one occurrence of covering your entire kitchen floor in 2-foot-deep suds to know that dish soap and dishwasher detergent are not the same thing). But there are lots of finer points of machine-washing life that even experienced homekeepers might not know.

There’s a reason they call cleaning up a “chore.” Nobody wants housekeeping to take up their whole weekend, so we all go looking for shortcuts to clean house in half the time. But here’s the truth: The secret to a speedy cleaning routine is just that – routine. You need to establish a system of rules that gets the work done not just quickly, but efficiently.

Spring is here! All over the Northern Hemisphere there are telltale signs that spring has sprung: Trees are showing their first green of the year; flowers are appearing in our neighborhood gardens, rooftops, and window sills; and across the lands if you listen carefully you can hear the whirring of vacuum cleaners and the beating of dust from a thousand hallway runners. Yes, for many of us with the season of new life comes the annual chore-fest we’ve come to know as Spring Cleaning.

If I were ever to receive a visit from a Victorian-era time traveler, the first thing I’d show them is the refrigerator. It’s a modern miracle that we can keep milk from turning for nearly a month, but what you might not know is that your fridge and freezer can do so much more. If you have the room to spare, try dropping a few of these non-food items in your fridge or freezer.

Stink bugs get their name from —wait for it —the odor they emit when they are disturbed or stomped upon. It’s meant to ward off predators, and by predators I mean us humans with our descending boots, rolled up magazines, and scary vacuum suction hoses. (Hell, I’d spray us with noxious fumes too.) Here’s what else you should know about these delightful little creatures.

You don’t need fancy, expensive tools to keep your home clean. In fact, it turns out you can get a whole lot done with just a toothbrush (preferably not yours… or that of anyone you love).

Your entryway is the gatekeeper to the rest of your home, fighting against the road salt, melting snow, and mud tracked in this time of year — not to mention all the people passing through with mail, coats, groceries, and other gear. This weekend, help this hard-working space do its job by giving it a little TLC, clearing it of the mess and dirt. But don’t worry, it won’t take long to make it through this checklist and turn this high-traffic spot into a sparkling clean zone.

Magnet magic is something you can put to work in your home — and in all kinds of ways you might not have imagined.

Kerstin & Andy’s Colorful and Happy Family Home in Australia With snow, salt, mud, and the other sloppy aspects of winter, it’s all too easy for the entryway to become a mess. Whether your door deposits you right into your living space or you’re lucky enough to have a mudroom, there are some things you can do to make your entry as winter-friendly as possible. Handmaid Tales Shoe storage First things first: boots.

Are you hanging up your towels after every use and giving them a good wash at the end of the week? Well stop it! As well-intentioned as your bath linen routine might be, you could be sabotaging your towel’s inalienable rights to life, longevity and fluffiness. Here are five ways you’re ruining your towels without realizing it… You don’t use bleach in the laundry, but you’re still seeing white specks all over your colored towels?

Before you scrub the grout. Before you wipe down the mirror. Before you tackle the scum on the shower doors. Before you get in there to clean whatever it is that collects all over the toilet (try not to think about that for too long). Before you start on any of it, there’s an easy–and actually quite delightful–task that you should do first… People pay good money for steam cleaners because the hot vapor loosens grime from all kinds of surfaces.

Before you mindlessly pack up all of your holidays decorations, and store them out of sight for the year, take a moment to toss things that have no business sticking around. You’ll be happy next December when you don’t have to wade through three storage bins full of glitter and gold. Get rid of these five things, and maybe you can even get it down to one small box. Instead of holding onto lights that no longer light up, get rid of them.

It took me a long time to get here but I finally moved into the tiny apartment of my dreams, and I’ve been enjoying outfitting it with all the perfect things. But my favorite thing that I’ve bought for my home is not my beautiful new velvet sofa or my gorgeous antique Moroccan rug. It is a vacuum cleaner. It might be reaching a bit to say that a handheld vacuum cleaner has changed my life, but it has definitely changed the way I clean — and I’m not going back.

This isn't about practical storage or clutter, but the decorating choices we make that contribute to either a sense of disorder or calm.

Pine needles are part of the deal that comes with bringing a real, living tree into your living room over the holidays – hell, even fake trees shed their tinsel. But that doesn’t make the resulting mess any less annoying to deal with, especially when the tree seems to be shedding everywhere.

Your living room is a place for connecting with friends, spending time with family, relaxing by yourself and more. What it shouldn’t be is a place for any of these five things. Take a look at this list and banish any of these if they’ve been taking place in your living space. Do you start apologizing for a mess, for the pet hair, for the unfinished DIY projects, for the sofa that isn’t quite your dream sofa yet?

The difference between an organized fridge and a messy, stinky, ugly one is simple: Focus, discipline and a strong foundation of good ideas. We’ve collected ten excellent guiding principles for keeping your refrigerator clean, healthy and happy, and they’re all right here for you to implement at home. Set your refrigerator’s temperature to 40°F (5°C) or below. If it doesn’t come with a label, give it one. Add dates for extra credit.

Whether you have one shared bathroom in your place or a half a dozen, when you’re hosting for the holidays you want to get those spaces ready for houseguests as soon as possible. We’ve put together a totally doable, slow-paced two-week plan that will have you clean, ready and–most importantly–relaxed. The time frames are just a guideline, of course. You can get these five steps done in any order and on any timeline before your guests arrive.

I was reading a few sentences of an article recently that said something about September being an extra spider-y month, something about male spiders coming out to flirt with females? I didn’t really read the whole thing because who wants to really know that much about spiders? Here’s what I do know: I don’t love them, particularly when they like to call my bedroom home and dance on my face at night.

From the knocker on your front door to the extra-special necklace you brought home from the craft market, brass and copper goods are showing up everywhere. Over time, these shiny treasures will start to tarnish, and we heard that ketchup can help get them back in shape. But does it really work? we gave it a try… Ketchup Small bowl Buffing cloth Small brush 1. For small, dainty pieces of jewelry like chains and earrings, it’s easiest to submerge them and let them sit for a while.

Welcome to the first full weekend of the Closet Cure! The next assignment won’t be sent out until Monday, so you’ve got three days to get lots of good curing in. If you haven’t gotten started yet, no worries – this is your chance to get on board and catch up with the group. Now that you’ve walked through the sorting process with your sweaters, it’s time to work your clothing assessment magic on some other key sections of your wardrobe.

If your furniture is in the same spot it’s been since you moved in, it might be time to shake things up a bit. Rearranging your room’s layout has a way of freshening up a space and giving you new life at home. There’s also a handful of benefits to a layout shake-up that you might not have ever expected… That sofa that hasn’t moved in millennia?

There are two types of people in the world: Shower curtain people and glass door people. No matter which you prefer (which do you prefer?), we can all agree that glass shower doors are kind of a pain to keep clean. Here are 5 tips, products and solutions that make it a cinch to keep your shower door spotless around the clock. Without a doubt, this is the most effective way to keep a clean glass shower, but it’s also the most demanding.

Spring cleaning is overrated, y’all. The best time to purge around the house is right now. The end of carefree summer offers the perfect framework to really re-assess your needs and determine exactly what products, items and pantry staples you want to bring with you into fall. If you need a jump start on the Autumn Ablution (we’re trying to make it happen), here are 10 things around the house you should throw away by the end of summer.

This is a public service announcement: The Halloween stuff is already out at craft stores. And I’m not sure how fall came to have a mascot, but I know that autumn is on its way when I hear people start talking about how much they miss pumpkin spice. While there are still several weeks left to enjoy the summer, it might be a good time to start thinking about the tasks you need to get done before cool weather really sets in.

Chiggers (or red bugs) are tiny little mites that easily escape notice, but leave a lasting legacy in the form of red welts on your skin that will itch for days and drive you nuts. Summer is prime chigger season, so read up on how to deal with them around the house, and what to do if you get bitten. Chiggers love to get you in your body’s tender sweaty spots, namely the undersides of your arms, knees, belly and – yes – your private areas.

Want a cleaner home? One that gets cleaner easier, stays cleaner longer, and doesn’t feel like the act of cleaning dominates your life? There are four habits that can be life-changers; could they change yours? We have provided you with a lot of different cleaning schedules over the years. What they’ve all got in common is that at some point in time you’ve got to carve out time where you pull out cleaning supplies and do a little scrubbing.

Are you a robot who is always ready for spur-of-the-moment guests? Good for you! The rest of us humans need to fake it once in a while. Here are twenty easy ways to do just that. Make your home look loads better in a hurry with one or two (or more if you’re feeling motivated!) of these low effort, high-impact (and dirt-hiding) tips. 20. Sweep clutter from all visible surfaces. 19. Make the bed. 18. Clean the bathroom mirror. 17. Light a candle. 16. Putting out a store-bought snack?

Judy & Don’s Treehouse in the City Your home is truly a reflection of yourself, and mine definitely says, “I hate cleaning”… at least it does right this minute. See, I’m more than capable of getting my home totally tidy (and I love it when I do), but keeping up a regular cleaning routine is a tough task for me.

The middle of the year is an optimal time to do a little planning to have a great summer ahead. Whether you’ve already been to the beach a few times this year or you haven’t even thought about your summer plans yet, cleaning and clearing out these six areas of life and home just might be the secret to a more carefree summer.

Do you regularly put in real, genuine effort to declutter your home, but still find yourself being overwhelmed by all the stuff? Do you ever wonder where it all comes from? There could be one thing that you’re doing that’s keeping the clutter levels high; see if it’s something you can eliminate from your life to help eliminate your clutter. In other words, you’re keeping things just in case.

Think you can’t accomplish all that much in ten minutes? You’re wrong. In fact, taking just ten minutes before you dash out the house to head to work can allow you to tackle a whole set of tasks that might make coming back home a pleasant treat at the end of a long, hard day. Tomorrow, take ten minutes to cross off these ten easy items of your morning to-do list! Do you like to make a bit of a mess when you fix breakfast?

Whether you own or rent your home, whether it’s an apartment or a house, it’ll need maintenance this year. Make your life easier and a little less stressful by planning out your home’s maintenance for the whole year all at once, filling out an annual calendar and setting yourself reminders so you stay on track all year long! A yearly calendar (paper or digital) A copy of your lease (if you rent)Your smart phone or computer 1.

Countertop space is precious, and clutter stands in the way of glorious, wide-open spaces that help you function in the kitchen. When stuff is everywhere, you have to move it every time you wipe the counters. You sacrifice precious prep space. And that same stuff subtly clouds your thinking and saps attention from the task at hand. When you banish clutter from the kitchen, you’re more likely to use the room as intended, make dinner, and eat at home.

Simple, understated, and delicious, yellow mustard has its place in the back row on the condiment shelf, pulled out for the occasional cookout or the quickly assembled sandwich. Sure, it’s tasty but is that really it? Have we underestimated yellow mustard all these years? Not just for hot dogs, yellow mustard has quite the list of alternative uses! From skincare to sore throats, it sure can (ahem) cut the mustard. Mild Burn Relief: First, run the burned area under cold water.

The battle with winter is a long one, fraught with snow and cold. If you need a couple more arrows in your quiver, check out these 25 household practices that help you keep you warm as the temperatures drop, save time in the freezing mornings before work, and hopefully conserve energy during the dark months. Individually they don’t sound like much, but collectively they help you kick winter’s butt to the curb. Cover your windshield wipers with old socks before storms.

Add wax paper to the long list of items with surprising applications and usefulness well beyond their original purpose. Wax paper (as opposed to parchment paper) has a thin layer of wax on each side, and was designed to keep food fresh longer. Its both water resistant and non-stick — two attributes that make this handy item versatile and helpful, even outside the kitchen. Rub a sheet on the teeth of a zipper to discourage snags.

Car wax is designed to fill in scratches, protect paint jobs, and leave a slick shine on metal finishes. Why limit its use to automobiles? Turns out that the substance is good for all types of things at home. Pick up a jar and start using it throughout the house. Here are ten ways you might not know about… You can buy car wax in either paste or liquid form. Applying the wax requires just elbow grease and a clean, dry cloth.

Tea tree oil (or malaleuca if you’re fancy) is widely thought to have antimicrobial and antiseptic properties. While many people use it for health & beauty issues, it’s also quite useful around the house. Unlike other household products, it’s also safe and natural. All-Purpose Cleaner: Fill a spray bottle with water and add a few teaspoons of oil. Shake vigorously and spray to clean and disinfect.

Not having a dishwasher certainly isn’t the worst problem you can have. But if you’re used to having one, switching to only hand-washing can seem like a major inconvenience. Following are some ways to make life without a dishwasher as painless as possible. Soak. To make hand-washing less of a scrub-fest, make every effort to keep food from drying on dishes and pots and pans. If you can’t wash something right away, at least submerge it in or fill it with warm soapy water.

It’s the weekend! Time to relax, maybe slow down a bit, maybe work on a renovation or DIY project. You can improve your home a little (and maybe even make your life a little better). We’ve rounded up some recent good ideas that would be perfect to try out this weekend while you’ve got this extra time. And don’t worry — none of these ideas will cost an arm or leg! In the mood to clean but not clean from top to bottom?

Sometimes getting a bargain isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There are tons of tips out there for getting a deal on your clothes shopping — shop off season for coats and swimsuits, swing by the store on a Wednesday morning to scope out the new markdowns, use the department store’s extra percentage off coupon, etc.

Living in a compact (read: tiny) one bedroom with my fiancé and our two dogs sometimes resembles a giant game of Tetris. When it comes to cramming our lives, complete with hobbies, home cooking and my photography business, into 450 square feet organization is key. Here are a few of the ways that we manage. 1. Build upwards.

If you live in a small space, you know that it’s tough to keep it clean from day to day. Smaller spaces just seem to collect more unwanted clutter, dirt and dust! Why is that? Well if you’re a clean freak like me, take a look at some of these tips to keep your small space sparkling every day… 1. Declutter. This is rule number one for a reason! If you don’t love or use an item—why do you still have it? Ditch the clutter and free up space.

Last year we ran an article on how to avoid the dreaded dirty diaper smell, one of the most odorous odors a new Mom or Dad must face. And you couldn’t resist! The rest of you joined in, with your incredible tips on how you’ve defeated the dastardly diaper. Read on for all you need to know about how to conquer the stink! 1. First up, flush it away! Dumping solid waste out of any kind of diaper—cloth or disposable—will help a great deal with the smell.

Warning. This is an awkward post. It’s deep winter and many of us are trapped indoors without the flow of fresh air from open windows. I, personally, have become quite conscious lately of daily smelly moments both at home with guests and at work (the elevator is the worst) where I’ve been trapped by someone passing gas or simply wished the bathroom at home would air out quicker. I myself will plead guilty on occasion.

Your walls are gleaming with new paint, but only three days later do you remember that you forgot to clean the brushes. Blame the chaos, the kids, the fact that you don’t have to be old to forget the obvious. Either way, that expensive paintbrush is trash for sure, right? Wrong! With a little patience — and minimal elbow grease — you can restore your brushes to their former glory. Paint tends to build up right near and inside the metal band, called the ferrule.

I can get a little ambitious when the weekend comes around sometimes (all the time). It’s easy to say yes to events and parties (or dream about hosting my own), create DIY project lists a mile long, think I’ll finally have time to deep clean every corner of my house and plan on organizing my closet to boot. What I do to avoid weekend burnout? Try and use my home, as it is, as a recharging retreat, so that when Monday rolls around I’m more energized than exhausted.

We’re always on the hunt for the latest and greatest (and easiest) cleaning tools, so when our Apartment Therapy Office Manager Nelly came into work the other day raving about a project that transformed her dingy, rental bathroom grout, our ears perked right up. No doubt it has to do with the fact that she’s expecting, but Nelly’s been doing all sorts of nesting lately.

I’m not usually one for New Year’s resolutions, but I am always interested in rejuvenating my space, work and life in the New Year. January is a great month for cleaning up problem areas, whether they are physical problem areas in your home, or work and financial issues. Here are a few of our top tips for simple tasks to help get your new year get off to a great start! 1. Declutter your desk or work area and go through important papers. Tax time is coming!

Is it completely germophobic to be cleaning your kids’ stuffed toys every month? Of course, I’m asking for a friend of mine (wink)! I completely understand that our kids need to grow their immune system by being exposed to various degrees of bacteria, still, I can’t look at these toys and remain calm. It makes me cringe. Just like that tiny chalk mark the teacher used to forget to erase on the board back in school. Ok, there goes my free-spirit reputation!

Sometimes things just smell old. There’s no two ways around it. If you’re a vintage or thrift shopper, then chances are you’ve come across this in the past. Baking soda has been known to do the trick for upholstery, but what about items that aren’t made from fabric? Check out this simple trick!Do you have a treasure that smells a little musty? Well Karen from The Art Of Doing Stuff has a great solution.

Even though my house might not reflect it sometimes (hey, I’m human too), I actually greatly enjoy cleaning. That said, I loathe cleaning baseboards. Sure to do them right it involves buckets and cleaners, rags and… ugh. Just ugh.Forget all that drama and do this less than desirable task far less with the help of a fabric softener sheet.Remember when we talked about some tricks and tips on taking care of a home with pets?

All it took was two episodes of “Hoarders” and I knew that the next morning I was going to…had to…go downstairs to clean out our apartment basement storage area. Hidden downstairs was a slowly expanding Jenga pile of boxes, the majority of them empty, but all kept under the presumption I’d need them later for moving or resale. It was time to get serious and clean house for 2012…The biggest source of empty boxes were for electronics and appliances.

Tackling the smallest projects in my home always seem to create the most happiness. Sure giving a room a new coat of paint is exciting, but most of us live with some silly repair need for far too long, so when it’s finally fixed, it’s like this marvelous miracle. So today, I’d like to talk about the area under your sink. Did you know it could make you happy? Oh it totally can.

I recently bought my first pair of “serious” jeans. The reason I know this is because as I was standing at the register about to pay A LOT of money for them, a cool dude who was standing next to me at the register said, “Oh, you’re going to like those.” “Do you have a pair?” I asked him. “Nope,” he said, “But you’re going to like those.” I felt like a first time drug or Ferrari buyer, not a shopper for a new pair of pants.

Laundry is a time consuming task that has a tendency to build up and become overwhelming. If you live in a small space, laundry procrastination can take over large areas of valuable space making your apartment feel cramped and chaotic. We all know the simple solution to this problem: do your laundry every week! But busy schedules always seem to get in the way of regular household chores.

For the last several months my husband and I have had fans in our windows at all times. We had a hard time getting any breeze in them, but because the fans were in place, we hadn’t had a problem with bugs and mosquitoes coming in. As the temperatures dropped this past weekend, we removed the fans and all sorts of creepy crawly and flying friends came in, so it was time for some screens! Off to the hardware store we went!

Some of the expensive dishwashers have these great fronts that seem to blend into the rest of the cabinetry. While if you have the money, you can get yourself one of these, we found found that hacking your own dishwasher a lot cheaper, since the only things you need to buy are some cabinet fronts.You can use any kind of cabinet fronts that you like, but they need to match your current kitchen cabinets. Once you’ve chosen those, it’s time to start hacking!

White risers can do a lot to brighten a staircase, as evidenced in the entryway above. However, like white floors, pretty and bright doesn’t always equal maintenance-free…but it doesn’t have to equal nightmare either. Here’s how to make them work. I recently completed the risers in our entry hall, and I can tell you first hand that like most painting projects, preparation and the right paint is everything.

Q: Maybe someone can help me with this tragedy? This is my beloved Superflat exhibit print poster. Eight years ago I got it mounted, but when I moved to NY I didn’t ship it out and stored it in my parents’ basement. Now I’ve moved back and discovered they had a flood one year and this poor print got some water damage. Is there any way I can remove the stains without damaging the print? I was thinking of a Mr.

Q: We have TrafficMaster Dimensions Allure flooring installed in a bathroom. We have some scuff marks and some dulling in some areas. What do you recommend in caring for this type floor? Is there a particular cleaner? Can you use wax of any kind. We are happy with the flooring but need your advice on the questions above.Sent by RobertEditor – We’re going to first quote the Allure owner manual to advise you to never use a wax on the TrafficMaster surface.

Every well-run home is teeming with tricks and shortcuts to keep it humming along. We’re sharing our best quick tips — for cleaning, organizing and repairing stuff at home — to save you time and money. Click through for today’s helpful hint, and links to tons more… Use regular DISH SOAP!! It has the ability to be gentle on your paint brushes while removing the sticky, slick paint behind.

Outside of using them for composting, worms just haven’t been on our radar. That is, until they invaded our Walnut tree (worm jerks!). So we sat down with our old friend Google and tried to find out exactly what was taking over our tree and how to make it stop. Were they web worms? Bag worms? Or the Eastern Tent Caterpillar? Find out the differences on each and how you can keep your trees in check after the jump.