We're cleaning out the house. It's amazing how much you can collect in twenty years. The clutter piles are huge. We've hauled more stuff to the dump and secondhand stores than I want to think about. But the house is finally getting to the point we can rattle around again.
Household tip #1 - don't buy stuff just to have it. If you aren't going to use it, get rid of it. For new hobbies, buy it, try it out, and if it doesn't work for you, find someone who wants it and give it away. Stuff takes time and energy to maintain and clean and organize. Why keep it if you aren't doing anything more than shifting it around and cleaning around it?
We painted my daughter's room. It's been needing it for years. We've been waiting for her to clean it up and organize it so we could move her out and paint. I finally got tired of waiting, after over three years, and did it for her. So I don't feel bad that she ended up with a pink wall. She hates pink, but since she didn't clean it out, she didn't get to choose the paint color. It looks very pretty and feminine now. And clean, since we haven't moved her back in yet.
Household tip #2 - Paint your walls the colors you like, you're the one who has to live in it. And go two or three shades lighter than you think you want, especially for large spaces like walls. The colors end up darker than you think they will. Dark colors make spaces feel smaller. If you want an open airy feeling, use lighter colors.
Do you have any good household cleaning or organizing tips? Please share in the comments!
Showing posts with label household tip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label household tip. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
Household Tip - Cleaning your microwave
I came across this tip years ago but didn't try it out until recently. I could slap myself. This makes it so much easier to clean your microwave.
One of my kids heated his leftovers too long and they exploded all over the inside of the microwave. He told me, "Don't worry, I'll clean that later." Two days later, when I went to use the microwave, the food was still splattered all over it. Life with teenagers. It had dried out and was crusty and hard to remove.
Then I remembered this trick. The actual suggestion was to microwave a lemon, but since I rarely have fresh lemons around and if I do, I'm not microwaving it just to clean the microwave. I'm slicing it for water or lemonade or using it to bake fish or something else. Anyway, I do have lemon juice in the fridge so I decided to use that.
Put 1/2 c. hot water and 2-3 T. of lemon juice in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for about 3 minutes, until it boils and you get some good steam inside the microwave. DON'T OPEN THE DOOR FOR AT LEAST 3 MINUTES! Just leave it in there when it's done cooking. Let the lemon steam do your work for you, just like Scrubbing Bubbles (which works really well at getting stains out of your kitchen sink, unless you have stainless steel sinks).
Then, after about 3 minutes, open the door, remove the bowl and what's left of the lemon water (carefully since it's still pretty hot), and wipe the microwave clean. Everything comes off so much easier and, bonus, the microwave smells lemony fresh.
One of my kids heated his leftovers too long and they exploded all over the inside of the microwave. He told me, "Don't worry, I'll clean that later." Two days later, when I went to use the microwave, the food was still splattered all over it. Life with teenagers. It had dried out and was crusty and hard to remove.
Then I remembered this trick. The actual suggestion was to microwave a lemon, but since I rarely have fresh lemons around and if I do, I'm not microwaving it just to clean the microwave. I'm slicing it for water or lemonade or using it to bake fish or something else. Anyway, I do have lemon juice in the fridge so I decided to use that.
Put 1/2 c. hot water and 2-3 T. of lemon juice in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for about 3 minutes, until it boils and you get some good steam inside the microwave. DON'T OPEN THE DOOR FOR AT LEAST 3 MINUTES! Just leave it in there when it's done cooking. Let the lemon steam do your work for you, just like Scrubbing Bubbles (which works really well at getting stains out of your kitchen sink, unless you have stainless steel sinks).
Then, after about 3 minutes, open the door, remove the bowl and what's left of the lemon water (carefully since it's still pretty hot), and wipe the microwave clean. Everything comes off so much easier and, bonus, the microwave smells lemony fresh.
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