Home Cleaning Tips, Tricks and Hacks for Parents of Toddlers and Small Children

Every father and mother with small kids will always be interested and eager to know more tips and tricks in home cleaning and organising that will help make their life better!

An untidy and messy house is the least thing anyone wants to occupy. However, with children at home it’s indeed a difficult task to keep your house tidy all the time.  

Find some tips, tricks and hacks for you with young children at home:

1. Clean up after playtime and do a deep scrub of everything once the kids have gone to bed. This quick sweeping will ensure that your house will be neat and clean every day before bedtime. Before sweeping, you can collect the toys and other children’s items and put them back in their original place.  
2. Teach your children clean up after themselves with you. This will inculcate a good habit in young children and at the same time come as a helping hand for you. Put some music on as it makes cleaning a little less boring, and also the children will appreciate it.
3. Keep a donation bin for items you no longer require.  This will certainly reduce the clutter, and is more applicable with children who have a strong affinity for clothing and toys even though they’re damaged.
4. Put the newspapers and magazines in the recycling bin once you finished reading. Never keep them piling up, thinking that you may need them later.
5. Another clever way to find time tidying up is to utilise those free short minutes you get here and there. For example, make use of a TV commercial break, or the waiting time for a device to get heated up like the microwave, coffee maker or a hair-styling device. You can do some short bursts of cleaning work such as a quick tidy, wipe-down, or load some plates into the dishwasher etc. during these small snippets of time.

More handy tips for Moms

• Baby food jars can be used to store spices. Label each container and display them in your kitchen shelves. 
• You can make a door stopper by reusing a pool noodle.
• Stick a medicine dropper through a cut pacifier and you can use it for easily giving medicine to your toddler.
• Shopping made easy without the kids. Draw out your child’s feet onto a plain paper and then you need not to take the child to the shoe shop. Just show the paper (with the tiny feet traced on to it) to the shopkeeper and they can give you the exact size shoes for the kid.   
• Some parents also use identification bracelets when they go shopping with small children. This will be of great help to get notified if your child gets stranded.
• How to avoid your toddler slide around with the toys when you give her/him a bath? Put a laundry basket in the bathtub and let your kid sit inside it so that the toys won’t flow away. It’ll then be easy bathing your baby as it plays with the toys. 
• An intelligent way to indulge your children in the home cleaning chores is to give them the internet password only after they finish the given cleaning tasks! This will also save your teenagers from internet addiction!

Need some professional help with your home cleaning chores? Call the most reliable Select Cleaning service on 0800 000 907 for your free quote now. Their home cleaning is of the best quality, and the pricing is very competitive too - Now available in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Tauranga and Hamilton.

Nine Important Cleaning Mistakes to Avoid

Majority of New Zealanders now resort to hire quality home cleaners on a regular basis even though they sometimes try do-it-yourself cleaning practice. Narrated below are some common cleaning mistakes people tend to do due to negligence or ignorance. After explaining the mistakes, SelectCleaning experts have given the correct cleaning procedures too.

1. Mixing cleaning products can be dangerous. For example, if you mix two cleaners which have ammonia and bleach as ingredients, a poisonous gas will be formed – and it’s life threatening if you happen to inhale it.  
2. Never clean your non-stick pan in the dishwasher. If you do so, it’ll affect the pan’s seasoning, thereby disabling the non-sticking quality.  
3. Using abrasive cleaners to remove tough stains on porcelain tile and bath tubs will dull their smooth finish.
4. Some of us don’t know that coffee grinders and BBQ grill also need regular cleaning. All traces of crusty bean debris can be completely removed by whizzing uncooked rice or stale bread in the coffee maker, and thereafter washing with water. Vinegar can be used to remove bad odour. Scrub each grill grate with crinkled aluminium foil while it's still warm to remove those charred black bits. This is necessary to kill bacteria growth also.
5. Some are ignorant that fridge and freezer need spot cleaning on a weekly basis and thorough cleaning once every quarter at least. 
6. A few people mistakenly use window cleaners on television and computer LCD screens, which can harm the electronic surfaces. Same way, cleaning with paper towels or tissues can also damage the TV or computer screens because of the presence of wood fibres. Instead, use a microfiber cloth along with approved LCD or IED screen cleaners.
7. Cleaning the windows when the sun is hot? Another mistake! And the result: your glass cleaner will evaporate faster due to the sun’s heat, which may cause spot marks. Good to do the window cleaning when there is no hot sun shining at the windows; that is, choose a cloudy day.
8. Oven cleaning mistakes: Some times we neglect to clean the oven. Sticky and greasy food particles, chunks, and spills may have been left behind in the oven from previous cooking. They get even more baked-on when you cook the next time. This can affect the smell and taste of the newly baked food. Apply the baking soda and vinegar cleaning method to make your oven clean and sparkling.  Add some water to a cup of baking soda to form a thin paste. Apply this paste thinly to the walls of the oven after removing the racks. Ensure that you do this when the oven is still warm.Take some vinegar in a spray bottle and spray it over the baking soda paste on the oven walls. The bicarbonate of soda and vinegar will react, thereby cleaning the oven walls. Let the paste stay there for some time and remove it using a damp rag.  The chemistry here is that the mixture of baking soda and vinegar helps to break down the sticky grease and grime in the oven, which can then be easily removed with a rag.  
9. Ignoring the common touch points in the house: Some common items such as the remotes, computer keyboards are handled by everybody in your home contain more harmful bacteria and dirt than you thought. They need a disinfectant wipe at least every week.Similarly, door knobs, hair combs, water taps, handles of appliances and such things which can be described as the most-touched areas in your home are severely affected by the germs. Failing to understand this and not giving them frequent disinfectant wipe is another cleaning mistake we tend to commit.

For a free cleaning quote, you can now call the Select Cleaning home cleaners on 0800 000 907. They service Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.

Nine House Cleaning and Maintenance Tips That’ll Make You a Smart Homemaker

Too many tasks related to household chores and not enough time? Don’t worry, you’re not alone- this is the problem faced by most of the working parents.  Whether you do it alone or divide them up among family members, home cleaning & maintenance activity is a must-do daily/weekly routine you can’t afford to postpone. Of course, there is an easy solution: you can rely upon an affordable and trustworthy home cleaning service, thereby saving valuable time and getting peace of mind.

You may have a list of favourite home cleaning and maintenance tips you put into practice. Add the following into that list – it’ll make you a great homemaker.    

Trouble removing food particles left on stainless steel pan?

Pour a few drops of vinegar on to the pan and then sprinkle a little baking soda, and watch it bubbles for a minute. Now add some hot water as required and use a scrubber to completely clean the leftover food particles with much ease.

Getting rid of pantry moths

Add whole dried bay leaves to the corners of your pantry or cupboard or add them directly to your canister of flour, rice, or other dry food to Repel Bugs in Pantry such as beetles, weevils, flies, moths, cockroaches, and ants.

Keep your benchtop spotless

Place aluminium foil (or baking paper) on your benchtop when you peel vegetables or cut the raw fish. This will safeguard the benchtop from possible stains.  Once the peeling task is over you can put the aluminium foil or the paper into the garbage. You can save time cleaning the becnhtop after use. 

Avoid bad smells while cooking 

Are you getting trouble with bad cooking smells while preparing cauliflower or cabbage?

Putting out a saucer of cotton wool soaked up in vinegar will absorb the bad odour in the kitchen. 

Keep coffee accessories next to the machine 

How do you make coffee in the morning?

After getting up in the morning, walking to the pantry to get the coffee, then taking out the grinder from a lower cabinet to grind the beans, then walking across the kitchen to add the ingredients in the coffeemaker? Don’t you think this disturbs you in the morning and is also more time consuming?

What you can do is to keep your coffee beans, the grinder, sugar, spoon and mugs in one cabinet right above the coffeemaker, or somewhere close to it.  Try it and you will feel the advantage! This can be applied to your breakfast paraphernalia and other drinks makers too.

Keeping your microwave clean and sparkling

Steam can do wonders to loosen the oil, starch and other food debris stuck on the internal walls of your microwave. Make a ball out of a damp cloth and put it in the microwave, then heat it till it emits steam. Once the steam has fully spread inside the microwave, wait for one minute and open the door. Now wipe all the stubborn stains and food particles easily.

Fridge maintenance tip

Check your fridge daily or at least on a weekly basis to ensure that it is clean. Keep food away from the back wall of the fridge. This is to avoid food particles getting absorbed by the ice dews at the back of the fridge. This contaminated ice forms mouldy water when melts and becomes unclean and smelly.

How to make your sink smell better

Clean the sink with a mixture of ice and lemons or vinegar and baking soda to avoid stinking of the sink. While cleaning the sink, ensure to scrub the underside of the rubber gasket thoroughly with a scrub brush to remove mouldy, smelly food particles left over there.

Cleaning tips for silverware

Take a large container, line it with aluminium foil and put some cooking salt inside. Fill the container with water and dip all your silverware in the water. The aluminium foil and salt will react chemically to remove all persistent dirt on the silverware giving it extra shine and sheen.

Remember, there are some people who know all these tips and more: your trusted home cleaning service in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Christchurch and Wellington.

Tips to Keep Your Home Clean and Healthy

How to avoid bathroom slips and falls 

It seems all are aware of the risk of falls in the bathroom, but time and again accidents happen, causing serious injuries. Medical reports say that 28 to 35 percent people over 65 fall each year, mainly in the bathroom. And as the age increases, the rate of falls also increases with around 40% people affected in the 70 years or older category. Interestingly, the rates of falls among women exceed those of men for all age groups.

Fall prevention:

• Liquids on the floor can cause slips - mop up spills or splashes as and when they occur.
• Bathroom floors become slippery when they’re not properly cleaned. Find time to do a thorough cleaning to remove all traces of oil, soap and grease from the floor and wall tiles.
• Place slip resistant bath mat on the floor, and in the bath/shower.
• Never use smooth vinyl floor coverings; go for non-slip material.
• Use honed marble flooring instead of polished one.
• Avoid alcohol misuse and wearing of inappropriate shoes.
• Additional safety measures like grab rails and non-slip surface coating may be used. 

How to handle dampness in your home 

A damp home is an unhealthy home, there’s no doubt in that! But there is more than that - you need to spend more money as the damp air takes more energy to get heated up in the winter. Also note that moisture and dirt are the main factors which cause premature deterioration of fixtures and fittings inside the house.  

Blocked drainage and gutters, cracked or leaky downpipe, and other plumbing issues can lead to water seepage and dampness in your house. If moisture is not controlled, it’ll cause mould growth on the walls and ceiling.

Mould can cause health issues too such as asthma, lung infection, inflammation and allergy etc.

Use exhaust fans while showering, bathing, drying clothes, and cooking so that water vapours will not get accumulated indoors. If possible dry the clothes outside because drying clothes indoors creates about six litres of moisture per load.

If dampness still persists, try using a dehumidifier at places where there is more moisture and less airflow. 

Stop borer and other pests eating your home  

• Borers can weaken the timber and affect the wooden structures of your home.
• Watch out for small flight holes on wooden surfaces and presence of fine saw dust. These signs indicate that there are mice/rats and other woodworms grinding away your doors, furniture or other timber structures.
• Proper wood treatment is to be applied for preventing borer attack. All untreated wooden surfaces are vulnerable to pest infesting. Application of long-term penetrating treatment with insecticide or preservative can control the borers. Make sure that the product used for pest control treatment is environment-friendly, long lasting, and not harmful to humans.
• If you’re worried about getting an affordable and reliable pest control service in New Zealand, Select Home Cleaning Company can arrange to have it done by experts known to us in your locality.
• The basic thing to remember is to keep your home well maintained and perfectly cleaned to avoid infestation of rodents, termites, beetles etc. Clean up the places they like to nest such as bundles of old newspapers, unclean cupboards, unattended spare rooms, basement etc. 

Select Home cleaners do perfect house cleaning (from vacuuming and wiping to all other cleaning activities) - everything from bedrooms to bathrooms and the kitchen, they beautify your home with affordable hourly rate. 

Contact Select Clean now for a free quote:

Website: click here. 

Free call: 0800 000 907.

General Housekeeping Tips and Health Care Advice

The pollution, low indoor air quality (mould, formaldehyde, and radon can make indoor air unhealthy), germ colonies in the kitchen and bath area etc. can adversely affect your health and comfort, causing serious hygiene-related diseases. Let’s consider some general cleaning tips and tricks to avoid such unwanted health issues.

Home Cleaning Tips

Homemade all purpose cleaner: Take a half cup each of water and apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle, add 22 drops of any good quality essential oil and keep the bottle in a cool, dark place. Shake well before using this all purpose cleaner.

Here’s a working idea to remove ink stains: Apply some toothpaste on the ink stains and wait for sometime till it dries up fully. Now you can wash the cloth as usual and see that the stains are gone.

How to whiten your clothes:  Take some hot water in a metal bucket and put a slice of lemon. Now soak the white cloths in the hot water for around 10 to 15 minutes. You’ll get a brighter cloth whitened well.

Mirror cleaning: Pour few drops of Sprite into a cotton cloth and clean the mirrors to get them shine.

Tricks: Open the water tap and pour water into a dustpan and direct it to fill buckets or pots that don’t fit under the sink.

  

Health and Cookery Related Tips

Kitchen and cookery tips:

Put the lemons in a container with hot water for up to one hour, and then juice them. This way you can extract maximum juice from the lemons.

In order to easily skin the potatoes, first boil them and then soak in cold water for five minutes.

If you can put a piece of bread along with the cabbage while cooking, there won’t be any pinching smell of cabbage.

Do you face the tears problem while cutting onion? Just chew some delicious chewing gum and there won’t be any tears!

Get good shine to your hair by applying one teaspoon of vinegar to hair ten minutes before bathing.

Dip a cotton ball into some Listerine and dab it on pimples to shrink them within minutes. The alcohol will dry up the pimples and cause them to fade.

Boiling the drinking water first before placing in the freezer gives you pure and fresh water.

You’ll love this splinter removal method, especially for kids:

Remove a splinter by applying a paste of baking soda and water mixture at the affected spot. Wait for a few minutes and you’ll see that the soda mixture forces the splinter to pop out of the skin.

Health tips

No more migraine headache:

Dip your feet and hands in warm water while placing a frozen bag of peas at the base of your skull. The heat difference will pull the blood from your head and relieve the headache.

Sore feet?

Fill a plastic water bottle with 3/4^th water and freeze it, then use it after a workout or a marathon run to roll the bottoms of your feet to reduce inflammation.

Easy way to clear a blocked nose:

Push your tongue against the top of the mouth and apply pressure in between the eyebrows using a finger. Do it for about 25 seconds, and the sinuses will slowly drain out. 

 

Sore throat?

Eat four marshmallows and you will get relief from sore throat. The gelatin ingredient in marshmallows helps in soothing the throat and relieving the pain.

Stop night time coughing

Coughing at night can be disturbing for self and others in the family. Try these simple remedies:

• Use a comfy pillow to keep your head elevated.
• It’s advisable to keep comfortable distance from fans, air conditioners or heaters because direct cold or hot air can make your nasal airways dry, leading to coughing.
• Mix organic honey with warm water and have it before going to bed. Honey soothes your throat and stops dryness and irritation.
• Another method to stop coughing at night is by gargling warm salt water before bedtime. Salt water is very soothing and it also removes excessive mucus.
• Ginger and turmeric are also very effective for dry cough. 

These home maintenance and health related tips are brought to you by the research wing of Select Home Cleaning Company in New Zealand and Australia. We know what the pollution and air quality in your home can do to the health of your family members. Contact the friendly admin staff of SelectClean on 0800 000 907 for booking a home cleaner today.

Easy Home Cleaning Tips to Manage Extra Load during the Holiday Season

With family and friends visiting during the holiday season causing more foot traffic in your home, you have to be vigilant to maintain cleanliness and put the house in order.

DIY Home Cleaning Tips

Floors: Never use sponge mops on ceramic-tiled floors, instead they can be easily cleaned with warm water after vacuuming or washing the floor to remove dust and grit.

Cabinet doors: Your kitchen cabinet doors and handle knobs also require thorough cleaning. They shouldn’t be safe place for the germs.

Oven: Give your oven a quick spray of oven cleaner and let it stay there overnight. Give it a quick wipe down the next day to get the baked on stuff come off easily.

Refrigerator: Use baking soda and water solution (2 tablespoons of baking soda and a quart of warm water) to clean inside of your fridge. Avoid using detergents to clean the refrigerator as the food items may absorb them.

Bath tub cleaner: Mix equal quantities of vinegar and warm water and fill it in a spray bottle. Now spray this solution liberally over the baking soda you sprinkled on the tub. Wait for sometime as the mixture bubbles fully. Now scrub the area with a sponge till the mixture forms a paste over the bath tub surface. Wait for another 15 minutes and then wipe and rinse to see that the dirt and stains are thoroughly cleaned to your satisfaction level.

Scrubbers: The sponges or scrubbers you use to wash hard-to-clean pots and pans can harbour large colonies of harmful germs. Some people even discard them before the expiry date, but you can easily sanitise them by heating for two minutes in the microwave.  

Mirror and ceiling fans: Clean your mirrors using some vinegar and old newspaper; save the bucks for buying glass cleaners and paper towels.  Take an old pillow cover and slide it onto the blade of a ceiling fan, and then wipe the dust off the blade inside the cover. So, the dust won’t fall in your face.

Labels on dishes: Use a cotton pad soaked with rubbing alcohol to remove sticker price tags off dishes and other glassware.

Clean your iron: Sprinkle some common salt powder onto the ironing board. Switch on the iron with steam option off. The dirt on the hot iron will stick to the salt and thus your iron will become perfectly clean. Another option is to put some cream cleanser on a thick wet towel and to run the hot iron over it so that the cream absorbs all the dirt.

Select Cleaning Advantage

Busy professional couples, the elderly, and larger households where cleaning is a tedious task, can enjoy free time by calling us to help with their housework. Many people want that their homes should be always clean and tidy, but they don’t have the time to maintain perfect hygiene on their own. This is where a domestic cleaner can step in. How comforting it would be to come to an absolutely spotless home after work on a Friday! You can spend the weekend relaxing and planning your favourite things.  

To make sure that our clients get the best service always, we have employees who maintain the role of overseeing workers and handling feedback from customers.

If you have pets, it’s good to introduce them to the cleaner so there won’t be any safety issues.

Our eco-friendly house cleaning products are very safe for your kids and pets, and we guarantee a spotless house every time we clean. You’ll see that the kitchen and bathroom or whatever cleaning you ordered will be cleaned thoroughly, and you’ll have a fresh-smelling home.

Scheduling a home cleaning service and paying online is so easy with Select Cleaning Company. Regular customers also get attractive discounts on home cleaning.

Home Cleaning: Tips, Precautions and Facts

After calling a home cleaning service in New Zealand, there are some necessary things you should do to make things favourable for you. On the day when the home cleaner is scheduled to come, clear away all clutter in your home, so that the cleaner will concentrate more on the actual cleaning job. It’s also good to give clear instructions to the cleaner if you want particular attention to be given to special areas of your choice.

Make some internet searching before hiring a home cleaning service to know if they are licensed and insured and whether there are any adverse online reviews about their house cleaning practice. If they have given contact references, you may also call them practically to know the authenticity of a cleaning service. Also ask them if their cleaning personnel are subjected to background checks and police verification.

Get Motivated to Clean Regularly with These Home Cleaning Tips

Declutter

First of all decluttering! Take three laundry baskets and walk across the master bedroom putting foreign objects (which don’t belong in the bedroom) into one of the baskets, donation items in the second basket and all garbage in the third.  All dirty laundry should go to the washing machine straightway. 

Now you’re ready for actual cleaning!

Dusting Made Simple

Easy and fast way to dusting is making sure that you start the task from the top to bottom and work your way from one side of the room to the other – never make the mistake of doing it haphazardly that’ll cause the dust falling on areas that you have already cleaned, and thus prolonging your cleaning time. 

Use a damp microfiber cloth for dusting the furniture, lamps, vents, above the door frames, light plates, etc. so that the dust won’t spread in the air. This is also applicable whenever you are cleaning a particularly dusty area- it’s recommended to mist the area with water before you start dusting out.

Master Bedroom Cleaning Checklist

Master bedroom often gets neglected as we tend to concentrate more on places more likely to be seen by a guest! What everybody actually needs is reality-based home cleaning and organizing methods to follow so that you can always maintain a certain degree of hygienic standards in your home.

Find below a few cleaning checklist for your master bedroom:

• Wipe down walls and ceilings and vacuum up any cobwebs. Wipe down the light fixtures, switch plates and ceiling fan.
• Clean the windows, window sills and window tracks – Spray a little bit of tea-tree oil on to the window sill area and let it sit for a few minutes before wiping down.
• Dust and clean all furniture (tops, sides and bottom), picture frames, lamps and knick knacks. Keep baseboards cleaner with the help of a fabric softener sheet.
• Wipe down the window blinds – clean your blinds thoroughly on both sides using a microfiber cloth and a mixture of one part vinegar and one part water.
• Once you finished dusting all the surfaces, including furniture, decorations, fixtures, etc., that dust will naturally settle down on the floors. Now clean that dust from the floors too. While vacuuming the floor, reach under beds, couches, dressers and into the corners as far as you can.
• Clean all bed linens, pillows & pillowcases, and comforter regularly. Fluff pillows daily to remove dust and dead skin cells. Also, ensure to air out the pillows often to freshen them up.
• Clean and rotate the mattress – for mattress rotation guidelines, read our previous blog posts.
• Declutter and organise your master closet – learn the art of getting rid of unwanted clothes and other stuff in your closet - try purging, sorting, donating, etc. so that your closet will look much organised. 

Know Your Home Cleaning Service

With Select Cleaning franchisees taking care of your home cleaning, we guarantee you complete peace of mind. Check out our website for the thanking messages from satisfied customers– you can see that our customers think we are the most affordable, quality home cleaning service in New Zealand.

So, whether you need a regular clean, a spring clean or specialised cleaning, get your free quote now by calling us on 1800 153 483. Or simply submit the form on our Website to receive a no-obligation free quote.

How to Ensure That You Are Not Using Cleaning Products with Harmful Chemicals?

Almost all medical journals say New Zealand has high asthma rates, with one in six adults and one in four children affected with asthma and allergic diseases. Some physicians indicate that low quality cleaning materials often contribute to the deterioration of indoor air quality, causing asthma and allergy symptoms.  

Surveys have shown that New Zealanders spend up to 90% of their time indoors. Even if you are working, you spend around 8 to 9 hours per day in the workplace. This highlights the importance of keeping the indoor air free from harmful chemicals, dust and pollen etc. When we’re spending so much time inside, have you ever considered that your workplace and the chemicals used to clean it could actually be affecting your health? Yes, it is; and that’s why the asthma cases shoot up.

About one-third of commercial cleaning materials consist of one or other substances that can badly affect people and the environment, the US Responsible Purchasing Network’s cleaning guide reported. This puts housewives as well as office workers vulnerable to health hazards. When people use these chemicals indiscriminately to clean their home, their presence in the air spreads to every nook and corner in the house and everybody breathes them in.  These harmful substances also get inside our body by absorption through the skin or through ingestion of household dust and chemical residues.

To support the harmful effects of harsh chemical cleaners, Spanish researchers also recently came up with evidence of everyday cleaning products causing asthma or other health problems. The Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona ascertained that cleaning sprays could be contributing to an increase in asthma cases in the workplace.

It’s thus very important to check what you or your home cleaning company are cleaning with. Here comes the need for looking into the credentials of the home cleaning services you depend on.Once you’re sure about the quality assurance of a home cleaner, you can also seek their advice on what everyday cleaning product you should use for your daily cleaning.

Quick Tips for 15-Minute Cleanups

• First jot down a priority cleaning checklist.
• If you got a message that guests are arriving within 15 minutes, think what you’ll be doing and follow it in an orderly manner. Your guests are sure to see places such as the kitchen, one bathroom, a gathering space like living room, and most probably the dining room.
• Collect cleaning materials and equipment together at one place. If the cleaning materials are spread all over the places like the garage, underneath kitchen sink, bath area etc., then you’ll be wasting more time searching for them. So put everything in a basket and keep ready for easy use.
• Then start from one corner dusting, putting away clutter, or easy vacuuming. Floors in common spaces and one bathroom should be given extra attention while doing the quick cleaning.
• Prefer dry dust cloths to average rags for effective dusting of surfaces. If you’re in a hurry, only dust those areas that may be clearly visible to anyone.
• If you can get help from children or your partner, guide them properly so that collectively you can achieve better result.
• Clean the kitchen counter and bathroom surfaces with disinfectant wipes. Similarly paper towels come handy in drying wet surfaces. Also use them to buff surfaces so they get a nice shine and sheen.
• Use nature-friendly air fresheners to impart a pleasant feeling to your guests as they stay with you for a while.

It’s thus obvious that getting into a cleaning routine is very important to have peace of mind. Putting aside at least 15 to 20 minutes to do some quick cleaning can make a huge difference in maintaining cleanliness and hygiene for a healthy life. For queries regarding home cleaning task, call the most dependable and award winning cleaning service in New Zealand on 0800 000 907.

How to Ensure That You Always Have a Clean Home

A clean home that looks amazing helps reduce stress. Also, a well organised and neat environment increases your productivity. Rely on a house cleaning company which can produce stunning result with a minimum of disruption, and a high degree of care and skilfulness.

The home cleaner will be doing weekly or fortnightly cleaning, but here are some habits you should inculcate to keep your house well organised, tidy and inviting:

1. Arrange Your Clothes in an Orderly Way

All your clothes should have an assigned place, and ensure that they go there at the end of the day! So, you need not to search throughout the house, one room after another for a particular matching pair of socks or jeans and shirt.

2. Use Dishwasher Smartly

Make a habit of unloading the dishwasher before breakfast so that you can put the dirty dishes straightway into the dishwasher. This is to avoid piles of dirty dishes in the sink or on the countertop. Your dishwasher will be full by the time dinner is over, and then turn it on before bed.

3. Get Rid of Unwanted Stuff

Don’t keep on accumulating old clothes, decoration lights etc. in your home. Just have a check when you have free time and threw out extra items you no longer require. Also give away old but useful items to charity or organise a garage auction.

If you want to feel the freshness of a clean, orderly home, say no to clutter!

4. Make Your Bed Everyday

Making your bed in the morning gives you the satisfaction of a small job perfectly completed - make up your bed, put away clothes, fluff up pillows, and declutter up the bedroom. This can create a positive spirit and confidence which will continue to make you feel good for the whole day.

This way you also set a good example for other family members and they’ll also follow suit.

5. Keep Your Papers, Bills and Receipts Organized

If you find it difficult to manage stacks of bills and mails piling up all over your home then you need to do something urgently! Don’t’ keep papers hanging around the house- file them intact!

Follow a daily routine for organizing paperwork- file the bills after making the payments. When bills come in, put them in one place and after you’ve paid the bills, file immediately.  If you want to refer menus, coupons and the likes, secure them at a separate place where you can easily access them.

6. Use a Vacuum

If children and pets are in the home, you should dedicate sometime for daily vacuum cleaning- vacuum the high-traffic and pet area. Pets leave hair, dander, dirt and allergens all over the place and it can cause diseases.

7. Wipe down Surfaces in Your Kitchen

It’s essential to wipe down countertops, sink, the front of cupboards, and stove top after every use.  It takes only a few seconds to do a quick wipe of the area you just used to make it tidy and germ free.

8. Give Special Attention to Bathrooms & Toilets

Wash and sanitise sinks, countertops, showers, tubs and toilets and ensure they are sparkling clean. Spray a general purpose cleaner into the tub area and let it stay there (for dissolving oil and soap scum) while you start cleaning the rest of the bathroom. Use tile brushes for tile grout cleaning and a used toothbrush for removing build-up deposits around tub fixtures and faucet.

For many people, toilet cleaning remains the most hated house cleaning chore. Either you’ll have to assign the job to a professional home cleaner or learn some tips to manage it. Either way, it’s mandatory to keep the toilet clean and hygienic.

9. Put Your Shoes and Coats Away

It’s nice to remove shoes at the door and put them away neatly in a wardrobe or closet. This way you can prevent dirt and germs entering your house.  

Adopting a regular, healthy home cleaning habit will keep your home neat and clean and will minimise the psychological stress associated with messy homes. 

If you find the above home cleaning tasks quite tedious, email Select Cleaning Company  or call them on 0800 000 907 and they’ll discuss your cleaning requirements. Currently they service Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Tauranga and Hamilton.

Select Home Cleaning Company’s background checked and insured cleaning professionals also undergo in-person assessments after getting feedback from clients. Home cleaners with good ratings from the customers only will be retained on their platform. This pays high dividends as Select Cleaning continues to receive reviews and comments from happy customers across New Zealand and Australia.

DIY Home Cleaning Tips and When to Call the Pros

It’s better to do cleaning and housekeeping works daily rather than saving everything for one big cleaning task. Get into a daily house cleaning routine: making the bed, doing the dishes after every meal or at least at the end of the day, and sweeping the kitchen floor. This will ensure that your house looks fresh and cleaner every day! 

Make Your Own Window Cleaner

You need not to use fancy window and mirror cleaning sprays- they are not only costly, but also inefficient for cleaning stubborn stains. Take one and a half cup of water, and one and half teaspoon each of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol in a mug. Put three drops of peppermint essential oil into the mixture and fill it in a spray bottle. Your homemade cleaner is ready – now spray it on windows and wipe with a lint-free cloth such as a microfiber cloth.

To permanently remove the menace of water spots from glass shower door, rub it with lemon oil twice or thrice a month. The presence of lemon oil will cause the water to bead up and roll off, thereby keeping glass doors clear and shining.

Tea-Stain Your Fabric and Get Antique Creamy Look

You need not to throw badly stained kitchen towels. You can tea-dye them to get a new creamy brown colour and nice look. Take a metal bucket with boiled water and put five black tea bags in it for 10 minutes. Now take out the tea bags and put the stained linen in the tea mixture and stir gently.  Let it soak for 10 minutes or until you get the desired shade.

Now remove the fabric from the tea mixture and rinse well with warm water and dish soap. The approximate volume of water and the cloth size: 4 cups of water and 4 single cup tea bags will dye roughly 1 yard of fabric.

Wooden Furniture and Kitchen Cabinets

Use natural oils like lemon oil (Old English or Milsek) to revitalize the wood and continue to nourish and protect the wooden furniture and kitchen cabinets. The lemon oil will also help to remove wax build up along with water marks on the wood. Use a plain cloth to rub the oil into the wood and let it dry for 10 minutes or so.

Use flour-sack tea towels made of pure cotton in your kitchen for general cleaning. They are better than paper towels to dry glasses lint-free and to wipe down the stove.

Kitchen Sink

Sprinkle baking soda on the stains or on a damp rag and gently scrub to remove stains in sinks or to buff scuffs off floors. Another method is: make a paste of 1 cup borax and 1/4 cup lemon; apply it on a damp sponge to clean floor tiles and porcelain sinks.

You may not believe, but it's a fact that your dirty kitchen sink sometimes accommodates more bacteria than your toilet seat. That’s why we emphasise to call a quality house cleaner to thoroughly clean your kitchen and bathroom every weekly or fortnightly.

To disinfect the kitchen sink, first clean it with soap and water. Next, spray a mist of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide one after the other. Allow the sink to air-dry. Apply a few drops of mineral oil on a soft cloth and buff the stainless steel sink to avoid water build-up and mould growth. This will also make the sink looking clean and sparkling.

Calendar and Checklist for Yearly Special Cleaning

Ensure that you do the following cleaning tasks at least once a year: wash the windows inside and out; flip and vacuum your mattresses; deep-clean toilets, tub/shower, carpets, and the floors; change the furnace filter- it is better if you can do it twice a year.

These sophisticated cleaning tasks require expertise and hard work. It’s always good to get professional home cleaners to do the tough house cleaning chores. They will be doing it perfectly and so you need not to worry about hygiene and quality housekeeping. Also check with well known house cleaning companies for available cleaning packages that could save you some bucks too.

For your information, Select Home Cleaning provides dependable and affordable domestic house cleaning service that will leave your home looking great every time. This award winning home cleaner services Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington & Christchurch. Call them on 0800 000 907 for a free quote. 

Easy Cleaning Tips and Tricks That’ll Remove Many of Your Household Headaches

Did you know that most people collect tips and hints to save time and money and make everyday home cleaning and maintenance tasks fast and easy?

Here is one such useful tip to jot down in your kitchen notebook. As we are now in the middle of winter, it’s good to know how we can keep our windows and glass doors from frosting. Take one quart warm water and mix it with half a cup of rubbing alcohol. Apply this solution on the glass surface and clean with a soft cotton cloth to view beautiful scenes of nature outside. No more foggy windows and glass door during winter!

The following collection of tips and tricks will help you greatly in day to day home maintenance: 

1. Pencil erasers can be used to remove sticky price tags, and clean buttons and keys on your mobile, laptop and remote control. 

2. Mix one tablespoon each of baking powder and salt and then add one tablespoon of water into the paste. Your stove top cleaning product is ready. Now take a clean cloth and use a little bit of the mixture to smartly clean the stove. This newly made chemical compound can also be used to clean your outdoor grill.

3. Use ice cube to remove stubborn carpet dents left by heavy furniture. Use a picking tool to drop an ice cube on the carpet where it is dented. Wait for the ice cube to melt fully and then use a toothbrush to fluff the area and the carpet fibres will expand and regain the original position.

4. Same ice treatment can be used to remove chewing gum from your carpets. Put few ice cubes in a small plastic bag and place it on top of the stuck gum. Wait for 15 minutes and you can see that the gum has hardened. Now you can easily peel the gum off without breaking.

5. Wood ash is a desiccant, so it can be used to remove oil or grease stains from stone and cement surfaces in your garage or elsewhere. Just rub the wood ashes into the stained area with a cloth and then apply water to clean up the stain.

6. Deep toilet stains can be easily removed with a pumice stone if you have to urgently clean the toilet due to the arrival of a guest within short notice. Normally such cleaning task is to be given to professional home cleaners to do it hygienically.

7. Are there water spots on your wooden table or other wood surfaces? Don’t worry- it can be easily removed with the help of your hair dryer. Use the blow dryer at medium heat and focus it on the water stain keeping the dryer about two inches away. Normally the stain mark will disappear immediately, but if it persists, use a napkin to wipe out the stain while applying heat. Afterwards use two drops of olive oil to moisturise the wood.

8. Did you know that cooking spray is a soap scum buster? Spray some non-stick cooking spray into the soap scum and hard water spots on your glass shower door and tiles. Wait for 5 minutes and then wash the area with mild soapy water to see that all blemishes have gone! 

9. Mix dry tea leaves into the litter box to prevent it smelling badly. The tea leaves also have anti-bacterial quality which is an added advantage for hygienic purpose.

10. Stain marks on the walls can be easily removed using semi-stale white bread. The gluten in the bread helps to remove the stain. Remove the crusts from two bread loaves and make it a ball of bread and rub it on the stained area after cleaning the spot with a cloth. Bread is highly absorbent and gradually the stain marks disappear.  

11. Artificial Sweeteners can be used to remove stains like red wine, coffee and tea from a tablecloth. Put the sweetener over the stain and keep it overnight. Next day brush off the remaining sweetener and rinse the cloth in cold water.

Importance of Professional Home Cleaning

One significant point to mention that there is no shortcut to keeping your home hygienic. You’ll have to spend considerable time washing and disinfecting your home. Here comes the role of home cleaning companies. A clean and orderly house itself will help reduce lot of stress.

Save your weekends and relax while an affordable and trustworthy cleaning professional comes and do all the home cleaning tasks with minimum disruption. Do call Select Home Cleaning Company right now on 0800 000 907 to experience that pleasant feeling.