Useful Housekeeping Tips for Busy Moms and Dads

Keep your bathroom & toilet germ free

Following some clever and easy cleaning techniques can restrict the spread of germs and avoid mould and mildew growing in the bathroom area.

Always close the toilet lid before flushing in order to prevent germs spreading onto other surfaces. It’s highly likely that your toothbrush and other personal items may get contaminated when germs are likely to splash onto them if toilet is flushed with open lid.    

While cleaning the toilet, also give particular attention to the toilet handle, toilet seat, taps, and door handles, which have large colonies of harmful bacteria and can easily spread the germs as these surfaces are frequently touched. If you have kept your showerheads out of use for some time and want to use it now, remember there can be large accumulation of germs there. Flush all the germs out by running the shower on full power with hot water.

Prevention of the growth of mould and mildew: bathroom surfaces are to be kept dry and the room well-ventilated. Any water leaks are to be immediately attended to.

Not carpets, but hard flooring like wood or stone is advised for bathrooms because of easiness to clean. Carpets also have a tendency to collect debris and encourage mould growth when wet.

Use of eucalyptus oil in home cleaning

Eucalyptus oil is an ideal natural freshener and also a cleaning agent (due to disinfectant and antiseptic properties) for your kitchen, bathroom and toilet. It can also be used for cleaning hard surface floors. The Eucalyptus oil helps to easily remove grease and stains from bathroom and toilet. As such it’s environment friendly too.

The oil can also be effectively used for mildewed wardrobes, stinking shoes, and smoky rooms (for clearing stale smoke fumes).

How to manage home cleaning with kids

It’s advisable to give a weekly cleaning chart to kids and thus their cleaning chores can be scheduled. It will make them more responsible kids and help to develop self confidence and habit of cleanliness in their young minds. For this you’ll have to decide which jobs children can do, and allot one or two jobs to each kid. Before proceeding you need to teach them how to do it for the first time.

Always praise the kids for their little contribution in helping you to clean the home. This will encourage them and slowly they’ll start doing the chores perfectly.

Necessity of hiring a home cleaning service

Everyone knows it’s very difficult to find some free time in today’s busy world. The time constraint of everyday life mostly affects home cleaning and maintenance. Hiring a house cleaning service is the best option to maintain cleanliness and home organisation.

A professional home cleaner is trained to do his/her job and uses the best equipment and products so the quality of work will always be better than what a homeowner does. Once you pick up a habit of hiring a home cleaner, there is no need to worry about hygiene and health issues. However if you don’t call cleaners, there are chances that your bathrooms may be left dirty and microwave soiled and germ affected for several days. 

Hiring a home cleaner means you’ll have sufficient free time to look after your kids and enjoy the life, unwinding the pressures of office job.

The first thing you want to do after coming home may be to kick back and relax, but the reality is that you’ll have to address a messy house. Attending to dirty dishes in the sink and smelly laundry everywhere will drain all your energy.

Get the peace of mind and relaxation you truly deserve in life by appointing a home cleaner in New Zealand to do general or schedule cleaning and other specialised tasks such as bathroom cleaning, oven cleaning, refrigerator cleaning etc.

Brilliant Cleaning and Maintenance Tips for Every Homeowner

Clogged and smelly kitchen sinks?

Sprinkle a cup of baking soda down the sink plug hole at night.  In the morning, heat a cup of white vinegar in the microwave and pour it down on top of the baking soda. The chemical reaction will loosen up any grimy sludge settled at the bottom of the drain and jolt it all loose. Finally, flush the drain with boiling water which will ensure unclogging perfectly.

The added advantage here is that the hot vinegar will deodorise the microwave also in addition to your sink.

Check your dishwasher, isn't it dirty?

Add one-quarter cup white vinegar into the bottom of the dishwasher and run a full wash cycle. Now you’ll see that all stains and dirt have gone. 

Did you know that dishwashers can also be used to clean stove vents, plastic cutting boards etc.? Place these special items carefully in the dishwasher and run a full cycle along with other dishes to get amazing result. It will remove stubborn stains and scum from the cutting board to make it as good as new.

Blocked shower heads?

This method allows you to clean the shower head without removing it from the pipe attachment. Pour a mixture of 1/3 cup baking soda and one-cup white vinegar in a plastic bag big enough to cover the shower head. Now tie the bag to the shower pipe with a tape, rubber band, or plastic thread etc. Ensure that the shower head is fully dipped in vinegar and no liquid is leaking. Let it remain like that overnight. Next day, remove the plastic bag carefully without spilling the liquid. You’ll be happy to see that all blocked holes are clear now.

Tired of trying to clean lime scale off the toilet bowl?

We know that one of the most dreaded household tasks is cleaning the toilet. But wait! Try using coke. 

Pour a cup or two of coke into the toilet bowl, and also around the rim of the bowl. Leave it to soak overnight and the acids will slowly loosen the built-up stains. In the morning, flush and lightly brush and see the difference. The dreaded job has turned out to be a simple one.

You may also use a pumice stone to clean and remove toilet bowl rings. It’s easy to use and won’t make any scratches provided the stone and the bowl are wet.  It works perfectly and gives good result.

Dirty Pans and pots

No more worries about burnt pans. Pour half a cup of vinegar to your pan and boil it to loosen the sticky burnt stuff. Now it’ll be easy to remove the stains completely by rubbing with baking soda with the help of a sponge. After removing all residues, just scour the pan normally.

Cut a piece of raw potato. Take some salt powder and sprinkle it in the pan/pot. Now take the potato piece and strongly rub the pot with salt. Then wash away the salt powder and dirt, and dry it with paper towels. Add some oil at the bottom of the pan and spread it to make a thin film of oil in the pot. Heat the pot in low temperature for half an hour to let the oil soak into the pan.

Stained Coffee mugs and discoloured old dishes

Immaterial of how thoroughly you clean, there will always be some traces of coffee and tea stains in your mugs. Remove those stubborn stains by scrubbing them with a lemon peel dipped in salt.

Clean those discoloured old dishes you kept aside in your kitchen cupboards, using a mixture of baking soda and water. You’ll be stunned to see the dishes sparkling again.  

Avail professional help from Select Cleaning

These handy home cleaning and maintenance tips are published for the benefit of our esteemed customers. Learn these simple tips to make your house cleaning easier and efficient. Call Select Clean whenever you feel the need for professional home cleaning.

Easy Toilet Cleaning and Mould Removal Tips for Every Homeowner

There are lots of different methods to clean your toilet. Adopt the one that suits your interests and style.

Vinegar Toilet Cleaner

Take a quarter cup of white vinegar and pour it into the toilet bowl. Ensure that you are wearing gloves while doing it. Allow the vinegar to soften the stains for around 20 minutes. Then clean the toilet with a toilet brush and flush.

If you want total disinfection, then use chlorine bleach instead of vinegar. Another option is to use ¼ cup of Borax to clean the toilet. After scrubbing around the borax in the bowl, let it sit for at least half an hour before flushing.

Hard water scale on the toilet bowl can be removed using Oxalic acid. Sprinkle Oxalic acid powder or flakes into the toilet bowl. It’ll create a foam and interact with water scales and the dirt and stains around the spot. The chemistry here is that the alkaline hard water scales interact with the acid and get absorbed.  

Another Interesting Way to Clean the Toilet

You may be hearing it first time, but it’s a fact that Coca-Cola Coke can be used to clean your toilet. The mild phosphoric acid ingredient in the drink is very effective to remove hard water stains and other dirt. Pour the Coca-Cola in to the toilet bowl and let it rest there for an hour or so and then scrub with a toilet brush and flush to get a clean toilet!

Caution

Be cautious when you mix things that contain chemicals. There can be a problem with poisonous fumes! So, if you're going to mix things together for making a cleaner, ensure that it is safe. Uric acid consists of ammonia, and bleach has chlorine. When we mix them, it becomes ammonium chloride and it is toxic! So avoid pouring bleach into an unflushed toilet. We should always flush the toilet before using any of the above said tips. It’s also applicable for commercial cleaners!   

Cleaning and Decorating the Walls

The dirty walls can be cleaned with a mixture of lavender oil and water. Add five teaspoons of lavender oil into about five litres of water. Mix well and take the liquid as needed in a spray bottle and start lightly misting over the wall. Now scrub the dirt away using a pair of pantyhose.

 The walls can be decorated with the help of colourful fabric on canvases. As you know canvases are cheap, so it is an affordable method. Just cover the canvas with foam padding, and layer the fabric over the canvas and staple it down. You can get fabric off-cuts from most fabric stores; also try second-hand stores where it’ll be cheaper.

No More Worries About Slugs and Snails

Here’s a way to kill them, without creating a fuss:

Snails can be trapped by pouring beer into halved, hollowed out oranges and placing it where the snails appear. They love beer and get into the beer pool kept in the orange and eventually drown.For getting domestic bliss, and a clean, tidy and elegant house, you need to have the time, knowledge, and family support or the organisational skills. If you lack the above, then a reputed home cleaning service in New Zealand only can help you to have peace of mind.

Mould Removal

Moisture is the main cause of mould development in your house. A leaky roof, broken pipes, blocked drain, and water from a flood, all can cause excess moisture. Air drying of clothes indoors and using appliances such as stoves, washing machines and dishwashers with no exhaust systems and poor temperature control (causing condensation) are other causes of moisture generation.

Regular vacuuming and dusting can reduce mould formation because organic matter such as dust or dead skin cells promotes mould growth.

If you can reduce moisture in the house, especially in the kitchen and bathroom areas, you can prevent almost 90% chances of mould occurrence. This way you can avoid the use of expensive mould removal products.

First step is to vacuum up the mould if you have a vacuum cleaner equipped with appropriate filters.  Make sure not to spread the mould spores into other areas.

Second step is to apply diluted vinegar (80% vinegar and 20% water) at the affected surfaces. Clean the area using a microfiber cloth dipped in the liquid.  Cleaning with vinegar may sometimes leave streaks on surfaces – you can remove this discolouration by cleaning the area with bleach.

The Role of Professional Home Cleaners

However, if the mould attack is severe, and you noticed it late, it’s better to call house cleaning experts for professionally removing the mould. Otherwise serious health issues can arise such as hypersensitivity or allergic reactions, and asthma and flu-like symptoms.

Same thing is applicable for bathroom and toilet cleaning also. If you don't have the time and patience to do effective toilet cleaning, it's better to hire a home cleaning service in New Zealand for hygienic reasons.