Organize your Chores

When I stumbled on this website I was so happy! Finally an unbiased solution to delegating chores! Introducing ChoreBuster.com a website that will help you create a chore schedule for every member of your family. ChoreBuster.com will even email you a new chore schedule every week or month!

Enter in people and chores
Specify how hard / undesirable each chore is, and how often it should be done
ChoreBuster automatically generates a fair schedule of chores
Schedule emailed to you daily or weekly - no need to log in

Create a Cleaning Routine

One of the best things about creating a routine is that after you have done it enough times it becomes habit. Once it becomes habit, you don’t notice that you are doing it as much. That’s why, for both ourselves and our children, creating routines out of cleaning can make it more bearable. Busy-moms-online.com has put together a list of 5 suggestions for developing a cleaning routine that will work for you. My suggestion: use it to help your kids get through chores as well!

Do one task at a time, but do it for the whole house. This is another effective way to break the work up. For example, you could dust the entire house from end to end and be done with it. Then you could move on to sweeping or vacuuming. Doing things this way will save time by eliminating a lot of the “stop and go” as well.

Remove the Scent of Smoke from Clothes

Have you ever gone over to the house of a smoker for a visit? Even if they haven’t been smoking during the visit, you’ll notice a smoke smell on your clothing when you return home. Lifetips.com has a suggestion for getting that smoke smell out:

File with an emery board instead of cutting if the nail isn’t very long, or if it’s more sharp than long.

Use a nail clipper designed for babies. The regular ones are harder to manage (and actually do look big enough to take off a baby’s finger).

Short List of Chores

Every organized home has a minimum number of chores that need doing on a consistent basis in order to stay looking clean. What each of us needs to do is decide what that minimum list is for our house… and stick to it. With these tips from OrganizedHome.com you can find out what your magic minimum is.

What’s on the list? Every family has slightly different needs, but most Magic Minimum checklists provide for these functions:

basic accounting chores: bank deposits and bill-paying
meals and menus: clean dishes, grocery shopping
laundry: necessary clean clothing
home management: once-a-day pick-up, weekly cleaning of bathrooms and kitchen

Cleaning Tips from the Professionals

Ever wonder how cleaning professionals manage the tedium of cleaning homes? The International Executive House Cleaning Association has put together a list of motivational tools professionals use that everyday moms can apply to their own households:

1. Come prepared for the task at hand.
You’ve probably noticed that most professional housekeepers use carts stocked with everything they’ll need for the cleaning task at hand. Alternatively, they don’t carry more than they need. Go through your cleaning supplies and eliminate all but the necessary tools, and store them together in a portable container.

2. Stick to a schedule.
By scheduling tasks, you’ll be less inclined to avoid or forget them. Decide which cleaning tasks need to be done every day, every week, or on a less frequent schedule. (Download a free cleaning checklist.) You’ll spend less time thinking about what you have to do and have more time to do it.

3. Establish a routine.
Work top to bottom and left to right. You’ll save time if you don’t have to retrace your steps, and cleaning will be much faster and easier if you develop a regular routine for each area of your home.

4. Work in teams.
Professional housekeepers often work in teams. Making a king-sized bed may only take a few minutes for one person, but with two people it takes only seconds. Enlisting the help of family members will not only make the job go faster, but you’ll also keep each other motivated.

5. Collect a paycheck.
Beyond a passion for clean and healthy environments, one thing that motivates professional housekeepers to clean is looking forward to a paycheck. Of course, while having a clean and orderly environment itself is a great “paycheck,” why not give yourself an extra reward for a job well done?

Spring Cleaning Checklist

It’s almost that time! If you’re getting ready for some serious spring cleaning, we’ve found this great pdf checklist over at The Nest to help get all of the nooks and cranies. The bonus? This checklist comes with a point count based on how nasty the cleaning assignment is. Challenge family members to see who can make the most points - and then give that person a prize!

Here’s an example of the “Oh What a Pain” Tasks:

Clean oven.
Change batteries in smoke and carbon dioxide alarms.
Throw away rarely used or expired toiletries.
Clean gutters.
Clean upholstery.
Fertilize lawn.
Tune up lawn mower.

Clean your Thermos

That wonderful coffee thermos is great for keeping your French Roast nice and toasty all the way to the office, but it can be a bit of a bear to clean. Follow this advice from HandyTipsAndHints.com to make sure you get a quality clean without damaging that vacuume seal:

Make sure to always hand wash and never immerse glass lined vacuum bottles in dish washing detergent. Use bottle brush and warm water. Invert to dry. Before filling up the bottle that has absorbed odors or it has been stored for a while, freshen it with a one teaspoon baking soda and warm water. Let it stand for twenty minutes, scrub out with the bottle brush, rinse and air-day.

Clean that Showerhead

I’m typically very picky when it comes to cleaning the bathroom. There are just so many places for those pesky little germs to hide. I’ve always had issues though when it came to the showerhead. Sure I can bleach the surface, wipe it down, but how do I get to the gunk I can see in the little holes? Thanks to the folks over at WikiHow.com we have this little tip:

Simmer the shower head in vinegar and then wipe off the mineral deposits.

Save Time With a Mini Clean

I don’t look forward to cleaning day. I dread it and the messes I’ll find. But it’s not as bad as it used to be. I implemented some of these handy tips from Good Housekeeping on doing mini-cleaning tasks throughout the week to make cleaning day more tolerable. Be sure to check out the guides for each of the different rooms!

Kitchen Minitasks

1. Wipe up spills in the refrigerator as soon as you notice them, and if you have time, do the rest of the shelf or any gloppy jar bottoms.

2. Go through just one refrigerator or pantry shelf and toss anything that’s past the expiration date, that you’ll never use again or that’s less than a single serving.

3. Toss the jumble of unused takeout disposable containers, glass jars and condiment packages you’ve collected.

4. Wipe fingerprints off all the kitchen cabinets.

How to Clean Almost Any Stain

As a mom you’re bound to run into stains. They’re like calling cards for kids. Thankfully the folks over at 1001 Cleaning Tips has a list of tips for cleaning stains… any kind!

On-the-Go Stain Removal
It’s a good idea to carry one of the modern stain removal stick products with you when you’re on the go, particularly if you’re prone to experiencing spills and stains. Sometimes removing a garment and soaking it isn’t possible, and a stain removal stick can really be a great assistance in such situations.

How to Remove Coffee Stains

It’s inevitable. I’m rushing around trying to get the kids off to preschool, getting ready for work, grabbing the cup of coffee to help me start the day… and I spill it. After doing this for so long, you’d think I’d set the timer for my coffee so it’s ready before I get dressed, but that’s one hurdle I haven’t overcome yet. Thankfully, 1001cleaningtips.com has provided a great tip on how to get that pasky coffee stain out of my clothing:

Blot the excess liquid from the fabric.
Mix dishwashing liquid with slightly warm water and sponge over the affected area.
Blot the affected area to remove excess soap.
Combine 1 part of white vinegar to two parts of slightly warm water.
Use a sponge to apply the vinegar and water solution to the affected area.
Thoroughly rinse the affected area with tap water.
Wash the entire garment or other item per manufacturers’ instructions.

4 Tips for Cleaning the Shower

1001cleaningtips.com has put together a list of four essential tips for getting the cleanest shower possible. The most important factor in your success and the longevity of the clean is listed below.

1. Use The Right Cleaning Solution
When cleaning your shower, it’s important to use a cleaning solution designed for use in the bathroom. The dirt and germs that tend to build up in bathrooms are very different from those found in kitchens and other areas of the home. Bathroom cleaning products are especially designed to combat mold, mildew, and other types of dirt and bacteria that build up in damp areas.

Crazy Straws

Kids love crazy straws. But have you ever tried cleaning all of those loops? Lifetips.com has a method that’s on my to try out list:

How to Clean Crazy Straws: Flush the straws with hot water then let them soak in a solution of bleach and water. The “official” disinfecting solution is 2 tablespoons of bleach to 1/2 gallon of water.

Hire a Maid?

I know at the back of my mind, the thought of hiring a maid is always there. I can only imagine how nice it would be to have someone else clean my house. But I’ve always thought it was too expensive. The gals over at 1001cleaningtips.com have some practical advice on deciding when the time is right to sign up for a professional cleaning service.

Hiring a professional cleaning service doesn’t have to be cost-prohibitive. One of the major factors impacting the fee for cleaning your house is how often you have a professional come in and work on your home. If you’re able to keep up with making sure your living space stays relatively tidy, you may only need to hire a professional to come in and take care of deep cleaning once each month.

WD-40 Spot Shot

You’ve seen the commercial. The woman with the pristine white carpet who has a few footprints on her rug and when her friend comes over to visit she tells her to stay out on the rainy doorstep to talk because she’s too embarassed about her carpet. That’s a commercial which always makes me cringe. Who has white carpets anyway!? Well, to test out the truth behind such statements, the Naked Mommy has done an honest review of WD-40 Spot Shot. What did they find?

One caveat, it doesn’t work on red juice and Kool-Aid because of the dyes or on rust stains.

Chores for 5-year Olds

It’s easy getting your child to do chores - if you pick activities that can be exciting and are age appropriate. The folks over at handytipsandhints.com have put together a list of chores as well as some practical tips on getting your 5 year old to accomplish them.

Chores a five year old can do:
1. Make his own bed. At first do not expect that this will be done neatly. He would be an expert on this in no time, you’ll see.
2. Take his clean clothes to his own closet.
3. Pack away his toys. I honestly have trained my own child to do this right from six months of age. He’s breezing through this task now that he is turning three.
4. Water the plants.
5. Feed the pets. (dog, cat or fish)
6. Clear the table after eating.