Cleaning Tips

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Cleaning Tips

Laundry and the Never-ending Mess that comes with it

Almost every aspect of laundry is messy. Dirty clothes, clean un-folded clothes; disarray is part of the process. There are things that can be done to harness the mess.

Place laundry hampers or bags in the vicinity of disrobing: bathroom, bedroom(s) and any other place that dirty clothes seem to accumulate. Decide that the act of taking your clothes off is not complete until all pieces of the removed clothing are either hung up (if it can be worn again) or placed into the dirty clothes hamper/bag.

You can even start a penalty jar; 25 cents per article of dirty clothing found on the floor. At 50 cents per pair of socks, you might soon find your dirty clothes mess has miraculously disappeared.

To avoid mildew, hang up your rain-soaked socks, clothes, wet towels and washcloths to dry before you add them to the dirty laundry receptacle.

Clean clothes should be folded or hung up as soon as they come out of the dryer. This seems obvious, but so few actually manage it. Try only doing one load at a time and treat the whole process, from collecting a load to putting the clothes away, as the complete action.

If you don’t have a washer/dryer in your home, using a wash and fold service is almost as economical as doing it yourself at the Laundromat. Try taking just one or two loads at a time, rather than many bags. Then, when you pick it up, it’s not as difficult to put everything away.

Putting away your clothes is easier if you stay organized all the way through. As you fold, or remove folded clothes from bags, make piles according to which drawer the clothes will go into. Do all of your jeans go into one drawer? Make a pile of jeans. T-shirts go into one drawer? Make another pile for them. If Baby Sadie or Joey are old enough, make drawer-piles for them and help them put it neatly into the correct drawer.

Watch for more cleaning and organizing tips from Andy’s.

From the Outside to the Inside

Every day we bring things into our house: keys, purses, phones, coats…and little pieces of whatever we walked through. After the long commute most of us go through, we consider we’ve arrived at our goal by walking through the door and can now relax. But forming habits that revolve around stepping in the door is one of your best defenses against clutter and dirt and will give you much more free time.

Create a space by the door to put your things when you walk in the door. Whether it’s a bowl on the table for keys, a coat rack or hooks on the wall for coats, you know what will work best for you, your family and your esthetics. Map out the habits of you and your family when you first come through the door and design ways to organize it.

Consider where you walked before you entered your home. Your shoes are carrying visible and invisible bits of that when you enter the door. Make a habit of removing your shoes before or as soon as you come in. Put a shoe rack, shelves or a basket where you take them off so they can stay orderly and you can find them easily when you leave.

From the Outside to the Inside

Inclement weather means wet, muddy or snowy boots and shoes, and dripping outwear. Have a back-up system ready for this: towels rolled up near the door, rugs that can be easily washed, or a boot tray.

When all is in place and organized the way you like it, you will have to train yourself and others to utilize it. Try this: walk in the door and put your keys in their designated spot. Repeat this action a few more times until you feel comfortable with it. Even if you feel silly, try it. You’ll find that from that point on, you will drop your keys into the designated spot as soon as you walk in the door. Have your family do the same with coats, shoes and boots, mittens, hats. You’ll be amazed at how fast the whole family will come together to stop the mess at the door.

We can work with you to help design your perfect entryway solution. Once your design is in place we’ll insure it stays sparkling.