cleaning

How to handle the post-Christmas cleanup 1

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How to handle the post-Christmas cleanup is a paid collaboration with Clearabee. Although Christmas is something to look forward to each year, there’s one part that can fill you with dread – the post-Christmas clean up. Once you’ve given and received your gifts, had family over, cooked Christmas dinner and taken down the decorations, it’s soon time to clean up. Unsurprisingly, a lot of waste is produced over the festive period. In the UK, the amount of waste produced increases by 30% at Christmas. Instead of sending everything to landfill, you should try to recycle as much as possible. Clearabee offers same day waste collection and they divert 95% of what more »

Tips for Spring Cleaning your Appliances

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Tips for Spring Cleaning your appliances is a collaborative post with Bekko. I HATE cleaning but I love a clean house. Yes, I know you can not have one without the other, so I work on the process of little and often and also in delegation, so if you can afford a cleaner then whoop, if not get the whole family involved.

Five Festive Cleaning Hacks

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Festive Cleaning Hacks is a paid post in collaboration with Regina Blitz as part of their #TheChristmasClean and #TheStressofMess campaign.  Does getting and keeping the house clean at Christmas cause you stress?  Well, it turns out you are not alone, as according to research carried out by Regina Blitz  63% of UK residents admit they miss out on family time during the festive season because they begin to tidy the house at least a week before the big day. Well, I am here to shares some fabulous festive cleaning hacks to reduce the amount of time they spend cleaning the house in preparation for Christmas.

Professional Oven Cleaning – Is it Worth it? 1

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Professional Oven Cleaning – Is it Worth it? is a paid collaborative post with Ovenclean. I had often wondered what the fuss was when it came to having your professional oven cleaning. I had heard so many people rave about it, but personally just couldn’t justify the cost.  Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. It seems that this was a secret club that I needed to be part of and now I have joined there is no going back!

Cleaning your Washing Machine 2

 in cleaning / Review by

I am a firm believer in looking after the things you already have and making sure that they last as long as possible and this week I realised that I hadn’t cleaned our washing machine since we got it in April 2016!  In fact, it was Emily who shamed me into it by doing hers and sharing it on Instagram Stories.  It turns out that Dr Beckman has a new product called Service-it for cleaning your washing machine, so I tried it out and this post is a paid collaboration with them.

5 Genius Laundry Hacks with New Persil Powergems 8

 in cleaning / Finance / parenting by

One of the things that I find so challenging about motherhood is the constant laundry.  It is never ending especially with two boys which are just noise with muck on.  Add football and cricket kit to the regular weekly clothes and it can become overwhelming.  There is nothing more disappointing that putting a load of washing in and then finding that it is still dirty after the wash. So here I am going to share my top 5 Genius Laundry Hacks and also review a new innovative laundry product.

Green Cleaning Tips

Green Cleaning Tips and Polti Moppy Review 5

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I hate cleaning but love a clean house.  There is something about having a tidyish and clean house that makes me feel calmer and more content.  However, as a Mum to two boys and a dog it can be challenging.  I am also keen to use green cleaning products due to my cancer history and the fact that I have a genetic predisposition to cancer (BRCA 2) and the fact that there is a 50% chance that the boys might have the same spelling mistake.

Chores for Kids – Guidelines by Age 8

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Fewer and fewer children are participating in household chores. According to a survey reported a few years back in the Daily Mail, as many as 25 percent of kids between 5 and 16 don’t lift a finger around the house. And for a fifth of those who do chip in, help equals tidying their bedroom. Hardly pulling their weight, is it?

Chaos cleaning for busy Mums 23

 in cleaning  tagged cleaning / home / organising by

Housework, cleaning and organisation, hate it or love it, the one constant is that it has to be done and seen as I can not afford a cleaner it mostly falls down to me.  In the past we have gone from control freaky clean, to total mess depending on my mental state!  Now we are somewhere in between.  The house is not always clean and tidy, but it is lived in and can be tidied in a flash. Want to know my secret? Today I am going to let you in to my tips for what I call a chaos clean.  You know the manic clean that you have to do more »

Spring clean the clutter 3

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The sun perhaps popped it head out from behind the clouds today, enough to make me see just how dirty my windows were!

However, before I start on the epic spring cleaning, it is time to declutter. Firstly I see no point in cleaning around clutter, secondly that clutter might make me some cash on somewhere like Gumtree (where it is free to list and sell items) and lastly a tidy house always means a tidy mind for me.

So now is the perfect time to have a clutter clear out. Firstly you have to find a system that works for you. But I have some ideas for you below.

I love this storage for transient items from The Red Chair Blog. It is the perfect way to store items until you have enough to make it worthwhile doing something with. Mine would read Donate, Sell, Recycle and Toys. I am on the look out for a similar wire rack or bookcase for our garage space. By keeping toys out of sight you will truly see if children play with them.
Get your children involved in clearing their toys. Have an agreement where they get 50% of any money you make from selling them or let them donate ones to people less well off. It is a great way to learn about charity.
Let go of children’s artwork. If you realty attached to it, then take a digital photo of it to display in a pocket system or recycle it to make cards or recycled art bookmarks.
Work clockwise round a room from the door. This way you are going an an organised manner and if you have to stop then you know where you are up to.
If you are unsure of getting rid of something, then ask yourself if you have used it in the last year? If you haven’t then why not part with it.
When it comes to children’s clothes, why not have a swapping party with friends who have older and younger children. That way you will all get something new out of it. You could always do this with toys and books too.

Autumn cleaning naturally 4

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There is something about Autumn that sets me off on a mad cleaning frenzy. I know I should do it in spring, but for both me and MadDad it is an Autumn thing. We have just decorated the lounge, sitting room and hall, well painted them and I have the kitchen next on the list.

Cleaning is not my favorite past time, but since having the boys it is something that I get them to help me with. As I want them to help it is important to me that we use natural products, so that I feel safe having them use them too. My cleaning kit at the moment consists of white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, a gentle soap, borax substitute, tea tree oil and cloths.

All purpose spray cleaner

1/2 cup of white vinegar
2 teaspoons of borax substitute
A dab of liquid soap
5 drops of tea trea oil
2 cups hot tap water
Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until the washing soda has dissolved. Apply and wipe off with a sponge or rag. I have a bag full of old tea towels t shirts etc that we use in the kitchen, in addition to some microfibre cloths that we use for cleaning. I also have a post about 15 uses for white vinegar over on A Thrifty Mum.

The only time that I really use kitchen roll is when I am cleaning the bin or the toilets, as I can use the sheet and then pop it in the compost bin for hygiene reasons.

Mondays are home bluring days and an update on the bed 2

 in bunks / cleaning / fly / flylady / mondays' beds by

Mondays for us in TheMadHouse are home blessing or bluring day as I call it. This means that we go round and polish all rooms, vacuum, sweep and tidy and I do me we. Each of the mini mads has their own pinny and feather duster, they also have a sweeping brush and can use the hand help vacuum too. This way the house is all prepared (as much as possible) for the rest of the week. This weeks intensive clean is the master bedroom, so I will concentrate on cleaning in there, doing the skirting, cobwebs, windows etc. I try and instill the boys not to have all their toys more »

Learning to FLY

 in cleaning / fly / flylady by

I am an avid follower of Flylady – it is a great routine, which means that the housework should never pile up and that spring cleaning should never need to be done. It lets you build up new habits and also develope routines that suit you and your family. Over the last two years flylady has been a godsend. It helped me come out of my PND and also meant that when I was in hospital MadDad and other family knew what needed doing and when it needed doing. It also means that I have time to concentrate on being with the MiniMads and that they understand that the house needs more »