A Virtual Design Board for Everything We Love – How Pinteresting!

If you haven’t visited Pinterest.com before, you are about to. Pinterest is a virtual inspirational social networking site about all things womanly. Ever see something and think “Oh that’s cute, I’ll keep that in mind.” Well, Pinterest is where people all over the world post (or pin) the things we like.

The site is broken down categorically, but users can also browse all pins at once and follow their favorite pinners. Sections range from things we like such as clothes and beauty, to things we really like – crafts and home decor. The site is full of clever household tips, which we at Total Home Cleaning really appreciate.

You can make your own design and inspiration boards full of things you want now, or things you dream of in your future. Many people create boards full of ideas for their future homes, collecting color schemes, furniture, decorations and more. The best part being that these ideas and inspirations will be saved until the time comes to make them a reality.

So go check it out and you will quickly fall in love! You can contribute pins of your own as well. But warning: you will become an addict in no time!

Some of our favorite pins:

Holiday Party Hints and Cleaning Tips

Ahhh…. it’s the most wonderful time of the year…. right?

Christmas is a wonderful season for catching up with friends and family, eating good food, getting presents, and being generally happy and thankful. However, in the hustle-and-bustle to get your parties planned, gifts bought, and home cleaned and decorated, we can often get a little stressed.

Today, we’re going to give you a few pointers on making your holiday season a little LESS stressful, and a little more enjoyable.

1. Holiday Party Tips

One of the biggest issues is planning the party itself. Make sure you don’t procrastinate too long and leave yourself too much to do, and not enough time to do it. Another great idea is to ALWAYS carry around a little notepad in your pocket or purse, and every time you think of something that needs to be done, add it to your list. “A short pencil is better than a long memory”, and not having to worry about remembering everything you have to do will reduce a LOT of stress. You should also think about ways your guests can help – maybe try having everyone bring one small item that will enable you to avoid the cost and hassle of having to pick up everything yourself. Most guests are happy to have something specific to bring so they don’t have to figure it out for themselves.

2. Keeping your kitchenware clean!

How to Clean Glassware and Remove Hard Water, Lipstick & Coffee Stains

• For hard water and lip stick stains, wash your glasses in warm soapy water with a dishrag and add about a half cup of white vinegar to your water. If you soak them in the vinegar overnight that will help to loosen and remove the stains even more. Use a fine steel wool pad in the vinegar and use it to scrub the loosened hard-water stains off your dishes and glasses. Rinse your dinnerware and glassware off with water and towel dry.
• You can also use lemon juice and table salt to remove any remaining hard-water stains on your glasses or dishes. Mix equal parts of both together and allow the paste to stay on the surfaces for 10 minutes. Lemon is an effective hard-water stain remover and will help you clean off remaining stains.

How to Remove Burnt Stains from Pots & Pans

• Pepsi or Coke – One of the best things to use to remove “burnt stains” from pots and pans is Pepsi or Coke. Let is sit for a few hours (overnight is best) and the stains practically wipe off.
• Lemons, salt and dishwashing soap: To clean copper pans, give them a good scrub with dishwashing soap, then take a half a lemon and pour salt on it, use it to scrub the copper, you will see the shine come through. Keep adding salt to the lemon as you clean.
• Baking soda is another great remedy that most people have readily available. Baking soda on a damp sponge removes grease easily from stove, back splash etc.

How to Clean Solid Silver

• Wash the silverware as soon as possible after use, quickly removing remnants of acidic foods such as salt, olives, vinegar or egg yolks that can break down the silver. You may clean the flatware using warm soapy water, rinsing thoroughly and drying with a clean towel.
• Line the bottom of a heat-proof glass or plastic dish with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Add 1 tbsp. baking soda, 1 tbsp. salt and 1 gallon boiling water and stir. Immediately put the silver pieces in the dish, making sure they’re completely submerged and touching the foil. When the tarnish is gone, rinse the silver in warm water, dry and buff with a soft cloth.
• Another great silver cleaner is right in our own homes: Toothpaste can remove tarnish from silver and costs a fraction of what traditional silver cleaners do. Rub the silver with toothpaste and run under warm water, working the paste into a foam and then rinse off.

Your Black Friday Do’s and Don’ts List

Everybody knows the day after Thanksgiving, known as “Black Friday”, is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. On November 25th, millions of shoppers will be lined up for hours trying their best to secure some of the great “doorbusters” Black Friday is so-well known for. It can be pretty stressful to deal with, but you may not know that you don’t even have to leave your home to get some of the best deals! In this month’s post, we’ve got you covered with the following list of Do’s and Don’ts to save you a lot of headache in planning out your shopping strategy this holiday season. (and if you happen to need some help getting everything cleaned up after that big family holiday feast, we can help you with that too)

DO expect that his year, some Black Friday specials will actually begin on Thursday. With a down economy, many retailers know people have a limited budget, and are launching their deals as early as possible. Keep an eye out in your local newspapers the week leading up to Thanksgiving.

DON’T assume the best deals are in-store. Online retailers like Amazon.com don’t have the overhead of a physical storefront and can typically offer bigger discounts than brick-and-mortar stores. Also, shopping online may enable you to avoid paying sales tax on your order (as well as saving you from braving the weather and letting you shop in your pajamas)!

DO check on the return policy for any item you buy. Many charge restocking fees, or disallow returns altogether if items were created specifically for a Black Friday promotion. Make sure you’re 100% clear on the return policy for the item you’re buying so you can return it if it ends up not meeting your expectations.

DON’T purchase an extended warranty on any big ticket item you purchase. Stores use these to recover a lot of the money they lose on offering big discounts. The salesperson will probably pull out every trick in the book to get you to go for it, but don’t do it. Most defective products will fail well within the typical one-year manufacturer’s warranty. After that, it’s usually clear sailing well past the 3 or 5 year extended mark most stores offer. Besides, if you make your purchase with certain debit or credit cards, that may offer you an automatic protection.

DO brave the crowds if you want to grab an extremely limited item. On the rarest deals, you typically won’t be able to find a match online, or secure what you really want. Make sure you get in line early – people will often camp out to secure the very best deals.

DON’T wait until the very last minute to do your holiday shopping. While you don’t necessarily need to finish EVERYTHING on Black Friday, have a plan to wrap up your shopping well before December 20th-24th. Retailer raise prices dramatically the week leading up to the big day. If you want to save yourself some cash and some stress, make sure you have everything taken care of by mid-December so you can relax and enjoy the season!

The Art of Coupon-Clipping

With TLC’s hit show “Extreme Couponing,” viewers watch as moms save as much as 99% on groceries. It  is only natural to wonder how much you could potentially save with the right help. However, not all of us have 40+ hours to spend a week on clipping, nor do we want to start hoarding hundreds of bottles of ketchup. By following these simple steps, you will be able to save big without losing lots of time, energy and cupboard space.

The best way to get the most out of you savings is to find a store that matches coupons, automatically doubling your savings. Once you find a store that matches, check the other components of its coupon policy. It’s beneficial to know if you can use more than one of the same coupons, if the store accepts expired coupons, what types of coupons it accepts, etc. Also, be sure to ask what day of the week the store rolls out sale prices!

Organization is the key to any successful grocery store trip. It is important to keep track of when your coupons expire. Expired coupons mean lost money, so be sure to keep them in a safe spot. It would be wise to keep your coupons organized by product or aisle to save time while shopping.

With the internet, there are endless coupon outlets. The traditional coupons found in the mail or newspaper are still good – even better when you have relatives or neighbors to save the best coupons for you. The internet coupons are often preferred because you can search for specific products. Furthermore, you can have coupons sent to your smartphone, so you can keep them organized more easily and don’t have to bother printing anything out. Online coupons give the option of browsing for coupons on the company site, signing up to receive emails with coupons, or even paying for bundles of coupons.

An hour or two a week devoted to spotting saving should be plenty. Dividing the savings earned by hours spent is a great way to determine whether or not your time is being well spent. If it takes you four hours of clipping to save $20, it might not be worth the effort because you are basically working for $5/hour.

Whether you become a coupon mom or an extreme couponer, it is always possible to save. Know what you’re looking for beforehand, and search for deals online. There’s no reason to pay full price if we don’t have to!

Staying green and eco friendly around your home.

Want some easy ways to save energy and save money? Check out this list!

Stop using hot water in your washing machine.

There are now detergents that are formulated to work in cold water. Although you may feel like you’re not getting the same amount of cleaning power from cold water just remember that the detergent is doing most of the cleaning work anyways. By switching to cold water washes you are not using the most expensive and energy consuming part of the washing cycle.

Stop vampire power from sucking your energy savings.

Did you know that any plugged in device will still draw power from the wall? Any appliance that you’re not using or have off anyways should be unplugged. Vampire power has cost the US 7 billion dollars in wasted energy. If you want to avoid having to continually plug devices in and out you can purchase smart power strips that cut down vampire power.

Look for the ENERGY STAR®

Whenever you need to replace a home appliance reach for a product that carries the Energy Star certification. An Energy Star thermostat saves 1-3%, light bulbs .2% for each bulb per hour, You can even replace your windows to be Energy Star certified! That can lead to a 10% energy saving.

Shampoo is not just for carpets.

The same deep cleaning that carpets receive when you shampoo them can also be applied to your furniture. Instead of replacing your furniture when they start to look worn with stubborn stains try renting a carpet shampooer and rubbing down your furniture. Here’s an instructional video for a common carpet shampoo machine.

Make sure you rent a machine with the upholstery cleaning option. At about 1 minute and 37 seconds into the video you can see the switches to change the shampoo mode the machine will operate in. At the 4 minute mark in the video it will show you how to use the upholstery attachment on the cleaner.

For spot cleaning, these cans of Blue Magic are great for common accidents and spills. You can use this in between renting a commercial carpet cleaner.

 If you’re a fan of owning instead of renting the Bissel Little Green PROheat is an economical and compact cleaner. This cleaner is good for large house holds or just stain prone people but if you’re looking for something that can handle commercial applications you may want to upgrade from this model.

Mary Moppins: Candle Burning Precautions

In our search for earth friendly cleaning we discovered Mary Moppins, a former house cleaner turned inventor.

We’re reposting this article from her blog here because of our friends who love using scented candles in their homes. Hope you find these tips useful!

Candle Burning Precautions:

NEVER burn a candle near flammable material. They do not belong on window sills, next to walls or near lamps or furniture. Here are a few tips for safe handling:

1) Place all candles, burning or not, on a glass plate. Wax sweats even if it is not being burned and will leave un-removable color stains on furniture.
2) Never move a lit candle or one that has been blown out. Heat sets a stain and the color from hot wax is permanent.
3) Look for candles without lead wicks and made from soy. Soy candles emit less smoke and therefore fewer toxins into the air.
4) People love scented candles. Only the scents could be causing lung and breathing issues as well as allergic reactions. Burn unscented candles and instead simmer a pot of cinnamon sticks, cloves or other fresh herbs on the stove. Or place cinnamon sticks in small bud vases around a room.
5) Avoid the scented air fresheners as well. They numb your sinuses so you can’t smell odors, the fragrances are often toxic adding to indoor air pollution and the chemicals in them can cause polyps and sinus infections. Plug-ins and the fresheners that go off when you walk past them are even worse.

How to remove candle wax from carpet:
1) Scrape off what you can with a blunt knife.
2) Grab a hair dryer and several white paper towel – never use a printed paper towel
3) Turn the heat on the hair dryer to medium high and beging heating the wax.
4) As the wax softens, dab it with the paper towel.
5) Continue heating the wax and blotting until all the wax has been removed. If the candle was colored, the heat from the wax has set the color and is nearly impossible to remove.