DIY Household Cleaning, Organizing and Staging 3-in-1 Book Set

By Jeanne Clarkson

Want to get your home cleaner, more organized and looking as good as it can? This special set of books features three of top selling DIY household author Jeanne Clarkson’s three books on those very topics. With this collection of helpful guides you’ll discover DIY cleaning, organization and staging tips, tricks, hacks and shortcuts to get your home in complete order.

Included in this 3-book set:

DIY Home Cleaning: Household Tips, Shortcuts and Remedies for Cleaning Made Easy!

Home Organization Guide: Tips & Ideas for More Organized Living

Do Your Own Home Staging: How to Stage Your Home to Sell

Use these powerful resources together to get your home in tip-top shape. With over a hundred great tips, tricks, shortcuts and hacks, you’ll be able to go room-by-room and around the house, making sure each room is cleaner, more organized and even looking as good as open house homes do on the real estate market!

Whether you’re preparing your house to sell or simply want ways to save time and money while making your household look great, this three book set is the resource for you. Download this 3-in-1 book set now and have your home looking its absolute best!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Helpful Home Hints
• Release date: Mar 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507061626

Book preview

DIY Home Cleaning: Household Tips, Shortcuts and Remedies for Cleaning Made Easy!

Introduction to Home Cleaning

Nothing says it’s time to clean like the change of seasons. Whether it’s winter winds or warm temperatures that are moving in on the area where you live, it’s always a good idea to take advantage of seasonal shifts and clean your home in preparation for the weather changes. We’re all familiar with spring cleaning, but in reality, there are certain types of housework that are best when completed at specific times throughout the year. When you prepare your house for seasonal shifts in advance, it will make your next season’s cleaning overhaul much less daunting.

Still, it can seem a bit overwhelming to tackle an entire house all at once. Seasonal cleaning isn’t just about purging your closet or focusing on one area of the house; rather, you must look at the big picture. In fact, both indoor and outdoor areas will need to be cleaned and protected as you flip the calendar and prepare for weather changes.

Luckily for you, we’ve also compiled a list of the best cleaning tips that will get you through every season quickly and easily. We also have included special tips, tricks and shortcuts to help make your cleaning tasks easier and less expensive. With these easy guidelines, all of your housework will feel like a refreshing breeze, no matter what time of year it is!

Winter Cleaning Tips

If you live in a climate that experiences a harsh winter, you’re going to need to take some extra precautions to winterize your home and protect it from all of the nasty weather you’ll likely encounter. Snow, gravel, and slush can get tracked into your house and cause damage to floors. Moreover, it’s important to protect your home in preparation for the long months when you’ll have the heat cranked up and the windows shut. Since you’re not going to have fresh air flowing through your home for at least a few months, you’ll want to make sure that it’s extra clean before winter sets in. Even homes in gentler climates can benefit from the tips we’ve listed below.

Winterize your front entryway, foyer, or mudroom. Use a sturdier mat (think wood or rubber) at the exterior entryway of your home, and use an absorbent mat inside that will soak up moisture from snow, rain, or mud.

Clean and disinfect your garbage cans. During the winter months, there’s very little ventilation throughout your home. The closed space, along with the heat coming up from your baseboards, makes a great environment for germs to thrive. Avoid them altogether by using hydrogen peroxide, or vinegar and water (50:50 ratio) and letting the cans sit with the mixture inside for about an hour. Following that, you should scrub them clean, rinse, and allow them to dry in direct sunlight if possible.

Change your furnace filters. This important step will increase your furnace’s efficiency and may even lower your heating bills.

Clean behind the refrigerator. Oftentimes, homeowners avoid going back there altogether, but cleaning the fridge allows it to function at its maximum efficiency. Vacuum behind the fridge, and clean the condenser coils with a condenser-cleaning brush or a vacuum attachment. Don’t be surprised if your electric bill drops - this little step can increase your refrigerator’s efficiency quite noticeably!

Add a boot scraper in your foyer or entryway. This is actually a proactive step that will prevent additional cleaning later on (as long as your guests actually use it, that is!). Or, add a small shelf or bench for guests to place their boots so that they can remove them before walking around the house.

Clean your windows with the foolproof solution described below. Dirty windows can block up to 20% of natural daylight from coming in, and many people experience seasonal depression due to lack of sunlight during the winter months. To keep your windows as clear as possible, clean them using ¼ cup white vinegar, ½ teaspoon dish detergent, and 2 cups water with a microfiber cloth.

Dust and clean ceiling fan blades. They most likely won’t be in use during the winter months, so now is a good time to free them of any dust or dander. Letting it sit through the winter months would make your spring cleaning more difficult than it needs to be, and could also aggravate allergies.

Go through your winter gear. Stack boots, mittens, and other cold-weather essentials in a place where they can be easily accessed, and toss any single gloves or mittens.

When you’re stuck inside, it’s a great time to go through your wardrobe and sort out old clothing. For a quick and easy closet purge, make two piles: one for donations and one for the items you want to keep.

While you’re at it, clean out your pantry in the same way. Toss anything that’s expired, and keep anything that’s still good. Adopt a system that allows you to keep the oldest items (or those closest to expiration) towards the front, and the newest towards the back.

Clean the kitchen ceiling. Many homeowners overlook the fact that the kitchen ceiling gets particularly grimy, thanks to the moisture and fumes that are created during cooking. Use a mild dish soap and warm water and scrub with a sponge.

Take care of all hanging fixtures. Curtains, blinds, and anything else that could collect dust should be cleaned using a vacuum attachment.

Spring Cleaning Tips

Perhaps the most notorious cleaning season of all, spring is truly the time when you have the opportunity to start fresh. With longer days and milder temperatures, you’ll have more energy than ever to tackle the housework that simply must be done. Use the tips below to make your spring-cleaning overhaul the most effective it can be.

Clean your gutters (yes, in the spring). While many people think that it’s only necessary to do this during the fall, it’s especially important to rid your gutters of excess debris that they may have collected during winter, so that spring rains can flow freely without causing any backup.

Deep clean your rugs and carpets. Winter months are particularly harsh on your floors, especially if you wear shoes inside your home. Consider renting a carpet cleaner to shampoo your carpets and rugs if you don’t have one. Always remember to vacuum first to rid your floor of any excess pet hair or dirt.

It’s equally important to clean wood floors. To save time, use a mixture that acts as both a wash and a wax solution. You’ll drastically reduce the