Cleaning Tips and Contest Winners
Jun 10th, 2008 by Kate Olson
We have winners from the Weiman cleaning products contest - congratulations to Rachelle, Wendy, and Kelby!
They each won an assortment of cleaning products - something we ALL need, right? Here are the tips that readers shared with us in the contest:
ok so i am the messiest person in the world. but i do have a few things i do…i do manage to get the bed semi-made by putting the baby up by the pillows and getting her involved in making the bed–covering her with the blankets etc. i am in an apartment building so to keep the apt. free of junk mail, i sort the mail in the mail room, throw away what i don’t want and prevent some of that clutter from coming up into my space. and third, i invite my mom to come in and babysit frequently–nothing like mom’s iminent to instigate a toilet cleaning!
Okay. You all are probably going to laugh, but I love cleaning! And I leave cleaning products. I salivate at the lastest technologies in cleaning products. My first tip, incorporate small cleaning tasks into your normal routine. For example, while the kids are in the tub (our girls are 3 yr. and 20 mths.), I wipe down the sink and use one of those toilet wands to clean the toilet. Second, get the kids involved. Toddlers love to play “grown-up” and help Mommy. I ask my two girls to help clean the table by bringing in their dirty dishes to the sink. Our youngest, even helps close the door to the dishwasher. Third, Have your children help you sort through junk mail. Our kids love to open mail and again pretend to be “grown-up.” They open junk mail and then place in our recycling bin, which frees up time for me to sort through the bills.
One big tip: hubbie and I came up with this very involved plan for who does what, and now he does all laundry and I do all dishes, for instance. We were getting buried in cleaning with three kids (including twins who were babies when we came up with it).
We also get the kids involved as much as possible.
We also pick core chores, like laundry and dishes, and do them every single day (sometimes a couple times), even if it’s only five minutes to do it haphazardly, to keep on top of them.
Ellen
I look at the house. I see that it is messy. I remember the wonderful feeling that I get when it has been put to rights, like I have ordered the world, my world somehow. It’s very basic psychology, but it’s true: I feel better when it’s done. Just fling yourself at the nearest thing, holding on to the mental image of how cute your house is. Or, fling yourself outside and have your fun. That’s what you and all your loved ones will remember most of life.
My third tip is really a rag bag: have a room you never stress about, one that can just go it’s merry way. Ours is our bedroom. We keep the door to it closed. End of story. We like it when it’s clean but that mysteriously doesn’t last more then a day or two. Also, play music while you clean. Also, if you possibly can, take a tip from the Buddhist way of thinking- see Thich Nhat Hahn’s little books, where one chapter may be a paragraph about being in the moment, enjoying your tasks, to smile when you hear a ringing phone as though it were a bell tinkling. His words are so simple, and the adjustment may seem small, but the change in perpective can make any day that much merrier. Also, run outside, grab family or go yourself, and forget about all that. Honestly. Unless there are creatures bigger then cats (that aren’t cats) or a bomb or something like that, really, what harm will there be to having a messy house??
Thanks to Rachelle, Wendy, Kelby, and Ellen for entering! Check out our latest contest to win a case of Primo bottled water - 10 winners this time and it’s SO easy to win!
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(Full Disclosure: I am the Daughter of Diane)
I’m not a mother, at the moment, but I am a newlywed with a student husband and my first-ever-and-still-alive tomato plant.
We both work: him, part time and at school, me at my day job, and also at spending as much time as I can pursuing that which I find wonderful. Not to mention, being a bridesmaid five times over- me my friends have reached that threashold all near-simultaneously. So in a typical week, and especially the weekend, the last thing I- or Husband- want is to feel chained to drudgery.
I enjoy cleaning, for the most part- except mopping, bleh. (Our apartment is a part of a very old house that has seen many, many incarnations. Behind the grill work you can see some of the different fads the house has undergone- delicate flower wallpaper, crazy disco whorls, and between them layers of paint. The rugs are a shag that has matted into a whole new creature. Mopping is especially disheartening as the linoleum has taken on it’s own special color that always looks a little dingy. Nonetheless, it’s a cheerful big sunny place with lots of colors and patterns and hidden treasure and all our weird stuff snug and cozy all around.)
It’s seeing the sun shining outside while the crumbs on the counter are staring you down that makes it feel like a chore. It’s wanting to read a book but having the dishes screaming at you telepathically through the walls. It’s anticipating a really fun night- with family and/or friends- but getting all snarled up in the mechanics of vaccuming under the couch.
My tips are:
Start with the ‘chore’ you like best. My go-to is dishes, and I just love doing the laundrey. ( I guess for me there’s just something about water and soap.) Once I see that this is done, doing more cleaning doesnt seem like such a bad deal.
Have a routine. Every morning I brew coffee, open the curtains, put away things in their place. No washing/dustin/mopping, just setting things to rights. When more thorough cleaning is needed, you have a head start.