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cleaning

Washing The Dog

June 15, 2020 Leave a Comment

Washing the dog #pets

Do you wash your dogs? And, how is that going for you? Little dogs can be plopped into the kitchen sink and shampooed there. Easy, peasy. Big dogs are a whole different story.

I have big dogs. It would seem that the simple, logical thing to do is to bathe my dogs often. But, washing gentle giants like Saint Bernards, German Shepherds or a Newfoundlands, how do you do that?

Sadie, my big beautiful 100 pound yellow lab, won’t get in the bathtub. Same with Bailey, our 55 pound cattle dog – boxer mix.  If I could get Bailey in the tub, she would undoubtedly jump out seconds later. So, how do you wash a filthy, uncooperative pet?

Do you wash your dog often? Here are some tips and ideas about getting that fur baby shampooed. #dogs #doglover #tips #dogsoftwitter Click To Tweet

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Wash Big Dogs Outdoors

Well, my solution has been to fill up 2 or 3 pails with clean lukewarm water and a pitcher with soapy water and wash them out on the driveway.  I hook them up, one at a time, on a long leash connected to our maple tree.  Next, I soap them up [I use baby shampoo] and rinse them off by pouring each pail of clean water over them. Off course, I towel them dry and they are more than happy to help me with the drying process by shaking the excess all over the place!

Wet dog shaking it off #dogs

My dream is to have a walk-in shower in my garage that is designed specifically for washing my dogs. They would love it and so would I. It would be so easy. Great fantasy but that is not likely to happen.

Another fabulous solution would be to hire the local pet grooming van to come by to shampoo my dogs once a week. Oh, how I would love that!!!

So, last week I was browsing online and found this dog cleaning wand that can be hooked up to a faucet or a hose. It looks so easy to use and I think the dogs will love it. Take a look at the video below and see what I mean. I haven’t tried it yet but I definitely want to.

What kind of dogs do you have? What technique do you use to wash them?

Enjoy!

author SInea



Filed Under: dogs, Lifestyle Tagged With: cleaning, cleaning tips, Dogs

7 Tips You Can Follow to Keep Your Home Clean for Longer

October 21, 2019 1 Comment

A clean home is everyone’s dream. You want fresh air and a decent homestead to enhance your experience after a tiresome day. For those who work from home, you will find out that cleaning your home often also helps you to be more productive. The same applies to students and everyone who needs a conducive environment to concentrate on their tasks.

How to keep your home clean longer #tips #cleaning

However, it is not easy to clean your home often and maintain it. We know that it takes numerous hours of tiresome work to get your house clean and in order. You, therefore, need to ensure that once you have cleaned your home, it stays neat for a longer time. This post teaches you seven unique ways to keep your house clean for a long time.

This blog contains affiliate links. ♥


With these tips, you will save yourself time and resources you put into regular cleaning. We do not mean that you should leave your house to get dirty. When you have the skills to maintain a clean room, your home will stay neat for longer.

Here are seven simple tips that will make your cleaning easier and last for more days.

1. Do a Part of Laundry Each Day

Laundry

I hate doing laundry, but I want my clothes to be clean every day. That is where the problem is – a big one. You cannot have clean clothes to wear until you have cleaned them. Every day, as you take a bath, you change your clothes. It is easy to throw the attires you take off into the laundry basket, but it is hard to get to work on them.

Maybe a tight schedule can also make you pile up your clothes for the weekend. By the time you get the time to wash, you will realize that the clothes are overwhelmingly many. However, the main problem is that the more clothes you pile up, the dirtier your house will be. When you take off your workout clothes, you need to wash them immediately to avoid the stench from the sweat. Washing a few items a day will help to keep your home tidier and fresher.

2. Put Doormats at the Entrances

Welcome mat

IT may seem a simple negligible accessory, but you will see the difference when you get the doormats for your home. Each entrance to your house needs one. Buying a mat only for the main door is insufficient because you may go outside through the other uncommonly-used doors, and when you come back you enter with dirt.

To ensure that your home stays clean for longer, all your doors will need a mat. When you go out, dust your feet before entering the house. In this way, you prevent the little by little dirt from piling up and making your home unclean in a short time.

3. Clean Your Pets Regularly

Pets like cats and dogs shed off fur quite often. You may need to vacuum or sweep your house regularly to eliminate the mess. Apart from being an activity that consumes a lot of time, the mess can make your home ever dirty.

One solution to keeping the house clean for long in such circumstances is to make sure that your pet is clean all the time. You can brush them outside your house every day or every second day. In this way, the pet will shed less often in the house. You will enjoy a clean home for a longer period before you need to vacuum it again.

4. Throw Rugs on Top of Your Carpet

In your living room, where there is heavy traffic in the house, your carpet gets dirty faster than in other places. When this happens, you need to clean it or call carpet cleaners to ensure the house remains clean and tidy. However, the process is time-consuming and at times expensive to maintain a clean carpet.

A simple solution is to use small rugs on top of the carpet. Instead of taking out the whole carpet, and leaving your c13 plug and other power cords exposed, you only pick the rugs for cleaning. In this way, you minimize the possibilities of electric accidents while reducing the number of times you have to clean your carpet in a season.

5. Recycle or Get Rid of Paper ASAP

We receive mail, food wrappings, and all forms of paper in the house daily. When left unattended, the documents can pile up quickly and make the whole house messy. Whether it is the food wrappings in the kitchen or mail in the living room, you want to sort everything up as soon as possible to avoid inviting household pests.

Get rid of waste paper immediately, shred the junk mail, and sort and keep the invoices, bills, and relevant documents safely. You will keep your home cleaner and manage your responsibilities appropriately.

6. Clean After Each Meal

Whether it is dinner or a snack in the afternoon, the table, kitchen, and some utensils will get dirty. You have to clean immediately to ensure your home is tidy. Regardless of how small the task may seem, you need to do it quickly. It will also keep off insects from storming your home.

7. Keep Things Where They Belong

While moving around the house, you will stumble upon items that are laying in the wrong positions. You can see socks near the door, children’s toys near the TV cabinet, and utensils in the bedroom. It is standard for homes with kids. You need to tidy up as you move.

Carry all lost items and put them in the right places. Doing so does not only help to keep your home tidy but also reduces your effort when doing massive cleanup over the weekend. You can also help someone who has misplaced something in the house by putting them back in their appropriate positions.

How to keep your house clean LONGER! #tips #momlife #cleaning Click To Tweet

In Summary

Cleaning is an endless process. To maintain a clean house for longer, you need to ensure that everything is neat at all times. Some of the activities may seem simple and short-term, but they are effective in making your house ever-clean and reduce the workload on the heavy cleaning day.

Thanks to our guest author, Jessica Smith, for inspiring us to keep our homes clean longer!

More great tips=>>

  • Simple Way To Keep Your Kitchen Clean
  • How To Speed Clean A Room
  • Best Pet Hair Vacuum Ever! 
  • Laundry Piling Up? Conquer it!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 


Filed Under: cleaning, How-to, Lifestyle, tips Tagged With: cleaning, tips

How To Clean And Store Dusty Baseball Caps

December 7, 2018 Leave a Comment

Today I finally had it with the mess on the shelf in my hall closet. Gloves, scarves and hats were tossed here and there. Boots were stored in some baskets but they weren’t laying flat because some old dog leashes were caught underneath.  It was just time to get it all straightened out.

How to dust old baseball caps #tips

As I started, I discovered so many old baseball caps stashed there that we could stock a baseball cap shop with them! There were so many caps because each one held a special memory for the wearers. I couldn’t talk them into giving any away.  The New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and several little league teams were represented in that group of hats. There was even an NFL Cleveland BROWNS hat that I have no explanation for. We are Buffalo Bills fans so its presence in the cap collection is a mystery to me.

This blog contains affiliate links. ♥

As I sorted through the jumble of the cotton twill baseball caps, I held my breath, there was so much dust. They were coated with it! Brushing them off was not working, so here is what I did to get them clean:

In a hurry and just want a GREAT affordable way to store your baseball caps?
Here it is=> ☑️  the DUST FREE, MOISTURE FREE BASEBALL CAP STORAGE BAG!


How To Dust Off Cotton Twill Baseball Caps And Store Them

  1. Select the baseball caps that you want to keep.
  2. Place them in your clothes dryer with a full fabric softener dryer sheet.
  3. Dry them on the lowest heat for 10-15 minutes.
  4. Remove them from the dryer. You should find that most, probably all, are dust-free and ready to wear or put away.
  5. Store them on a hat rack, in a baseball cap storage bag or in a storage basket. They will be in one place and easy to find in the future.

Dust may not be the only problem with your dirty baseball caps. Some may have stains or have discolored with age. If so, after you have dusted them, try washing them.  Caps can be washed in the washing machine, dishwasher or in a bucket or sink.  I prefer the sink method:

How To Wash A Baseball Cap

  1. Fill a sink with warm water.
  2. Add 1 T. laundry detergent.
  3. Dunk the baseball cap in the water and gently rub the spots using a rough wash cloth or sponge.
  4. Swish it, now, around in the water.
  5. Rinse it in cool water.
  6. Lay the baseball cap out on a clean dry towel or clothes drying rack till it is dry.

How to dust off old baseball caps and store them #organizing #cleaningtips Click To Tweet


Storage basket of baseball caps #affiliate

How To Store Baseball Caps

There are 5 GREAT WAYS that I have found for storing baseball caps:

  1. Put them in a storage basket. I use a nice size plastic storage bin or you could pick a nice decorative wicker basket on a shelf.
  2. Hang them from a cap rack on the back of a door. Perfect for the baseball player’s bedroom!
  3. Use a plastic storage bag that is designed specifically for caps.
  4. Hang them from a baseball cap hanger in the closet.
  5. Get a nice wooden baseball cap rack! 

Enjoy!

 

 


Filed Under: cleaning, Lifestyle, organizing, tips Tagged With: baseball caps, cleaning, cleaning tips, organizing, storage

How To Speed Clean A Room

October 1, 2018 1 Comment

How to speed clean a room #cleaning #tips

 

In a perfect world, our homes would be company-ready all the time but, as we all know, life is not perfect. So what do you do when someone wants to drop by and you are not ready? Speed clean! 

This blog contains affiliate links. ♥

How To Speed Clean A Room

First, grab a laundry basket or two.

Next, gather supplies:

  • Feather duster
  • Paper towels
  • Glass cleaner
  • Furniture Polish


Follow this simple plan:

  1. Pick up stuff that is laying around. Start up high on shelves/tables and work your way down to the floor.
  2. Put clutter that doesn’t belong in the room in one laundry basket. Move it to an out-of-the-way location to be dealt with at another time.
  3. Place nick knacks, picture frames, etc. in the other laundry basket, to put back into place in just a few minutes.




DUST

Using your feather duster, start high. Dust mantels, TV’s, lamps.
Move to table tops, next, dusting all the way.

POLISH and SHINE

Using furniture polish for wood and glass cleaner for glass, polish and shine the furniture tops.
This is speed cleaning so only do the parts that people will see. Save the rest for when you have more time!

Tip: You may want to open a window to get some fresh air in the room.

PUT THE NICK KNACKS BACK.

Now, vacuum the rug. You are DONE! “Ding dong.” Your guests have arrived and you are ready!

Do you avoid last minute company stopping by? Do not fear - just speed clean! #tips #cleaning Click To Tweet


Got some great cleaning and organizing tips for us? Please share them in the comments! We’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy!

 

 

…..


How to speed clean a room #organizing

Filed Under: cleaning, Lifestyle, organizing, tips Tagged With: cleaning, cleaning tips, organizing tips, speed cleaning

Smelly Sneakers? Get Rid Of That Nasty Odor

March 25, 2017 Leave a Comment

sneakers, cleaning tips, household hints,

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Have a pair of sneakers that you just love but – ooooh the smell – who can stand them? Don’t throw those smelly sneakers away just yet. Try baking soda!  I did and it worked.

Baking soda is a natural deodorizer. Just sprinkle baking soda in each shoe, shake it around so that the powder gets in all the crevices and dump out the residue over a sink or waste basket.


Now, wear them! Check it out when you take them off again. They should smell just fine. Repeat every once in a while to maintain freshness. (By the way, canvas shoes can be washed so, if yours are canvas, wash them!)

Smelly sneakers? Well, don't throw them out. First, try this! #tips #deodorize Click To Tweet


 

Enjoy!


Photo Credit: Old Canvas Shoe by PANPOTE on Freedigital Photos and upper image Pixabay.




 

Filed Under: cleaning, Lifestyle, tips Tagged With: cleaning, cleaning tips, clothes

Non-Toxic Cleaning: Burnt Pots And Pans

October 10, 2016 1 Comment

 

household hints how to clean burnt pots and pans

Burned cookware can become a real disaster if you don’t know how to handle it. Unfortunately, sometimes it happens when you get distracted, forget that you are cooking and burn the dish you were making. And often the pan or pot can be so burnt, it looks like it can’t possibly be cleaned.

It is a shame to throw away cookware without even trying to remove the burnt food. There are many ways to do it, some of which involve harsh chemical-based products, others are non-toxic and safe. Without question, the second method is preferable.  Here are some tips on how to “green-clean” your burnt cookware and make it look better than ever.
household hints - how to clean burnt pots and pans
Soak And Sit
Sometimes we neglect the power of hot water and proceed with cleaning methods that involve a lot of scrubbing and bad-scented chemical detergents. We forget how powerful hot water actually is. An effective way to clean burnt pans and pots is to soak them in soapy hot water and let them sit for a few hours. The hot water will break through the tough burnt stains and loosen them so that you can scrape them more easily.
Simmer

Simmering and soaking burnt pans is another effective method to remove burnings from your cookware. Pour water in the burnt cookware, add a fair amount of dish liquid and simmer for about fifteen minutes. Remove the pan or pot from the hot plate and let it cool down while the hot water loosens the burnt stains. Use a wooden spatula to scrub.

You can do the same using salt or baking soda. Pour water, add a couple of tablespoons salt or baking soda, let it simmer and scrub with a wooden spatula.
Non-toxic cleaning - burnt pots and pans! #tips #cleaning #home Click To Tweet
Baking Soda And Aluminium Foil
Another green and non-toxic way to clean burnt cookware is using baking soda and aluminium foil. What you need is 1 tablespoon baking soda, ½ cup white vinegar and a piece of aluminium foil. Then put the vinegar and the foil in the pot or pan. Add the baking soda and swirl so that the vinegar can cover the whole surface. The solution will start bubbling and while this is happening, run the burnt stains very gently, making sure you don’t scratch the cookware. Rinse with warm water and dry. Now your cookware looks like brand new again.
Lime Juice And Salt
Another non-toxic way to remove burnt stains from cookware is using lime juice and salt. What you have to do is pour lime juice in the pan and let it sit for a few minutes. Then sprinkle with salt and scrub gently with a sponge. Avoid using a metal sponge, unless it’s really necessary. This method will not only clean your burnt cookware in an ecologically-friendly manner, it will also leave a lovely exotic scent in the kitchen.
Vinegar
Most of us are aware of the fact that vinegar is a powerful tool when it comes to cleaning in a green way. To remove burnings from pans and pots, use white vinegar and pour it in the burnt item. Place it on a hot plate and let it simmer for about fifteen minutes. Remove from the hot plate and let it cool down. Then scrub using a wooden spatula and rinse with water.

Enjoy!

Guest post by July Minor. July is a cleaning specialist who knows lots of green tips and tricks.
 
Note: Ducks ‘n a Row is an affiliate of Amazon. Anything our readers purchase from Amazon through ads and links on this blog will result in a small commission for me. In advance, “thank you!” for your business. It is appreciated — Sinea




Filed Under: cleaning, tips Tagged With: cleaning, household hints, tips

How To Crochet a Dish Scrubby

July 31, 2015 Leave a Comment

Guest post by Vicky Morgan
The prizes for bingo the other night at church were dish scrubbies and crocheted dish cloths. I won but gave mine to the next winner and just asked for the pattern. I’ve always wanted to make one of these and now I’m on a roll!
crochet; homemade dish scrubbie; free crochet pattern; kitchen tools

Most posts on our blog contain affiliate links.

The wonderful friend who gave me the pattern said I could pass it on.  So here it is with a warning: Making these can be addictive.  You will be making one for yourself, your kids, and your friends.  They will love you unconditionally.  Just letting you know!
Love to crochet? Make dish scrubbies! They make good gifts 🙂 #DIY #crochet #cleaning Click To Tweet

Instructions:

Size I Crochet Hook

Use Nylon Net (comes by the yard at places like Joanne’s or you can buy it here on Amazon)

cut into 2-3 inch wide strips- (I like to tie the strips together as I cut them and roll into a ball).

chain 4 and slip to form a circle

Working in rounds

Row 1- 4 sc in circle (do not turn)

Row 2- 2 sc in each stitch- 8 sts.

Row 3- 2 sc in each stitch – 16 sts.

Row 4- 2 sc in each stitch – 32 sts.

Row 5 & 6 – 1 sc in each stitch -32 sts,

Row 8- 1 sc in every other stitch -16 st.

Row 9- 1 sc in every other stitch – 8 sts.

Row 10-1 sc in every other stitch -4 sts.

Slip stitches together to close off the circle.

Thanks so much, Vicky, for the fun post! I love to crochet and I can see how this really could become addictive! Scrubbies everywhere!  They’d make cute bridal shower and/or housewarming gifts. …Sinea  ♥

Vicky Morgan blogs over at Vickie’s Kitchen and Garden
Sign up for her daily email list and never miss a post!  
Join her on Twitter,  Pinterest  and Bloglovin , too, where she shares her frugal list, gardening, recipes, free kindle books, and more!


Filed Under: cleaning, crafts, DIY Tagged With: cleaning, crochet

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