8 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR HOME LOOKING GREAT

8 useful cleaning tips
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Isn’t it amazing when it comes to a rental inspection, selling your home, or when guests are coming over, how our homes transform from the piles of paper work and clothes on the floor to these impeccably tidy homes where some might wonder if anyone actually lives there!

AND THEN….

What feels like only a moment, the home transforms back to its former self – We get it!
We all love a clean, fresh, clutter free and tidy home and sometimes it seems all too much to maintain a clean home.
Maintaining a clean home is more than meets the eye, by maintaining a clean home not only makes you feel good about your space visually, but it also has a very positive effect on keeping your home clear of bacteria, germs and diseases.
Strap on your cleaning gloves, give yourself a gee up and lets get into the 8 ways to keep your home looking great!

CORRECT PREPARATION

 

Do a walk around your home to do a visual inspection.  In the kitchen, look for white goods or appliances on the bench that could be placed away to provide more bench space and provide a clutter free look.
Are there dishes that need to be done?
Does the Island bench have homework, junk mail, cups and plates scattered all over it?
Does your bathroom have a thousand bottles of shampoo and conditioner?
Have the kids created a toy room in the bath?
Are toothbrushes & toothpaste sprawled on the vanity?
Check the lounge for odd belongings / toys / stationery / paperwork etc.

Once you’ve completed a visual, we can attack each area step by step. Grab that bucket and mop, you got this!

 

TIDY or HIDY?

 

Sometimes to hide items away in an organised fashion works incredibly well to give you a clean and crisp look, I mean come on, who didn’t pile everything under their bed or in the cupboard as a child to keep your parents off your back??
When it comes to kids toys, we love these storage containers from Kmart.
They look great, compliment a kid’s room and are a fantastic way to hide the abundance of toys that are often sprawled across the floor – of every room!
In the lounge room, keeping a minimalist look both maintains the area looking clean, but also gives the room a more spacious feel , and the use of cabinetry and bookshelves can reduce clutter from general tables and seats.

Having modern and funky looking storage unit both looks really cool, but is super effective at decluttering a space

 

DECOBWEB CEILINGS 

 

Pesky spiders seem to have this innate way of building webs while we sleep, but this can easily be rectified by using a domed duster or cobweb brush. Our company uses the Oates Domed Brush, which can be purchased from your local hardware store or cleaning supplies company.

Extend the handle and walk through each room, placing the domed brush against the cornices and making sure your walkway is obstacle (and toy) free!
For hard to reach spots or higher areas you may need to get a step ladder, but make sure your ladder is sturdy on the ground away from slippery surfaces – Safety is number one.

 

CREATING A SPARKLING KITCHEN

 

Creating a sparkling kitchen starts with clean surfaces and a clutter free work station, start by either washing, drying and putting away the dishes or packing the dishwasher.
The next key factor is minimising the amount of contents on the surface, consider just leaving the necessities – toaster / kettle / Coffee machine and maybe a nice fruit bowl.

To clean the surfaces, you’ll need a microfibre cloth a spray bottle and some general surface cleaner.
We are big advocates for environmentally friendly and safe products and can recommend Koh, Their universal cleaner is both safe, environmentally friendly and uses a mineral complex over heavy chemicals, it is also odour free which you may like, if you like some fragrance, We would recommend adding a couple of drops of your favourite essential oils.

To clean your kitchens surfaces, start from top to bottom, so start with the splashback by spraying some product onto the surface, allowing around 15 seconds or so for the product to react and lift the grease and grime. Wipe from the top of the splashback down to the benchtop allowing any loose particles to fall onto the benchtop.

Spray your surfaces and clean from right to left, or left to right – which ever suits you best.

A great way to do a final check is to kneel to eye level of your benchtop surface, this will allow you to see any dust, grime or food that still resides on your benchtop, it will also reveal any dust or grime hiding under your microwave!

Polish your stainless steel items such as your dishwasher, front of the oven, cooktop, rangehood, sink, fridge and mixer taps to leave your kitchen looking and smelling delightful!

 

SPIC AND SPAN BATH PAN!

 

Bathrooms are an area that get used and abused! Soaps, Shampoo and Conditioner gets hurled around the shower when washing like there’s no tomorrow!

A great way to combat this is to use a small squeegee that you can leave in your bathroom, a quick wipe down after showering will stop a lot of the soap scum and water marks drying onto your shower glass keeping it transparent and clean.

Having a toilet cleaner on hand is a great way to keep the bowl clean and free from bacteria and germs, use the nozzle to allow the liquid to flow around the top of the bowl and it will drain down to the bottom – let this sit for a little while.

To clean the bathroom, spray your general surface cleaner of the mirror, benchtop and sink, using the same principle of top to bottom.

Wipe the surfaces clean and polish your sink to having it sparkling. Once completed this will be the time use another microfibre / paper towel or cloth to clean the toilet – We recommend having a coloured microfibre of cloth specific for toilets to avoid cross contamination – Red seems a good colour!!

Clean of the cistern, outside bowl and lid. Now that your liquid has worked, use your toilet brush to scrub the internals of the toilet cleaner around the bowl sides and bottom surface.

Flush the toilet and check out that polished porcelain!

 

WHEN THERE’S A CALL FOR WALLS

 

Children seem to love running their toys across walls, pets love using walls as the ultimate massage tool and when we are moving furniture, it’s uncanny the way the walls come out of nowhere!! So how to get rid of those marks!

First thing we recommend is Selleys Sugar Soap – along with a magic eraser and a dry microfibre cloth.

Grab a bucket and place about 500ml of lukewarm water to a couple of caps of sugar soap.

Dab your microfibre into the solution and rub the wall mark in a circular motion, for light marks and grime this should release from the wall, but if you need something a little coarser, use your magic eraser, lightly rubbing the mark while still damp, then wipe dry once the mark is removed with a clean and fresh microfibre.

This solution can be used for walls, skirting boards and general cornices to remove dirt and grime build up.

 

CLEAN THE DUST, IT’S A MUST

 

If there’s dust in here, and it looks no good, who you gonna call? DUST BUSTERS!

Grab that belt, pinned with your microfibre and dust busting wand! Strap it on, its time to eradicate that dust from your home!

Use your duster to go over the top of wall photos and shelving, dust the light fittings, Air conditioner vents, TV and Clock. Use your microfibre to wipe light and power switches of the dust that usually builds on the tops of the switches, you can even wipe or dust the tops of your skirting boards!

Make sure to do this step before you start the floors to avoid TDU – THE DOUBLE UP!

 

NO CHORES ON FLOORS

 

Once you’ve completed the cleaning of the surfaces, the next is the floors, Start by sweeping or vacuuming the floors, giving the rugs and carpets a really good clean to remove the dirt, dust and particles that often get caught up in them.

Ideally, if you can roll the rug up or place outside while mopping, this is best, but we understand that you’re only human!!

Vacuum and sweep throughout your home, there are some wonderful attachments for vacuum cleaners to get into small crevices, nooks and crannies!
Give the dining chairs and lounge suite a vacuum, both the cushions and the underlining – and you never know, you might find a cheeky dollar or two, but more likely a chip, crust and possibly a lolly – yum!

Your floors will suit a different style of mop, currently our team is loving spray mops for general floor surfaces, These mops spray a small amount of cleaning fluid onto the surface that is used to clean that part of the floor without leaving streaks or water beading.

If you have timber floors or timber laminate, I’d recommend having a look at a spray mop! For tiles, concrete or slate floors, a traditional mop and bucket will often be an easier and more viable way to clean. Make sure to squeeze your mop head sufficiently before mopping the floors, use a figure 8 technique from the furthest point away of the room to ensure you’re picking up the grime and dirt.

 

GET FLORAL FOR MORAL (E)

 

That final touch! A splash of colour through the use of a fresh bouquet of flowers, a vibrant mixed fruit bowl, or for the sugar lovers, maybe a bowl of colourful lollies! Placed onto the dining table or kitchen bench is going to look fantastic as well as give the home that special touch! Just try and avoid the temptation of eating the bowl of lollies!

 

NEED SOME HELP?

 

The team at One Stop Cleaners are here to help! Whether its for some additional tips & tricks, maybe you’ve tried to clean that soap scum off and no matter how much elbow grease your putting in, it just wont budge!
We understand, and maybe we can give you some advice or perhaps you’d like one of our trained professional team to come and check it out for you.

 

 

 

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