New Year- Refresh With 9 Essential Home Cleaning Hacks

It’s a new year, time to refresh yourself and your home with our nine essential home cleaning hacks. Learn how to save time on those essential home cleaning routines.

New Year- Refresh With 9 Essential Home Cleaning Hacks

Are you still looking at the calendar wondering WHERE did this year go? 

We started home renovation projects. It wasn’t our intent to gut our entire kitchen but things happen. Our original plan was to accomplish a kitchen redo in another year or so and work on expanding our house. However, we discovered a major water problem in our kitchen, which led to our contractor discovering a black mold situation. So, what we initially thought was going to be a quick and easy fix mushroomed into us gutting our whole kitchen and putting in a new one.

We had explored a lot of the kitchen options at IKEA and decided that when it was time to renovate we would already have an idea of what we wanted. However, when we discovered the water issue things accelerated rapidly. All it took was our contractor pulling up a few floorboards. Then he dropped the bad news. “This is going to be bigger than we thought. You have black mold!”

I’ve watched enough HGTV over the years to know what “you got mold” means to homeowners. Stress. Money. Drama.

Thankfully our contractor was experienced in this area and told us the only solution to this problem was to gut the entire floor and replace it. With this unexpected cost, we had to make a few decisions. Do we do the bare minimum now to save money? Or, since we planned to renovate the kitchen do we go ahead and bite the bullet? We bit the bullet and we are so happy with the end results.

We didn’t need to do the whole kitchen put the appeal of getting a beautiful new kitchen was too much to resist.

Now, with a nice, new, and cool kitchen, I want to make sure we don’t run into any of the issues that brought on the water damage in the first place. Proper kitchen sink maintenance is a big deal. Overworked plumbing can lead to disastrous complications, we had a slow leak caused by our garbage disposal that over time caused a major problem. One of the tips our plumber told us was to de-grease the kitchen plumbing often, once every few months is enough to prevent grease build up. Liquid Plumr helps us do just that, this powerful stuff and so far everything is ship-shape. Now, I have a solid preventative maintenance plan to keep my new sink in good working order. Psst! I have wanted a farmhouse sink for so long and I just LOVE IT!  {stay tuned for more about our kitchen remodel}

That’s where Liquid- Plumr comes in. Liquid-Plumr has been keeping pipes clear and clean for more than 35 years. They also are very effective on full clogs and slow flow drains.

In our downstairs bathroom, we have a slow drain. I know the kids have dropped the caps from the toothpaste tubes, their toothbrush, and whatever else “boys” could stick down the pipe. Liquid-Plumr was able to solve our problem, and now we have a working sink.

If this year is a new start for you, then it’s time to reset and refresh. Work on routines that fit YOUR lifestyle. Sometimes (especially Moms), we can get caught up in whatever everyone else is doing instead of focusing on OUR routine, what makes US happy. Do your own thing. Pick your own lane.

So what if you don’t want to clean your house for a whole week? It’s your house, your life. If tight schedules and being organized is not your thing, then drop it. If schedules are your thing, own it!

But, regardless of your lifestyle, be sure you’re paying attention to the needs of your home and your family. Home essentials like cleaning the gutters, cleaning out the lint in the dryer, dusting every once in a while, cleaning your drains, and using Liquid-Plumr on a monthly basis to help your drains stay clog-free!

Here are eight additional home essential cleaning hacks:

1. Toothbrush your tiles. 
NOTHING gets in between tiles better than a toothbrush. Apply the cleaner you wish to use and use the toothbrush head to scrub the grout nice and clean. You can even apply a baking soda/water paste to the toothbrush and clean that way.
2. Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet before you vacuum. It will help absorb odor and can even help absorb oils and wet debris in the carpet. Just sprinkle, let sit for 20 minutes, and then vacuum up.
3. Use newspaper to clean your windows. Apply the cleaner of your choice to the glass then use a wadded up piece of newspaper to wipe clean. You will be amazed at the shine it leaves!
4. Use the microwave to clean sponges. Don’t let mold and mildew settle on your sponges. Instead, soak them in hot water and dish soap, rinse well, then zap in the microwave for one minute to kill any germs and new bacteria.
5. Save produce netting for some serious scrubbing. The netting that oranges and other produce come in can be wadded up and be used to scrub hard surfaces and won’t risk leaving any scratches.
6. Vinegar cleans just about everything. Spray vinegar onto countertops, windows, sinks, and any hard surface that needs a good cleaning. You will be amazed at how it cuts through grease and grime. Since it is so cheap, buy a bottle for each room you use it in, and then just keep it in that room for easy reach.
7. Feed the disposal a few lemon chunks.
 Cut a lemon into chunks and drop a few into the disposal. Run the disposal for 30 seconds. The oils in the lemon will help clean and cut through grease, while at the same time a fresh scent is released. You can also add essential oils (citrus works best) for the same result.
8. Use some olive oil to help polish wood furniture and lessen the appearance of scratches in both wood and leather furniture pieces.

It’s a new year! What are you going to do to reset and refresh?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Liquid-Plumr. The opinions and text are all mine.