How to organize our home on daily basis : It's Easy!

Lorie Marrero is the best-selling author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life, the spokesperson for Goodwill Industries International, and the creator of ClutterDiet.com, an innovative online membership program that's provided affordable professional organizing advice to thousands of people in eighteen countries. I've included some of her valuable advices in my post before and this time, here is what she says about daily basis organizing ideas that makes long term effect in the personal and household grooming.

Brush your teeth once a month, sixty times, and then you don't have to worry about it every day! That won't work? The same reasoning applies to cleaning, organizing, and maintaining your home. It's a little silly to save up all of your cleaning, maintaining, and organizing for one giant project. Here are some small things we can do regularly to keep things working well all the time.

Closets: 

• Each day, hang up everything and put away clean laundry. 
• Put your shoes back in their places, straighten stacks, and have a regular habit of bringing empty hangers back to the laundry room. 
• Remove clothing along the way as you decide to donate it, and put it in your "Donation Station," using a paper shopping bag or box to gather those items for Goodwill. 
• Twice a year when you organize and change out seasonal clothing, these habits will keep everything more visible and manageable when you are ready to do a bigger project.

Garages:

• Break down cardboard boxes, manage your recycling and trash, sweep excess leaves and dirt to keep them from tracking into the house, and keep a path cleared between the car and the door.
• Return sports equipment, chairs, and bikes to their racks and shelves. 
• And each time you fill up with gas, empty the trash from your car right there at the gas pump!

Pantries: 

• Each time you return from the grocery store and put food away, stop and straighten up what's there. 
• Move cans and boxes for greater visibility, throw away containers with only a few crumbs left, and check for moldy bread and stale chips. 
• Reclose cereal cartons and cracker boxes that your family has left open, and remove excess packaging from large warehouse purchases like soft drinks, paper towels, and snack foods.

Entry and Exit Doors: 

• Take shoes back to bedroom closets, put errand items in your car, and clear out mail and papers. 
• Hang up coats, put dirty socks in the laundry room, and get the kids to handle their odds-and-ends of toys and school items once a week.

What we always forget : Hard work is often the easy work we did not do at the proper time. 

So What other little things could you do regularly to save yourself lots of time and effort later? Share your valuable comments with me. 

How to clean with Lemon

A Zest of lemon! This is what I want whenever I look for a cup of tea. But do you know a lemon is not only to savor our taste buds!! Lemon is one of those great cleaning agents we already have in our kitchen! The lemon's tart citric acid is great at disinfecting and can make those nasty, foul smells disappear. Cleaning with lemon always comes with very low price tag and that is always good news. Isn't it?? If you want to know further, I hope you are with me as I follow. :-)

  

1. Deodorize your Sink/basin and garbage disposal: 

The Sink, basin and garbage disposal drain can get stinky. Instead of pouring bleach down there to kill the bugs causing the odor (which can put off noxious fumes that make you cough), consider tossing a few lemon rinds down the disposal. This will help neutralize the odor naturally. It will leave instant aroma of the lemon that you will certainly feel fresh.

2. Disinfect your Cutting Board : 

Apply a good amount of lemon to your cutting board, scrub, let sit for 20 minutes, and rinse. Not only is this great for cleaning and disinfecting your cutting board, it is also great for getting rid of those nasty odors.

3. Polish metal: 

Use lemon juice that you can squeeze out of the lemon or buy already squeezed and salt to scrub those pans clean! You have made those metallic things in your living area and kitchen shine now.

4. Sanitize your microwave: 

Microwaves can get grease fast. The acid in lemons can zap germs and leave a fresh sent. Boil four tablespoons of lemon juice with one cup of water and wipe down your microwave. Lemons are one of the best solution for cleaning your microwave. The lemon solution basically does the scrubbing for you.

Another way to clean your microwave with lemon juice is to soak your sponge in lemon juice and microwave your sponge for two minutes. The lemon and water steam will loosen up the food and stains in your microwave.

5. Food Graters: 

Rub a lemon cut in half against both sides of the grater and wash. This will make the residue come off a lot easier.

6. Blast soap scum: 

Now, this is brilliant, i think. Juice six lemons and pour the contents into a spray bottle, the citric acid will dissolve soap scum! Isn't it Simple! Clean shower, any stainless still in your bath area and kitchen with it spraying the lemon juice.

7. Clean your dandruff : 

This one is quite easy rather than other messy ideas i've got so far for hair. Just rub half a lemon in your scalp 15 minutes before you wash your hair. leave it for 15 minutes. and then shampoo it. Dandruff will lessen in 6-7 washes. and you will get shiny hair textures as well. Ting Ding.

8. Clean Ink Spot : 

Apply lemon juice to the stain and wash with cold water. The citric acid is great for getting ink stains out. Only use it if the fabric is cotton, otherwise, it may get ruined.

Now, Lemon says thankx to you that you've decided to use it in your cleaning. 

How to Remove Carpet Spots

There are number of times when I get worried about the spots in the carpets. Experts have given solutions and I can't wait to share these with you in this great world of blogosphere.

Here's the method experts have found that works on most dried-in blotches in the carpets: 

Things we need to remove carpet stains: 2 Empty Spray bottles, cold water, 1/4 teaspoon dishwashing liquid, 1 cup warm water, a clean cloth, white paper towels, a heavy pot

• Take two empty spray bottles, and fill one with cold water. 
• In the other, mix 1/4 teaspoon plain dishwashing liquid and 1 cup warm water. 
• Spray the detergent solution onto an absorbent cloth (not the carpet — you don't want to wet it too much), and dab, don't rub, it on the spot. 
• As the stain dissolves, blot with a clean section of cloth. 
• Keep applying and blotting this way until the stain is gone. 
• Spray another cloth with the cold water, and use it to rinse the detergent solution from the carpet; blot again with a dry cloth. 
• Then, pile on a stack of white paper towels, and place a heavy pot on top; leave overnight to soak up any residual staining deep in the carpet. 
• In the A.M., remove the pot and toss the paper towels; fluff the fibers with your fingers and allow to air-dry.

Do you have any other household tips that are useful and can be done with whatever items we have in our home. Do share, this blogging world is amazing. You never know your simple tips may help to many.

How to use Lemon in cleaning

A Zest of Lemon ! That's what i crave for when i seriously think about getting a cup of tea. But hey, do you know that the Lemon you mostly use in the kitchen and in your food is not  only to savour your taste buds. It has many positive sides, Cleaning wise. Let's get little more familiar with Lemon and get idea for how to use Lemon in cleaning. 

1. Deodorize your garbage disposal: The garbage disposal drain can get stinky. Instead of pouring bleach down there to kill the bugs causing the odor (which can put off noxious fumes that make you cough), consider tossing a few lemon rinds down the disposal. This will help neutralize the odor naturally.

2.Polish metal: Nix the expensive, harsh chemicals and polish your flatwear and pans with a half a lemon and a little elbow grease! This is widely used in our Nepali household. 

3.Refresh your Cutting/Chopping board: Now, this is so simple and easy. To remove tough food stains from light wood and plastic cutting boards, slice a lemon in half, squeeze onto the soiled surface, rub, and let sit for 20 minutes before rinsing. The best part? You’ll have a house that smells like a lemon grove rather than chemicals.

4.Sanitize your microwave & Manage Microwave Messes: Microwaves can get grease fast. The acid in lemons can zap germs and leave a fresh sent. Fresh lemons smell clean so try this: 

Cut one in half, put the pieces in a microwave-safe bowl with water to cover, and cook on High for two to three minutes. The steam will soften hardened food inside the oven while you enjoy the citrus scent. Then grate the fruit in the garbage disposal to eliminate any musty odor and greasy gunk.

6.Blast soap scum: Um, this is brilliant: Juice six lemons and pour the contents into a spray bottle—the citric acid will dissolve soap scum!

7. Give your hair shine and remove dandruff : Now, this has been widely used as well. I don't know why but applying Lemon actually gives hair silky shine and it has been regarded as home remedy for dandruff as well. So, next time when you think of washing your hair, message the lemon in the scalp for few minutes. let it be for some more minutes, wash your hair and there you are with silky, smooth, shiny and dandruff free hair. Though you need to repeat this for at least 4-5 wash of hair to remove dandruff.