1. Scouring - Salt works as an effective yet gentle scouring agent. Salt also serves as a catalyst for other ingredients, such as vinegar, to boost cleaning and deodorizing action. For a basic soft scrub, make a paste with lots of salt, baking soda and dish soap and use on appliances, enamel, porcelain, etc.

2. Drain Cleaner - Pour salt mixed with hot water down the kitchen sink regularly to deodorize and keep grease from building up.

3. Water Ring Removal - Gently rub a thin paste of salt and vegetable oil on the white marks caused by beverage glasses and hot dishes on wooden tables

4. Grease Removal – Cast-iron skillets can be cleaned with a good sprinkling of salt and paper towels.

5. Stain Removal - Mix salt with a dab of dish soap to make a soft scrub for stubborn coffee and tea stains.

6. Deodorization - A mix of salt and soda water can be used to wipe out and deodorize the inside of your refrigerator, a nice way to keep chemical-y cleaners away from your food.

7. Brass & Copper Cleaner - Mix equal parts of salt, flour, and vinegar to make a paste, and rub the paste on the metal. After letting it sit for an hour, clean with a soft cloth or brush and buff with a dry cloth.

8. Rust Removal - Mix salt and cream of tartar with just enough water to make a paste. Rub on rust, let dry, brush off and buff with a dry, soft cloth. You can also use the same method with a mix of salt and lemon.

9. Coffee Pot Cleansing - Add salt and ice cubes to a coffee pot, swirl around vigorously, and rinse. The salt scours the bottom, and the ice helps to agitate it more for a better scrub.

Have you tried any of these tips? How did they work for you?

Sources: Mother Nature Network

Sources: ColumbusParent.com, HouseCleaningCentral.com, & ehow.com

Encouraged by my friend Vanessa Prentice, I made egg dyes from edible materials this year. I was surprised to find that natural dyes are easy to make, completely safe to consume, and don’t stain your fingertips.

I made dyes from purple cabbage, red beet, and ground tumeric, pictured left to right above. Other edibles that Vanessa recommends include blueberries (purple color), tea (light brown), and coffee (dark brown). Green is a particularly difficult color to achieve, she says.

I boiled the edible materials in water with a splash of vinegar to act as a mordant. A mordant is a chemical that encourages dye to attach to a surface. These mixes simmered until the colorful edible until the liquid was brightly colored, about an hour.

Interested in learning more? Read the rest of the article here: Hounds in the Kitchen

- Cover the stains with vinegar and let sit for an hour. Vinegar is a natural deodorizer.

- Make a paste out of a mixture of baking soda and either water or vinegar, and use it to scrub any stained areas.

- My personal favorite – set the container out in the sun! You’ve seen what the sun does to candy wrappers on the ground. Imagine what it’ll do to that new tomato stain on your otherwise perfectly good container! A few hours should do the trick.

- Fill the container with water and drop in a denture-cleaning tablet. (What did you think grandpa’s new teeth were made of?)

Of course, with any of these cleaning methods you’ll want to be sure to wash and rinse your container thoroughly before using it again. But with any luck, you’ll get past any lingering odor and actually want to keep using it after trying one of these cleaning tips.

Bonus tip: Did you know you could use that last tip to clean jewelry that’s dulled? Yep, a Polident tab will have your favorite diamond ring sparkling like new in no time! (You may want to do a little research before dropping in colored stones, though.)

Go ahead and give one of these methods for deodorizing plastic a try, then let me know which one worked best for you. I’d love to know!

sources: altuse.com

Surface Cleaning

Many of the nicer new tubs are made from acrylic or fiberglass, which is great to look at, but scratches easily.

You’ll want to be sure to read the label on any surface cleaners to make sure they’re non-abrasive and approved for use on acrylic. Likewise, no scratchy pads can be used. You’ll need to have a stash of soft rags and clean sponges available, and you’ll want to clean the tub often (about once each week) so that there’s never any difficult-to-remove build-up to make cleaning those surfaces a challenge.

Jets

Jets can be cleaned with a rag dipped in bleach after your weekly surface cleaning or whenever you start to see any sort of build-up on them.

Internal Pipes and Parts

To keep your tub lines free from bacteria and soap scum, do the following once each month if you’re a regular tub user (if you’re more of an occasional user, you can probably get away with once a quarter). If you don’t use a professional cleaning service, it’s best to pick a date (say the 1st of each month) and plan to do it then.

• Fill the tub with hot water (you can do this after your bath but before you drain it to conserve water) to at least a couple of inches above the highest jets.
• Add 1/2 Cup bleach and 1/8 Cup powdered, low-sud dishwashing detergent such as powdered Cascade.
• Run the jets (but no air) with the mixture in the tub for 10 – 15 minutes; drain tub.
• Refill with fresh cold water.
• Run the jets again for 10 – 15 minutes to clear the pipes of your cleanser; drain tub.
• Do a quick surface clean with your favorite non-abrasive surface cleanser.

It’s always a good idea to read your owner’s manual first since some tubs are made a little differently and the manual should recommend products, list products to avoid, and give you specific details on the best way to clean the lines (having the air off is common, but some manufacturers want the air on full).

Do you have a luxury tub? What methods have you used to keep it running smoothly and keep it clean?

Sources: ehow.com and thefuntimesguide.com

1. Take baby steps – Set small goals for yourself and then work through them. It’s not realistic to declutter your entire house in a day, perhaps not even in a weekend! So pick a space, and set a realistic, specific, measurable goal. “I’m going to work through 1/2 of the spare bedroom before I go to bed tonight.”

2. Decide what you’re going to DO with all the stuff you’re sorting before you even start. If you read my article a couple of months ago on Coping with Cabin Fever, it should come as no surprise that I recommend the 4-Container Method: Trash – Donate/Sell – Store – Put Away – with heavy emphasis on the trash and donate/sell categories.

3. Pick a corner and go! Because you have a specific goal, you’ll want to move through the space somewhat systematically. So start at one end of the space and work your way over to a clear stopping point.

4. Move all of the things that are getting trashed, stored, donated or sold out of the space you’re working. I use my car as a staging area for things that are being donated (I’m that much more likely to actually get them to the drop point) and store and label like items with like in those handy plastic storage containers in the basement. You might do the same with items you’re holding on to for your next community garage sale.

5. Stop when you’ve reached your goal. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t keep going if you’re inspired and have the time, but it’s perfectly ok to stop when you said you were going to stop and celebrate achieving your goal. Good job, you!

Getting overwhelmed trying to decide between keeping, storing, or donating certain items? Have a friend (or your cleaning lady!) join you. They’ll have a fresh perspective on all that baggage you may be struggling to let go of. Or use the 90 day rule that one of my clients uses – If she hasn’t touched something in 90 days and it’s not seasonal (ex. holiday decorations), beautiful (a piece of art that you love, but rotate through storage to keep your home looking fresh), or sentimental… It’s gotta go. Another way to work through a sorting slump is to ask yourself two questions (and be willing to answer them honestly): Do you love it? Do you need it? If you can’t come up with an honest “yes” to either question, move the item along to its next destination in life. Someone else can benefit from it and you’ll both be happier!

I challenge you to pick an area, try my 5-step method, and let me know how it worked for you!

Cleaning for Heroes is committed to promoting a healthy, clean home environment for our disabled or elderly community heroes and their families. They accomplish this mission by providing free house cleaning services to help make their lives easier, as well as other services such as window cleaning, carpet cleaning, air duct cleaning, landscaping, pest control and much, much more! Mosaic Cleaning is proud to be a Charter Member of this organization.

Whether our heroes belong to the United States Military, our local police force or fire department, providing free cleaning services is our way of saying “Thank you!” for the sacrifices our community heroes make every day for us, our community and our country.

Add a single teaspoon of baking soda to the drum of the washing machine with your load of clothes to cut odors!

Green Window Solution – First-time Green Clean

2 C water
1/4 C white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp liquid dish soap or detergent

Combine in a labeled bottle, spray and wipe just as with a commercial product. For extra dirty windows, try warming up full-strength white distilled vinegar and using it directly on the tough spots.

Standard Green Window Solution

1 C water
1 C white distilled vinegar

Combine in a labeled spray bottle, spray and wipe as usual.

Green Window Wiping

Cloth leaves lint, which is not terribly effective when you’re aiming for sparkling clean glass. Paper towels are cleaner, but wasteful. Reusing old newsprint is both effective on glass and green, but it tends to leave your fingers (and your surrounding paint and sills) smudged with ink. Microfiber works pretty well, but can sometimes pick up dust and grit, especially when you’re working outside. And that’s why I recommend an inexpensive hand-held window squeegee for removing cleaning fluid from glass. The benefits are that you only need a single reusable cloth to keep the squeegee functioning, the squeegee can be used over and over again, and you end up with completely streak-free glass (and shower surrounds) once you’ve mastered using it. How’s that for green cleaning?

What have you used that worked or didn’t work? I’d love to hear, so leave a comment.

That being said, this week’s post is about my 2011 goals for Mosaic Cleaning. It’s that time of year, and my friends over at LightSwitch Creative do a really excellent job of sitting me down, asking the right questions to get to the bottom of what’s important to me both personally and professionally, and then helping me set realistic, achievable, measurable goals to drive the business from where it is to where I want it to be. Without giving too much away, here are some of my goals for 2011.

Financial

• Gross income of X by EOY
• Increase client base by 80% by EOY
• 1 New realtor or commercial cleaning client by EOY

Customer & Partner

• 2 Contribution cleanings per month via Cleaning for Heroes
• 1 Blog post per week
• Distribute client packets by Q2

Internal Process

• Cold contact average of one lead per week
• Trademark the concept of the Co-Clean™ by Q1 (completed)
• Get Cleaning for Heroes buttons on the site by Q1
• Move from dba to LLC by Q2
• Detail processes by Q2

Learning & Growth

• Network with other cleaners and/or business owners once per month
• 2 Weeks vacation by EOY
• Enroll in targeted training courses by Q1
• Obtain specialized cleaning certification by EOY

So there you have it. These are the things I want for myself and for Mosaic Cleaning in 2011. Here’s to another full and awesome year!

Have questions about specific goals or the strategy I’m using to drive my business? Or maybe you’ve got experience with similar goals you’ve worked toward in the past that you’d like to share? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!