I recently read this article about how a family eliminates clutter from their lives. Every new year they throw out the equivalent to the year’s value in stuff. Yes, 2017 means 2,017 items go bye bye.
I feel like I would have nothing left if I did that! But it got me thinking about how having less sometimes gives you more. So for the month of April, in honor of spring cleaning, our team decided to share eight killer tricks to keep things clean and organized.
Trick #1 – Closet Organization
If you already have a spic and span closet, then hats off to you. But the rest of us understand the epic battle that ensues when attempting to get things in and out of our closets.
Kendra, Marketing Director: “I used to have a huge problem with my closet. Finding things was terrible, and trying to get things in and out was a battle. So, I did two things that have changed my closet forever. The first thing was purchasing slim line hangers for everything. They save so much space, it’s almost unbelievable. The second thing was setting a hanger limit. Now, when I go shopping I’m much more selective because I know for every new item I buy, an old one is going to come out.”
Trick #2 – Keeping Things Smelling Fresh
If you’re a pet lover, then you already know that no matter how much cleaning you do there’s always that “pet aroma”. Luckily, there’s a cheap and easy way to keep your house smelling fresh.
Megan, Insurance & Finance Administrator: “Living in a house with 4 dogs and 2 cats can really make the house smell dirty even right after I’ve cleaned everything. My favorite thing to do, in order for things to smell fresh, is to put ‘Downy Unstoppables’ in my wax burner. They’re cheaper than the wax cubes, and they make the whole house smell like clean laundry.”
Trick #3 – Dust Free Fans
Have you ever been laying down in your bed and you happen to look up and see a scary amount of dust built up on your fan blades? Allergies are bad enough in the Palmdale and Lancaster area, so keeping a room dust free is beneficial. The problem with dusting a fan is that it seems to make dust go everywhere.
Wouldn’t a solution to that be amazing?! Read on my friends, read on.
Diala, Patient Care Associate: “Clean ceiling fan blades with a pillow case. If you’re anything like me, you have about a dozen extra pillow cases laying around in the spare closet (wait, is it just me?)
Just slip a pillow case onto the blades of your ceiling fan, and then wipe the blades off inside the case. No more dust in your face! So quick and easy too!”
Trick #4 – Minimize Your Wardrobe
It can be hard to throw out clothes. Particularly, if they still have tags on them (you ladies know what I’m talking about). And of course, we probably have our “just in case” clothes which includes sizes that we no longer fit in. But eventually, we are all faced with the fact that we just have too many clothes! And the sad part is you probably only wear the same 12 items.
This is a genius way to know which clothes you should keep, and which you should let go.
Terrie, Registered Dental Assistant: “When you need to minimize the amount of clothes in your closet but you don’t know which ones to change out, you can hang all your clothes on hangers backwards on the rod. Then at the end of the season or at the end of the year, the hangers that are still backwards are clothes that were not worn and can be donated.”
Trick #5 – Squeaky Clean Microwave
Who really likes cleaning the microwave? Let’s be honest — they’re an awkward shape inside, which makes it hard to wipe around in there. And if you have a family who somehow manages to explode every dish of food, then cleaning the microwave is indeed a pain.
Luckily Peggy, a mother of five kids, is sharing an easy cleaning hack to make all of our lives easier.
Dr. Powell’s wife and our Myofunctional Therapist, Peggy: “I’ve been doing this for years and it makes cleaning the microwave easy. Boil a little bit of water in a dirty microwave for 3 minutes, and then easily wipe it clean!”
Trick #6 – Descale Hard Water Buildup
We’er all busy, and adding extra time to try to scrub away hard water buildups is no bueno. So, I’m sure that we can all appreciate anything that makes the removal process a cinch.
Brian, Registered Dental Hygienist: “Are you tired of the hard water stains that accumulate around your water dispenser? Using Coca Cola can remove these mineral deposits. It really works and makes you wonder if coke is strong enough to remove hard water deposits, then what does it do to your teeth and body? Makes you wonder…”
Trick #7 – Clean & Soft Makeup Brushes
Sorry guys, this one is for the ladies! Unless you also happen to own a couple makeup brushes.
You probably spent good money on those brushes and if you don’t take care of them, then that investment starts to deteriorate (sounds a lot like what happens with teeth that aren’t being cared for!)
Aja, Hygiene Assistant: “Every other month I love to condition my makeup brushes with coconut oil to keep the bristles clean and soft. It works like a charm. I use a tbsp after washing with a mild shampoo or baby shampoo to prevent breakage of the bristles.”
Trick #8 – Make a Burnt Pan Like New
I think we’ve all burnt food in a pan or pot at least once in our lifetime. And do you remember how long it took you to get the burnt food off? Practically forever, right? I know I had a pan that I thought was for sure trash because the burn was so bad.
But amazingly, this trick seriously worked!
Michelle, Hygiene Coordinator: “If you’ve ever burned food in a pot or pan, then you know how hard it is to clean. Next time just create a paste with baking soda and a little water, scrub with a scourer, and the pan will scrub clean!”
We hope that you enjoyed these 8 tricks to keep things clean and organized. We’d love for you to join us on Facebook, interact with us, and see more great stuff from our team!
