Awesome Summer Cleaning Ideas
Posted on 26/06/2020
Quick Cleaning Tricks for the Summer Season
We know that house cleaning is not going to be among your top priorities over the summer months - particularly as you will want to take a hard-earned rest on leave in the (fleetingly!) fine weather. But the summer period either means children home for the school holidays, or you’re gearing up for the summer party season, which means… a lot of cleaning. But, not to worry! Here are a few nifty home cleaning tips for making light work of the usual stuff, as well as keeping your home summer-ready.
Keep flies out with non-toxic methods
With the windows and doors likely to be open a lot more over the warmer period, you can expect lots of flies, moths and other creatures to be flying in through those open gaps. The sticky pads on flies’ feet serve to anchor them but also spread unseemly traces of rotting food and faeces around, which is deposited when they land on your food.
If you have a fan or two at home, consider allowing the airflow to blow across your fruit bowl and any open standing food sources – this way flies can’t land anywhere near to spoil them.
Some gentle insecticides derived from Chrysanthemums are poisonous enough to repel the creepy crawlies, but break down on exposure to oxygen and sunlight. They also don’t harm bees and other flying insects and don’t cause a toxic build-up of insecticides in your home.
Make use of leftovers as cleaning supplies
Lemons, vinegar, even vodka – all these make excellent mould and mildew removers. Lemon juice over grout and high shine metal surfaces makes for a gleaming finish, and leaves a pleasant aroma when you’re done. Allow to soak and wipe off with a dry or very slightly rinsed microfiber cloth. These products are the best things to use when it comes to eco-friendly domestic cleaning.
Vodka, although a bit pongy till it dries off (good job the open windows can aerate the area then) makes a very effective mould, mildew and stain remover from any surface, including upholstery. When it dries off, it is actually a powerful deodorizer as well. It is actually quite expensive an affair to clean your home with vodka but it is very effective and environmentally friendly. Cleaning your property in summer may seem easy but you need to keep some things in mind:
Invest in installing an outside tap
An excellent safety feature for barbecue season, a tap with which you can use an outdoor hose means a quick solution to any fiery mishap.
It also makes light work of patio and outdoor furniture cleaning, as it enables you to blast away unsightly mould from the patio and even tables and chairs.
Cleaning out the rubbish bins will be made a lot easier, which is important because uncleaned bins become a breeding ground for flies. A female can lay as many as 600 eggs in batches of up to 150 - resulting in thousands upon thousands of hatched flies in under two weeks, as they reach adulthood from larvae in this time.
Stave off sticky fingers from your furniture
Youngsters can be messy at the best of times and leave handprints all over your glass, wood and other hard surfaces, not to mention impenetrable stains on your soft furnishings. So, for wooden tables, fridges and more, use a citrusy, oil based furniture polish to clean, leave a pleasant aroma and leave a surface resistant to further fingerprinting and marking.
React a little bicarbonate of soda with vinegar in 50/50 vinegar and warm water to get stains out of cushions, upholstery and carpets, without ruining the dyes. This is the best way to deal with upholstery and carpet cleaning.
Keep your bathroom fan on during and after your bath or shower
This will prevent many hours scrubbing mould and mildew from the walls, tiles and shower curtain. Keeping the fan on for at least half an hour after you finish bathing should remove excess moisture from the air and prevent the mould and mildew from setting in. This will save you a lot of time and money on bathroom cleaning.
Remember to clean seasonal items too
Very often paddling pools, water toys, armbands and beach balls are forgotten about when zipping round the home for a clean-up. When everybody is finished with splashing about in the paddling pool, or any other garden water feature, remember to pick up these items and give a wipe down with some vinegar. This eliminates the need for harsh chemicals and is safe for young skin. It also prevents all the fun trappings from getting grimy if left outside for longer than intended. It goes a long way to prevent eye and skin irritation and infections, too. Summer cleaning will be easier and much simpler if you follow these useful tips.
