The kids are back at school. After six weeks of quickly shaking the duvets, running around with a feather duster, and giving the bath a rapid wipe round, now you can contemplate a bit of a deep clean, to get the house back together. Try these few tips to help make the process a little easier.
• Crayon marks can be removed with white toothpaste. Wipe on with a dry cloth, and wipe off with the same.
• Spray biro scribbles with an aerosol hairspray, then wipe clean.
• Use this opportunity to clear all the broken and unused toys from the kids’ toy cupboard, ready for the new Christmas arrivals.
• Clear out the food cupboards of all those out of date treats the kids’ wanted, but have never eaten.
• Get an extension for the feather duster, and get into those hard to reach places to remove cobwebs.
While you contemplate dragging the vacuum from the cupboard, here are a few little known vacuum facts that might just give you the edge in a pub quiz.
• Hubert Cecil Booth patented the first powered vacuum cleaner in 1901.
• So large, it was set on wheels, and pulled from house to house by a horse.
• His ‘Vacuum Cleaner Company Ltd’ was commissioned to clean Westminster Abbey in 1902, ready for the coronation of Edward VII.
• It was 1908, when William Henry Hoover manufactured the first genuinely portable upright vacuum cleaner. The design came from a patent his cousin James Spangler had registered, for a dust-sucking machine he had invented to reduce his asthma.
Okay, we started with a few handy tips, but if you want to get down and dirty like the professionals, check out these tips for speedy cleaning.
• Use clean lint free rags rather than paper towels.
• Using lots of cleaning product doesn’t equal faster cleaning. In fact often the opposite is true.
• Always start from the top and work down.
• Don’t jump from one side of the room to the other. Pick a point and work your way around clockwise.
• Stay focussed, don’t be sidetracked by those old photos, or you’ll still be cleaning when the kids get home from school.
• Make sure your vac is in tip-top shape to get done as quickly as possible.
• If it’s one of those dark autumn days, put the lights on. Make things as bright as possible.
• Set yourself a time to complete, and get stuck in.
• And finally, clean door handles, fridge handles, and light switches make things look a whole lot better, but don’t be overly fussy.
Sources:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/1745642/with-the-school-holidays-over-mrs-crunch-has-some-cheap-and-easy-tips-to-help-you-get-your-house-back-in-order/
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/top10facts/705014/top-ten-facts-about-Vacuum-Cleaners
http://www.ntnews.com.au/lifestyle/nine-ways-pro-cleaners-get-your-home-to-sparkle-in-under-an-hour/news-story/ff036d5048b4ed90c45871753b9bbf32