I Can Clean the Crap Out of A Closet....

....Literally.  That is what we did this weekend.  We are trying to go through the boxes in our garage while also doing some purging inside our home.  This weekend's task?  To purge linens.  So we cleaned out our very small linen closet and all boxes in the garage marked linens.  Remember we were going to try to sell.  Yeah, well we packed stuff up to thin out the house, got a storage unit and then never listed.  So several months ago hubby cleared out the storage unit and it all ended up in our garage.  Man do we have a lot of junk.  Here is the final result of the linen closet.

To some of you this may still appear messy, but before this weekend you could barley shut the door. Every time we washed towels or sheets, I would feel panicked about where I was going to store them.

We plan to tackle a little each weekend. Soon we will feel good about the progress and the condition of our home.

I also realized that I have two huge boxes of unused Partylite items and yet another box unaccounted for, filled with Partylite candles. I am thinking I need to just sell the Partylite accessories, but I am nervous. Has anyone else sold items on eBay? How was your experience? Any tips and/or tricks you can offer?



Giveaway and Sticky Floor Update

Jess over at In the Sky With Diamonds is having a fabulous giveaway!  A $60 giftcard to CSN Stores to be exact!

If I win, these are a few items I have my eyes on.

We have been looking for new rugs forever and I LOVE theis style.  We have two areas that need rugs and this design would be perfect!

I am currently tortured with a stationary faucet and a too shallow sink.  So this would fix half of the problem.  They also had tons of sinks, I just could not decide.  I am pretty set on a white farmhouse sink.

Onto other news - an update on the sticky floor situation.  As I have mentioned, before I ventured into the non-profit world I had my own cleaning business for a number of years.  So I really set out to figure out the sticky floor situation.  Know what I discovered?  1) I am not cleaning them often enough 2) the stickiness is from all of the extra fruit consumption in the house.

The culprits are pictured below.

  The cute baldy flings fruit - not poo, like most monkeies and the other cute girl likes to wander while she eats.  The way I was able to solve this was with my handy Bissel Steam Mop for my tile and my Orange Glo Mop for my hardwoods.  Now, I only use the Orange GLo Mop damp with water day-to-day.  If I am going to do a good thorough cleaning than I use the solution.  This system helps keep your floors looking fresh and shiney.  I have used other woodfloor cleaning products I prefer Orange Glo, in the spray bottle.  Just a note I am not paid by either company with money or product to say these things.  I have experience to back this up.  I like to find the best way to clean with the least amount of work.  I also obviously can't stand for anything to be sticky or gross - so it HAS to work!

Happy cleaning and get over to see Jess and enter!

A Bissell Rave

Okay so I rant a lot on my blog.  Today I want to rectify that just a little with a huge RAVE for Bissell.

As I have mentioned I had my own cleaning business for about 2 years.  I enjoyed the flexibility and I made pretty good money.  It was not good for my cuticles.  When I first started cleaning I bought one of these.

Love this thing. It cleans great. I use it on my tile at home and when I cleaned I used it on linoleum. I have used it on my wood floors but I don't suggest it. And DO NOT use it on laminate floors.

I needed new mop head covers, they are generally $19.95 for a 2pack and I have yet to find them in a store. A few weeks ago I found them on bissell.com for $9.95 for the 2pack so I ordered them and when I went to pay I kept getting an error. I was hugely frustrated because it said the price was good while supplies lasted. I was starting to panic. So I emailed Bissell and a few days later I get an email stating they were just going to mail me some out. I was never charged and they mailed me a 2 pack that I received days after I received the email. Just when I had given up hope on the big companies a company like Bissell does something like this - you know - great customer service! I thought customer service was dead. This was WAY above and beyond.  It was a GREAT experience.  Thank you Bissell!!

Let's Clean Tomorrow

I know I promised cleaning today but after an AMAZING concert last night and cleaning 6500 sqft today and the need to do some of my own cleaning; I can't bear the thought of thinking about anymore today. So let's clean tomorrow.

I will say the Killers concert was AWESOME. If you have ever heard of Red Rocks you know it is an amazing venue but a little bit of a hike. If you have not heard of it look it up and find a show to go too - you will not regret it. I have lived in Colorado forever and I got a little woosy from the altitude when we got there and feel pretty bad today. But MAN what a show. They are the oddest looking band but they but on one good show.

Has anyone found the spell check on the new editor? I am cutting and pasting into Word to check mine.

Super Clean - Super Green

**EDITED** See below.
As I mentioned on Tuesday I wanted to share with you a product that I use ALL the time. When I first started cleaning it was a gift from a friend who has cleaned houses for many years. This thing is AWESOME!! Many of my clients have purchased their own and they last a very long time. I have had mine for about 2 years now. It is called The Super Cloth - seriously it is Super. The best part is you do not use chemicals with it and you can use it to dry things like tubs and sinks after you clean them. So no more paper towels either.


picture from supercloth.com

On Sunday hubby had to go into work so I started to clean. It is so easy to clean with this Super CLoth that I ended up cleaning my windows throughout my house and even the window sills. The Super Cloth cleans windows and mirrors with just a few swipes and does not leave streaks. It cuts down on cleaning time by a big margin.

How to use: Rinse in water and squeeze out excess water. You do not need to use chemicals.
What to use it on: You can dust with the super cloth, use it on tile in the shower, mirrors, fixtures, windows. I also use mine on on the TV and Computer screen but I make sure the cloth has been rung out very well. You can also dry things after you clean them.
Warning: If not rinsed and laid out to dry it can start to smell. You can use a little dish soap or hand soap to freshen it up.

I promise you will NOT regret this purchase. I have touched on some of the uses for the Super Cloth, if you have one already let me know what you use yours on. When you get yours let me know other ways you use the Super Cloth.

*EDIT*
What it is: The Super cloth is made of Polyamide base. It feels like rubber/micro suede. That is the best description I can think of. It works almost like a squeege to wipe water towards a drain. It does absorb water, so as you dry an area you wringe it out to get rid of the excess water and continue drying. I believe the reason it works so great on so many surfaces is because of the texture of the material. The texture is soft enough to be used on windows, mirrors, computer screens, tv screens and tile. It gently scrubs off things such as soap scum on tile or toothpaste off of a mirror. The cloth also works great on shower doors! After you have cleaned an area you just rinse, wringe out and keep going. I hope this information helps.

Hello - Anyone There?

Yes I am here but I am BUSY! I have not been posting often lately, sorry. It has been crazy but I think things will settle down soon. What I mean by settle down is there will actually be a set schedule. I can handle almost anything - as long as there is a schedule.

Before I had the baby I had my own cleaning business. I was not going to go back to work but have decided to take back a few of my houses. I actually really like the alone time involved in cleaning and the houses I clean are all people I have known a long time. On top of this I was offered a position doing bookkeeping/office tasks. It is a great position with a non-profit organization that provides children tutoring for reading. I am really enjoying the work so far and my co-workers. A great part of the job is that I can do 90% of the work from home. So I will be at the office a few hours 1 day a week and clean 2 days a week. SO the girls will be in daycare 2 days a week. This is a great arrangement because my daycare provider does a great preschool program so LD will have school 2 days a week. I also love planning special things to do 2 days of the week versus 5.

So this is where I have been I have some post ideas for this week to include the miracle cleaning solution - that is green!

Pregnancy - Ding...I am done!

As I sit in bed with ice packs on my feet I realize the time has come - well this baby needs to come. I still have 4 weeks but my body and mind are physically done. Unfortunately everything else is not done. I still need to paint the room and set the crib back up. Clean out our guest room, because after the flood it became a storage unit and my in-laws will be staying in there once the baby is born. I have recently stopped working all but one day a week. Of course I had dreams of grandeur, getting things organized and perfect. In reality what I am able to do is huff and puff my way around the house picking up after everyone, do the dishes, and some laundry. I am huge and my body feels like I have an extra hundred pounds and an extra hundred years on it. Wait when does the pregnancy glamour start?

Another realization I had tonight is I have some serious issues with holding on to things. I keep and buy lots. I have dreams of a simplified house with just necessities and a few fun things. What I have is a ton of used to be fun things and fun things. Nothing seems fun though because I can't figure out where to put it, so it just becomes a chore. I am a stamper so I have boxes and boxes of stamp supplies that I am trying to put back in my stamp closet. I got five boxes put away tonight. In doing so I realized I need to purge because the cabinet is out of room and I still have a good five boxes to put away. This year I came to the conclusion I don't actually have a stamping hobby, I have a shopping habit. So everything I have is barely used. I also have every card I have made at a party, club or camp since 1996. I am sure if you are doing the math right now you can figure how many that might be. The other two items that I collect a lot of are purses and and candles. I get invited to so many candle parties and I say I won't buy - but I'm gonna buy. What is the best strategy to conquering this problem? I think if I were able to purge I would feel a lot less frantic. Have a spot to put everything, nothing looks too cluttered, I could actually use my counter for cooking and my table for eating. I do cook and we do eat at the table every night but again it is a huge chore!

Well I am off to bed - nope I just remembered an unfinished project. Goodnight!