How to spring clean your house like a pro

How to spring clean your house like a pro

Spring is FINALLY here and I swear all I want to do is throw all the doors and windows open, diffuse some essential oils and sing Alleluia [cause the Canadian winters are so GOSH DARN LONG]. But the amount of clutter that has accumulated in my house while we've been cooped up is kinda embarrassing. I seriously need to take my own de-clutter challenge. 

This week I am most definitely going to tidy up- and if you are too here are some tips that really help me and my family.

1. MAKE MONEY ON VARAGESALE

When possible, I like to make money on items that I no longer need. With the various ages and stages of my six kids, selling my gently used and new stuff that just doesn't work for me anymore helps to keep the clutter low, and put money in my pocket for new items they will inevitably need. But I have often stayed away from it from the sheer hassle of posting the item, taking photos, waiting for people who don't show up, or playing telephone tag or email tag forever. At the end of the day the inconvenience was just not worth it. But recently, I posted on my Facebook wall for recommendations on an efficient way to sell my no longer wanted items and someone suggested the online app VarageSale– and let me tell you, my efficiency woes have been solved. 

It's an app that makes buying and selling new and used items really efficient, and super safe. People are rated based on their ability to communicate and show up for their purchase or sale, and all communication is done through the app so you're not chasing people so to speak on various forms of communication. I have bought and sold baby items, home decor items, even clothing.  And I have yet to have one person not show up, or haggle me at the door or anything like that. So clean out all your unwanted stuff, make your house loose a few pounds and make money at the same time : ) 

2. DEEP CLEAN AND PROTECT WITH CONCROBIUM MOLD CONTROL

Now that your house is a little lighter, let's deep clean it. I was recently introduced to Concrobium Mold Control Spray– this safe for people and the environment spray creates a protective layer to inhibit mold from growing on surfaces like wood, drywall, metal and plastic. I just used it to clean, and protect my plastic outdoor dining chairs, and used it to get rid of an unfortunate layer of mold that built up in my mini bar fridge that we turned off [but never cleaned- gross]. 

And then for all the winter items that you might be putting into bins for the season and storing in a potentially damp place like under the stairs, or your basement, consider using Concrobium Moisture Grabbers. These packets absorb moisture in a small space, which will help to ensure mold does not grow. Use it in bins, under the stairs, under sinks- anywhere moisture may cause mold. It uses the same materials found in diapers which I think it pretty cool. They can also help absorb gross smells in gym bags- love that. 

3. WASH YOUR DISHWASHER

We renovated our house a few years ago and put in a new suite of appliances– but lol, I learned the hard way that proper maintenance of appliances is important, especially in a house like mine where appliance run more than once a day. Do you know you are supposed to wash your dishwasher??? I did not- and apparently I am not the only one as only 27% of Canadians have cleaned the interior of their dishwashers in the last twelve months. From regular use, minerals build up on the interior of your dishwasher that can inhibit it from performing optimally. This can be solved super quickly by running a packet of Affresh in your dishwasher in a cycle [it's also sae to use with dishes in the appliance]. Affresh works with all major dishwasher brands and can be picked up on your weekly grocery run. 

4. BRING IN THE PRETTY

Now that the house is all cleaned, bring in some pretty. I am a big fan of the convenience Bouclair brings to my life. In one aisle, Bouclair curates on-trend, colour coordinated collections- which make bringing the pretty in after you have spring cleaned just so easy and efficient. Favourites for me include their marble serving platters, concrete candle holders, printed napkins for easy entertaining and coloured trays. 

IA great big thank you to these brands for partnering with me on this sponsored post. I love to work with brands that bring value, efficiency and beauty to my life, and I hope to yours as well. 

iRobot product review

iRobot product review

With 5 kids under 6 years of age the opportunity to sit down is ALWAYS WELCOME. So when I was offered the opportunity to test out the iRobot Braava I was very excited. So were my kids, let me tell you! 

The pros: This is a pretty nifty piece of technology. A small cube (placed on my island in the video) is essentially the GPS system for the unit. The mop navigates its way through a room and backs up at area rugs, baseboards, furniture pieces. The little guy weaved its way through all the legs of my stools on my kitchen island and under benches and side tables. And inspection of the microfibre cloth that comes with the unit revealed how dirty my floors were- and all done without me exerting much energy at all (I did run around with the vacuum first and made sure that there were no crayons or other things that could get under the mop and be dragged around).

The cons: The cloth doesn’t really scrub- so if you have dried liquid spills or sticky stuff don’t rely on it to clean up that mess. And don’t attempt to use this with toddlers around- I tried to use this with my 1 year old on the prowl and she kept pressing the buttons and copnfusing the poor little guy’s mopping path.

Time saving strategy: It is suggested in the instructions that you monitor the unit so it doesn’t fall down stairs or drag potential harmful things that would mark your floors under it. But of course I need time hacks! Earlier this week, I was getting ready for a girlfriend to come over to meet our new baby and I realized in a mild panic our bathroom was horrendous. The Braava saved the day- I checked the floor first, put the unit in, closed the door and by the time my friend was over I had clean floors. Pretty awesome tool in my time starved life. 

If you want to save time on mopping your floors check out the product here. And for more products that save on my cleaning up time check out my newest article over at SavvyMom.ca!

What cleaning time hacks have you got? Love to know in the comments below! 

Affiliate link used.