Last week I talked about portable tool organizers, a topic that’s dear to my heart now that I’ve begun my springtime cleanup. Having a mess of screws, glues, tape and tools tangled together inside my front-hall closet was causing me to curse. Now that I’ve got that under control, it’s time to tackle the rest of the house.If you’ve ever worked in a professional kitchen, or even watched shows on The Food Network, you know the French term “mise en place,” which means, loosely, “put in place” or “prepared and ready to use.” The term is equally applicable to every room in the house, but especially shared areas. Is there anything more annoying than looking for something—scissors, bike tire pump, the remote—and discovering it’s nowhere to be found?

Luckily, the web is full of home organizing tips, although like exercise and dieting sites, most offer “the easy way” rather than giving effective, realistic tips. There are some gems though:

Organized Home is like an online magazine dedicated exclusively to getting your home in order. While it may drift into women’s magazine clichés (“Many hands make light work! Reward the team with dinner at a pizza parlor!”), it does contain some great ideas for cutting clutter and getting kids motivated to help clean.

Organization can become a personal religion for some—that’s why some of us dust and vacuum when we’re feeling anxious—and it follows that those who are passionate about keeping clean become tidying evangelists. Blogger Tracy runs a site dedicated to her passion: tips and techniques for an efficient, well-organized house. Tips to Organize Life includes room-by-room plans for keeping clutter at bay, and runs the gamut from a step-by-step checklist for the bathroom to creating a schedule for your home office.

OnlineOrganizing.com has a very cool tool in its clickable house; click on a room and up pops a list of organization tips and ideas. The site also features a clickable office, 15-minute quick fixes and checklists used by professional organizers.

Most often, the obstacle to getting organized is knowing when to let go of useless clutter and collections and how to keep regular, everyday items in their mise en place. General rule: if it’s something you use regularly, keep it in an easily accessible spot; if it’s something you use infrequently, put it away and take note of where it’s hidden so the next time you need that tire pump ASAP, you won’t need to tear apart the garage to find it. Now where did I put that note …

You have probably heard of a thousand different techniques for stain removal - everyone has been taught something different by their mothers, but certain elements will always help when you find yourself with a stain on your rug. The following is a brief and simple tutorial that should cover the majority of common household stains. Using carbonated water in place of normal water in our experience has more beneficial effects and will not harm the material.

1) Act immediately.
2) Scrape off any solids or lumps with a table knife or spoon.
3) Do not rub or scrub the stain - this may permanently distort the carpet fibres.
4) Soak up the stain with clean white towels or paper towels by pressing on stain. Keep repeating with a fresh towel surface until there are no more stain transfers to towel.
5) For all water soluble stains such as coffee, wine, soft drinks and food stuffs, use Turco-Persian’s Carpet Stain Remover, or mix 1 tsp of laundry detergent with 8 oz of warm water. Dab solution onto stain and repeat above absorption with towelling. Repeat procedure as long as stain is coming out. Be careful not to oversoak rug.
6) When no more stain is coming onto the towel, get a fresh bath towel, fold it 3-4 times in half and place on stained area. Place a telephone book on top of towel. Leave for 24-36 hours.
7) If any trace of stain remains, wipe gently with a mild solution of white vinegar. (i.e. 1 oz vinegar to 6 oz cold water).

FOR URINE

1) Soak up immediately.
2) Dab on straight solution of white vinegar if stain is still wet to neutralize fresh urine.
3) Repeat folded towel procedure as above.

FOR GUM, GREASE, SHOE POLISH, OILY TYPE STAINS

1) Spot clean with odourless mineral spirits (readily available at hardware stores).
2) Put on towel & wipe the spot.
3) Do not soak rug.

Courtesy of Turco Persian Rug Company Ltd - Unbeatable for over a 100 years.

Ceramic tile requires minimal floor care compared to most other flooring types, but there are a few things you need to do to maintain the beauty of the ceramic tile floor.

Wash Regularly
Wash the floor regularly to remove any dirt or grit. Use a mild, diluted household detergent solution. Regular cleaning will help in the prevention of stains and abrasions. After washing with a mild detergent you should thoroughly rinse the floor with clean, warm water every time.

Vacuum Regularly
Sweep, or vacuum your glazed tile regularly. This will help remove larger particles of dirt that could scratch and damage your tiles.

Wipe Spills Immediately
Liquids spills may be wiped up with an all-purpose household cleaner. This will also help the grout joints from becoming discolored from possible stains.

Avoid Ammonia-based Cleaners
Ammonia-based cleaners may discolor some types of colored grout.

Never Wax a Tile
The glazed ceramic finish should never be waxed.

Grout Sealers
Grout joints should be treated with a silicone grout sealer twice a year to help preserve the grout color and to prevent discoloration from spills.

Chris Paulsen
cpaulsen@homerenovationguide.com

Taking care of your new flooring will keep it looking new for years. It is so important to take proper care of it. Please refer to the below guide which will help you.

Ceramic Tile & Sheet Vinyl
Sweep or vacuum regularly to remove dirt & grit.
Wash floor with suitable mild cleaner.
(Do not use vinegar or bleach).
Wipe up spills promptly with a damp cloth or mop.

Carpet

Regular carpet maintenance can enhance indoor air quality and prevent premature deterioration.

Vacuum and spot clean daily.
Implement a preventative maintenance program.
Steam clean when necessary.

Hardwood & Laminate Flooring

Control and monitor indoor humidity.
Use felt pads on furniture.
Vacuum and sweep regularly.
Only use hardwood and laminate floor cleaners.

Chris Paulsen

People who choose to have their heating ducts cleaned tend to do so because their children or other family members are suffering from breathing problems. Air and furnace ducts, when uncleaned, breed mold and mildew and lead to poor air quality. Furnace duct cleaning will also improve the efficiency of your furnace.

Duct cleaning requires not only of the ducts themselves, but of the entire furnace system: the blower, heat exchangers, cooling coils, and condensate pan. When these parts are clean, air flows efficiently through the entire system.

If you or someone in your household is experiencing health problems, and you suspect your furnace air ducts might be the problem, call a duct cleaning company. They can inspect your furnace ducts, and will most likely use robotic video equipment to show you how dirty the ducts actually are. If the video surveillance reveals mold anywhere in the duct system, it’s time to clean your furnace ducts.

Dust and mold can appear to be similar on a scan of the ducts. If the furnace cleaning professionals are unsure, touch a piece of tape to the inside of a furnace duct, and have a lab analyze it for you.

Methods of Cleaning Furnace Ducts

There are several ways to clean furnace ducts. One way is to use an extremely powerful vacuum, which remains in a truck outside. A long hose runs to the furnace area and attaches to the furnace ducts. From the rooms, mechanical brushes, air jet brushes or air snakes pull the dust loose within the furnace ducts.

Another way to clean furnace ducts is with a smaller vacuum unit located inside your house, in the vicinity of the furnace. This vacuum should contain a HEPA exhaust filter to ensure that the dust from the furnace ducts does not fill the air in the room.

A third way of cleaning furnace ducts is to run a rotating brush that is attached to a vacuum nozzle through the furnace ducts.

When selecting methods and services for your furnace duct cleaning, look for quality over cost. A poor quality furnace cleaning job can leave you worse off than before, as it can pull the dust off the furnace duct walls without sucking it all in.

Remember, furnace duct cleaning costs money, so before you sign a service contract, ensure that the company has given you sufficient visual evidence that furnace duct cleaning is necessary. Also, make sure your furnace duct cleaning provider can explain to you in detail how he/she will clean the entire system, not just the ducts. If one component of the system is left uncleaned, it may recontaminate the entire system, defeating the purpose of having put out the cash for the cleaning in the first place. Ask that your furnace duct cleaning provider give you a full duct-length visual inspection after the cleaning is complete, preferably with a camera inside the ducts.

cpaulsen@homerenovationguide.com