Monday 17 October 2016

Spring Cleaning




Traditionally Labour weekend is set aside for the annual spring clean in many New Zealand homes. Maybe you adhere to this regime or you just like reading about cleaning and sorting. If so, read on for tried and true tips for a clean and tidy house.

Most cleaning experts start with the decluttering process. Starting with Throw Out Fifty Things: clear the clutter, find your life. Gail Blanke, author, life coach and motivator, encourages the reader to eliminate both physical and emotional clutter. She advocates for the three bag approach; one for throw outs, one for giveaways and one for selling.

In Rosalie Maggio’s The Art of Organizing Anything, the benefits of making lists is one of the book’s ten principals to getting your home, your office and even your life into order. One of the useful tips I am keen to do is a simple solution to the multitude of power chargers we seem to accumulate. Plug all the charging cables into a surge protector power board and bundle the cords into a cable cover.


If the thought of being so organised is a bit beyond you then check out Messie No More by Sandra Felton. Here the reader is given the tools to overcome the roadblocks to being organised.

But no more philosophising! Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of spring cleaning. For the perfectionist there is Cindy Harris’s Keeping House. No part of the house is overlooked although I am not sure I could keep up with her regime of cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms as well as washing and vacuuming the floors every day!

For a more gentle approach to the art of sorting and cleaning (and real quick tips) try 10-Minute Housekeeping by Rose R Kennedy. Although I have to say her handy tips, like not turning on all the lights so visitors can’t see the dirt, may not appeal to everyone.

Recovering Martha Stewart junkie, Lisa Quinn, gives the modern mother all the short cuts to domestic liberation in Life’s Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets. From having a clean house 30 minutes before guests arrive to seventeen meals from a deli chicken, Quinn has got everything covered.

Looking for other uses for lemons and grapefruit? Janey Lee Grace’s Imperfectly Natural Home recommends using lemons for cleaning the kitchen bench and the use of grapefruit and a bit of salt for really grimy surfaces. Baking soda has traditionally had many uses around the home but did you know you can use it to scrub plastic items that have developed, with age, that tacky feeling? Bicarbonate of Soda: cleaning, health and beauty, recipes has this and many more tips for use in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry.

So whether you are looking for motivation to spring clean the house or ideas on sorting out your home then visit one of our libraries. Alternatively skip the spring cleaning books and head to our magazine section and browse through our lovely selection of house and garden magazines!


Posted by Miss Moneypenny

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