How to Teach Your Children to Clean

How to Teach Your Children to Clean

Teaching your children how to be responsible and keep their home clean is an important part of parenting.  Without your instruction, they will be at a disadvantage when they finally get out on their own.  Rather than letting common responsibilities come as a horrible surprise, you can teach responsibilities now, by teaching your children to use the most common household products.

For instance, let your child read the instructions for use on the bottle of dishwashing liquid, and load and fill the dishwasher with the detergent as instructed.  Make it seem like a privilege rather than a chore.  Glass cleaner is another of the most common household products that children can have fun using.  Let your teens use the cleaner on a variety of different surfaces (other than just glass) to find out how well it cleans (it cleans pretty much anything).

You can also teach your kids put away the leftovers after dinner using plastic wrap. Make it into a game to see whose wrap stays 'done up' until the next day, and they will quickly become familiar with the chore. You can also use this as an opportunity to discuss things like wasting food, food preservation and more that will come in handy when your teen gets out on his or her own and has to start budgeting for food.

Another fun game is to aware a weekly prize to whoever has the cleanest bedroom. It need not be a big prize, it could be something as simple as a late night up to watch a favorite TV show. Set a day and time for the weekly 'judging', followed by the awarding of the prize. It could become a fun family tradition (as it was in our household!)

Teaching your kids to be clean early in life is a lesson that will stay with them as they grow up.  You can be assured that their future roommates, and eventually their future families of their own will be grateful to you! 

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How to Best Clean Carpet Stains With Household Products

How to Best Clean Carpet Stains With Household Products

One of the most important household products to have is a good stain-fighting solution for your carpet. However, if you don’t have any products immediately handy, all is not lost. All you have to know is how to deal with a stain right away so that the long term consequences aren’t too expensive.  The following is a simply way to fight carpet stains using standard household products.

Be Prepared Ahead of Time

Seconds can literally make all the difference between whether or not you end up with a permanent carpet stain. This is why it’s important to have a few rags that you don’t mind using to soak up a liquid which has spilled on your carpet. Keep these rags where you can access them quickly, perhaps where your standard cleaning products are.

Press, Don’t Scrub

When you apply your rag to clean up a carpet spill, press on it and apply pressure to soak up the liquid, don’t scrub. If you attempt to scrub out a liquid, you just grind it into the carpet and the stain forms almost instantly. For best results, lay the cloth over the liquid and press down or stand on it to soak up the liquid.

Use Stain Neutralizing Products

You can get simple stain remover products or neutralizer products, and keep these products with your stain cleaning towels. Just remember that as you apply stain remover products, you don’t want to scrub the spot. Use pressure to soak up the liquid, then remove that towel and use a fresh one to apply the stain remover products.

Which Traditional Household Products Can Cause Illness?

Which Traditional Household Products Can Cause Illness?

Keeping your family healthy and safe is more than important, and you likely have cleaners and sanitizers on hand to help with this.  You take your children to the doctor, and you ensure that your home is clean.  However, did you know that common household products might actually be making your family sick?  Illness caused by common products used in your home can be very serious.

What sort of illnesses might these household products cause? Many medical professionals have tied harsh cleansers to a higher incidence of asthma and other lung conditions.  You might also find that fumes from cleaners can cause headaches and allergy-like symptoms, as well.  If you have a child that suffers from eczema, the most likely cause is common household products like soap, or the detergent used to wash their clothing and bedding.

What can you do to combat this problem?  A number of household products are now being made with natural ingredients, or you can opt to replace harsh cleansers and other products with natural solutions.  For instance, rather than using a harsh glass cleaner, you might choose to use a mixture of water and vinegar.  You might choose to use natural soap, rather than man-made products.  You could choose to replace your regular detergent with one specifically formulated to be gentle on sensitive skin, as well.  There are many different products that can be replaced to help alleviate sickness in your family.

Shopping Tips for Buying Household Products and Cleaners in Bulk

Shopping Tips for Buying Household Products and Cleaners in Bulk

If you are like most people, you may be on a budget and looking to save money wherever possible. If this is the case, it can be a good idea to learn which household products you should purchase in bulk.

Buying household products in bulk is not always the best idea if the household products you purchase will expire before you are able to use them, or if the cost per use is not as cheap as it would be if you purchased a regular size, but in most other cases you'll end up saving a great deal of money in the long run. The more you buy, the cheaper things tend to get.

Some of the best household products to buy in bulk are cleaning supplies such as aerosol sprays, dish detergents and tub cleaners. These household products can be quite expensive, particularly if you purchase name brands. Buying these household products in bulk can help you to save money, but keep in mind that this is only true if you clean frequently. If you only use a particular cleaner once every six months or less then it would be impractical to buy that product in bulk.

Another option would be to coordinate buying these household products in bulk with friends so that everyone can share in the expense and the savings.

Always remember to look at the label to see how many uses you can generally expect from that product, and then divide the number of uses into the product price. This will give you the per use price and allow you to comparison shop.