6 Tips for Keeping Your Home Clean (With Pets and Kids)

15 June 2018

Maintaining a clean house is a difficult task; honestly, no one enjoys removing all the clutter, washing the dishes, dusting, vacuuming, etc. But as much as most of us run away from the chore we all know the importance of housekeeping and how it impacts our health. Things tend to get a bit, well maybe a lot more messy when you have kids and pets added to the picture. Our furry companions love some adventure around the house and tend to spread their food and water around while eating, knock things over and of course the pet hair around the house is another story. But the good news is that even a chore as tedious as cleaning can be made simple by following some hacks and tips, so keep reading as I share some marvelous tips for maintaining hygiene in your house

Contents

1 1. Invest in the Right Tools :
2 2. Bathe Your Pets :
3 3. Use the Right Type of Furniture :
4 4. Wash Pet Bedding :
5 5. Keep the Pet’s Area Clean :
6 6. Use Pet-Safe Cleaning Products :

1. Invest in the Right Tools :

You might not notice but using the right kind of tools can reduce effort and save time. For instance, cleaning pet hair around the house is one of the most challenging tasks. The fur gets everywhere, even gets embedded in the carpet fibers which becomes extremely difficult to remove. Well, the key is to purchase the right type of vacuum that has powerful suction to pick up the pesky pet hair. A robotic vacuum cleaner would be even better since it will save you a lot of effort. Similarly, make sure you have a quality lint roller (it is a life-saver in most situations) or latex gloves when you want to give your furniture or clothes a quick clean-up.

2. Bathe Your Pets :

The secret to a clean house is clean pets since the dirt on your dog will eventually accumulate inside your home. Develop a bathing routine for your pup, be sure not to overdo it since you don’t want to dry out the oils in his skin. Use a good quality dog shampoo while bathing and get your pup regular grooming to reduce shedding. Since dogs that itch shed more hair, use tick and flea repellents for dogs to prevent him from these parasites.

3. Use the Right Type of Furniture :

One of the worst nightmares for any pet-parent is when their furniture has pet hair spread all over, and they are expecting guests over. No one wants their guests to be covered in their dog’s fur! Well, let me tell you that choosing the right type of furniture can make all the difference. While selecting fabric for your furniture, choose leather/pleather or microfiber as these are easy to clean and the hair doesn’t stick to the material. Ultra suede and Crypton are also excellent choices for furniture as they are stain-resistant.

Pro-Tip: Also stock up some decorative throws and use these to cover your sofa and bed to prevent pet-hair from sticking to the furniture.

4. Wash Pet Bedding :

It is essential to wash your pet’s bed, blankets as these may hide harmful germs which our pets can transfer to other areas of the house. Wash the bedding weekly using a mild detergent without bleach on the hottest settings available.

5. Keep the Pet’s Area Clean :

Our pets do have a specific area in the house where they like to chill or where they eat. Keeping these areas clean might be a difficult task, but regular cleaning will help prevent messes and thereby reduce effort. If you have a pet-bird, the room where the cage is placed is bound to get messy. To make cleaning simple use vinyl carpet protectors on the floor beneath the cage. Invest in a good quality stainless steel cage as they are easier to clean. Also, line it up with cage liners or newspapers to prevent the bottom from getting messy due to food and feces.

6. Use Pet-Safe Cleaning Products :

Various cleaning agents contain harmful substances such as ammonia or bleach that can be toxic to our pets. While hunting for cleaning products look for ones that are pet-safe, eco-friendly and bio-degradable. If you don’t have these stocked up at home, don’t panic in case of a pet emergency, as you can find some fantastic cleaners inside your house. Baking soda is a great deodorizer to freshen up the carpets and rugs; vinegar mixed with water is an alternative to floor cleaners and can be handy when pet accidents occur.

Read Also :

Ariana Smith

I enjoy writing and I write quality guest posts on topics of my interest and passion. I have been doing this since my college days. My special interests are in health, fitness, food and following the latest trends in these areas. I am an editor at Content Rally.

View all posts

5 Tips on effectively picking a tile floor cleaning machine

Trying to keep the tile floor clean is like a never-ending chore. It becomes more of a serious headache when you have to use regular household cleaning tools. That's why I have concluded that I need to upgrade my whole procedure After getting major injuries in my knees and elbows. But what can I do to reduce the stress? First thing I did was Replacing the old ineffective brush by an advanced floor cleaning machine. The decision has changed the cleaning routine forever. So if you are like me and looking for buying the best steam cleaner for tile and grout, here are some tips to effectively compare tile floor cleaning machines when purchasing. 1. Adjustable temperature levels: The importance of having an adjustable temperature level cannot be stressed enough. Using a steam cleaner is excellent for sterilizing and deodorizing the floor. The kitchen floor mostly has stains, dirt, and odor. If you clean the tiles with a machine that can boil water up to 356 degrees then the floor will become sparkly clean. But what if you cannot afford that? Well then go for the 310-degree machine. Machines with a higher level of temperature are costly. Sometimes we tend to clean the floor with using too much steam. You can clean faster with more steam, but it leaves a nasty watermark on the tile. So do not go overboard with steam. 2. Pick a machine with a stainless steel boiler: We all learn from the mistake. I learned the hard way. Cleaning machine that has plastic boilers will distort immediately after the second or third use. The cleaning machine may be cheap but if it deteriorates quickly the whole money is wasted. So looking for a machine that has a stainless steel boiler is going to be a wiser decision. Floor cleaning machine that has steel boiler is usually the best steam cleaner for floor tile and grout. Plastic boiler machines are cheapies that are not worth any penny. Also, go for boilers that can take 3 to 4 ounces of water. Steam cleaners use little water to produce the steam that you use. 3. Look for a portable cleaning machine: If you have a big house then cleaning is already a quite burden. If you are getting a cleaning machine to ease your job, sadly it will not help if it's too heavy. A versatile and portable cleaning machine is all you need. If the machine is easy to maneuver, it will make your task easier to clean tiles of the bathroom and kitchen. 4. Vacuum extraction: Our kitchen has spills, bits and pieces of food and what not. Steam cleaners do clean the house, but it does not suck up the dirt. They are good at cleaning the surface, removing tough stains but not good at all for sucking out dirt. Some particular brands have vacuum extraction option with them. It will ease your cleaning job and cut the time into half. For cleaning with it, first, vacuum the whole area and then go for your steam cleaning machine. 5. Durability: Expecting a couple of years’ service is not too much to ask when you are spending that much money. So look for machines that metal wand and plastic body that are sturdy. There are some things to follow to take care of the machine like using distilled water for steaming and avoid putting pressure on some little parts. Also, keep in mind that cleaning machines are not like your regular traditional cleaning tool. It has a mechanism behind it and costs a lot of money. So make sure it last enough from checking some Best Vacuum for Tile Floors reviews as well. Read More: Benefits Of Having A Cordless Vacuum Cleaner At Home Five Easy Steps When Cleaning Your Mattress Ways To Get Dry Cleaning Services At A Low Price

How You Can Choose the Ideal Ceiling Light for Your Living Area

Your house can certainly benefit from the right lighting – lighting is, after all, essential for any living space. With the proper lighting, you can have warmth and homeliness in your abode, but you can also have an entirely functional element that can help you perform certain tasks and see everything clearly. But lighting can have an impact on other elements as well, and it can affect your space's wall color to the color of your flooring or carpet. It is therefore essential to have an ideal plan for your lighting, especially when it comes to your living area. The correct light can go a long way in giving your home the ambiance and serenity it needs, and it can lend a great atmosphere to your living space as well. The ceiling light you choose, in particular, can make a huge impact. Here, then, is how you can select the ideal ceiling light for your living area. How You Can Choose the Ideal Ceiling Light for Your Living Area: The height of the ceiling and the available space: Firstly, you should try to figure out how you use the room and the time of day you often spend there. It is also important to note the available space – how big or small it is – as well as the height of the ceiling. If, for instance, the ceiling in your living area is low, a large fixture such as a chandelier may not be such an ideal choice, as it may make your living room appear cluttered and smaller. On the other hand, if you have a high ceiling, a small ceiling fixture may look awkward and may even 'disappear' in a room with a high ceiling. If your living area has a low ceiling, you could go for semi-flush mount or flush mount lighting fixtures, as these kinds of fixtures have a small drop and don't extend too far from the ceiling, which adds to the illusion of a higher ceiling or space. For high ceilings, big, bold chandeliers or lighting fixtures are an excellent option. The type of lighting: You should know that different ceiling lights will have a variety of functions, which leads us to the different types of lighting. You should ask yourself this important question as well: what is the purpose of your ceiling light, especially when taking into consideration the kind of ambiance you would like your living area to have? Essentially speaking, there are three major types of lighting: task lighting, accent lighting, and ambient lighting. In general, a ceiling light in the living area provides ambient lighting because it gives a wide illumination, and you can also control it with the use of a dimmer. You can complement ambient lighting with the use of layers in the lighting scheme and design of your living area. You can add layers with lighting fixtures such as lamps (both floor and table lamps), sconces, drop lights, downlights, and recessed lighting. Lamps serve well as both accent and task lighting too. The bulb: The bulb you choose also makes a difference, as any expert will tell you – and many of us make the error of overlooking the bulb, even though it can impact the overall elegance of our lighting design. Modern lighting often involves the use of LED bulbs, as they are bright and energy-efficient, and they can last for a long time. Living areas can definitely benefit from the use of LED bulbs, because living room lighting is used almost every day, most especially at night, and LED bulbs are ideal for this type of use. There are decorative LED bulbs which you can also make use of, and they are often great for any living space – this is especially true for filament bulbs, which are trendy yet have a unique vintage appeal. Read Also: 3 Trendy Lighting Ideas For Your Kitchen Island The Benefits Of Solar Lighting In A Nutshell Las Vegas Electricians Share Fun Lighting Ideas For Your Home

Top myths about PVC

Impact of PVC vs non-PVC towards the environment: Polyvinyl chloride, also known as PVC or simply as vinyl, is a plastic composed of carbon, chlorine, and hydrogen. It’s a common material found frequently in packaging, wire coatings, furnishing, construction materials, pipes, electrical wires, and also in the graphics industry. The reason that PVC is such a popular material is that it’s incredibly versatile. It’s also resistant to UV rays, chemicals, weathering, and flame resistant. Many people, however, believe that PVC has a negative impact on the environment and avoid using any products that contain this material. It’s true that there are many complaints about PVC and its effect both on people and the environment, so let’s take a look at the main issues, both for and against. 1. The manufacturing process releases highly toxic carcinogenic dioxins into the environment: There are two main pieces of evidence that debunk this belief. First is that over the past 30 years, the production of PVCs has increased 300%, whilst at the same time the amount of dioxins in the environment has reduced. Therefore, if the manufacturing process was the major cause of dioxins in the environment, you would expect that the number of dioxins would have increased accordingly. In fact, if we stopped producing PVC, the levels of dioxins in the environment wouldn’t noticeably diminish. Second, that the main cause of dioxins in the environment is not the inefficient combustion of PVC, it’s mainly due to landfill fires and to a lesser degree, the inefficient combustion of medical and urban waste. 2. When incinerated or burnt in house fires, PVC releases dioxins, chlorine, and other carcinogenic chemicals into the air: First of all, PVC doesn’t burn very well, in fact, if the source of fire is removed, PVC doesn’t continue to burn, because it contains a fire-resistant polymer. Also, many PVC products are treated with additional flame retardants after the manufacturing process and release less smoke and less heat when combusted, compared to other plastics. Second, when PVC is correctly combusted the number of toxins released into the environment is insignificant. In fact, the most harm derives from the release of carbon monoxide, which is released from numerous other materials when burnt. 3. PVC can’t be recycled therefore it accumulates as plastic waste: In most scenarios, PVC is actually highly recyclable and can be recycled many times over without degrading. In fact, many plastic products in use today contain components of recycled vinyl; some proponents believe that due to its high recyclability, PVC is actually a zero-waste material. Also, since PVC lasts longer than other materials, it doesn’t need to be replaced as often and hence, appears in landfills less often than comparable materials. In addition, the durability of PVC has led to it being used to line landfills with no evidence that the vinyl breaks down and releases toxins into the groundwater. In the graphics industry, however, PVC is currently difficult to recycle due to contamination from adhesives, additives, and print. Avery Dennison is looking to overcome this with innovative technology to separate products into raw materials, through their Liner Recycling Program. 4. PVC is expensive to manufacture: PVC is made from chlorine and ethylene, both of which are inexpensive to a source (chlorine comes from salt and ethylene from natural gas), resulting in a very inexpensive manufacturing process. In fact, when you consider that PVC products are very cheap to buy, between the retail cost of the product and the profits made by the manufacturer and reseller, the actual production costs are minimal. The result is that vinyl products consume less energy, generate fewer emissions, and save more energy during the manufacturing process than many other products. Why is PVC popular in the graphics industry? All the benefits of using PVC in the graphics industry have been stated above however, more specifically, PVC is extremely cost-effective when compared to alternative polymers. Its long life, durability, resistance to the elements and flame retardance are also major factors, but for our customers, the lower costs are a huge benefit. One of the most popular applications is for car wraps, where the vinyl provides maximum versatility. Vehicles can look like a work of art after being wrapped with a vinyl film. The fact that PVC is readily available is another factor that cuts down costs, as well as its versatility because we can manufacture numerous products using the same materials. PVC is also an ideal material for use across all print platforms, both porous and heat stable. In summary, PVC is not the villain that it has been made out to be. Many companies manufacturing it are not only committed to sustainability but focused on using innovative techniques combined with the responsible sourcing of materials, to reduce the impact of their operations and supply chain on the environment. Read Also: Replacement Windows – Benefits Of Vinyl Windows Five Ways To Improve The Air Quality Inside Your Home