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April 15, 2016 Organization & Cleaning

6 Short Cut Cleaning Tips for the Type-A Parent

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MyPledgeCastle #CollectiveBias

Discover some short cut cleaning tips for Type-A Parents!  You’ll love these easy ways to get your house ready for spring!

I find the concept of spring cleaning exciting.  I realize this probably makes me a little cookoo, and I’m cool with that.  All right, more than anything, it probably validates what I’ve know for a long time… I have a lot of Type-A tendencies.

I try to keep a clean house year-round, but in the spring, it’s time to freshen things up.  Lighten up the decor, the colors, and open the windows for some fresh air.

The days are longer and brighter and the pollen gets everywhere.  Everywhere.  So maybe that’s the spring part of spring cleaning?  Pollen removal.

Here are a few things I do to manage the pollen and a few out of-the-box ideas that I use in the spring to bring that clean feeling to my home.

Discover some short cut cleaning tips for Type-A Parents! You'll love these easy ways to get your house ready for spring!

1) It’s time to open the curtains wide and enjoy that beautiful sunshine, but it can be a bummer when you open those windows to discover cobwebs, dirt and pollen.  Time to bust out that handheld vacuum to suck up the loose dirt first. Then, use Pledge® Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner with Glade® Rainshower® to do the detailed dusting and shining. Voila.

Discover some short cut cleaning tips for Type-A Parents! You'll love these easy ways to get your house ready for spring!

Discover some short cut cleaning tips for Type-A Parents! You'll love these easy ways to get your house ready for spring!

Why Pledge® Multi Surface Everyday Cleaner?  It’s a bang for your buck product as it does the work of a variety of household cleaning products.

Discover some short cut cleaning tips for Type-A Parents!  You'll love these easy ways to get your house ready for spring!

Plus, it removes dust and up to 90 percent of the allergens found in dust.  Pledge@ products can be found at your local Harris Teeter.

2) With the kids out of school I’ve got another fun problem.  Finger prints everywhere, especially on stainless steel appliances.  One of my favorite tricks is to use Pledge® Lemon Clean Furniture Spray. Give the appliance a good coating, leave on for one minute, then wipe down with the grain of the stainless steel.  I’ve found that this tends to leave longer lasting results than other popular stainless steel cleaners.

Discover some short cut cleaning tips for Type-A Parents! You'll love these easy ways to get your house ready for spring!

Pledge® Lemon Clean Furniture Spray is great for cleaning wood furniture, but’s that’s only the beginning!  It can be used to dust, shine and protect a variety of household surfaces including wood, laminate, stainless steel, leather, marble, granite and plastic.

3) Sure, my Type-A self rarely lets dust gather… where I can see it.  But the top of the fridge?  Cabinet tops?  Pshaw.  I rarely, if ever, think about those areas.  When I do climb up to see the tops of my kitchen cabinets and my fridge, it’s not awesome. Kitchen dust is different from dust in other parts of the house and usually requires more scrubbing than dusting.  Time to bust out the Pledge®.  Then, once complete, cover the tops of these surfaces with paper towels.  Now next time I’m up there, I’ll just replace the paper towels.

Discover some short cut cleaning tips for Type-A Parents! You'll love these easy ways to get your house ready for spring!

4) Noticing black smudges on the stair steps?  And sticky banisters?  I have no idea why their hands are always so darn sticky (okay, I do.  Pancake syrup).  Anywho, simply stash a pack of Pledge® Lemon Wipes in a decorative basket by the staircase so you can grab a wipe to run along the banister and stair treads whenever you notice ickiness.

Pledge® Lemon Wipes  are such a versatile household­ cleaning product – you can use them to clean up dust, dirt and messes. Plus, they feature Allergen Trappers® to remove dust and up to 90% of the allergens found in dust.

Discover some short cut cleaning tips for Type-A Parents! You'll love these easy ways to get your house ready for spring!

5) Ever pull out a cutting board and notice a distinct garlic smell?  Happens to me all the time.  Remedy this situation with this simple tip:  sprinkle coarse salt over the cutting board.  Next, scour the surface. Using a lemon half with the cut side down, scour the cutting board, squeezing slightly to release the lemon juice as you go.  Just use gloves if you have any cuts on your hands, or you’ll really regret it.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

6) With the extra daylight hours, maybe you’re noticing more scratches in the wood surfaces of your home.  Don’t fret… use this trick instead:  Crack open the shell of a walnut and dig out the nut —one nut should be enough for one scratch.  Run the nut back and forth over the scratch a few times in the same direction as the wood grain, then rub your finger over the scratch to warm the wood even further. Let the scratch sit for about five minutes, and finish by buffing it with a soft cloth. The oils from the nut will form a layer over the scratch, filling it in and darkening it.

Phew.

Are you a Type-A parent?  What are your short-cut cleaning tips?

Categories: Organization & Cleaning

About Katie

Katie Harding has been blogging since 2010. What originally started out as a platform to discuss new parenthood, her blogging now focuses on her passion for cooking: creating recipes and sharing tips for entertaining friends and family of all ages. Outside of the kitchen you’ll find her with her family (three boys, one husband, multiple exchange student daughters, and Hank the pup), or gallivanting around the world with her fork in tow.

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  1. Lisa Mothersead says

    April 16, 2016 at 6:32 pm

    I like Pledge products so I’ll definitely try some of these tips. I don’t really spring clean so much now but I do a first of the month more thorough cleaning. For example, Friday is my dust, “windex’ (Perfect Glass), and vacuum day but the first Friday of the month I also clean baseboards, shutters, light fixtures, etc… Same for my Tuesday kitchen and laundry room cleaning.

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Welcome to Forks and Folly! It's time to have some fun in the kitchen. Forks and Folly is about enjoying the process of cooking and entertaining. No complicated recipes. No stress. It's back to basics with easy, make ahead food, and fabulous hosting tips.

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