Cleaning Queen Tip #2: Cleaning Stains From White Carpets

This post is dedicated to our mother, the cleaning queen. As long as we can remember, our Mom has always had some crazy cleaning tips that work like magic! To this day, we still bring over our laundry to have her get a spot out or ask her for tips on those hard to clean items. She always has a recommendation that works 99% of the time. We thought it would be nice to share some of her genius cleaning tips periodically. Thanks Mom for all you have done for us over the years!

Today's' Tip:
Cleaning Stains From White Carpets

Back in April, I was working one morning and my son was playing so quietly beside me.

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 I should have known something was wrong, that is when I turned to see this:

Yep, that is maple syrup he is drinking out of the jug and that lovely maple syrup stain has been on my carpet forever! I have tried to scrub it out with various carpet cleaning chemicals, but it just has stayed there.

It's a little lighter than the original, but still there.  

One day I was complaining to my Mom about how bad our carpet looks and that I can't seem to get this stain out and another (where I spilled an entire cup of coffee.) She told me to try vinegar and baking soda. 

I thought, "What the heck!" At least we will have fun watching the chemicals react. So I sprinkled some baking soda on the stain. 

And poured some vinegar over the top.  

 We had a little floor volcano that was fun to watch. (My son loved watching it.)

And then I scrubbed it in with a brush. (I alternated with my son, who finds scrubbing stains out of carpet super fun.)

My Mom told me to put a white towel over the spot and let it dry. (White, so the color of your towel will not bleed onto your carpet.) 

After letting it dry, vacuum up the remaining baking soda. And the stain is MAGICALLY gone!!

The only bad part is now I have a white spot on the carpet where I cleaned it! It just shows you how bad these carpets need to be professionally cleaned. I am sure we will track on it enough to blend in with the rest soon enough! Also, not sure if this will work on colored carpet, so I am just giving you a warning to maybe stick with white carpet only. 

Do you have any awesome cleaning tips you would like to share? If so, comment below. We would love to hear any ideas to make cleaning easier!

40 Days & 40 Nights Cleaning Challenge

No matter what your religion, most people have hear of Lent and the practice that many Christian religions observe a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and/or spiritual discipline. In my family, each year for Lent we would either abstain from something we enjoyed or make it a personal goal to work on something we didn't enjoy.

Most of the years I would give up coffee, chocolate, candy, pop, or something small like that. This year though, I have decided to try to achieve a goal of mine that has been plaguing me the last few months: keeping my house clean.

I know I have blogged about things around my house I don't mind being messy (Keeping A Dirty Home). However, somehow in the last few weeks I have seemed to find excuses to do anything around my house but clean. I should correct myself, clean well. We have always been good at doing the dishes nightly, vacuuming weekly, picking up small things...but as of late most of the days our house looks like a tornado hit it.

With that in mind I have decided to start a daily cleaning chart to help me stay on task with my cleaning. (You can download my cleaning schedule here.) The chart is really tailored to my house, but would be very easy to modify and adjust it to your own home. Here is the list basically:

Monday

Dishes (Wash all dishes, wipe off counters, & sweep floor)

Make the Bed

Vacuum Living Room, Kitchen, Entryway, Laundry Room

Dust surfaces, including furniture, objects, and light fixtures in rooms listed above

Vacuum and mop kitchen floor

Tuesday

Dishes (Wash all dishes, wipe off counters, & sweep floor)

Make the Bed

Change and launder bath mats, towels, and washcloths in bathrooms

Clean toilets, bathtubs, showers, and sinks

Dust light fixtures in bathrooms

Vacuum and mop floors in bathrooms, Aiden's room, master bedroom

Wipe mirrors in bathrooms

Wednesday

Dishes (Wash all dishes, wipe off counters, & sweep floor)

Make the Bed

Vacuum and mop kitchen floor

Dust staircase banisters, living room bookshelves, bedroom dressers.

Vacuum stairs and landings

Thursday

Dishes (Wash all dishes, wipe off counters, & sweep floor)

Make the Bed

Vacuum Living Room, Kitchen, Entryway, Laundry Room

Dust surfaces, including furniture, objects, and light fixtures in rooms listed above

Friday

Dishes (Wash all dishes, wipe off counters, & sweep floor)

Make the Bed

Wipe hand and pet prints from windows and glass doors

Dust surfaces and objects, including furniture, light fixtures, and electronics

Wash Aiden's high chair cover & high chair

Vacuum and mop kitchen floor

Saturday or Sunday

Dishes (Wash all dishes, wipe off counters, & sweep floor)

Make the Bed

Discard foods and beverages past their prime in fridge

Wipe out fridge and outside of fridge

Empty trash bins

Water plants

Every Two Weeks

Laundry (if we haven't done it already)

Wipe tops of washer & dryer

Scrub down tub and shower surrounds

Launder bed sheets

Dust shelves and storage bins

Wipe surfaces in kitchen back of oven, front of refrigerator & cupboard doors.

Wipe the inside of the oven and microwave.

Vacuum the basement.

So even if you aren't a spiritual person, but you are wanting to try to keep your house clean. I invite you to take this 40 days and 40 nights Cleaning Challenge with me. I figure that if you mark off a few tasks each day, your house should stay somewhat clean throughout the week. Well, that's my goal anyways. Wish me luck and I will post back 40 days and 40 nights from now!

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Cleaning Queen Tip #1: Cleaning Toilet Rings without Chemicals

This post is dedicated to our mother, the cleaning queen. As long as we can remember, our Mom has always had some crazy cleaning tips that work like magic! To this day, we still bring over our laundry to have her get a spot out or ask her for tips on those hard to clean items. She always has a recommendation that works 99% of the time. We thought it would be nice to share some of her genius cleaning tips periodically. Thanks Mom for all you have done for us over the years!

Today's' Tip:
Cleaning Hard Water Toilet Rings without Chemicals!

When we first moved into our new house, we had toilet rings in ALL of the toilets. The house was on the market for 2 years and completely empty, so no one took care of cleaning and flushing the toilets. With the hard rural water we have, we ended up with really bad toilet rings in all the toilets.

After multiple types of chemicals and scrubbing to no end, I still could not get remove the hard water ring. I was complaining to my Mom about it one day, and she suggested a pumice stone.You can use an old one you have had around the house (don't use it on your feet after the toilet) or go buy a new one from Walmart for $0.80.

Just don your rubber gloves and lightly rub on the ring with the pumice stone. Don't rub too hard, because you could scratch your toilet. It's amazing and the ring will vanish before you eyes!

No chemicals, no smells, no mess....just a nice clean toilet with no hard water ring!

Do you have any awesome cleaning tips you would like to share? If so, comment below. We would love to hear any ideas to make cleaning easier!