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House & Home

Kandi Turner

2009-09-01 14:37:00

Question: What are some tips on speed cleaning?

Answer: Speed cleaning involves a dedication to common sense principles: those who employ them keep uncommonly clean homes. Those who disregard such principles on the basis that, “Well, I already knew that,” are most likely looking for ways of cleaning their home without having to clean. The first essential rule of speed cleaning, which many people neglect, is don’t clean it if it’s not dirty. The second rule of speed cleaning is, you don’t have to get out bottles of cleaners: use a clean cloth and have a squirt bottle with water on hand. Identify the three dirtiest areas of your house; of those three areas, which of those is the dirtiest? If you dedicate five minutes of each day to: 1) Pick up the clutter and put it back in its proper place. 2) Clean what is actually dirty. The entire house will begin to feel cleaner already. 3) Limit the amount of time you spend so dedicating five minutes every day won’t become a burden. (Here is a helpful hint: the more often you speed clean that area, the faster you will get and soon it won‘t even take five minutes). For example, perhaps the entryway of your home is the dirtiest area: each evening, tidy up the coats, hang up the kids’ back packs and put away any stray items which don’t belong there. Next, taking a cloth just dampened with water, clean any muddy tracks, smudges on the door, spills, etc. Do not clean the baseboards, the chandelier, wipe down the walls or mop the entire floor, only what has visible dirt; that’s speed cleaning. Another example is the bathroom. The primary reason the bathroom becomes so dirty, and stays dirty, is due to the clutter of toiletries. By putting all your accessories into a small basket, the counter is than easily wiped down and stays clean; by placing dirty towels and laundry in a hamper, you can quickly take a hand broom and sweep the floor where it needs it. If you can get into the habit of using a squeegee in the shower, that will keep the bathroom even cleaner. There are many products available on the market now to help you speed clean; what happens to most people is that they spend the money on the products then never spend the time to use them. Discipline yourself first to using what you already have on hand—a cloth, some water, a hand broom—then invest in products once you have proven that you will actually use them.

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House & Home

Kandi Turner

2009-08-01 12:16:00

Question: How do I clean my wood floors?

Answer: Wood floors add value and beauty to your home but maintenance advice is often contradictory. Whether the surface is wood or laminate, you must remember this rule: you are not cleaning wood, you are cleaning the polyurethane coating on the wood. With wood floors, you have to start with what you have: if your floors have “lost their shine,” cleaning products will not restore that shine, they will lay down a coat of wax or oil that will appear to restore the shine but which actually leaves residue on top of the finish. An easier alternative to re-finishing floors is having a new finish of polyurethane applied every 5-7 years. Using citrus based cleaners, or cleaners with oils in them, appear to condition and enrich the beauty of the floors’ grain; applied on a regular basis, however, they cause the floors to become streaky and lock in air-borne dust and dirt; used even occasionally, the oils will build up in tiny holes of the finish and make it impossible to seal; your only alternative will be completely refinishing the floors every seven to ten years. To help in your routine cleaning, place mats or rugs at all the doorways to reduce the amount of dirt entering the house. Sweep the floors with a broom to remove all loose dust and dirt. After sweeping, you will need a cleaning solution that can remove the dust and fine dirt to reveal the shine of the finish (if your floors have finish still on them). While vinegar is popular, and considered to be only mildly acidic, it is acidic which means it will erode what remains of the finish. Other cleaners typically contain wax (which has to eventually be removed), oils, (preventing new finishes from being applied), are acidic (eroding the finish) or are very expensive. We suggest taking a mist bottle and spraying a soft mop head (terry cloth or comparable material) with enough water just to dampen the fibers. Never put cleaners or water directly onto the floors: liquids enter in-between planks and cause swelling of the boards and eventually discoloration. Mopping in this manner on a weekly basis will pick up fine dust and reveal your floors’ shine; if you notice dirt build-up, use a non-acidic—or neutral—cleaner in the manner described.

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House & Home

Kandi Turner

2009-07-01 12:03:00

Question: How often should I deep clean my house and what should it include?

Answer: A regular house cleaning focuses on germs and clutter whereas a deep cleaning concentrates on the house, i.e., woodwork, windows, doors, etc. A successful deep clean does not include organizing all your loose papers and receipts, cleaning out your closets, organizing your junk drawers or re-potting plants. Make a list of what needs to be cleaned-not organized-and stick to that list. About once every four-tosix weeks, depending on the number of people in the house and how often you cook, the inside of the fridge, freezer and the inside of the oven should be cleaned since food preparation in a dirty environment can quickly spread germs. The tops of the kitchen cabinets and any décor should be cleaned at least twice a year since not only dust accumulates there, but those are favorite breeding grounds for insects and other pests. For the rest of the house, woodwork such as baseboards, cabinets and doors require conditioning to maintain their beauty and value; apply a citrus conditioner to clean cotton cloths to remove dirt and revive the wood. Wood should not be conditioned more than twice a year as it will become dependent upon the treatment, turn brittle and lose its shine permanently. Wood requires conditioning after the hot air has circulated in the house from the heater running and has dried out the grain, and in the fall when extra dust and dirt have been tracked in due to summer activities. Carpets should be steamed cleaned at least once a year; high traffic areas in the house such as the entryway and halls, might need two to three times a year if there are children and pets in your home. Remember, a thorough vacuuming once a week will greatly increase the life of your carpet. Light fixtures and wood blinds should be dusted every two to three months. Light fixtures should be taken down and hand washed and silk plants should be cleaned with Woolite or other mild detergent; wood blinds should be dusted by hand, slat-by-slat with a damp micro-fiber cloth. Because windows are the eyes of the house, they should be thoroughly washed at least twice a year, to prevent hard water stains from damaging the glass. Screens need vacuuming to prevent tears and build up that may damage the wood frames. Attending to the windows will provide an opportunity to examine for loose trim which may need to be replaced to help save on your heating and cooling bills.

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House & Home

Jeannie Herpolsheimer

2006-12-01 15:48:00

Why should I purchase a high effiency hearth appliance if I already have a high effiency furnace?

ANSWER: Hearth appliances can actually be more efficient than central furnace systems, which lose a portion of their efficiency through ducting heat loss. Hearth products, on the other hand, operate at efficiencies as high as 80% and greater, with no heat lost through ducting. This is called zone heating. With zone heating, the fuel you're using, weather it is gas, wood or pellet, is heating your home not your furnace ducts. When you think of the actual number of rooms in which your family spends most of its time, it's easy to cringe as you crank up your central furnace. Especially when you consider all the unoccupied rooms that are being warmed as well. From a fuel budget stand point, it just doesn't make sense. What does make sense is zone heating with a high efficiency wood, gas or pellet stove, fireplace or fireplace insert. After all, why cozy up to a dusty heat register when you can bask in the warmth of a glowing fire?

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House & Home

Jeannie Herpolsheimer

2006-09-01 16:04:00

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different fuel types (wood, pellet, gas, electric, corn) for heat efficient inserts, fireplaces and stoves?

Different people have different criteria about how they expect their hearth product, i.e. fireplace to perform. Mainly it boils down to five categories:
Back up heat source: if the power goes out heat can be supplied by wood burning and gas stoves, inserts and fireplaces. Electric, pellet or corn products would require either a generator or a battery back up.
Heating capacity: wood burning, pellet, gas, or corn stoves, inserts and fireplaces can be sized or set up to heat one room or an entire home. Electric hearth products are designed to heat up to 250 square feet, (a room about 18 ft. x 14 ft.)
Cleanliness: Electric and gas have no by products to clean up. Pellet fuel has very little ash, a typical 40 pound bag leaves roughly a half cup of ash. Wood burnt in a high efficiency stove, insert or fireplace requires you to clean up the incoming bark mess as well as removing roughly one gallon of ash from burning hard woods, every 168 hours of operation. Corn is the dirtiest fuel of all. It should be cleaned before burning. Care must be taken when storing corn so one does not create a rodent problem. With corn, the stove requires cleaning the sugars left behind as well as the residue.
Maintenance: Electric systems require changing the light bulb and oiling the motor.
Wood requires the chimney be cleaned when 1/8” of creosote builds up. If there is a catalytic combustor it will need to be cleaned annually for folks who use the stove, fireplace or insert daily and less often for evening and or weekend users. Pellet stove, insert and fireplace maintenance varies depending on the fuel purchased. A low ash pellet will require the heat exchanger and exhaust blower to be cleaned after about 1 ton of fuel, motors should be serviced annually, and vents should be cleaned as needed. Corn generally requires daily cleaning of the burn pot. It has been found that the vent system can become clogged in as little as one month, others not nearly that often.
Renewable fuel: wood, pellet and corn fuel are considered renewable. Pellets are made from wood, cardboard and even textile waste. Electric and gas are provided through utility entitles.