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Greetings!
Welcome to fall. Those
brisk mornings and dazzling red leaves have officially declared the start
of the fall season. Before you fire up the fireplace, however, it's time to stock of
your home and your hearth.
The holiday season is
rapidly approaching (6 weeks 'til Thanksgiving!), which means cooking, cleaning, baking, wrapping, oh my! If you feel stressed out and overwhelmed just thinking about it, we have a better way. With our weekly holiday cleaning checklist, you will spend an hour -- two at the most -- each week for the next eight weeks. By the end of November, your home will be sparkling and so will you. For once, you won't be too worn out to enjoy your holiday celebrations. (If your family doesn't sit down to a festive Christmas dinner, feel free to file away
this
checklist for the weeks leading up to your Passover seder, Diwali
festival, or
Id-al-Fitr feast.) Also be sure to check out our Using Clean Team Products section & our October special offer (toward the bottom of the newsletter). Do you have an idea or question for the Clean Team? Please send me your emails at jeff@thecleanteam.com. I love to hear from you! | |
The Official Holiday Checklist, Part I
 This month's newsletter covers four weeks worth of home cleaning and organizing chores to help you get ready for the upcoming holiday season. Stay tuned for next month's newsletter when we feature another four weeks of check lists. By the end of November, your home will be shining and you will be ready to turn your attention to preparing a memorable holiday meal.
Week One: The Entry Way
Welcome to the first week of your holiday countdown clean-down. The best place to start any journey is at the beginning. That's why we are starting your holiday countdown journey in the entry-way -- AKA the beginning -- of your home. Whether your home's entrance is a grand foyer, a functional mudroom, or a modest corner with a few coat hooks, this area will be the focus of our cleaning tasks this week.
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Cull the clutter. Get rid of too small coats and jackets, rehome the overflow of shows, and find a place for your keys and bags to go when you first walk in the door.
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Start a "give away" box, which you immediately donate once it's full. The upcoming cold weather is a great excuse to pare down on any redundant winter coats, boots, scarves or hats -- there are no doubt many in need who will appreciate your cast-offs.
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Sweep away cobwebs lingering along your ceilings. Dust light fixtures.
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Scrub baseboards with a spritz of Red Juice, or a diluted mixture of vinegar and water. While you're at it, do the same for the light switches and door knobs.
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Sweep, shine or vacuum the floor. Week Two: The Hall Closet
Let's be honest, most of us have a few spaces in our homes that we would rather no one ever look. And for many of us, the hall closet is one of these. By tackling it early in the countdown, we get it out of the way and make room -- literally and figuratively -- for the rest of the weeks' work.
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Go shelf, by shelf, rod by rod, and carefully cull and delcutter. Immediately put anything you don't need, love or use regularly into the "give away" box.
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Before you return the items to a shelf, spray that shelf with Red Juice and give it a quick sprucing up.
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Replace any burned out light bulbs and dust the lighting fixtures.
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Spray and wipe down the knobs and fronts of your closet. Week Three: Living Room/Family Room
Some of you have only one room in which your family lives and plays; others have two, three or more. Pick the most frequently utilized living space in your house as the focus for this week. Since there are more tasks on this week's list than in past weeks, try tackling one or two jobs a day, rather than leaving them all for the end.
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Working your way clock-wise around the room, attack the clutter in your living/family room. If there is garbage lying about, discard that first. Then tackle the extraneous things. Ask yourself: Do I really need all these DVDs, magazines, and board games?
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Remove any knickknacks and thoroughly dust all flat surfaces. Dust the knickknacks before returning them to the shelf.
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Clean baseboards with a spritz of all purpose cleaner.
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Dust ceiling fans and light fixtures.
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Dust hanging pictures and framed family photos.
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Remove cushions from couches and easy chairs so you that can thoroughly vacuum. Examine couch covers -- if they are fabric, consider laundering or dry cleaning, as appropriate.
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Vacuum, sweep and/or mop the floor thoroughly.
Week Four: Laundry Room
You worked hard last week -- really hard -- and now your main living area is ready for family and company to truly enjoy. Now it's time to go back to those areas of the house that we may not want everyone to see. This week, that Quick!-Close-the-door-someone-is-coming-over room is the laundry room. (If you live in an apartment without your own laundry room, try detail cleaning your bathroom this week instead.)
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Empty the trash and pick up any litter from the floor and flat surfaces.
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Cull the clutter (broken hangers, pair-less socks) and toss anything salvageable into your "give away" box. The rest gets trashed/recycled.
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Run a tablespoon or two of bleach through an otherwise empty washing machine. One hot wash with a couple of cold rinses should rid the machine of any lingering germs and dirt.
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While the washer is running, spray some Red Juice around the surfaces of your washer and dryer units and clean them well.
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Pull the dryer away from the wall and brush away the lint. (Check out our dryer vent brush -- it's perfect for this job!)
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Dust and mop well behind both units.
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Dust light fixtures, clean floors.
You did it! Four weeks down, four more to go. See you back here next month for weeks 5-8!
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Using Clean Team Products
Cloth vs. Brush
The fastest way to clean most smooth surfaces is to spray it with Red Juice and then use a cleaning cloth to  wipe it clean and dry. If the surface is even slightly textured, however, wiping with a cloth alone might not cut it.
Take
for example the finish on a refrigerator. Run your finger over the
front of the fridge. Is it smooth? Or are there small changes in the
surface? When cleaning even a lightly textured surface, you may find
that you can clean it more quickly by spraying, then agitating with a toothbrush, and then wiping.
You migh t
ask: How could 3 steps (spraying, agitating, wiping) be faster than
just 2 steps (spraying, wiping)? The answer lays in the texture. You
have to wipe longer to remove the dirt from a textured surface. In
fact, you may even have to spray it a 2nd or 3rd time -- and wipe it a
2nd or 3rd time -- which clearly takes longer.
Remember, Speed Cleaning Rule #7:
If what you are doing isn't working, then switch to a heavier-duty
cleaner or tool. The same rule applies if what you are doing isn't
working fast enough: Switch to the brush.
When you are
cleaning your home, pay attention to the surfaces that don't wipe quite as
clean. They may not be as smooth as they look. Check out your dishwasher
front, stove surface and knobs, counter tops (especially when
grout lines are involved), and tub/shower floors.
For large surfaces such as floors and counter tops, a  good hand brush
is invaluable. To clean these spots, spray a 2' X 2' area with enough
cleaner to thoroughly wet it, quickly scrub it with the hand brush and
then wipe clean and dry.
Remember, Speed Cleaning Rule #5:
Don't rinse or wipe a surface before it's clean. Usually all the
textured floor or counter needs is a quick scrub and you're done. But
be sure to use your fingertips or the tips of the brush fibers to
discern whether or not you have cut through all the dirt and grime.
This avoids wasting time re-spraying, re-scrubbing and re-wiping.
Do you love your cleaning brush? When do you reach for it vs. your cleaning cloth? Send me your experiences at jeff@thecleanteam.com.
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October
Special: 30% Off Tile Juice Combo
 Dirty
tile got you down? This month, take advantage of our Special offer to get your tile sparkling clean. Get 30% off
the purchase price of Tile Juice-16oz, Tile Brush and White Scrubbing Pad to
help keep your tile looking clean and fabulous! (Catalog
28, pg. 5&7.)
Tile Juice-16oz., Tile Brush, & White Pad is only $12.40 for the month of October. This combination is normally sold
for $17.71 -- so your October price represents a savings of $5.32.
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Thanks for reading us this month! Come visit us on the web at www.thecleanteam.com. Of course, we still welcome your phone calls (1-800-238-2996) or a FAX (1-209-223-7994).
Sincerely,
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Jeff Campbell
The Clean Team Catalog |
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