With summer nearly here, most of us are looking forward to spending time on the decks and patios of our Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton area homes.  That means patio doors will be working overtime as family members go in and out many times through the day.

Have you noticed a build-up of dirt in the tracks of those patio doors, as well as those of sliding windows?  Basic vacuuming doesn’t do a very good job of removing all the dirt, does it?  So, what is the best way to make those tracks sparkle again, and incidentally make the doors and windows easier to slide?

Start by removing the loose dirt with the crevice tool of your vacuum cleaner, or brush it out with a stiff-bristled brush.  Then, work on removing the sticky residue with a cloth dampened with mineral spirits.  The cloth can be stretched over a putty knife to help you reach into the depths and corners of the tracks.  Yes, I know; this is fiddly, time-consuming work!  But the end result will be worth it, I promise.

Once the tracks are like-new clean, spray them with silicone spray to help the doors and windows slide better.  Don’t use a petroleum product like WD-40 as this will attract dirt and cause that greasy build-up you just worked so hard to get rid of.  All of the products mentioned above (stiff-bristled brush, mineral spirits, silicone spray) are readily available at stores like Canadian Tire.

Do you have household cleaning or maintenance tips to share?  I’d be happy to feature them in future blog articles.  Phone or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at btwynam@telusplanet.net, or contact me here.

Whether we live in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or elsewhere, how often as parents have we said those words?   And how often have we been less than satisfied with the clean-up efforts of our offspring?

An article published in the April 3, 2012 edition of the Edmonton Journal offers a few tips that might make the next tidying up incident a little more productive.  “Teaching kids to cut clutter” suggests the way to make kids’ too small rooms a little bigger is to get rid of some of the stuff in them.  Even better would be to never have some of the stuff, such as the junk contents of many birthday party loot bags (who dreams up these things anyway?), enter the rooms in the first place.

The article profiles two moms and writers, Debby Waldman and Rita Feutl, who co-wrote a book for children entitled Room Enough for Daisy based on their personal experiences trying to corral the belongings of their own children.  “Feutl says she hopes it prompts thoughtful parents to ask their kids to think about where the material for these things comes from, where they are put together, who puts them together and what they’re paid, how they’re packaged and how they get to the village, town or city where the kids live.”  The women hope their book will make kids more aware of their stuff and to take responsibility for it, as well as realize that some things are worth keeping more than others, and that less can be more.

A few of the tips from the article for helping kids cut clutter:

• Use the one-in-one-out rule.  When a new item comes into a kid’s room, something else must be removed.  But let your child decide.
• Sorting items and keeping like items together in containers and on shelves may go a long way to solving the problem of a messy room.
• If a child doesn’t appear to be using certain items, gather them up and put them away for 6 months.  If the child doesn’t ask for the items during that time, consider giving the stuff away.
• If kids want something new, have them contribute to the purchase.
• Be specific when you ask kids to clean their room.  Do you want them to clean, as in vacuum and dust, or do you want them to organize, as in pick up those blocks and arrange them in this box?
• Make sorting, arranging and tidying into a time-limited game.

Read the full article for even more good ideas.

If we can teach our kids to be more aware of the difference between wants and needs, and that more and more stuff doesn’t necessarily mean a better life, maybe their generation can do a better job of decluttering the planet!

I always welcome your comments and questions.  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

“Got a half hour to kill?  Use it to spruce up your house.”  So begins a useful article from the March 24, 2012 edition of the Edmonton Journal entitled “Take time for a quick home spruce-up”. 

Most of us want our homes in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, the Edmonton region or elsewhere to look great, but often the chore of keeping them looking immaculate feels a little overwhelming.  This article suggests a number of quick touch-ups that will make your home look and feel a lot better, whether you are doing it for yourself or as part of staging your home for sale.

The author, Mary Beth Breckenridge, starts by suggesting a tour through every part of your home with notebook in hand and a critical eye.  Write down every single thing that isn’t quite right.  You won’t be fixing them during this walk-through but it will give you an idea of things, big and small, that should probably be attended to. 

Now, for a few fix-ups.  Breckenridge suggests not just polishing but actually touching up the woodwork of window and door frames, baseboards, etc. to cover up the scratches and dings of day-to-day wear.  Read the article for her product suggestions!  Chipped paint on walls can be given similar treatment.

Breckenridge recommends Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and Scrubbing Bubbles spray to get rid of smudges around light switches, door knobs and so on. 

And then there are the places where dust likes to accumulate but which we often ignore when we do our weekly cleaning ritual:  light fixtures (don’t forget to dust the bulbs, and it’s probably time to take apart and wash the chandelier over the dining room table) and fans (including fan blades and bathroom exhaust fans), the tops of doors, the crevices between the carpet edge and baseboards (use the crevice tool on your vacuum for this one).  Think high and low, as in ceilings and baseboards.

You won’t be doing all of these things during one cleaning stint, but they make for a quick home brightener if tackled one by one, Breckenridge claims, and are not as time-consuming or onerous as one might think.   Read the full article for lots of good ideas to keep your home looking its best.

Got some great home maintenance tips to share?  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

Think your house in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or the Edmonton area is clean?  Read “The Germiest Spots in Your Home” posted at 50plus.com and discover some surprising places you might not have thought were dirty, as well as some cleaning tips to banish the bad bugs.  Now excuse me while I go wash my hands!

Give me a call at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here for help in finding the perfect home or acreage, or selling your treasured property. 

You’ve sold your house or acreage in Parkland County, Stony Plain, Spruce Grove or the Edmonton area, and you’re moving out.  What should you do for your home’s new owners?

•   “Unattached goods” or chattels:  Your purchase contract may specify some of the things that you are leaving behind such as kitchen and laundry appliances, window coverings and the like.  As a bare minimum, make sure that these items are in place, clean, and in good working order.
• Cleaning:  Your home should look much the same as it did during showings.  While you are under no legal obligation to leave your home spotless, it’s just a nice thing to do, if you can.  A good rule of thumb is to leave your home as clean as you’d like to find it!  If it’s not possible to give it the “mother-in-law white glove” test by washing windows, walls and light fixtures, steam-cleaning carpets and the like, at the very least do the following:
  • Thoroughly clean kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room (all fixtures, appliances, etc.)
  • Vacuum all carpets
  • Wash bare floors
  • Wipe out all cupboards
  • Tidy the yard, garage and shed
  • Get rid of all garbage
• Keys:  Collect and label all keys – extra house keys, garage, shed, mailbox (leave info about mailbox number), etc.  Keys should be left in a conspicuous location but not one that is visible by someone looking through a window from the outside.
• Garage door openers + codes
• Security system info + codes
• Instruction books, warranties, repair records for things like appliances, furnace, water heater, etc.
• Info about upgrades:  For example, if you installed a new roof, leave a note about when, what materials were used, who installed it, the cost, etc.
• Re-painting:  If any recent re-painting was done, leave leftover paint with info about brand, color name, etc.
• Utility info:  Leave information about providers (water, power, gas, internet, etc. with contact info), approximate monthly costs (copies of bills would be great), garbage pickup (what days, where, any special instructions, etc.)
• Utilities disconnect or transfer:  Have meters read.  Depending on the arrangement with the new owners, water and power may be turned off, furnace and hot water heater turned down, etc.  Your REALTOR® can help!
• “Welcome to your new home”:  It’s a nice touch, if you are so inclined, to leave a card or personal note for the new owners.   A recent copy of the local newspaper might  also be appreciated.
• Acreage owners:  Leave behind results of latest well water tests, well drillers’ report, upgrades to well and septic pump/system and the like
• Make sure all windows and doors are locked before you leave.

I am always willing to answer any home-related questions you might have!  Phone me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

After the long hard winter we’ve had, most of us can’t wait to open all the windows in our Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton area homes and acreages to let in that great spring air and clean out the mustiness of winter.  But before you rush off to the store to stock up on the latest expensive chemical cleaners that promise to make your home cleaner and fresher than last year’s products, consider going green this spring, just in time for Earth Day on April 22.

Long before commercial cleaning products were available, people cleaned their homes with a few simple but effective ingredients.  These products are readily available, much less toxic to people and the environment, and easy on the wallet too!  A little caution though:  These products may be (mostly) “natural” but that doesn’t mean you can go nuts with them!  Vinegar and lemon juice, for example, being acidic, will not be kind to marble; use plain water instead.

A couple of dirty little secrets about cleaning that the makers of chemical cleaning products don’t want you to know:

1. There is no magic formula or product that will make things clean.  Most cleaning comes from friction; that is, the application of good old elbow grease.
2. If you clean as you go, wiping up spills as they occur, washing off grime before it has a chance to build up, you can leave those expensive and toxic chemical cleaners on the store shelves.

Here is what you’ll need to clean green:

Baking Soda

White Vinegar

Salt

Borax

Lemon Juice

Club soda

Olive oil

Toothpaste

Rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol

Castile Soap [a plant-based soap, containing olive, palm and/or coconut oils; available from natural foods stores.  Look for Dr. Bronner’s brand.]

Microfiber cleaning cloths, sponges, lint-free rags

Glass and mirrors:

• Slightly dampened microfiber cloths work better than the blue stuff!
• Or, mix equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle.  Wipe with clean, lint-free rag.  (Some eco-cleaners suggest using newspaper for wiping but our experience says this just makes a mess!)
• Or, spray windows with club soda; wipe with clean, lint-free rag.

All-purpose cleaning:

• Mix vinegar with salt; scrub with sponge
• Or, pour some baking soda and vinegar on a damp sponge to clean and deodorize kitchen and bathroom surfaces.
• Plain full-strength vinegar is a great defense against mildew and its odors.  Works well on grease too.
• Another recipe:  Combine ½ cup of pure soap, such as Castile, with one gallon of hot water and ¼  cup of lemon juice
• Or try this:  Combine 1 tbsp Borax, 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 cup hot water in a spray bottle to clean bathroom and kitchen surfaces.

Furniture polish:

Combine ½ cup olive oil, ¼ cup vinegar and 2 tsp lemon juice in a spray bottle.  Spray liberally on wood surfaces and wipe dry with a soft cloth.

Sinks and bathtubs, including tile:

• Combine equal amounts of salt and baking soda; scrub with sponge.
• Rust and other stains on porcelain can be handled by rubbing with a mixture of lemon juice and salt.
• Spray vinegar full strength on soap scum and crusted scale from hard water.  Let soak and scrub off.

Faucets: 

• Clean with toothpaste and an old toothbrush.  Rinse and wipe dry.
• Or, spray with full-strength vinegar to remove soap scum and hard water stains.

Drain cleaning:

Pour ¼ cup baking soda down the drain, followed by ½ cup vinegar.  Cover immediately, or close drain, and let sit 15 minutes.  Flush with hot water.

Toilet bowl cleaner:

• Pour 1 cup vinegar into the toilet bowl; let stand for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle baking soda onto toilet brush and scour.  Flush.
• To keep the bowl fresh, pour 1 cup of vinegar (or 1 cup of Borax) into the toilet bowl once or twice a month and let stand overnight.

Floors of all types:

Add ½ cup vinegar to a gallon of hot water.  Dirty floors may need to be scrubbed with a brush; most will only need to be mopped or wiped with a rag dampened in the mixture.  If cleaning hardwood or laminate floors, make sure your mop or rag is only slightly damp, as these types of floors don’t love excess moisture.

Hardwood floor cleaner:

Mix ½ cup lemon juice, ½ cup rubbing alcohol and ½ cup olive oil into a gallon of warm water; wipe with slightly dampened mop or rag.  This mixture also works great on wood furniture and kitchen cabinets.

Laminate floor cleaner:

Combine 1 cup vinegar, ½ cup lemon juice, 1 tbsp. mild dishwashing liquid and 1 gallon hot water; wipe with slightly dampened mop or rag.

Tips for appliances:

• Run an empty dishwasher with a cup of white vinegar to remove food residue, limescale, built up detergent and grease.
• Equal parts water and white vinegar boiled in a kettle or run through a coffee maker will remove limescale build-up.  Run another cycle using plain water to remove any trace of the vinegar.
• Burned on food, whether on pots and pans or on the floor of an oven, can be removed with baking soda.  Make a paste of baking soda and water, spread it liberally over the area to be cleaned, let sit for at least 30 minutes.  Scour and rinse.  Or, try mixing 1 part cinnamon with 6 parts salt; pour on oven spill as soon as it occurs.  Wipe clean when oven is cool.
• Oven cleaning:  Mix together 2 tsp. Borax, 4 tbsp. white vinegar, 2 cups water and 2 tbsp. castile soap in a spray bottle.  Spray all over the oven walls and floor.  Cover the wet surface with baking soda.  Follow with a second layer of your homemade cleaner.  Let sit overnight and wipe clean in the morning.
• Spills on glass stove-tops can be scoured off using baking soda and a slightly dampened sponge or non-scratching plastic scouring pad.
• Clean your microwave by combining 2 tbsp baking soda or lemon juice or vinegar with a cup of water in a bowl.  Microwave for 5 minutes or until mixture boils and condensation builds up onside the microwave.  Wipe down.
• Freshen the inside of your refrigerator by wiping it down with a mixture of equal parts vinegar and warm water.

Comments or questions about this article?  Please phone me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca or contact me here.