The first place I need to start today is with honesty. Our front foyer currently looks nothing like this. It is taking a hard hit daily. My people are messy. And by people, I mean people and dogs.
We have had glimmers of warmer weather, followed by hard freezes. The result? Mud! We are a family who spends a lot of time trekking in and out this time of year heading to the sugar house. As many times as I have asked everyone, including the dogs, to use the mudroom (hence the name!), the front door is still a primary passage. So, at a certain point I just had to accept it was going to be a regular place of clean up.
So, I have assembled my favorite tools for fighting the battle to share with you today with some quick spring cleaning tips.
The first step is my
Dyson DC35 cordless vacuum. It is a bit pricey for such a tool, but I bought mine about 3.5 years ago and it has been worth every penny. Instead of having to get out the big vacuum, plug it in and lug it around, I just grab this one which is hanging in the laundry room. It is not perfect and does sometimes clog up. However, I find clearing it is pretty easy and it works best when I regularly clean the filters. I also love that is something that I can easily ask my kids to take care of. In our house we refer to it as the "vroom vroom" and my kids are often asked to quickly run the "vroom vroom" around the first floor and on the stairs. Stair cleaning is so much easier with this thing!
We also recently picked up what we always called a dust buster when I was a kid, now they call it a
hand vac. My husband thought it was a silly purchase and kind of rolled his eyes at me when I brought it home. However, we have all come to realize that sometimes spills, breaks and bigger messes need something that can really suck it up. I have even used this on surfaces other than the floor when there are spills or breaks. It is especially helpful this time of year with the larger chunks of dried mud that make their way into our home. Seriously, when that mud gets in the grooves of boots it ends up everywhere.
I am not a big fan of a major mopping extravaganza so I have a great tip for thorough and quick clean ups of your wood floors. After I run the cordless vacuum around, I follow up with Bona hardwood floor cleaner.
I use this set. I use the dust mop attachment for occasional quick clean up of dusty areas but mostly I use the mop attachment. They do sell a set that has the
sprayer built into the mop, but I prefer
this model. I just spray the floor with one hand and mop with the other. We go through it pretty quickly so I also bought the
refill bottle.
Now here is another little tip I almost feel guilty not sharing till now. When we end up with messes on our rugs or on our upholstered furniture,
Folex has been my go to since my girls were babies. A few sprays and then rub it with a cloth and it will get out most stains. It has kept me sane and from going crazy when messes are happening around the house. Of course, when working with upholstery and carpet, you should always do a test spot first. You can find all the details on the
Folex site.
And if you need to figure out a quick way to clean glass, I share
my glass cleaning secret here.
And my biggest secret for cleaning (sort of!) can be found in this post -
the secret to getting your house clean.
Thank you so much for reading!
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post however there are affiliate links enclosed.
