If you find ironing too stressful, or aren’t sure if you’re doing it right, we’re here to help! We’ve got 9 tips to help you make peace with your iron, and make ironing your clothes a piece of cake!

1. Position Your Ironing Board

Proper ergonomic alignment is a laundry tip that will speed up the ironing process and you’ll avoid the dreaded backache. Adjust your ironing board until it’s at hip level. Your elbow should be bent at a 90-degree angle and your shoulder should be able to move easily.

2. Clean Your Iron

This cleaning hack will make your clothes sparkle! Before turning on your iron, check for any built-up residue. Remove any residue before you start ironing or it can transfer to your clothing.

3. Read Clothing Labels

Read your clothing care labels and match your iron’s temperatures to them. If in doubt, set your iron to a low temperature.

4. Clean Clothes Only!

Only iron clean clothes, never dirty clothes! The iron’s heat will set stains and also intensify odors on the fabric.

5. Keep it Misty

Keep a spray bottle filled with water handy. If you find yourself battling stubborn creases, spritz the crease with water and it should flatten nicely.

6. Go With the Grain

Iron your clothes with the grain, never against it. Ironing across thread diagonals will cause the fabric to stretch and buckle.

7. Get a Press Cloth

A press cloth is something everyone needs when ironing. This piece of tightly woven cotton cloth is used as a barrier between the iron and your clothes. It will guard against shine on your clothes, and help protect delicate clothing from the heat of the iron.

8. Keep the Iron Moving

Never hold the iron in one place for too long, you could burn your clothes! Keep the pressure light and don’t press too hard.

9. Hang Up Your Clothes

When you’re finished ironing your clothes, hang them up right away. In the first few hours since you’ve ironed your clothes are extra sensitive to wrinkles. Allow your clothes to cool and dry completely before placing them back into your closet or drawer.

Photos: The Organised Housewife, Peglanje Servis, Huffington Post, Metro News, Ullapool Laundry.

The holiday season is upon us and we’ve started getting our home ready., One of the places in our home that’s going to get a lot of traffic this year is the dining room! The best way to make your holiday decorating shine is with a clean home. Dining chairs are one thing no one is really sure how to clean, especially if they’re fabric instead of leather. We’ve got the step-by-step process on how to get your dining chairs looking new, smelling fresh, and ready for your guests!

What You’ll Need:

1) Vacuum cleaner

2) Stain remover

3) Bucket filled with warm water

4) Dish towels

5) Laundry detergent

Step 1:

Remove all dust from the chairs using a vacuum cleaner. Use the brush attachment to vacuum the flat part of the seat, then use the nozzle attachment to vacuum the crevices.

Step 2:

Get rid of any stains using a stain remover. Spray it directly onto the stain and allow it to sit for 5 minutes. Dab the stain with a wet towel and allow it to dry before you continue. This could take a few hours, or overnight.

Step 3:

Clean the fabric on the chair. Add a tablespoon of laundry detergent into a bucket of warm water. Dip your dishtowels into the soapy water and wring them out well. Gently scrub the seat with the towel and rinse using a clean, wet towel. Allow the chair to dry overnight.

Photos: Love This Pic, Digs Digs, Inspiring Interiors Ideas, Olina Faire.

Cleaning your home shouldn’t take you forever. We’ve got 10 tips from professional cleaners that will teach you how to clean your home in record time. Let’s get started!

1. Schedule Cleaning

Learn from the pros, and schedule a time for cleaning. Professionals won’t quit until the job is done, and neither should you! Set a specific time to clean, and stick to it!

2. Motivation

Don’t stop cleaning to check your e-mail or watch the latest show on TV. Use motivators to keep you focused on the task at hand. Play upbeat music or listen to an audio book. You can also clean with family members to help you stay on task.

3. Tools

Professional cleaners never have one-use tools, or a tool they saw on an informercial. Buy good tools once and save money in the long run.

4. Wear Proper Clothing

Wear clothing that’s comfortable and washable. Get yourself supportive shoes and knee pads if you will spend a lot of time cleaning low areas. Use goggles and gloves to protect yourself from harsh chemicals.

5. Tote Your Tools

Use a cleaning tote to store all your tools in one place. This way, you will never forget anything, and it will save you time. Check out our article on how to organize your very own cleaning tote here.

6. Simplify Supplies

You don’t need a lot of cleaning products to get your home clean. Professional cleaners always have these 4 cleaners on hand:

– A light duty cleaner, like glass cleaner or multi-surface cleaner

– A heavy duty degreasing cleaner

– Tile and bathroom cleaner

– Powdered abrasive cleaner

7. Use Both Hands

Get in the habit of using both your hands when you clean. Spray a counter with one hand, and wipe it down with the other. Dusting will go twice as fast when a lambswool duster in one hand cleans tough-to-reach corners, and a cleaning cloth in the other gets flat surfaces.

8. Teamwork

Two people can clean twice as fast, and that’s why professional cleaners always work in teams. Make cleaning your home a family affair. Family members that clean are more reluctant to get everything dirty later!

9. Pick it Up

Before you start cleaning, de-clutter your home. You can’t clean properly if all surfaces are covered in knick-knacks, papers, toys, and dirty dishes.

10. Make it Count

Professional cleaners will never circle a room more than 1 time. When they’re at the bathroom sink, they’ll clean the sink, wipe down the mirror, counter, and polish fixtures before moving to the rest of the room. Clean everything in your path before you move on.

Photos: Veterinet, Rayal Cleaning, Part Time Maid, Greater Cincinnati Maids.

If you’re confused as to which fabrics need hot water, and which need cold, read our handy laundry guide! We’ll take a look at 6 common fabrics we all have around the house, and how to care for each one. Let’s get started!

1. Cotton

A natural fiber, cotton can be found in t-shirts, jeans, and even ball gowns. Cotton fibers will shrink unless the fabric has been pre-shrunk, so we need to take a look at the care label first. If the label says ‘cold water only’, that’s a sign that your fabric will shrink if not washed in cold water. Cotton items that have already bee pre-shrunk can be washed in hot or cold water, depending on the color. You can also consider using eco friendly laundry detergent to make your cotton clothes last longer. If the care label says so, you can add chlorine bleach to white cotton wash loads to get rid of stains. Colored cottons can be washed with non-chlorine bleach specially formulated for colored clothing. You can wash your cotton jeans in cold water to preserve the color, as well as other colored garments. Do not over-dry cotton, as it can shrink. Dry your cotton fabrics on a low heat and remove them from the dryer while they are still cool.

2. Silk

Although silk is washable, some weave patterns may tighten if washed, and dark colors may fade. Always read the care labels before washing. ‘Dry clean only’ means that your fabric will not survive washing. You can wash silk fabrics by using products formulated for hand-washing or delicate fabrics. Baby shampoo is also a good choice for silk fabrics. Never dry silk in the dryer. Instead, roll the item in a towel to get rid of excess water, and then hang to dry. Use a warm iron to press silk fabrics.

3. Spandex

Even though spandex is machine-washable, avoid hot water and choline bleach. Unless the care label says otherwise, hang spandex garments to dry and avoid the dryer. Iron them with a warm iron if necessary.

4. Wool

Wool can be washed, but many wool garments incorporate construction methods that can’t be. Always dry-clean wool fabric if the care label says so. If the garment is washable, use a gentle detergent and hand wash it, or machine wash on a gentle cycle. Always wash in lukewarm water and air dry.

5. Polyester

Most polyester garments can be machine-washed using warm water, but always check the label first. Tumble-dry garments on a low heat. Take them out of the dryer while they are still damp to avoid static build-up and wrinkles. Use a low heat when ironing.

6. Linen

Always check the garment’s label to see if it needs to be dry-cleaned before you wash it. If it’s washable, wash according to the label’s instructions, using water that’s appropriate to the garment’s color. Linen absorbs a lot of water during the washing process, so make sure you don’t overcrowd your washing machine. Iron linen from the inside out, and use steam at a high heat.

Photos: Buckets and Bows,  Commodity Online, Silk Click, Cici Hot, Tumblr, Eqatar, Houzz.

Cleaning your windows is probably one of the easiest ways you can make your home look fresh and revived. Cloudy, dusty, and dirty windows are not only ugly to look at, but they also ruin the rest of your home’s appeal inside and out. Set aside one cloudy day for cleaning your windows since direct sunlight will dry up your solution before your can polish the glass properly.

1. Mix up Your Solution:

We’ve scoured the web and came across a lot of homemade cleaning solutions. Most of them aren’t effective and not even tried and tested! We found this popular cleaning solution that pinners swear by:

• ½ Gallon warm water
• 1 Tbsp liquid Jet Dry
• 2-3 Tbsp liquid laundry detergent or dish washing soap

Mix up all these ingredients in a bucket. Hose down your windows and wipe or brush on the solution. Immediately hose it off and your done!

Tips:

Use Horizontal and Vertical Strokes

– Wash one side of the window with your solution using horizontal strokes and the other side with vertical strokes. This way you can diminish any streaks.

Diminish Streaks with a Squeegee

– Using the solution above, the water seems to just run off and doesn’t make any marks. If you like, you can wipe them down with a squeegee if you are worried about streaks.

Fix Scratches with Toothpaste

– Scratched glass? No worries polish it up with toothpaste and watch the scratches disappear!  Toothpaste is a ingeneious way of fixing scratches and is also good for polishing up car headlights, a glass top on your table, sunglasses, and your glassware.

Polish Glass with Newspaper

– Take some old newspaper, crumple it up and polish your windows for extra shine. Polishing with newspaper leaves a film that makes your windows resistant to dirt and repels it. This is super easy and really costs nothing.

Clean up Drips!

– Cleaning solutions will make your windows sparkle but can damage your woodwork. Don’t let the cleaners drip on your windowsill or on your window frame since they can strip the paint or varnish. If you have sash windows especially, like the ones from Bygone Windows, you really want to make sure to wipe up drips to extend the life of your windows.

Photos: Made From Pinterest, Groomed Home

There’s nothing better than walking into a home and inhaling the sweet smell of fresh flowers. Whether it’s a romantic bouquet of red roses, or a handful of daisies you picked while out on a walk, here are a few tricks on how to make them last longer!

1. When buying roses, gently squeeze the top of the stem where the petals meet. If it’s soft, then the roses are old. If it’s firm, the roses are fresh.

2. When you bring the flowers home, cut off any greenery from the stems that’s going to be submerged in water. This will help keep the water clear.

3. Trim the ends of the stems in a bowl of water. This will help keep any extra air from going into the stems.

4. Add in 1/4 tsp of bleach per quart of water. This will prevent micro-organisms from taking over and making your water cloudy and dirty. Don’t use too much bleach or you will kill the flowers.

5. Keep flowers away from any hot spots in your house. This will cause them to wilt and die quicker.

6. Mist the flowers with water every day to ensure that they’re staying fresh.

7. Add 1/4 of a cup of 7-Up or Sprite soda into your vase and fill the rest with water. The sugar in the soda will help the flowers last longer!

8. Add 1 crushed aspirin into the water before adding your flowers.

Photos: Bloomery Weddings, Rinse Repeat Blog, Latrice Designs.

We’ve rounded up the best gutter cleaning tips that will show you how to clean those gutters the easy way! Read on to find out!

1. The first step is to get out a ladder and clean the leaves and debris out of the gutters. Make sure that your ladder is tall enough for you to reach the gutters without stretching too much, as this can be a safety issue. Don’t forget to clean out your down spout! If it’s clogged with leaves, rainwater won’t be able to drain properly, leaving you with sagging gutters.

2. If the debris you collect out of your gutters is biodegradable, it will make a good fodder for your compost heap!

3.Don’t forget about the gutter spikes! Sometimes these spikes miss the rafters, usually because the spike has worked its way out over the years. Invest in new gutter spikes to ensure that your gutters are securely fastened.

4. Check for any leaks, especially holes in the gutters and and cracked caulking. You can use a chisel to scrape out the old caulking, and then dry the area completely. Apply new bead silicone sealing to keep water from running down behind the gutters and rotting the boards.

5. You can give your gutters a good cleaning by using a pressure washer. Make sure you avoid hitting the gutters at too high an angle – you can blow off the shingles.

Photos: MDF Painting, Buildipedia.