Tuesday’s Tip: Cleaning Straws and Sippies

Ever have one of those “DOH!” moments? I had one of those recently when doing the dishes.

I’ve struggled keeping Little Dude’s sippy cups and straws clean. You know how yucky stuff gets caught in every crevice of those things, right? Well I figured it out.

Are you ready for this? It’s so simple, you’ll say “DOH!” too.

Use a pipe cleaner to clean straws and sippy cups.

Yeah, I know – it’s so obvious now isn’t it? I’ve been kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner.

Run to your craft supplies and grab a pipe cleaner and put it by your kitchen sink. I bent-over the tops so they wouldn’t be sharp and poke anything. It works like a charm!

PS: I’m linking to Blog Mommas’ Tuesday’s Tip Jar. Check out the tips over there.

PPS: If you already knew to use a pipe cleaner to clean straws and sippy cups, feel free to make fun of me in the comments

Tuesday’s Tip: Dusting

While you may know I’m slightly head-over-heels in love with Swiffer products, I do have a couple other tools in my caddy that I use for dusting. After all, having the right tool makes completing the chore much faster.

Make-Up Brush

I use this on delicate items that need dusting such as my plants. I also use it to dust my knick-knacks that have lots of crevices where dust can hide. This works great on pleated lamp shades too!

If you want to get one for dusting, just make sure it’s soft – avoid that stiffer bristles as they will scratch.

Foam Paint Brush

This handy-dandy little tool is perfect for getting into corners  – especially the corners of the individual window panes on my doors. Because of it’s tapered end, it really gets into the creases.

I also keep one near my dryer to clean-out the lint trap.

Sticky Tape Lint Roller

Besides removing pet hair from clothes, it gets if off my furniture and drapes. I also use this on throw-rugs before vacuuming.

This also removes all the lint and fur from Little Dude’s felt books better than anything else I’ve tried.

Using these tools on-top-of my usual duster helps me dust my home. Having the right tool to do the job feels like I’m really cleaning.

Do you have any unusual tools for dusting or cleaning in your caddy? Or do you have a question about dusting? Please leave me a comment!

PS: I’m linking to BlogMommas Tuesday’s Tip Jar. Head on over for some more cool tips!

Remove Pet Hair From Furniture {Tuesday’s Tip Jar}

I have spoiled critters. They are allowed on the furniture. Why not? After all, there is nothing as relaxing as watching a movie with them cuddling with you! My “girls” are a part of my family.

Allowing them on the furniture means constantly getting their fur off  – which is one of the reasons I recently slip-covered my sofa. Regular brushing and grooming is good prevention and helps a little.

There Are Easy Ways To Remove Pet Fur From Your Furniture

• A lint roller or lint brush will quickly remove surface fur from your cushions. I’ve personally found that the lint brush works best of the two. It picks-up the deeper, woven-into-the-fabric fur.
• A slightly damp sponge will work just as good as any gadget seen on TV. Rub the hair briskly in a circular motion. It will gather up and you can remove easily.
• Before vacuuming, spray with Static Guard®. This loosens the fur’s grip to the furniture allowing for easy removal with the vacuum. This works especially well when fur gets woven into upholstery.
• Using the same principle as Static Guard®, use a dryer sheet to pick-up fur. The bonus is that “April Fresh Scent”.
• Rubber gloves work well to. Put it on, rub in different directions and viola – instant fur remover.

Now, here’s an interesting way to keep the fur off of the furniture. I don’t think any of my girls would allow me to do this since they scatter as soon as the vacuum is turned on. But it’s a great idea!

PS: Head on over to BlogMommas for more Tuesday Tips!

Friday Faves

JoysOfHome posted her totally awesome way of preparing dinners for her “boys” before going away.

AngiesPangies gave me a way to keep my abundance of herbs from my garden – freeze them!

Unclutterer posted on how to prioritize your decluttering and organizing projects. (I coach this when someone doesn’t know where to start. Great minds think alike!)

You must read 5 Quick Tips for Helping Kids Keep Their Rooms Clean from TheHappyHousewife.

NatureMomsBlog shares how to make old furniture look good again.

SimpleNotebook wants to know how to keep magazines from piling up and cluttering your space.

And finally, if you’re a cat person here is a video you have to watch at MomsTalkNetwork! (I think this was made based on Hubby and my cat!)

Cleaning and Conserving LOL

I’m addicted to ICANHASCHEEZBURGER.com! And when I see a cleaning LOL picture, I just cant resist.

more animals<

My dogs love after dinner time so they can lick the plates clean. There is a joke in our family that this is our way of conserving water because there is no need to rinse the plates before putting them in the dishwasher.

Monday Motivation

Hate housework? Doing a little bit each day saves having to be a slave to your house at the end of the  week. Tidy up small messes as they occur…every little bit makes a difference.

There are always jobs around your house that literally only take a  minute to do-dusting the TV screen; emptying a wastebasket; cleaning a mirror or 2; changing the bathroom towels. These jobs might seem insignificant, but not when you have to do them all at once!

Don’t procrastinate! The more you procrastinate, the more you worry about the horrid errand your trying  to avoid, the larger or more dire the job  becomes…it’s a vicious circle. Better it is then, to get  in and get the worst job done first. The rest will then seem like a breeze.

Tuesday’s Tips

I hate cleaning the fridge. The schmutz from the containers that gets stuck to the shelves drives me bonkers!

I hate the dried milk spots from my cartons of milk or cream. To prevent a mess on the shelves what I do is wrap the bottom of milk and cream cartons with Glad Press’n Seal. This works much better than plastic wrap, which doesn’t stick to the carton well.

I also wrap the bottoms of cans with aluminum foil. This prevents rust-rings!

Oh and the shelves on the door! They are so hard to keep clean.  So I line those shelves with paper towels. Easy to clean-up! I also link the drawers with paper towels – not only keeps them clean, but it absorbs moisture which can help keeping produce fresher, longer.

Head on over to BlogMommas.com for more Tuesday Tips!

Saturday SOS

Oh yeah, another meme!

It’s simple! Share a tip a for organizing, meal planning, frugal living, cleaning, whatever!

This week’s tip: Don’t you hate cleaning the shelves on your refrigerator doors? They get so sticky from the syrups, condiments we typically store there. Line them with paper towels for easy clean up!

You can link your post to the button above. Sure, you can use my bandwidth – here’s the code!

http://thehouseholdhelper.com/blog/sos/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://thehouseholdhelper.com/images/saturdaysos.jpg” border=”0? alt=”Saturday SOS Tips”></a>

Or link via text: <a href=”http://thehouseholdhelper.com/blog/sos/>Click here for more Saturday SOS Tips</a>

Once your post is up, come on back and leave me a comment in my recent Saturday SOS post – and don’t forget your link!