cleaning – Page 2

March 31, 2014

3 Tips to Handle and Clean Every Mess Life Throws at You!

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3 Tips to Handle Every Mess Life Throws At You

As a work from home mom with four jobs, three dogs, two kids, a hubby in college full time–life is *messy*!!! And we’re so pressed for time that staying up on that messy can get really challenging at times.You might think that I just collected a collage of messy photos from my archives (because, hey–I’m the kind of person who does take these kinds of pictures) but nope! Just in the past 2 weeks all three of the disasters shown below have happened and/or been discovered courtesy of one little boy who very much loves dirt and one very shedding Husky!

December 6, 2013

5 Tips for Easy Holiday Cleaning

1. Clear the Clutter

As you’re digging into boxes of Christmas Decorations and putting away your normal knick-knacks be intentional as you do the swap–will you be excited to be digging these things out again in a month, or are they items that you’re holding onto for who-knows-what-not-good-reason? Give yourself one less thing to do for the New Year by dropping them into your donate box now! Same goes for Christmas items–do you love it? is it bringing a smile to your face as you unpack it? If not drop it in as well–some other family will be thrilled to bring a new-to-them Christmas item into their home this year! Don’t allow yourself to keep things out of guilt–the person bought it for you as a gift to be a blessing, not a burden. Give yourself permission to separate the gift from the giver and know it will be a bigger blessing to someone else!

October 16, 2013

We All Have “That Moment” happen — Purex UltraPacks Plus Oxi to the rescue!

Laundry Instagram — Legalese Nonsense: I’ve needed all the help I could get the past month, so I’ve been super thankful for products that have helped make my life easier like Purex UltraPacks with Oxi–getting sent a bag to tell you about it? Even better!

So the past few weeks have been beyond absolutely insane.

{I know you’ll want to hear all about it, it’s a tale of terror and woe–but don’t forget to scroll aaallll the way to the bottom because there’s some really important news *cough*freestuff*cough* that you’ll want to find out about!}

May 2, 2013

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Legalese Disclosure Nonsense: In an effort to help me Work Smarter, Not Harder Soft Scrub has provided me with the cleaning supplies mentioned so that I can spend less time cleaning, more time blogging-good deal, right?!

Lately it’s seemed that life has been so super busy it’s to the point where a few things need to come off my plate or I need to figure out how to do things more efficiently! Since I don’t really want to drop anything from my plate at this point Work Smarter, Not Harder has been my motto lately!

For me this means that I’ve been attempting to streamline everything I do from paring down my huge influx of emails (do I *really* need to get Facebook and Twitter notifications in triplicate? I think not) to running errands all at the same time (Thursday mornings means CVS, Walmart, and Brookshires shopping! In fact the manager at CVS this morning told me, “Good morning, I see you’re in for your weekly couponing!” Haha!)

March 21, 2013

Why I love Scrubbing the Bathroom

All this talk about organizing bathrooms lately has made me nostalgic.

Source: littlebitsoflovely.blogspot.ca via Nicole Elliott on Pinterest

Growing up we had this *fabulous* white, claw foot tub. Our bathroom was teeny tiny but the one amazing thing about it was that tub! I grew up with it and really took it for granted until I moved out and realized that not everyone grew up with one!

For our chores we each had to pick one to do each week-(yes we were lucky, but hey with four of us it made it easy to divide them up!) I hated vacuuming, didn’t mind dusting, but the chore I always asked for was cleaning the bathroom. For some reason scrubbing things until they are shiny/bright has always made me smile!

Soft Scrub Total All Purpose Bath & Kitchen Cleaner

Growing up the only cleaner I ever used in the bathroom was the Classic Lemon Soft Scrub in a bottle. So when I was recently sent Soft Scrub Total All Purpose Bath & Kitchen Cleaner to review it was like greeting an old childhood friend! Sure the “haircut” (i.e. new cap that reduces spills) might be different-but so many things are still the same. Even lemon cleanser smell, the feel, and the white pools all made me warp back to being 14, jamming out to music while I pushed bubbles around and day dreamed about my short, muscly wrestler crushes (I know, I know-how funny is that considering I married a 6’7″ beanpole)

Some things never change–Soft Scrub still does an awesome job making the bathroom shiny and bright. You know a company has a good thing going when I can clean with the same cleaner 13 years later and get the same wonderful results!

And yes, cleaning the bathroom is still one of my favorite chores!

Two Lucky Winners can wax nostalgic (or just give the bathroom or kitchen a good scrub) for themselves!

Is there a certain cleaning product or smell that makes you nostalgic? Leave me a comment and let me know what it is and the memory behind it!

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Nicole Elliott

March 5, 2013

Easy Cleaning For You

This week in my Organizing in Small Spaces blog post I’ll be doing my first post on Organizing Your Bathroom. I thought before I wrote about that, however, I’d do a post on how to make cleaning your bathroom easy so that you’ll actually have time to organize it!

As you know I’m normally all about using all natural cleaners–and I am, but I’ve found for me personally when it comes to the bathroom-especially the tub-I need to use “the real thing”!

Since we’re living with my in-laws right now me and my lovely second mom have a lovely system worked out–I cook, she cleans! When it comes to our bathroom, however, I clean that (because I would feel a little weird with someone else cleaning up the bathroom we use!)

Since I’m so busy between all my jobs, being home full time with the kids, and extracurricular activities I try my best to work smarter–not harder!

So here are my top 3 tips for easy cleaning for you!

Use your kids Bathtime or your Shower to your advantage! You’re already in there–why not take advantage of that? I clean the entire bathroom during Tyler’s bath once a week-normally I can get everything cleaned up and wiped off before his bubbles disapear!

Keep your supplies in the bathroom. If you have room store your bathroom cleaning supplies in one of your cupboards/linen closet. If they’re right there handy you’re much more likely to use them!

Buy products that do the work for you! I use toilet cleaners that you drop in the bowl and it cleans every time you flush. Another awesome “does the work for you” product I just recently found out about is the Wet & Forget Shower Spray. Since I do my bathroom cleaning while the tub is being occupied I was having a hard time figuring out when a good time to go in and scrub the tub & shower would be. With the Wet & Forget Shower Spray I just spritz it on really quick after my shower and then rinse it off again the next time I hop in the shower or before I put the kiddos in for a bath.

The Before Picture–nice and clean from scrubbing!

The only part I had any problem with was figuring out how to get it to latch in initially–(one of those “you have to be smarter than the bottle battles I often lose–haha!) The trick is you have to push it DOWN till it latches in, not try to screw it in. 😉

Check out my short video to see it in action!

Of course a product is only as good as it’s final results–so here you are!

The “after” picture!

Ta Da! I know–you might be saying “that looks just like the first picture” well…it does! But that’s really the good thing, it means that for 2 weeks all I’ve had to do is spritz the shower down-taking all of 2 minutes, and leave it. I *love* that! So much easier than the weekly scrub down I was having to do that required me to change my clothes so the bleach wouldn’t ruin them and then scrub away awkwardly trying to not rub up against the spots I just did (with my short little arms that was quite the feat!

If you’d like to try out Wet and Forget Shower Spray for yourself you can use their store locator or shop their online store! Don’t forget to get social while you’re at it–they’re on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest too!

Leave a comment letting me know what your best “easy cleaning” tip is!

Nicole Elliott

September 14, 2012

Soft Scrub ~ Make Your Bathroom Sparkling Clean

Growing up my favorite chore was cleaning the bathtub. We had this great old fashioned soaking claw tub that I adored. I’d grab some Soft Scrub and scrub away–usually while blasting music in my bedroom next to the bathroom.

While I mentioned I’m more into green cleaners these days the bathroom is the one spot that I always feel I truly need the “real thing” for!

I love the new spray/foam option that Soft Scrub comes in these days–it really does even work upside down! Our amazing garden tub here is really tricky to keep white but the soft scrub with bleach really did the trick and I loved the Bath and Bowl for the toilet! Just a simple squirt, swish and it was all sparkling clean!

Mom Tip: Use your kiddos bathtime to your advantage! While they’re splashing away use the time to clean up the rest of the bathroom, and once they’re out and in jammies give the tub a quick squirt and rub down-it will keep your bathroom shining and you’ll barely notice the effort!

Having a little fun and pretending to be a Soft Scrub Model when I was dolled up to go pick up hubby from a month long trip away 😉 bet you never knew household cleaning supplies could be this cute, right? (just teasing!)

Be sure to join in the Soft Scrub Tough & Gentle Sweepstakes! There is a $1,000 grand prize and fifty 2nd place winners will each receive $40 in gift cards-hard to beat that!!

Three of my readers will win too–any free Soft Scrub product of your choice!

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September 13, 2012

Little Cleaning Box – Finding Green Cleaners that Work

It’s no secret that I love the subscription boxes that are all the rage now! I’ve always loved samples of anything and the idea of getting samples of a specific type that you’re interested in is brilliant! The Little Cleaning Box is a totally green, totally clean membership box.

I’ve also mentioned before that ever since having kids I’ve been slowly switching over to green cleaners and detergents for the sake of my kiddos. The only problem is trying to find green cleaners that work as well as their non-green counterparts do! I’m one who is not willing to sacrifice effectiveness for “green-ness”. Being able to try a bunch of different samples means that I can give everything the “real life test” for myself before spending a bunch of money on a green cleaner that I might not like-and if I find one I love I’ll know what to stock up on!

As you can see my little box came chock full of great sample to try out! The samples were Modern Mermaid All Purpose and Glass Cleaner, Mrs. Meyers Dish Soap, Grab Green Laundry Detergent, and Skoy Cloth.

I’d seen a lot about Mrs. Meyer’s lately and was excited to try it out for myself-I love that they included a sample of each kind!

My favorite product so far has been the Grab Green Laundry Detergent. Since I have to be especially careful and green with our detergent because of the kid’s eczema this product was perfect for us and did a great job!

Would you like your own little box of green goodness every 90 days? You can get it for just $10 a box! Sign up on the Little Cleaning Box Website and be sure to follow along on Facebook as well!

July 31, 2012

Dirty Laundry

If there is one thing that all moms have in common–it’s laundry.

Piles and piles of dirty laundry.

That task that is never ending and time consuming.

I always find it funny that everyone seems to do & sort their laundry a different way-this became really apparent to me when I was staying with my families last year. My mom in law does hers different than my sister in law who does it differently from my mom who does it differently from me, haha.

I know a lot of people swear by the one load a day method but my family (even though there are four of us…) doesn’t make enough laundry to merit that. (Lucky me, right? Haha) So I normally just do all my laundry Monday and Tuesday each week and that seems to work well for us.

Amber has always loved helping with laundry and I’ve always encouraged it. Now that she’s four she can help load and unload, and now she is even starting to fold things like pants and towels. They’re not her chores and I still try to keep it fun-but it does help.

Don’t underestimate what your kids can do to help you around the house-it can be fun for them, helpful for you, and increases their sense of self esteem and worth in the family.

Personally I’ve never minded doing laundry too much, but climbing “Mt. Washmore” can be tedious and if you have a kiddo with eczema like mine it become a bit more complicated. I’ve learned to use free and clear detergents and if they’re all natural then that’s even better! Over the past month I’ve been trying out the laundry detergent Ecover Zero. I was pleased with it–the concentrated liquid did go a long way and got our clothes nice and clean. It did seem to have a bit of a scent to it for being unscented-so I wasn’t super crazy about that, but overall it did the job and I would recommend it!

Do you have any tips that help make your laundry experience easier or any products you swear by? Please share in the comments-I’m always looking for new ideas on how to make all that dirty laundry a little more fun!

May 1, 2012

Spring Cleaning Tips

With the warm in the air, the beautiful flowers poking their heads up out of the earth, and my parents flying out next week we are in full on Spring Cleaning mode over here! I thought I’d share some of my tops tips-please share yours in a comment or leave a link to your blog post–I’d love to read!

Spring Clean all Year Long ~ Ever since January I’ve been using FlyLady’s zone method and am super pleased with the results! I’ve been able to get my kitchen and our bathrooms super organized and decluttered using it and all by just doing a little bit 15 minutes a day–definitely do-able even with my crazy busy schedule!

Game Plan ~ Even if you have been “spring cleaning” all year long it still feels good to go on a good cleaning spree–especially before company comes. I found that I am the most productive when I write down a list of what exactly needs to be done–then I can even accomplish “deep cleaning” when I’m on the phone–I just look at what is next on my list and tackle it!

Set that Timer ~ another idea from FlyLady–set your timer and clean as fast as you can! You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in a short amount of time! Don’t try to go TOO fast though…if you’re clumsy like me you’ll end up bumping into everything and spilling things, haha!

Try Some New Products ~ I’ve also mentioned before that ever since having kiddos I’ve been straying away from all the more toxic cleaners and starting to use green cleaners a lot. I even used good old baking soda and vinegar to clean the inside of my stove shiny bright (yes it really did work!) In the bathroom though I have a hard time not using something more “heavy duty” though–so Colorox Green Works has been a great solution for me!

I don’t normally use wipes but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how nice they are for quick tidy ups throughout the week of the bathroom counters and also for wiping down the outside of the toilet. The toilet cleaner has been my favorite–it works just as good as any of the bleach kinds do and I will definitely be purchasing it again. The All Purpose cleaner worked well also for the counters in the bathroom during my weekly “deep” cleans. I wouldn’t recommend it for the bathtub though, ours usually need something with a little more “omph”.

Mom Tip: Use your kiddos bathtime to your advantage! While they’re splashing away use the time to clean up the rest of the bathroom, and once they’re out and in jammies give the tub a quick squirt and rub down-it will keep your bathroom shining and you’ll barely notice the effort!

Don’t underestimate what your kids can do to help you around the house-it can be fun for them, helpful for you, and increases their sense of self esteem and worth in the family.

What are your spring cleaning tips and what products do you love to use for it?