Quick Holiday Cleaning Tips for the Non-Obsessive
December 20, 2017
The holidays are upon us and guests will soon arrive. You already decorated and your house looks great, but you just didn’t have time to do the deep cleaning you had hoped to achieve before your barrage of guests show up. Your cousins are staying over for the weekend and your college kids are bunking together to accommodate them. Your kids already know you are sometimes a slacker and marvel at the amount of household stuff, art supplies and refuse you were able to stuff in the craft room closet. Yay you! They love you anyway, so no worries there. Lock the door and no one will open it or get injured in the toppling mess when the curious cat tries to sneak a peek into your hidden spaces (i.e. Aunt Sara).
Aunt Sara is going to scrutinize the heck out of your housekeeping habits, but she would do that regardless of the state of sterility you achieve in your kitchen and bath (some people are just like that). So how should you prioritize? The clock is ticking and you still have thirty gifts to wrap, shopping to do, and then the food prep. Plus you’re working… This is the part where you have to prioritize and figure out what matters most to you on the holidays. What and who—because really, there are only a few days left and a few hours to accomplish everything you need to do.
Now it’s time for you get out a piece of paper, have a cup of calming tea (lavender or chamomile), and reminisce about your favorite holidays. Which ones stand out in your mind as more successful, more enjoyable, more joyous, more relaxed, or simply had more flow? Jot down your thoughts in a “best holidays” column, then make short lists of what it was that made it best. Was it the food? Having your family together? The synergy of your guests? The gifts? The reactions of the gift recipients? The matching candy-striped toe socks worn by your entire clan? The excellent wine? Or maybe the love you shared?
So be honest with yourself, did “cleanest house in the hood” come up anywhere near the top of your list? Well, if it did, you know what you have to do. You will need to prioritize the most important cleaning tasks that you can possibly accomplish in the limited amount of time you have. You could pare down Good Housekeeping’s 7-day Plan and focus on the most visible rooms. House Logic has a quick-and-dirty (or clean) checklist of the most vital cleaning tasks for a guest-worthy home. HGTV has a plan for cleaning your house in 45 minutes or less (my favorite). Of course, this assumes you have kept up on your maintenance to a great degree. Regardless of how “deep” your cleaning goes, you need to assess your time, define your tasks, and set limits for yourself. And most importantly, don’t forget to make room for joy in your holidays. Don’t hesitate to enlist your partner and kids as well. Work in a reward after cleaning (family pizza party) and you’re well on your way to holiday fun.
For those of you who discovered cleaning towards the bottom of your “discovery” list, the HGTV article is probably the one for you. Also, for overall holiday organizing, you can’t beat this Budget Dumpster article with five smart holiday organizing tips. And if you want to pour yourself another tea as you refine your holiday cleaning and organizing plan, head on over to the Organizing Maven’s site and check out her free Less Stress – More Joy Guide to help you get the most out of your holidays.
Also, consider this: your kitchen, bath and entryway are probably going to be the most scrutinized by others (and the dining area). So those might be your priority rooms for concentrated cleaning.
I fully intended to write you a cleaning guide, but as I wrote this and assessed my own work and other priorities, I realized that lots of people already did it for me (no need to replicate their ideas)! So you don’t really need me after all. Plus, Aunt Sara got pushed to the bottom of my list, so I’m steeping another cup of tea and having a lovely evening as I add Zentangles to my incredible short list of Christmas must-do’s. Enjoy your reading and happy holidays!
Last Minute Gift Ideas – Organize-It
December 19, 2017
Still shopping? Crunched for time? Consider the gift of organizing in the form of a digital gift certificate from Organize-It. It’s super easy! Just click on the link and then enter the recipient’s email and pay at the checkout.
Top Ten Best Dorm Laundry Must-Haves
December 18, 2017
Dorm Laundry Essentials to Help Keep your Life Together in the New School Year
The transition from home to dorm can be stressful in so many ways. At home, you have easy access to laundry, kitchen, and all of the usual comforts. But in school, it’s kind of like you are camping in a room, with all of your essential life activities taking place some place else – cafeteria downstairs or in another building, laundry downstairs (or at home on weekends), bathroom (at worst – down the hall), or slightly better, in your room, but shared with three other people you may or may not know. All of your routines get turned upside down when you go to college, but you can reduce your stress by showing up for school prepared. We are featuring several blog posts to prepare you for school, so be sure to check back weekly for great new ideas that will get you ready and manage your transition stress.
Clothes make the man – and the woman, and are essential to making an impression during school and for play. When you get to campus though, keeping them clean, stored and presentable becomes an instant hassle. Moving to the dorms will make you realize just how much you took your home life for granted. To help you deal, here are 10 dorm laundry products, our best, to make washing, lugging and pressing your laundry easier and keep you looking your best.
Over-Door Garment Drying Rack
When you’re in a hurry and can’t finish the dry cycle, or just when you need to hand wash some underwear or stockings (or that garment that missed the wash cycle), this over-door drying rack is a lifesaver. Just hang it over the door overnight and you’ll have dry, ready-to-go clothes the next day. Four 20-inch rungs give you plenty of room for hanging and it costs only $14.99.
Laundry Sorter and Bag
Laundry baskets are sturdy and great, but for dorms, laundry bags might be better. This one is lightweight and has three sorting compartments to keep your laundry organized. Plus it sports a carrying handle and is made of see-through mesh for easy identification of your dirty (or clean) stuff. Whether you are taking laundry home, to the dorm laundromat, or a commercial space, this is a great do-all bag – plus it comes in blue ($9.99) or white ($8.99) varieties.
Small Laundry Sorter/Mesh Wash Bag
Don’t you hate it when your fishnets get snagged or your dress socks get hung up on your jeans zipper? Solution: a little, inexpensive, gem-of-a-laundry sorter. It’s perfect for separating underwear and socks – plus you can throw it in the washing machine as a protective wash bag, which eliminates snagging and “intra-washing” mishaps. It’s only sixteen inches long, has four compartments, is made of lightweight mesh, and costs only $3.99.
Laundry Bag
For long, cross-campus laundry hauls, this laundry bag really fits the bill. Throw it over your shoulder with the included strap and toss it in the machine for easy washing when it’s dirty. It’s made of durable, reinforced nylon and the manufacturer offers a limited lifetime warranty. It’s 33 inches high and costs only $16.99.
Over-Door Ironing Board
Few dorms come with room for an ironing board. Over-door ironing board to the rescue. It comes with a pad and folds up and out of your way when you’re not using it. Plus it comes with a wire holder for your iron. Just let it cool and hook it over the prongs. It works on standard 1-3/8-inch or 1/3/4-inch thick doors and requires no extra hardware. Cost (on sale): $38.99. Ironing not a priority? Consider these: interviews and special dates – or any time you might want to impress someone. It happens.
Ironing Mat
No free door for the ironing board? No problem. Just buy this ironing mat and use it on your desk, table or counter. It has thick padding to discourage mishaps, is 19.5 x 28 inches, and has a built-in silicone iron holder. It folds up for easy storage and costs only $12.99.
Eco-Intelligence Iron
If you work in college or dress up, you’re going to want an iron. Rowenta’s Eco-Intelligence Iron is smartly designed to save energy by up to 25 percent, so makes a great green gift for your tree-hugging loved one (even if it’s a gift you buy yourself). It has a patented steam and anti-drip system and one of the coolest designs on the market. There’s no reason an iron can’t be pretty and industrial designs can be sublime too. It’s on sale at the time of this writing for $115.99.
Rowenta Hand Steamer
For low-maintenance, casual, t-shirt wearing students, you might be able to bypass the iron and all of it’s apparatus and use an inexpensive hand steamer. This uses distilled water to blast smaller wrinkles from your clothes. It has a lint and fabric brush to open weave as it steams out imperfections. It doesn’t quite do the job of an iron, and you can’t press folds into fabrics, but it’s a quick-and-dirty fix for looking presentable for the day – and requires less storage room than an ironing board and iron. I use one myself, and I seldom get out the iron. Cost: only $29.99.
Over-Door Hanger Valet
When you dry and iron your laundry, you sure don’t want it to get wrinkled. This over-door hanger is a great way to keep your clothes organized and wrinkle-free as you iron. It hangs over standard doors, is study and made from steel, holds five hangers, and extends five inches from the wall. Cost: $15.99.
Wire Hangers
With cramped closet situations, wire hangers make the best use of lateral space and are fairly inexpensive. They come in a variety of models, including multi-tiered versions, which give you space you didn’t know you had by utilizing the vertical. Tank top hangers, slack hangers, scarf and belt hangers, and even lingerie hangers are available for storing all your garments. Prices range from $3.99 to $13.99 for specialty, multi-tiered hangers. You also might enjoy the Clutter Control Freak post for more ideas on tricking out your closet on a budget (with hangers).
Whatever your dorm laundry needs for the coming fall, you’re sure to find it at Organize-It. New shoppers, be sure to sign up for our newsletter (go to main site and scroll to bottom for link) to receive a 10-percent discount on your first order. Also, you might want to sign up for our blog email list (use “subscribe” button on right of page), so you can receive notifications as we publish new articles.
EXTRAS
Laundry Tips:
Keep a laundry schedule to stay on top of things.
Sort as you soil to save work later.
Save your quarters.
Keep detergent and dryer sheets on hand.
Fold right away to minimize wrinkling and stay on top of it.
Laundry Checklist:
Detergent
Softener
Dryer Sheets
Basket or bag
Quarters
Iron
Ironing board or sheet
Dryer rack for in-room use
Spray starch