VS          

Battle of the Mops!!

Mopping.  No one I knows favorite job.  But we have to do it.  Otherwise our floors would become .... well.....dirt!  I have had so many people ask me which I preferred a good old fashioned string mop with bucket of water or the new fangled swiffer type mops.  

I have to tell you, up until recently I was a strict fan of the string mop.  I found my self changing the water a ridiculous amount of times for every room but otherwise I'd have dirty water and that just won't do.  Then one day I happened up on a swifter type mop, you know the ones with the wet nap on them. I tried it but found that the effect was less than satisfactory for me and so it became a resident of the broom closet.  

Now I'm gonna tell you a little story about an overworked cleaning lady and her forgetful self.  

I was on my way to work at a client's home.  I had had a morning that I wouldn't wish on an enemy!  Nothing went right, every time the phone rang it was someone else wanting me to do something and I just couldn't make happen.  My schedule was fouled up due to my having to be out of work with illness and I wasn't about to ask my client to postpone yet again.  

I'd finally gotten out of the house, van loaded, ipod playing in the background I was half way to my 1st client of the day's home.  Then my cell phone rang........I looked at the name and saw it was my daughter.  I pulled over and returned the call thinking she needed lunch money or something.  NO......she wanted to know why I'd left a large part of my supplies sitting on the carport!  ARGH!!!  Just another perfect addition to my morning!  I got out and walked back to the rear of the van and sure enough, my mop, bucket, broom AND my vacuum were AWOL!! 

Okay, do I go back or go on???  

I went on.  I knew my client had a broom and vacuum, I wasn't sure about the mop though.  When I got to her home I told her about my lack of supplies and she indeed had a broom and vacuum, just no mop.  She did however have a Swiffer mop.  I told her I'd make it work.  So, after I finished all the other chores, I looked at that little mop....what am I gonna do I'm thinking.  I looked at the mop and then at my basket of terry cloths..... hummmmm......the wheels were turning.  

At home I use the swiffer for alot of things that they never intended I'm sure for me to do, and I was on my way to yet another use for this little mop.  I had (it is now deceased) a steam mop at one time.  They have terry cloth pads..... why not use the terry cloths I had in the same way??  

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention!  I surely didn't invent the swiffer mop but I sure used it in a much better way!  

I filled a spray bottle with cleaner ( I use vinegar on most all floor surfaces) sprayed a small area and mopped away.  WALA!  No dirty mop bucket smelling up my van, no stale smelling string mop hanging around.  No more putting my hands in yucky dirty water to whring out a string mop.  I went over the floor once with the vinegar and then once with clear water.  The cloths tell you when to change and you can see just how clean the floor is becoming!  I love it!  

Now I know that there are those that will not find this a great idea, but to me it is one of my best!  I have a large amount of white terry's and my little swiffer is now a faithful employee.  I got's the best of both worlds!  

The only drawback I have found is that the swiffer mop comes in sections instead of one long piece of handle, making the handle less stable and eventually it will break, but I can work with it!  I took some pretty purple Duct Tape (Duct Tape is my friend!) and make my handle more stable and pretty to look at too.

So, try this method...you just might find you no longer need that old smelly string mop!

Go out and make this day yours and All for His Glory!

Blessings ~ Kat

Where do I start???

When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them that I am a "personal assistant".  That is just another name for housekeeper, house cleaner, clutter buster, so fourth and so on.  Then they most always say with a sigh, "That is what I need, someone to just get my house clean and then I can keep it that way!"  

Well, here I am to tell you my secrets!  Not all of them mind you, I mean really, I don't want to be unemployed!  But I will give you some basics today to get you off and running.  Then when you realize that it is a doable thing, you'll maybe come back and tell me how you did!  

First things first.....

1.  Choose your fire.  By that I mean choose the room that bugs you the most.  The one room that you always walk into and say "Ugh, what a mess!"  

2.  Gather your materials.  This is a two fold one.  I always go into a room and take a photograph of the entire room.  Put the photo on my computer so I can see it in large print and really look at it.  Notice all the things that I might not see as I'm standing in the room because it tends to overwhelm me.  What do you see?   I get a notebook and make a note of all that I want to do in that room.  Grab three plastic bags (my favorite is the 13 gal size trash bag that ties.)    

First!  I must have music!!  I like the 60's Music Channel on our cable system.  I want it peppy!  OR I put on my "Cleaning Music" play list on my Ipod.

Then........We're Off!

Being sort of OCD about the way I approach things I have a habit of going into the room I'm working on and starting in the farthest corner from the door.  I grab one of my trash bags and go all the way around the room doing a "Fling Boogie" .  This is a process I learned from www.Flylady.com and it works great!  Anything that I determine to be trash is into the bag and gone!  I am usually very good about not looking in the bag after I am finished and I recommend that you don't either.  Don't touch it again.

Then I go back to the starting corner and begin to gather and sort.  Into bag #2 goes donate, into bag #3 goes relocate.  Relocate means things that "live" somewhere else in our home.  

This process usually doesn't take more than 1 hour and when finished I like to take another photo of the room, repeating the process of putting it on my computer for the "big picture" and at that time my trusty notebook comes back into play.  

I make a note of ideas for rearranging the furniture to a more comfortable  position, or redecorating ideas.  I list any repairs that I might find that need to go onto my "Honey do" list.  Then if it is needed the room gets a deep cleaning.  But that is another subject for another day.  Today we are "decluttering".  

Now, you might ask yourself, "She cleans houses for a living, does her house really ever need cleaning or decluttering?"  HA!  I know you've heard the old adage, "The shoe makers daughter never has shoes." It is true for cleaning ladies homes too!  There have actually been times in the past where I've had someone cleaning my house so I can go clean a clients house!  

This might not be a great system for you, take what you will and make it your own to help you with blessing your families home.

Now go out and make this day yours for His Glory!

Blessings ~ Kat

The Gnat Trap!


Have you noticed tiny little flying insects in the kitchen around your fruit bowls?  Do you have banana's sitting on the counter and when you walk by a swarm flies up and away?  

You have gnats!  Also known as fruit flies, critters, bugs and pests in general.  They come with the territory when you have a good deal of fruit in the house.  With it being the end of summer, we all have some  of the little pests flying around the house.  Ti's no crime, and no reflection on your housekeeping.  It's just a fact of life.  

BUT

You don't have to keep them or allow them to set up housekeeping in your home.  You don't need to go out and purchase poisons, strips, or even the electric critter zapper you've seen advertised late at night on the cable channels.  All you need is a couple of items that you most certainly have around the house right now and if not a short jaunt to the local grocery store will take care of it for less than $5.00.

Okay, let's gather the tools together.  Go to your kitchen pantry and find your bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar, bring it to the counter.  Then look on your kitchen sink and find  your bottle of liquid dish detergent.  Bring that to the counter and place it beside the vinegar,  Now go to the cabinet that you keep small light colored bowls in, find one that will hold about 1 cup of liquid and bring it over to the other items we've gathered.  

Now, pour 1/4 cup of the Apple Cider Vinegar into the small bowl.  Open the bottle of dish detergent and drop 2 to 3 drops into the vinegar in the small bowl.  Stir together with a fork, gently.  Then place the bowl in the location that you see the most gnats in.  My guess, and where mine is right now, is it will be beside the fruit on your counter. 

Now we wait.  When you go back in a little while, you will find the little critters have found the "treat" you've left for them and have dived right in.  This will get rid of the unwanted house guests in a short time, with the added benefit of no chemical smells or danger to pets or children.  

How do these critters get in the house you ask?  They arrive in the fruit and that is all I'm gonna say about that.  You will find that if you keep your fruit in the refrigerator you won't have this problem, but you also lose a great deal on the flavor of your fruit.  Some of it, like banana's just don't do well in the fridge.  Others, well, they don't last more than a few hours out of the fridge.  

This recipe works well when you notice the little critters and it's in the wintertime as well, you know, those times when you find that Irish potato or onion that rolled to the back of the bin and is not as "fresh" as it once was.  

It is a natural occurrence and you are fighting it with nature's weapons.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Now, go out and make this day yours for His Glory!
Blessings~ Kat