Basic Tips to Keep in Mind on Laundry Day

Laundry day is likely your least favorite day of the week, but it doesn’t have to be quite so difficult. By attacking your piles of laundry with a bit of pre-planning, you can make laundry day much more manageable. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

  1. Separate lights and darks ahead of time. To avoid the tedious task of separating lights from darks, separate them as soon as you toss your dirty clothes in the hamper. Invest in a double-sided hamper that does the separating for you.
  2. Invest in good detergent. Using the wrong detergent (or a cheap brand) can make your clothes come out dull and dingy. Instead, choose one detergent designed for washing dark clothes in cold water, one for keeping colors bright, and a separate stain treatment to put on spots.
  3. Treat stains as soon as they happen. The most important thing you can do to remove a stain is catch it as soon as it happens. You can even rub in a stain treatment and toss your clothes in the laundry, leaving the stain to deal with on laundry day.
  4. Turn clothes inside out. Avoid fading and shrinking by turning your clothes inside out before washing them.
  5. Fold right away. To eliminate the need for ironing, prevent wrinkles by folding your clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer.

Laundry 911: Color care basics [She Knows]
How to Care for Your Clothes [How Stuff Works]
Laundry Basics – Sorting it Out [For Better Living]

Chemical-Free Ways to Clean Your Oven at Avana South Shore

You’re always on the hunt for chemical-free ways to clean your home, but when it comes to really heavy duty cleaning in areas like the oven, it may seem almost impossible. Luckily, it is possible to clean your oven without using chemicals—it just takes a bit of ingenuity and a few smart tips from the pros.

  1. Take out the oven racks and let them soak in a tub of hot water.
  2. Make a paste of ¼ cup of baking soda, 2 tablespoons of coarse salt and just enough warm water to create a thick consistency.
  3. Using a durable sponge, scrub the paste into the stained parts in your oven. Concentrate on areas that see a lot of spills and drips, such as the bottoms and around the racks.
  4. Let the past sit on the stains for an hour or two, depending on their severity.
  5. Using the same sponge rinsed out with clean water, wipe away the paste and give it a second good scrub. You may also want to use a finer grade steel wool for difficult stains.
  6. For extra cleaning power, spray the entire oven with a spray bottle filled with white vinegar, then wipe it away with a clean cloth.
  7. Before replacing the oven racks, scrub them using simple steel wool and an all-natural dishwasher detergent to break down grease.

How To Clean an Oven Without Harsh Chemicals [Apartment Therapy]
Natural Oven Cleaning Recipe [Wellness Mama]
How To Clean an Oven With Baking Soda & Vinegar [The Kitchn]

How to Clean and Disinfect Smartphones, Tablets and Other Gadgets

By now, most people have heard all of the frightening statistics about the number of germs on your cell phone, your computer keyboard, and even on your brand new tablet. If all of this information is starting to make you wary of your electronic devices, these simple tips will help you to keep them clean and germ-free.

  1. Computer mouse. You touch your computer mouse all day long while working or browsing the web, so every now and then you should run a pre-moistened disinfecting cloth over the entire surface of the mouse.
  2. Touch-screen phone or tablet. While touch screens may seem difficult to clean, all it takes is a dry cloth and a scratch-free cleaning wipe designed for electronics to get them looking (and feeling) spotless.
  3. Computer keyboard. Because your computer keyboard contains so many nooks and crannies, you’ll want to clean it using the hose or other tube-like attachment on your household vacuum. Next, gently swab the surface of the keys and the keyboard’s outer edges with a pre-moistened disinfecting wipe (well-wrung, if the wipe is particularly wet). Be sure to disconnect the keyboard before beginning to clean it.
  4. Remote control. If you’ve ever seen a young child put a remote control in his or her mouth, you’ll understand why it’s so important to wipe yours with a disinfecting wipe at least once per week.

How to Clean and Disinfect a Keyboard, Smartphone, Remote Control, etc. [Moms Against Cooties]
How to Safely Disinfect and Clean Your Gadgets [Lifehacker]
How to Clean Your PC, Smartphone and Tablet [TechAdvisor]

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