Friday Fixer: Magic Erasers

Product: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Price: $3.98 for 4 

Where to Buy: Home Depot, Loews, Giant, Shoppers, etc.

One of my favorite Swept Away tricks for a clean home is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  To be honest, these little white sponges are life savers.  While they have a number of uses, Swept Away primarily uses them for cleaning doors, baseboards, and light switches.  They do wonders for removing scuffs and finger prints.  However, we never use them on anything that is not white.  I try to stray away from trying things that could damage or discolor.

In my own home, I use the Magic Eraser for everything.  Here are a few of my most common uses (besides the three I mentioned above):

1. Wall scuffs - As a new homeowner, one of my biggest pet peeves are scuffs on the walls.  I {detest} them.  And I don't know about you, but it always seems like mine come out of nowhere.  Walk by the wall. Scuffed.  Breathe by the wall. Scuffed. Think about the wall. Scuffed.  Anytime I am about to have company over (and sometimes just because of my OCD) I go through my condo and use the Magic Eraser on all the scuffs to get my place looking new again.  I have white walls and have never had an issue with the walls discoloring or leaving weird marks. 
2. Pots and Pans - They get out tough grease spots.
3. Ink Stains on my desk.  

How to use:

1. Wet 

2. Ring out excess water

3. Wipe Away (should only need a few swipes)

4. Be Amazed

I would recommend trying this in a small and inconspicuous spot to ensure that if you do not like the result, it will not stand out and be a sore reminder of that time you tried to fix something yourself.

Here are some before and after pictures from my recent Magic Eraser party (and by party, I mean just me.  Erasing things all over my house).

BEFORE  (black mark)   AFTER

BEFORE (blue mark)            AFTER

 {side note - I have not idea what that big blue mark is on my kitchen wall -_-}

BEFORE (diagonal mark)      AFTER

I did this in about ten other places, but the marks didn't show up in pictures as well as they do in real life.  I think you get the point.  Go try it!

New Year (Cleaning) Resolutions

Disclaimer: I do know that today is Monday, January 12th, 2015.  However, it is not quite half way through the month, so I'm going to say it is not too late for some 2015 resolutions.  Quite honestly, it is really never too late to start some good new habits, right?  So if you are just reading this blog and it is July 12th, 2015...get going! With that being said...

I love the new year.  I am one of those people that makes a list of everything that I'm going to do when it starts.  'New Years Resolutions' lists are my guilty pleasure (I handwrite them every year) and I consider myself to be somewhat of a list making aficionado.  There is an art to it and it goes something like this:

• Reminder: I'm not perfect. Don't make a list of "perfect person" items.  Make a list of {insert your name} items.

When I first started my list writing, I would commonly put too much on my list (causing feelings of anxiety and frustration at the end of the year when I only did half the list), re-use the ones I missed (but always use the same approach that didn't work to getting those goals done before).  I quickly learned that if I wanted to feel like I conquered the goals I set out for myself it would require 1) Being Realistic 2) Promising to approach my goals differently.

The same goes for "cleaning" resolutions.  I know many of us put "Keep My House Clean and Organized" (or some variation of this goal) on our 2015 lists.  However, we probably also put it on 2014, 2013, 2012 (you get the point).  If it hasn't worked in the past, it may not work again.  Because lets be honest, once the holidays are long gone and the real world goes back to: Kids. Relationship. Work. Social Life. Repeat., cleaning and organizing gets pushed further and further down the list.  Between you and I, I still struggle with keeping up on some of my own cleaning resolutions (and I have no kids or pets).

However, I have gotten much better.  Here is the beginners guide to staying clean in 2015:

• Declutter your home.  When I say "declutter" I do not mean organize and I do not mean clean.  I mean if you see a pile of paper that has been sitting on your desk for the past 6 months, spend 30 minutes and trash (or shred) what you don't need.  Then, put away what you do.  You will honestly be surprised by how fast you go through the pile.  Just try it.  Then try it again every day for a week and see how much progress you make.
• Routine is key.  Develop one that you know you can stick to and make it work for you (you will find the one I use on the Printables page).  I highly recommend it.  If you fall off the routine, do not use that as the excuse that you can't do it.  Just get back on it.  Missing a day or two is just that - a day or two.  There are still 363/4 others.
• Another note about a routine.  You will likely set yourself up for failure if it says this:  Every single day at 6pm I am going to clean for one hour.  Life just doesn't work like that (and if yours does - can we trade?).  Instead, try setting timed goals i.e. 4 days a week I will dedicate a total of one hour to cleaning.  If that means 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes right before bed - you're done!
• Reward yourself!  Set small goals and correlate  a reward with each item (and don't get the reward until you complete the item - I did that many times the first year I tried this.  Hence the reason I call it "the first year I tried this"). 
• Last, but certainly not least, be REALISTIC!  Do not say that you are going to go from Hoarders (see AE TV channel) to Martha Stewart in one year.  You aren't.  There is nothing wrong with that.  And if you know that you really just can't get your act together, hire a company.  There is nothing wrong with that either.  I have more than 100 clients on regular schedules (some of them that have been with us for yearssssss) that will attest to this.  You have to do what works for you.

See below or head over to my Printables page to get a blank printable New Years Resolutions List and a Cleaning Routine list.

     

*Happy New Year*

Hello and Happy NewYear!

My name is Dominique and I am the proud owner of Swept Away, a
residential and commercial cleaning company in the Washington, D.C. metro area.  You are probably wondering how a Twenty-Something year old comes to own a cleaning company.  This is how it happened for this Twenty-Something:

When I graduated from the University of Maryland-College Park, my mom gifted me with a lease to a beautiful BMW 328i (she was on one of those highs your parents experience when you do something great).  At 22 this was my dream car.  New. Beautiful. Expensive.  Everything I wanted.  Fast forward 2.5 years later and it was just about time for my lease to end.  When I asked my mom what "we" were going to do for my new car, her response was "No, what are YOU going to do?"  Call me crazy (and you will), but I was beyond shocked.  Here I am sitting in law school, not really working, not even really sure what I was going to do post law school (my grades were not the most spectacular) - how am I buying myself a new car?  Where was her proud parent high?  Cue the start of Swept Away (not precisely that moment, but it all happened pretty fast once I knew she wasn't helping me get my next "dream car").

Most people that knew me thought it was pretty laughable that I was starting a cleaning company.  To be honest, I was NOT the tidiest person anyone knew (probably still not).  To be even a little more honest, I really wonder at times how my college roommate dealt with some of my horrible habits.  This + no experience what-so-ever = fail, right?  Not quite  :)

However, that is why I started this blog.  Over the years, I have been blessed to see my company grow each and every year.  I have learned more than I would have ever imagined from watching my employees clean the homes of many.  I incorporate a majority of this into my own cleaning routine (in between my own Swept Away cleanings, of course).  I think now is a great time to begin to share.  So, if you are on a limited budget, pinching pennies, or just can't bring yourself to hire a company, I hope the tips to follow will help.  Enjoy!