Clutter Reduction/Organization

Today's tip:

If you've followed last week's directions, you should have a shopping list and a Get Rid of bag from your efforts to clean out your closet of extraneous winter clothing. Today, we're going to deal with the Get Rid of bag.

There are several ways of getting rid of clothes you don't want. Here are a few options and some details on each one.
* Give the stuff away to a friend, neighbor or family member. This has few strings attached, although of course it should only be clean clothing in good repair.
* Goodwill Industries or another dumpster-style box. That is, you just dump the clothes in. Cleanliness and good repair is nice, but not absolutely necessary (they'll sell for rags anything that they can't make wearable). Check who you're giving away your clothing to, as you might be surprised. Goodwill, of course, is extremely reputable. A major advantage here is that the donation is quick and anonymous, and you can dump everything at once.
* Goodwill Industries or the like in person. The advantage is that you can obtain a tax-deductible receipt for your donations. You will only be 'paid' for clothing that's wearable; don't even bother trying to bring in clothing that they would sell as rags. A good option if you have something expensive, such as a leather jacket, fur coat, cashmere sweater, etc. Also, this is a deduction, so consider it when you have too much income and are paying taxes rather than receiving a refund. It's best to gather together a lot of items at once, so that you only have to keep track of one receipt, rather than several.
* eBay. Cleanliness, etc. are immaterial, but of course that will influence the kind of money you can expect to receive, and the funds won't be tax-deductible. In fact, it's possible that they'll be income, so plan accordingly. Here is an article in Business 2.0 Magazine about Making the Most of eBay.
* Local consignment shops. These tend to be extremely picky regarding what they take. Your stained shirt won't cut it. Any sales money will not be tax-deductible and may be considered taxable income (check with your accountant). Some consignment shops are specialized, so you might find that you hand over some of your clothes to a vintage shop (where you can expect a better return) and others to a place that sells more regular clothing. Some money will be removed from every sale, as that's how consignment stores make their money.
* Local charitable collections. Usually, these are very specific as to date and type of clothing requested. For example, New York City conducts a coat drive every year. Check around, as local houses of worship in particular are often looking for donations of usable clothing. You may or may not be able to get a deduction for your donation; check with the charity (most of them will provide a receipt).
* Hopelessly stained and/or raggedy clothes may also be cut into rags. Simply take a scissors and cut the clothes into usable-sized strips. Don't use anything overly dyed for this (e. g. a red silk blouse), as the dye may come off while you're cleaning, leaving you with a bigger mess than when you started. Also, be sure to remove all elastic waistbands from your rags, as they won't be absorbent and that will keep them from snapping at you at an inopportune moment. Oily and greasy rags should not be kept, as they are highly combustible, so you'll need to machine-wash your rags (you might want to do this separately from your clothes) after use. Eventually, these will disintegrate down to nearly nothing and then you can just discard the last of the threads.

All of these suggestions keep old clothes useful in some way, whether as a rag for you or a donation for a charity or a quick buck for you and, more importantly, it keeps the old clothing out of a landfill.

The kitchen

Today's tip:

Like the microwave, the toaster oven or toaster is can become a rather dirty place. It should be wiped down every week, and a more thorough cleaning should be performed about once every three or four months or whenever you cook something really sticky. Here's how to thoroughly clean it:

* Unplug the toaster oven. This is VERY important
* Remove all trays and, if it's removable, whatever holds the trays in place (on mine, it looks like a little metal 'stick', for lack of a better description)
* Wind the cord up and out of the way and tie it with string or a rubber band
* If you have a disposal, bring the toaster oven to the kitchen sink. If you don't have a disposal, use the kitchen garbage can
* Upend the toaster oven and open the trap door at the bottom. Bang the bottom with the heel of your hand to dislodge crumbs
* Grab a cleaning wipe or a paper towel or rag soaked in cleaner. Wipe the inside of the toaster oven and the bottom trap door area. Bang out any loose crumbs that remain
* Rinse the inside of the toaster oven. The idea is to remove all smells of cleaning fluid and/or burned food
* Dry the inside of the toaster oven with a clean paper towel or rag
* Clean the front window, inside and out, with glass cleaning fluid. Rinse and dry
* Wipe down the exterior, using soap if it's particularly greasy or sticky. Again, rinse and dry
* Clean the counter area where the toaster oven normally sits. As ever, rinse and dry
* Put the toaster oven back and make sure the plug is dry before plugging it back into the wall
* Clean interior trays thoroughly or place in the dishwasher
* Once interior trays are clean and dry, cover the top of the topmost one with tinfoil. In the future, replace the tinfoil as it gets dirty

If you have a toaster, rather than a toaster oven, obviously you don't need to clean trays. Otherwise, the process is more or less identical.

Glass surfaces/Mopping

Today's tip:

Unless you're dealing with one of those mops with a disposable paper cleaning cloth, you'll inevitably be dealing with a smelly mop head. Eventually, of course, you should just throw it (the mop head, not the mop) out and start again, but that's not practical every time. Here's how to get a sponge mop head clean (incidentally, this is also a good way to get a sponge clean).

* Fill a basin or bucket with hot water and baking soda. The proportions aren't really important although you want it to be mainly water and you want enough so as to cover the entire mop head.
* Remove the mop head from the mop and place the hardware aside (screws, wing nuts, etc.).
* Place the mop head in the water-baking soda mixture overnight.
* In the morning, reattach the mop head and take outside to dry, preferably in direct sunlight. Drying takes about a day, so you want to start this no later than a Tuesday in order to be able to use the mop again on Thursday.

You can also place the mop head (and sponges) into the dishwasher, on the top shelf. Again, make certain that all hardware has been removed, since metal hardware can come loose and damage your plates and plastic hardware can warp and become unusable. Plus, either type of mop hardware can become stuck in the dishwasher's mechanism, resulting in an expensive repair.

Vacuuming

Today's tip:

Don't forget to vacuum upholstered furniture. Remove cushions first and remove coins or buttons or large food items (pizza crusts and the like) and then go to it.

Dusting

Today's tip:

Dust, like everything else on the planet, is subject to gravity. Therefore, when dusting, you'll avoid duplicating your work if you always dust from the top down.

Bathrooms

Today's tip:

It doesn't take rocket science to realize that, along with the kitchen, this is generally the dirtiest room in anyone's home. Hence, an hour per week may not be enough. I'm not suggesting another hour or half hour or really anything more than another five or so minutes. But that five minutes can go a long way in terms of keeping germs and bugs at bay, keeping dust down and keeping the bathroom smelling fresh (or, at any rate, the semblance of fresh).

All you need to do is take five minutes out of an off day, say, Wednesday, Thursday (I recommend Thursdays, as they're equidistant in time from the previous and upcoming Monday) or Friday, and do an extremely cursory cleaning job. By cursory I mean, spray inside the toilet and then grab the toilet brush and swish the soap around, then flush. Then take either a paper towel or rag with cleaner on it, or a disposable cleaning cloth (preferably something with bleach on it) and give the following surfaces a fast wipe: sink basin, sink counter space, sink faucets, top of toilet tank and toilet flush handle. Change the towels if you haven't already done so for the week.

You're done!

Five minutes can be grabbed in any number of places, including while a computer boots up, while you're waiting for water to boil, while email is coming in, while you're on hold, whatever. This isn't intended to encompass a huge amount of your time; it's just a quick wipe during the week, between deeper cleanings.

Trash day/Outdoor work

Today's tip:

Every time you empty the wet garbage can (that's the one in the kitchen), wipe down the inside with either a paper towel with cleaning solution on it or a disposal cleaning cloth pre-moistened with cleaner. Do not use a rag, as you want these germs out of your home, and using a rag and then washing it will bring germs to your laundry basket, your laundry area, etc. This simple step (even if it's done on a day other than Sunday) will go a long way towards keeping the wet trash can from smelling truly awful (it'll never smell good, unless it's brand-new; you're going for a smell better than horrible and not an outright make-you-faint kind of an aroma). Don't forget the inside of the lid.