I have been so busy that I haven’t had time to update my blog. Jay and I moved into our new house this past weekend, and I do have some pictures to share when I get the chance, but in the meantime I needed to do a bit of a Public Service Announcement for the younger generation.

For the most part, the kids nowadays do not know how to properly clean anything or how to take care of the basic household things. They think that cooking means you take a frozen dinner out of the freezer and toss it in the microwave. Their parents aren’t teaching them these things because they want their kids to “enjoy” their childhood and not have to worry about non-fun things. This is a HUGE disservice to these kids. What are they going to do when they move out on their own? Oh wait… per Obamacare they can stay on their parents’ insurance until they are 26 so I guess that parents will have more time to teach them these things than I realized. Since the government doesn’t feel that you should be responsible for yourself until you’re 26 then maybe between rounds on World of Warcraft one of these young people will stumble across this blog post and learn a few things.

I am going to concentrate mainly on cleaning utensils. Based on the house that I moved into the five kids who lived there have absolutely no idea how to clean at all. Now, I’m going to pretend that you’re not starting with an absolute mess. I will just describe the every day cleaning that should be happening. Ready?

Dusting: This should be done on a weekly basis. You always want to start HIGH and work your way down. If you start low and work your way up you have just wasted your time. As you are dusting the dust will drift down. That’s why you start HIGH. You want to use a soft cloth that will actually pick up the dust and not just spread it around. You can use a commercial dust spray such as Endust or Pledge that also polishes your furniture as you clean. NEVER use a feather duster! All this does is puts the dust up in the air where it hangs out for a few minutes and then settles back down onto your freshly cleaned surfaces. You are going to want to actually wash your dusting rag (at least I do) because if you have allergies you don’t need that sitting around. Make sure that as you dust you are picking things up, dusting them off, and dusting under them. If you have any ceiling fans you will want to dust the blades every now and again, too.

Vacuuming: Once you have dusted you will want to vacuum. Now, you might say to me, “Kerry! I have hardwood floors! I don’t need to vacuum!” That’s fine. As long as you have a way of removing the dust and dirt from your floor and in the corners, do what makes you happy. I had hardwood floors throughout my old house and I still vacuumed. In this picture is a Rainbow vacuum. I LOVE my Rainbow! They are very expensive, but to me they are well worth the money if you have allergies. What happens is you fill the canister with water so that as you’re vacuuming the machine is pulling all of the dust and dirt down into the water where it’s trapped and can’t escape. You won’t have any dust blown back into the air and you don’t have to worry about changing a dirty vacuum bag. Yes, you have to then empty the water and dirt somewhere, but to me it’s well worth it. I have a head that is specifically for carpets and rugs, and then one with a brush that I use on the hardwood floors.

This is a crevice tool and should be used every time you vacuum. This helps you to get into the corners and around the edges where the vacuum can’t reach. Yes, dirt gets into corners where it collects and accumulates. Believe me, the lady who owned my house before me had a crevice tool that was in brand new condition because it couldn’t have ever been used! You can also use this crevice tool to vacuum between the cushions of your couch and chairs. You know, right where the crumbs fall when you’re eating in front of the TV.

This is an upholstery tool for the vacuum. If you have pets you should be using this tool every time you vacuum, too. Use it to vacuum off the furniture to remove fur and animal dander. This helps to keep the allergens down in the house so that you won’t get congested or sneezey. It also keeps your guests from carrying a little bit of your cats home with them on their clothes. Be sure to clean off the brush as you vacuum so that you can continue to pick up more fur and hair with it.

Just doing those two things once a week will help to make your house a nice environment in which to live. Friends and family will actually enjoy visiting if they don’t have to look at the giant dust bunnies that are accumulating in your corners. Depending on the size of your house, it won’t take you very long. Instead of watching that hour long TV show that you don’t really care for, but it’s the only thing on, try doing a little bit of cleaning. When your house looks good it helps you to feel good. It’s true!