Cleaning Away <

Cleaning Outside

We spend a lot of time cleaning our homes and put a lot of effort into Spring cleaning.  Consider the amount of dirt we bring back into the home from the outside.  Here are some tips that will help keep outside dirt from coming in.

If you have an attached garage, more than likely the entrance is into your foyer or hallway.  And a garage can be a very dirty place.  During Spring cleaning, move everything out of the garage.  Dispose of old rags especially if they are greasy or were used with a flammable fluid.  This could be a fire hazard.  Purchase cork board and hooks.  Attach the cork board to the wall and use the hooks to hand small or lightweight tools.  Purchase larger hooks to attach directly to the wall to hang larger and heavier tools, hoses, and electrical cords.  To organize small items such as nails, screws, hose attachments, ect. purchase plastic storage containers with drawers and store these items by type in each drawer.  Write on the outside of the drawer with permanent marker what each draw contains.

Organize toys by purchasing plastic toy boxes and small plastic garbage pails.  These garbage pails are great for storing balls and bats.

Large plastic containers make a safe and clean storage tray for cans of oil, paint, and gasoline cans.

Once everything has been removed from the garage, sweep thoroughly with a wisk broom or push broom.  If you can, hose down the garage floor afer sweeping.  Let dry and bring everything you organized back into the garage.  Place mats in front of the garage door to wipe feet before entering the house.  To control the dirt in the garage, do a quick sweep once a week and shake out the mat.  Now that the garage is clean, you will notice less dirt in the house.

Also sweep and hose down other outside  areas that enter into the home such as porches or patios.  And keep a mat at those entrances areas to catch dirt and water from shoes.  Once a week when you are doing a quick sweep of the garage, take a few extra minutes to touch up those areas also and shake out the mats.