1st Class Moving and Storage

1. Use Soap to Fill Nail Holes on white walls

2. Patch Holes in Walls

If you have holes in the walls (probably from those pesky door handles slamming into the wall), don’t worry! It’s easier to patch than you may think.

3. Wash Walls

Here are some helpful tips and steps to deep-cleaning those walls after you get your artwork and wall hangings packed.

Washing your walls is a fantastic deep cleaning chore that is best tackled in late spring and early fall when you can crack a window or open a door to assist in the drying process. However time consuming, it is a necessary task to keep your home looking (and smelling!) great and can extend the life of your paint job.

Instructions

• Remove all artwork from walls and move your furniture to the center of the room. Create a good amount of workspace for yourself.
• Dust off your walls and baseboards. An easy way to do this is by covering a broom with a towel and wiping the walls from the top down. If my baseboards are really dirty, I attach the broom brush to my vacuum; if they just need a light dust I like to go over them with a foam craft brush.
• Protect your floors by laying a drop cloth to catch any water that runs off the walls.
• With a lint free washcloth or undyed sponge, scrub down your walls from top to bottom with warm soapy water. Stay away from using colored soaps or dyed sponges, you don’t want to chance it staining your walls.
• Follow up step 4 with a clean water rinse. Be sure to change out any dirty water in your bucket so you aren’t making the walls dirtier
• If possible, crack a few windows to help air flow through the room—not only will it smell great, it will help your walls dry faster.

4. The Secret to Cleaning Crayon Drawings

WD-40 is amazing at getting the crayon off of walls without taking off the paint

5.   Use Dryer Sheets to Clean Baseboards

Did you know that wiping your baseboards with a dryer sheet will help repel dust and keep them clean longer?

6. Fix Broken Blinds

Instead of replacing all of the broken blinds from the littles ones trying to look out the window, fix them! DIY Fix Broken Blinds

7. How to Clean Dirty Blinds

Here are the things you’ll need: tongs, two microfiber dust cloths (you may want to have some extra for swapping out when the originals get dusty), and four rubber bands. Clean blinds here.

8. Clean Window Tracks

The corners are of course always the worst with the moldy, mucky window crud that is always the hardest to reach and clean out.

Here’s what you’ll need…

• white vinegar and baking soda (or hydrogen peroxide works too!)
• q tips
• an old tooth brush
• some hot water
• paper towels
• and a trash bag or plastic grocery bag to throw the used stuff into

The first thing I did was sprinkle a bit of baking soda into the corners, then I poured a bit of vinegar into a cup and poured it into the tracks. The baking soda will begin to bubble and loosen up the caked on cruddy stuff.

When the bubbling calms down take your q-tips and begin to make circle motions all along the track, then go back into the corners and sweep the muck towards the middle of the track. You’re going to need to keep replacing your q-tips since they get dirty fast. I think I wen’t through about 30 doing just this window!

Once you’ve loosened up all the muck. Get your cup of warm water and start pouring from the corner to the center of your window track.

Then use your paper towels to wipe everything dry.

9. Simple Tip for Cleaning Vents

If you’re like most people, you probably don’t get around to cleaning your vents very often. No worries, here’s a secret cleaning tip using Turtle Wax that allows dust to easily wipe off all year long!  Cleaning Vents

10. DIY Carpet Stain Remover

Keeping the carpet clean with little ones at home can benearly impossible. Luckily, we’ve found a recipe for the magic stain remover!

11. Quick Carpet Fix

After you move all of your furniture out of the house, you’re probably going to be left with furniture marks all over your carpet. Here’s a super-easy tip to get your carpet looking good as new. Just place ice cubes all along the marks and wait for them to melt. Then just use a fork to fluff the carpet back up, and it will be like they were never there.

12. Clean Dishwasher Easily

Most people don’t think about cleaning the dishwasher, but the drains on dishwashers can get pretty gunked up. It’s a good idea to do a quick cleaning before you move out (for the new owners), and even at your new house (in case the old owners haven’t.)

13. Clean Microwave with Lemon and Vinegar

If you despise cleaning the microwave as much as I do, you’ll love this no scrub method. We love that it doesn’t use harsh chemicals either, just lemon and vinegar.

14. No Scrub Oven Cleaner

Can you tell I’m a fan on the no-scrub methods? This one’s great just because of that, but it’s also made using ingredients you probably already have around the house.

15. Steam Clean the Ice and Water Dispenser

When we moved into our new house, it was squeaky clean – except for one thing … the ice and water dispenser! It was actually pretty disturbing how gross it was. I get it, those things are hard to clean with all the sediment build-up. Luckily, steam cleaning makes a world of a difference! If you haven’t used a power steamer before, you’re really missing out. They are AMAZING at deep cleaning without all the elbow grease. They’re totally worth renting or buying when you’re doing a lot of cleaning when moving out and in.

16. How to Deep-Clean a Dirty Fridge

Cleaning the fridge is definitely a big chore. If you don’t know where to start, just follow these steps for a super clean fridge.

17. Shine Stainless Steel With Cream of Tartar

Did you know that cream of tartar is amazing for shining stainless steel? It’s true! You’ve gotta try it.

18. Clean Gunk Off Kitchen Cabinets

This kitchen cabinet cleaner only needs two ingredients and it’s amazing at removing the gunk and grime.

19. DIY Grout Cleaner

If you’re having trouble getting the grout white again, you might want to try this DIY cleaner. Just spray it on your grout, wait an hour, and scrub away. (Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is also GREAT for grout!)

20. Easy Tip for Cleaning Kitchen Grease

Kitchen grease can be tough to tackle. But did you know that rubbing alcohol is amazing at cleaning it off? Try it on your range hood – you’ll be blown away at the difference.

21. How to Remove Hard Water from Faucets

Hard water is the bane of my existence. Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but it can be SO hard to clean and that nasty build-up is so unsightly. Wanna know the secret? Plain white vinegar!

22. DIY No Scrub Tub Cleaner

I told you I was a fan of no-scrub cleaners. I mean, who likes scrubbing? And this tub cleaner only uses 2 ingredients! Check out the before and after pictures.

23. Clean Glass Shower Doors the Easy Way

We had to include this cleaning solution for shower doors because it’s the real deal! It actually comes from a professional glass repairman and uses Hard Water Stain and Spot Remover and Commercial Scouring Pads.

24. Easily Clean Shower Head

If you need to pass a cleaning inspection, or want to get your deposit back, don’t forget to clean your shower head. You’d be amazed at how gross they get if you haven’t noticed before. Luckily, we have yet another no-scrub solution for you!

25. Naturally Clean Washing Machine

Can you believe the difference in the before and after picture of this washing machine?! It’s super easy to pull off too!

26. How to Clean Dryer Ducts

Instead of spending $150 for a professional to clean your dryer ducts  you could follow these steps and clean your own in only 15-20 minutes. How to Clean Your Dryer Ducts to Prevent Fires

 

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