The CleanSuds Blog
Where education and truthful facts are easy to come by.
Revive and Refresh Your Home: Tips and Tricks for a Brand New Space
Your home is your sanctuary, but over time, it can start to feel stale and uninviting. If you're feeling bored with your living space, it's time to shake things up by giving your home a refresh. From deep cleaning to adding new textures, there are plenty of ways to bring new life into your home. Here, MamaSuds discusses some tips on how to revive and refresh your home.
Give Your Home a Deep Cleaning
The first step in refreshing your home is to give it a deep cleaning. Remove all clutter and excess items, and thoroughly clean all surfaces, including floors, walls, and ceilings. Dust and polish all furniture, and wash all linens and curtains. This not only makes your home look better, but it also makes it feel more pleasant to be in. Keep your family safe — shop for non-toxic eco-friendly cleaning products at MamaSuds.
Get Organized by Digitizing Your Documents
Another way to refresh your home is by digitizing your documents. Instead of keeping papers and receipts in drawers and cabinets, scan them onto your computer and store them as PDFs. If you want to combine documents and need help with how to add pages to a PDF, you can utilize a free online tool.
Give New Life to Old Furniture
Furniture is one of the cornerstones of your living space, so refreshing your home can involve revitalizing your old pieces. Take a look at your furniture, and consider refinishing or painting pieces to give them new life. You can also reupholster chairs or create new covers for sofas and cushions.
Add Depth by Mixing Textures and Fabrics
Mixing textures and fabrics can help bring more interest and depth to your living space. Consider adding a plush rug to the living room or adding a new throw pillow in a different color or pattern. Adding different fabrics can create more places for the eye to rest, making your home more visually interesting.
Choose Value-Enhancing Improvements
When refreshing your home, it's important to choose improvements that will enhance your property's value. This can include replacing outdated fixtures or appliances, refinishing flooring, and updating bathrooms or kitchens. Making these types of improvements not only breathes new life into your space but can also increase your home's resale value.
Introduce Indoor Plants
Plants are a great way to add life and color to your living space. Adding greenery can also help improve air quality and create a more relaxing atmosphere. Consider adding plants in different sizes and shapes to different rooms in your home. Plants also make excellent natural décor options.
Refresh Your Color Scheme With Paint or New Décor
One of the most effective ways to refresh your home is by changing up your color scheme. You don't have to paint a whole room to achieve this effect. Instead, you can introduce new colors and textures through decorative items like throw pillows, rugs, or artwork. Adding a new coat of paint to a single accent wall can also change the whole dynamic of a room.
Let in More Natural Light
Natural light can change the entire ambiance of your space. Seek to let in more light into your home through larger windows, skylights, or even adding mirrors in strategic places to reflect sunlight. If you need more privacy, seek translucent curtains to allow light to filter in while still giving you a sense of privacy indoors.
Refreshing your home can help create a more comfortable, inviting living space. By adding new textures and fabrics, mixing colors, or even digitizing documents, you can make your home feel brand new. Choosing improvements that enhance your home's value and bringing in natural elements can make the refresh more beneficial in the long run. So don't be afraid to experiment, and remember to have fun while creating a space that reflects your individual style.
How to Clean Indoor Plants
How to Clean Indoor Plants with MamaSuds
MamaSuds offers a natural, eco-friendly way to clean your indoor plants - and it's pretty simple. Here's how it works: Use MamaSuds All-Purpose Spray to mist your plant, and watch the dirt and grime disappear with each wipe. Plus, this solution is safe for both you and your plants! So if you're looking for an easy way to keep your plants clean and healthy, MamaSuds is the way to go.
Gather your supplies - you'll need some MamaSuds soap of your choice, and a cloth
Look in your closet, under the sink, or wherever you hide all the MamaSuds products that make cleaning easy: it's time to grab your supplies so you can get cleaning! Grab a spray bottle, your favorite MamaSuds Castile Soap (or our ready-to-use MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner), and don't forget to bring along a cloth. A cloth helps spread out that MamaSuds love so that every corner is getting some special attention while you're cleaning. Then just sit back and admire your hard work and all the effort you've put into getting those surfaces shiny and spectacular!
Spray your plants with the cleaner, but don't go crazy
Although it seems reasonable to assume that spray-cleaning your plants would help keep them in tip-top shape, don't be tempted to go too crazy with it. Overdoing it can damage the delicate leaves and deter their growth. Using a bit of moderation is always helpful when you spray the cleaner - think of it as the golden rule and your plants will thank you for it!
Wipe down each leaf with the cloth until it's shining
Cleaning your plants may not be the most glamorous job, but it's certainly one that must be done. Just think of all the dust and dirt particles stuck in the leaves that you can easily remove with a simple wipe of a cloth! And imagine the satisfaction of seeing each leaf shine after your hard work pays off. Give yourself a pat on the back as you put away your cleaning supplies and admire your beautifully polished green friends!
Repeat every few weeks to keep your plants looking their best!
Keeping your plants looking their best doesn't have to be a chore. All it takes is a few repeat visits every couple of weeks, and you'll find your green friends are the envy of the garden! Make sure to check for any dead leaves or flowers, provide them with some water, and give them each (oh, who am I kidding - talk to them!) a little bit of tender loving care. You'll love coming home to the sight of vibrant foliage!
Now that you know how to properly clean your houseplants, there's no excuse for having a dusty fern! Gather your supplies and get to work - your plants will thank you. And if you need any more motivation, just think of all the money you'll save by not having to buy new plants every few weeks. So what are you waiting for? Go grab a bottle of MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner and get cleaning!
Natural, Safe Cleaning Tips For Homes With Pets
Indoor air pollutants are up to five times higher than outdoors, and the chemicals in cleaning products are a big culprit. Removing the chemicals from your home by switching to natural cleaning products can reduce your homes air pollution, which can only be good news for both the health of you and your family, but also your pets. All pets love to lay on the floor and roll around, cats are known to walk over your kitchen countertops and dogs may even have a drink from your toilet bowl. This means that everything you use to clean your home has the potential to harm your pet, which is why it’s essential to use safe, pet-friendly cleaners.
Natural ingredients can be toxic to pets
Cleaning products that claim to be made with 100% natural ingredients are, in general, better for the health of both humans and pets, as well as the planet. But there are plenty of natural ingredients that can still be harmful to pets, so you need to make sure products are pet-friendly, as well as natural and eco-friendly. Essential oils are commonly used in homemade cleaning products for their scent and cleaning properties, but they are a highly concentrated volatile oil, which means they can cause irritation or harm to humans and pets if misused. In particular, tea tree oil should be kept away from cats.
Homemade natural and safe cleaning products
The majority of homemade cleaning products can be made using a combination of distilled white vinegar, baking soda, and water, all of which are natural and perfectly safe for your pets. Keeping floors clean is a common chore for parents as young children spend a lot of time playing on the floor and pets will walk around and then lick their paws. Baking soda alone can be sprinkled on to carpets to remove stains, odors or just for a freshen up. Leave it to sit for a few hours and then vacuum it up. For a simple all-purpose cleaner, mix together ½ cup of vinegar with one cup of filtered water, two tablespoons of lemon juice and two tablespoons of natural and pet-safe washing up liquid. Alternatively, you can buy products if you don’t have time to make them yourself. A regular supply of eco-friendly and pet-friendly cleaning products from ThriftyCrates will ensure your home is always spotless.
Using plants for air freshener
Air fresheners contain loads of chemicals and some even pollute the air more instead of doing any good, so when you’re trying to remove or cover up pet smells, it’s best to avoid these. Plants are a great way to purify your home’s air, as well as adding a decorative touch. Some plants are harmful to pets, such as lilies and aloe vera, but there are plenty to pick from that are safe for pets. For example, money trees, spider plants, Areca palms and Boston ferns are all good options for cleaning the air and removing odors while keeping pets safe. Just be sure to keep them out of reach of children who could easily knock them over.
Cleaning your home with non-toxic, natural and pet-friendly products helps to improve the air quality in your home, which not only benefits your beloved pets but also your whole family.
Contribution by freelance writer Sally Preston