Tips to make your house work load
lighter and boost your sense of calm – you know, if that weeklong cruise isn’t
in the cards
De-stress your summer
Take a housework hiatus with these
time-cutters
Scrub the bath less
Ventilate the room for 20 minutes after you
shower – it cuts down on mold and mildew
Try new Mr. Clean Bath Cleaner with Febreze
Freshness ($3) for the shower and bath, which claims to leave surfaces shiny
for up to seven days.
new
Mr. Clean Bath Cleaner with Febreze Freshness
Dust less
Consider buying an air cleaner such as the
one by Holmes ($75, homesproducts.com). It works to remove household allergens
(pollen dust) from a room’s air, meaning they settle less on furnishings.
If you have pets, brush them regularly –
outside – particularly in the summer months, when they shed more.
Method
green homes products
Do less laundry
Get family members on board with the
clothing-doesn’t-need-to-be-washed-after-a-brief-wearing plan (yes, we’re
looking at you, teenagers). To quickly freshen lightweight jersey and other
knits, tumble dry (sans heat or on low heat) for about 10 to 15 minutes along
with a damp towel to help release odors and remove wrinkles. Also: See some of our
favorite cleaning-shortcut products, right.
Freshen wrinkled clothes with a fabric
touch-up spray like Dryel 3-in-1 or Niagara or Downy wrinkle releaser.
Dryel
3-in-1
Vacuum less
Put sown a cushy doormat or a dark-colored
(so it won’t show tracks) bath mat for people to wipe (bare or sandaled)
tootsies on before crossing the threshold. When the mat gets dirty, just toss
it in the wash.
Cut down on lawn care
How’s this for counterintuitive? If you
keep grass blades longer in summer (read: mow the yard less often), it reduces
the amount of watering you have to do – the shorter the grass, the more
nourishment it needs. Also, leave trimmings on the lawn. While this temporarily
looks a tad messy, it’s healthier for the yard in the long term, as nutrients
break down and reenter the soil.
3 Fave lazy fixes
We heart these cleaning-easing all-stars
Febreze fabric refresher
A quick spray of it helps keep odors at bay
(translation: less laundering).
Swiffer sweeper
It gets floors clean in minutes, no dustpan
required. And Swiffer wet clothes are our mess-free go-to for mapping jobs.
Disinfectant wipes
Stash these canisters strategically around
the house, and you’ll hauls around cleaners and cloths less often.
Max
That Cailing Fan: Set your fan so it spins counterclockwise as you are looking
up at it; this will push air down – keeping you cooler and cutting your energy
costs (if this doesn’t work, try clockwise – sometimes the pitch of the fan
blades differs)
Make
the Robot Do it: GHRI likes the Mint automatic hard-floor cleaner ($200,
shop.mintcleaner.com), the least expensive, best-working robot we’ve seen
To
distribute clippings, just alternate the direction in which you cut
