• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Merrypad Features
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after, our current home
      • before + after, our first house
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

Get Your Inner Clean-Freak On

March 6, 2016

This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in April 2013.

Cue the spring cleaning. I’ve been twiddling my thumbs waiting for the day it’s warm enough to open all of our home’s windows and ventilate, but in the meantime, I’ve been getting down on cleaning inside with some of my favorite tools.

Maybe you’re like me, a little bit of a gadget-seeker, someone often seeking the easy cleaning route, and often compelled to go organic (even though I’m not the poster child for that way of living, I just do what I can and can afford). If you are too, you’ll probably enjoy seeing this article on DIY Network that speaks to 10 different ways to use vinegar in your household, and you’ll enjoy some of my tricks involving products that suit all of the aforementioned housekeeping qualities for those with limited time to shine:

Tips and products for deep cleaning your home.

For more detail on three products that I really, really love, keep on reading and prepare to get your inner clean-freak on.

HAAN floor steamer to clean our hardwood floors. Our floor steamer is one of the best things that happened to me. That’s a dramatic statement, right? It’s what I tell everyone when the topic of steamers comes up (you know, when catching up with other bloggers, over dinner, at the occasional bar, I’m such an interesting person to talk to). The floors in our home are mostly hardwood, which I do get down on my hands and knees and scrub clean with semi-regularity, but for in-between cleanings, the HAAN steam steamer does a great job at cutting into the grime and sterilizing the hardwood floors as well as the bathroom and kitchen vinyl tiles with ease. Can you say 99.9% germ free? I can’t enough. It leaves me feeling great. There are obviously many brands of steam cleaners out there these days (at varying price points to boot) so do your research, and pick the one that works for you.

Original Spaghetti Scrub for cleaning dishes. The Original Spaghetti Scrub by Goodbye Detergent! was a Christmas gift, so I’ve had in excess of three months to become best friends with it. It’s main claims to fame are true: one unit lasts for months, and it has no smell which to me confirms that it does in fact lack mold and bacteria from regular dish washing. Additionally, even three months in it still looks new, and it always rinses completely clean unlike a sponge or a green scrubbie–a small miracle if you’re in the business of measuring household cleaning miracles. It gets cooler: they’re organically made using corn cobs and peach pits (like, what?) and really earn their keep with cutting into the grime on our dishes and pans (I still dab on a bit of dish soap, but it doesn’t take much to lather up the scrubby). You should order some. I bought mine on Amazon.

Baking soda is multipurpose, and I love it for cleaning at home. It’s a good thing that baking soda is inexpensive, because we use it in many ways besides baking, and I don’t just mean in the let’s-freshen-up-the-refrigerator sense. I mean, it allegedly loses its potency in the box after just 30-days, so you may as well use it while it’s at it’s best, right? I’m not going to be the first one to point out how good it is as a cleaning and freshening agent–some people go as far as to use it to make toothpaste and sprinkle it on as deodorant–but there are many practical ways to use it in your everyday cleaning routine. I often use it with a little soap on a sponge to clean our shower walls and vinyl shower curtain, sprinkle it into our gym shoes (powder feet!), and sprinkle it on/vacuum it off our furniture.

What are your favorite tricks? 

Share

Flooring  / HGTV + DIY Network Projects

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

Leave A Reply


Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    Can’t believe I ever bought dumpling wrappers. 🥟 Pulse a few cups of flour in the food processor drizzling in cold water until it forms dough. Roll smooth. Use a conveniently large cookie cutter, or just trim out squares. The end ❤️ #hny #dumplings
    Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but her Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but here we are (now feat. recycled t-shirt layer for added softness and bonus-layer protection). #diy #amateurseamstress #diymask
    Get out there ☀️ Get out there ☀️
    The gang finally showed up. 👻 The gang finally showed up. 👻
    A record 233 cloves + 10 shallots 🧛🏻‍♀️ 
#merrypadathome #garden2021 #garlic #gardennotes #whatisnormal
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    Immeasurably tall, lanky tomatillos. #garden2020 # Immeasurably tall, lanky tomatillos. #garden2020 #tomatillos #nofilter
    32 oz., reserved for the brave 🌶🌶 😍#homeg 32 oz., reserved for the brave 🌶🌶 😍#homegrown #tomatillos #harvest2020
    Nothing says “let’s stay home all fall, too” Nothing says “let’s stay home all fall, too” like a badass custom fireplace on our patio. 🔥 #chiminea #merrypadathome
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. Cheap IKEA Drawers (And The Quick Fix) 40.1k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. Our Refinished Midcentury Buffet 39.7k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 33.3k views
    • DIY driveway removal. The Driveway Rocks 24.7k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 24.4k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 22.2k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Patio in One Day 17.4k views
    • Bedroom paint, freshened up with Snowbound paint. Painting Everything White: We Chose Snowbound, By Sherwin Williams 16.5k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. Tips for Dying Pasta Different Colors (+ A Special Halloween Recipe) 15.3k views
    • Finished stained kitchen cabinets. Javalicious, A Gel Staining Reveal (Update #3) 14.2k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • DIY Network
    • HGTV
  • Get Posts Via Email

  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad