Seeking Cleaning and Organizational Advice

Hi J.,

For years I had a friend who traded days with me. Once a week for 2 hours, we both went to work at either her house or mine. That way we got to talk and clean at the same time. It cost nothing but time, and it was a fair way to help each other out. It also led to some fun home makeover projects.

I had to swallow my pride and let her in to clean some of the most embarrassing areas, but she had her messy parts of the house too. You might find you could do the same with another mom, while your kids played together... as long as you could keep the kids' mess "contained" while you're cleaning elsewhere! Good luck. :)

At our local Dollar Tree, they have a carpet cleaner in a red bottle (kind of looks like a Resolve knock off) that is awesome on stains (we actually got dark green marker out of our carpet with it!!). It's only $1 per bottle. If that doesn't end up working for some reason, you can then try the more expensive alternatives.

As far as organizing, I would agree with taking it one day and one room at a time. I've found rubbermaid (or similar) containers to be inexpensive & fantastic for creating bins. I'm not the cleanest person in the world, so for some things (like my 80,000 shoes), it's handy to have a "bin" to just throw them into until I need them next. Again, you might be able to find some of the smaller ones for drawers, bills, etc. at your local dollar store.

Hi J.! I have just the item for you! I have had no luck with any cleaners for my spotted carpet until I find a product called FOLEX. I bought it at Walmart in the carpet cleaning section. It was $4. This will get out ANY stain! I was so excited when I started seeing OLD OLD stains literally disappear!! After cleaning my carpet, I took it outside to my "mommy-van" and tackled some really old stains in there too! EVERYTHING came out of the carpet, even old grease stains! I am thrilled I found this product!! The carpet in the van looks like new again (and its a 97 van!) The product is easy to use. Just spray it on the spot, agitate it with fingertips then blot it with a clean cloth. No rinsing! The bottle says www.folex.net so maybe you can check out their website! Good luck to you!!

J., first of all you need to get up early and read your bible and pray. We all do. Then get your 13 year old off to school and your 4 yr old to a pre scool and then throw out the garbage and don't keep it anymore. Go through through the toys and give away what they don't need, there are children who don't have toys, clothes etc. that would appreciate it, and teach the kids to pick up behind themselves. We all go through this at one time or another. Sometimes it takes you to get up off your duff and start working on one thing at a time until youre through. I have to get someone to watch our 19mo old in order to clean, but it works. Hopefully you have a job and help your parents with groceries and other needs around the house. You are blessed to have parents willing to help. You don't need house and garden just start early and don't stop until you're through and don't talk on the phones or watch tv or read books until you're through. Try it it works. I'm 64 and clean all the time and take care of a great granddaughter.Bissell tough stain precleaner and youroxi clean laundry stain remover and great on stains when the kids first spill or get something in the carpet. If you wait nothing will get it out.

I don't really have any tips but a lot of moms in my moms group swear by www.flylady.com
S. Gallo
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J. ....where is it that you live?
I can help you! please feel free to contact me anytime!
~M.

For the shredding... get an inexpensive shredder, and every day, have your 4 year old shred your junk mail. He will LOVE it!

We work a lot with timers here; set yourself little goals (I'm going to organize the toys) and do what you can in 15 mins. Then move on to something else for 15 mins. After 45 mins, give yourself a 15 min break (this is really important). You'd be surprised at how much you can accomplish in just an hour a day.

I have one of those Dirt Devil Spot Bots, and it works good. It isn't cheap though. For the organizing your life thing- that I may help with. That was my New Years Resolution this year- be more organized. I have a very, VERY small house (I mean it would be OK for a small family no bigger than 4- and we are 6!!) So I know about clutter. For the papers- quickly make 3 piles: keep/file, throw away, and go through. While doing this you can't read things that your kids did, and don't keep everything the kids did. Half or less is better. Next have the boys help- tell them they can keep 1/2 of their toys (only 1/2) and the other 1/2 is going to go to kids who don't have anything. They will be more willing to help knowing that they are also helping someone else. No matter what- any toy that is broke goes in the trash!! Now for the clothes- if you haven't worn it in a year it goes. I personally like to keep my boys clothes since I have 3, but I also don't aways have room to do that. So if the clothes are not in perfect shape- it goes. I also went to Home Depot at the beginning of the year and bought a bunch of baskets to keep stuff in, for my laudry closet. I noticed that I felt better when my laudry closet was done- that is all I have had a chance to really finish. It will take time- and effort to get it up. But you will feel better about just being there when you are organized. I hope this helps you be more organized because I sure know what clutter EVERYWHERE is like (and how nice it is clean).

Take a breath!
Take one room at a time
and definitely, definitely
go to flylady.net

Hi J.,

As mentioned earlier, looks like you have quite a few terrific and helpful responses!

I just discovered some free self-paced on-line courses on www.ivillage.com (under the "ilearn" tab) a website largely devoted to women's issues and concerns.

A new class that is available is entitled "Getting Organized: Managing time, space and paper." These classes are sponsored by different corporations. This one is offered by American Express. Sometimes you take a little marketing survey, once that is done you have access to each of the lesson plans and you go at your own pace. The courses change monthly and cover all types of topics.

Hope this helps - good luck!

Red Kool-Aid is very hard to get out. The link below is a website I found where someone posted the same question about the Kool-Aid. There are a lot of different suggestions from Spray and Wash and Wine Out to a wet cloth and iron.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf632331.tip.html

As far as organization, it isn't as hard as one might think, just very overwhelming. I had to start in one area and concentrate on that one area until I was finished. Then I moved on to the next one. I did my son's room very last, that way I didn't have to go behind and make sure he kept it organized while I was suppose to be busy on another area. I did things like going to Target and buying the little boards with robe hooks on them to put in my closet to hang my purses on. I bought shoe organizers that strapped to the closet organizers and bookshelves for the mounds of books. We also bought a shredder to get rid of certain pieces of mail. I also bought those storage tubs that rolled under the bed to keep winter clothes. The biggest thing I had to learn was to actually throw stuff away or take it to the local Goodwill. If I haven't had the need for it in the past 6 months then it was gone. I'm in the process of going through all my old clothes that I can't fit into anymore and seeing what I can take to a consignment shop. That way I can get a little back from them. I'm going to go through my son's clothes and do the same. Try organizing caddies under the bathroom sink and switching all towels to one color. My sister-in-law(a.k.a. Queen Organizer) went with all white towels, hand towels and wash cloths. Her linen closet looked so clean and neat because there wasn't a bunch of colors trying to grab your eye at once. It was uniform and clean. Take it one area at a time and don't look at the other areas until you get to them. If something from one area needs to go in another just put it there and don't worry about it until you get to that area. Google organizational tips for whatever you're organizing at the time and that will give you some great ideas.

Good luck. :-)

Hi J.,
Let me just say you are not alone in the chaos stuff war:)
Their are several tips for cleaning and organizing on www.flylady.net The two I like the best are set a timer and clean as much as you can in 10 minutes and then take a break...and then the next tip is the 27 fling boggie...go through your house and pick up 27 things to throw away or give away. if you do this every day or at least once a week in no time you will have a little less clutter. Anyway check out the fly lady and best of luck to you.
Happy Cleaning
God Bless
P.

J.,

One of the best resources I have found is www.flylady.net. You can go to the website and look there or go to the website and sign up for individual, daily e-mails to come. Flylady breaks up the house into zones and each week, you focus on one zone. She has awesome ideas and goes by the theory that "you can do anything in 15 minutes." Hot Spots, Fling Boogie's, etc are fun terms she uses that my kids have adapted into their cleaning routines. You get testimonials from other people who have used this program.. it is all free!
She does have merchandise that you can buy but all of that is completely optional.
FLYing in FL :)

M.

I used to organize work spaces for a living. It looks like you've received a lot of great responses. I would definitely recommend to choose one area to start. You don't want to overwhelm yourself or feel like you are in over your head. The first step is getting rid of anything you don't need. The Vietnam Veterans of America will come pick it up. You can call 800-775-8387 to schedule a pick up. I think they take just about everything except large furniture. A tip I can give you is to only touch things once! Take mail for instance- take it from the mailbox and open it. Then trash it, file it or if it's a magazine then put it in the rack. You are a busy Mom and don't have time to have to do things twice. As for the identity theft thing- My husband has worked in fraud prevention for one of the world's largest banks for over 10 years, and is a nut when it comes to preventing identity theft. But, he doesn't shred everything with his name and address. Only credit card offers or pre-qualified credit offers, anything with his social security number and personal things like bank statements. Pretty much all of your bills can be sent to you & paid online now. That would definitely help some of your clutter. When you get your clutter cleaned out you will feel SO much better. I wish you lots of luck!