Housekeeping cleaning: Housekeeping Services From Molly Maid

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Freshen your shower curtain

To banish moldy spots, throw your plastic or vinyl curtain in the washing machine with a little detergent. Add two to three bath towels for extra cleaning agitation, then hang the curtain to dry or put in the dryer on low heat or fluff only. To keep it fresher longer, stretch the curtain out after each shower to help moisture dissipate.

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Revive cloudy glasses

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Descale your coffee maker

Fill your coffee maker’s reservoir with a mixture that’s half vinegar, half water. Let the solution brew until the reservoir is empty. Allow the coffee maker to sit for 30 minutes, then refill the reservoir with just water and brew a pot of clean water to rinse.

RELATED: How to Clean a Keurig

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Sanitize your phone

Chances are your cell phone is harboring more germs than your bathroom surfaces. Zap cell phone germs with an alcohol, Lysol or Clorox wipe, and give your TV remote and computer mouse the same treatment while you’re at it. After five minutes (which allows time for the disinfectant to work), wipe away any excess moisture with a microfiber cloth. Repeat at least twice a week.

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Clean out candleholders

Save a pretty container when the candle’s spent by rinsing it with steaming hot water and using a paper towel to scoop out the wax residue inside.

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Reseason rusty cast iron

Over-scrubbing cast iron with metal scouring pads can remove the seasoning from your trusty skillet. To restore the finish, use a scrub sponge to remove any rust, clean with a bit of mild dish soap, then rinse and dry well. Coat the inside and outside with vegetable oil and bake upside down in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour. Let cool and remove excess grease with a paper towel.

RELATED: How to Clean a Cast-Iron Skillet

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Rethink the linen closet

Tackle an overflowing storage spot by adding an over-the-door rack for extra towels. Shelf dividers stop folded washcloths from toppling over, and baskets corral surplus toilet paper and cleaning supplies.

RELATED: 15 Genius Linen Closet Organization Ideas

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Restore your shower pressure

Unclog your showerhead by mixing equal parts white vinegar and water and pouring it into a plastic bag. Tie the bag around the showerhead to immerse the holes in the solution, and secure it with a twist tie. Let the showerhead soak for up to an hour, then remove the bag and wipe away the loosened deposits.

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Zap oven spills

If you don’t own a self-cleaning oven, try Easy-Off Professional Fume Free Max Oven Cleaner to effectively remove any gunk. Caught empty-handed? Sprinkle table salt to absorb fresh spills and wipe it up with a damp sponge or cloth once the oven is cool.

RELATED: How to Clean an Oven

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Make sneakers bright again

Restore your white tennis shoes to their just-out-of-the-box state by cleaning them with a mild soap and water. Dip a sponge or brush into the soapy water and gently scrub to remove scuffs and stains. Rinse clean with a damp cloth, then clean the rubber soles and sides with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

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Freshen feather pillows

The best way to keep pillows in their original shape is to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for washing. Most feather pillows can be washed and dried in the machine. Load two pillows at a time for balance, and use only a small amount of detergent. Wash them on a delicate cycle with an extra rinse, then tumble dry on low with several wool dryer balls to poof them back up.

RELATED: How to Wash Pillows in the Washing Machine and by Hand

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Lift the worst wine stains

To save your carpet, start by blotting up as much wine as possible. (You can even stand on absorbent cloths if necessary.) Then saturate the stain with Wine Away Red Wine Stain Remover and let it sit for up to five minutes before blotting again until the stain is completely gone.

RELATED: How to Remove Red Wine Stains From Clothes, Carpets and More

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Easily buff out floor scuffs

Protect your hardwood by removing small marks with a sock or a clean tennis ball. To erase bigger scuffs, add a little baking soda to a damp cloth and gently rub. Then rinse with a damp paper towel and dry.

RELATED: How to Clean Hardwood Floors the Right Way

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Make an all-purpose cleaner for the kitchen

Here’s a homemade cleaner recipe that will make nearly every surface in your kitchen — like counters, appliances and inside the refrigerator — gleam. Combine four tablespoons baking soda and one quart warm water in a spray bottle. Apply it to the surface and wipe messes away with a sponge. Use a damp cloth to rinse if needed.

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Freshen up smelly sneakers

After Spin class, sprinkle some baking soda inside your shoes (and your gym bag while you’re at it) to deodorize them. Just tap it out before you wear them again.

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Banish stray marks from coloring time

Toothpaste can erase marker stains from wood, a handy trick to have in your back pocket if you’ve got creative kids.

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Remove buildup in your humidifier

Think about it: The water that makes your humidifier run smoothly is also a breeding ground for mold and microbes. To clean a humidifier, pour two cups of undiluted white vinegar into the water tank and swish it around until wet. Place the vinegar-filled tank on the base and allow it to drain into the reservoir for 15 to 20 minutes. Empty it and use a small brush to scrub crevices, removing remaining buildup.

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De-stink the garbage disposal

Run a few lemon rinds through the disposal and follow with cold water to dispel any sour odors. Prefer a store-bought cleaner? Check out these garbage disposal cleaner packs from a winner of Good Housekeeping’s 2022 Best Cleaning & Organizing Awards, Lemi Shine.

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Freshen stuffed animals

In between baths (in the washing machine, of course), groom your kids’ plush pals by giving them a quick once-over with a lint roller.

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De-funk hairbrushes and combs

Remove hair from the hairbrush. For plastic or ceramic brushes, soak in a mixture of a few drops of dish soap or gentle shampoo in warm water. Avoid soaking paddle brushes with squishy bases and brushes with wooden handles. Instead, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning.

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Wipe out wall doodles

When your child’s artistic efforts end up all over your new paint job, scrub lightly with a damp sponge sprinkled in baking soda.

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Fight pet stink

Deodorize the soft, cushy places around your house — including the dog bed — by sprinkling surfaces with baking soda, letting it sit for 15 minutes and then vacuuming it up.

RELATED: How to Get Rid of Unwanted Odors in Your House

Kaluga residents were outraged by the payment for cleaning entrances

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• Utilities

13/02/2023 10:00

As we already wrote, from January 1, cleaning in the entrances of Kaluga apartment buildings became mandatory. Residents can either organize fundraising and hire a cleaning company themselves, or entrust everything to their management companies, with a single fee for this service set by the city of 3.5 rubles per month for each square meter of living space.

If the opinions of our readers were divided regarding the very fact of cleaning the entrances – some noticed that they were being cleaned, and some did not, then the indignation was friendly and universal regarding the method of payment.

“Are they coming to clean my apartment? Maybe you need to pay not per square meter, but how many people live in it? – writes, for example, one of our readers.

“Of course, it’s a disgrace that the payment for cleaning the entrance per square meter of the apartment! It would be better to make a fixed payment. I called the management company, they said that there are not enough cleaning companies in Kaluga, and so far we are not being cleaned, and when they will be, it is not known” , another one echoes her.

“From a square meter of an apartment??? It’s funny, they won’t clean my apartment. And there is less space in the stairwell than in three apartments “, – the third commentator agrees with them.

In fact, how do the size of the living space of the apartment and the cleaning of the entrance correlate? Maybe our city deputies and officials should have thought more before introducing a new tax on Kaluga residents?

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90,000 Marie Kondo wrote a famous book about “magical cleaning” – and earned millions from it. But now she allowed herself to “not be perfect” and began to clean less often. Here’s How It Happened

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Japanese writer Marie Kondo became famous for her books and shows about home organization. Basically, she advised getting rid of “unnecessary” things, leaving only those that bring joy – and countless people around the world followed her recommendations. Now Kondo has become a life coach and invites the audience to focus on the “spiritual order” – and, apparently, she has seriously changed her attitude to the organization of everyday life. In one of the latest webinars, according to the Washington Post, the most famous expert in the field of cleaning admitted that her house is often “mess”.

Who is Marie Kondo?

Marie Kondo graduated from Tokyo Women’s Christian University in Sociology, where she researched the relationship between gender and cleaning in her thesis: does a person’s gender affect how they organize their space around. Kondo came to the conclusion that it does: although cleaning should not be seen as the prerogative of women, they, in her opinion, still tend to do better at this job.

In 2011, Kondo wrote her first book, Magic Cleaning. The Japanese art of putting things in order at home and in life. In 2014, the book received bestseller status: a year later, Kondo was included in the list of the 100 most influential people according to Time magazine, and The Magical Cleanup was translated into 44 languages ​​and sold 13 million copies around the world.

According to Kondo, she first became interested in organizing space at the age of 15 through a book by Japanese journalist Nagisa Tatsumi. At that moment, Marie felt that “to clean up means to throw away.” Kondo explains the emergence of his method as follows: once she had a nervous breakdown, during which she lost consciousness. When Marie came to, she “heard a voice” that told her to “look closely at the objects.” It was at this point, Kondo claims, that she realized that instead of looking for reasons to throw away the item, she should look for reasons to keep it. Thus was born the concept of house cleaning, which Kondo would later patent as the “KonMari method”: objects around should bring joy – or they should be disposed of.

How the KonMari Method Works

Marie Kondo advises followers to look at each stale item individually and ask themselves if it brings joy now. If not, the item should be disposed of: given away for sale, to charitable organizations, or simply thrown away.

Cleaning should be carried out not by room, but by category of things: start with clothes and shoes, then move on to books and documents. Then come personal items, cosmetics, household items, products. The final stage is to put in order the so-called sentimental things, these include, for example, children’s toys, postcards, memorabilia, crafts. You also need to store things according to the KonMari method by category: all clothes should be in one closet, books should be on one rack, and toys and children’s things should be in one chest of drawers.

The Kondo algorithm assumes that cleaning will take a lot of time and effort. To make the process less tedious and complicated, Marie suggests following a few more rules. Before cleaning, she advises to “visualize the desired lifestyle in order to accurately achieve the result.” When putting things in order, unsorted things of one category, for example, cosmetics, must first be put in one place – and only then choose the unnecessary. Marie also does not recommend involving relatives in cleaning, because only the owner of the space “can know for sure what he needs.”

In the book, Kondo promised that this technique would help to sort out unnecessary things once and for all – after that, the owners of the house will only have to maintain order, and in this, says Marie, “there will be no difficulty.”

How the Netflix show was made that cemented Kondo’s success around the world

Marie Kondo’s ideas first hit the screen in 2013 when she wrote the screenplay for the Japanese TV movie Life is the Thrilling Magic of Cleaning. According to the plot, Japanese Kaori wants to deal with the mess in the apartment, because she is ashamed to invite a young man to visit. The cleaning lady Makiko comes to the rescue, she is convinced that the order in the house is the work of his owner.

In 2016, the American company Jackal Group acquired the film rights to Kondo’s book, and in 2018, Mari signed a contract with Netflix. According to producer Gail Berman, the online cinema initially planned to make a feature film or a directed show, but eventually settled on a reality format, abandoning the standard script. “There were ups and downs, but we always thought there was something special about Marie and her message,” Berman said. All eight episodes aired on January 1, 2019years – in a period that many people associate with the beginning of a new era in their lives.

During filming, Kondo visited eight families who were having trouble keeping their homes in order and introduced them to her author’s technique. In some places, the series went beyond the interactive reality show. For example, one of the heroines named Margie lost her husband nine months before filming and kept his things because she was not ready to part with reminders of him. In the process of working with Marie, Margie got rid of her husband’s things in order to “move on” – Berman called this episode one of the most touching in the project.

Cleaning With Marie Kondo Trailer

Netflix

Cleaning With Marie Kondo was nominated twice for a Major Television Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality TV Host and Outstanding Reality Show “, but did not receive awards. In 2021, Netflix released the Sparks of Joy mini-series. This time around, Kondo helped clean up the private gardening and coffee shop, arguing that “cleanliness and harmony should be present in all areas of human life.” The project did win an Emmy, albeit a minor version of the daytime performance award, and helped Kondo cement its success in the American market.

How much Kondo made from cleaning tips

One year after publishing her first book, Kondo registered KonMari Media with her husband Takumi Kawahara, Kawahara left his job as an HR consultant and took over as CEO of his wife’s startup.

As her business grew, Mari tried to popularize her method: in 2016, she announced the launch of courses for those who want to become a “certified KonMari consultant and fix other people’s houses.” At the end of the course, trainees are encouraged to complete at least 10 hands-on sessions with different clients, submit cleaning reports, and only then become an official “KonMari method bearer”. The cost of such a course is 2.25 thousand dollars. According to KonMari Media, more than 700 people have been certified “KonMari Consultants” since launch, and they now work in 54 countries.

In addition to two shows on Netflix and courses, Marie monetizes a method of getting rid of unnecessary things with the help of an author’s store. Those who wish can even buy containers and organizers that supposedly fit the KonMari method. In the new book, Marie writes about rituals that help her “rebalance” and “spiritually cleanse”, for example, she drinks matcha tea, wears robes made of natural fabrics and lights scented candles – and, of course, these products are also available for order online.

Back in 2019Forbes estimated the capitalization of all Marie Kondo’s commercial products at $8 million in 1999, a figure that the media still use to this day. More than 40 people work in her full-time team in Los Angeles.

Why the KonMari method is criticized

After the first series and its subsequent popularity, the Marie Kondo method was regularly criticized. For example, Elizabeth Roth, author of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Garbage, suggested that drastically getting rid of all second-hand items would only lead to additional purchases:

As someone who cares a lot about the environmental impact of consumption and waste, I can’t help but worry that the destruction of the old will simply lead to the emergence of the new and therefore more consumption.

Kondo asks his clients to consider the spiritual value of their belongings. I think it’s better for the health of the planet to think about the material resources that went into the production of these goods.

The fact that the KonMari method is imperfect primarily due to the radical rejection of things is also said by her followers. For example, Martin Lowe, a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, told The Atlantic that he got rid of all the items that, according to the ideas of the method, “did not cause him joy.” Soon, the man began to bring home new household gadgets and interior items to replace the old ones, and two years later he returned to the starting point. “My house is probably no better than it was,” he concluded.

Marie Kondo with her family

The Guardian columnist Zoe Williams came to a similar conclusion when she conducted an experiment and invited Marie Kondo to clean up her house. According to Williams, in practice, picking up every thing and asking if it brings me joy turned out to be not only tedious, but also unproductive. In addition, the journalist noted that the Kondo method is extremely difficult to apply to her own category of “sentimental things”, because an outsider can hardly help put things in order in subjects that relate to personal memories.

Kondo’s attitude towards paper books caused the most questions from the audience of the series about the KonMari Method. According to the writer, she keeps no more than 30 books and recommends regularly reviewing and reducing the home library. According to Kondo, a person almost never returns to unfinished books. Many viewers of the series found this rule absurd.

How Kondo’s philosophy changed after the birth of children

In early books, Kondo often turned to parents: she told how to clean up the children’s room and how to help the child take apart toys. She emphasized that organizing space according to the KonMari method, being a parent, is quite realistic, despite everyday difficulties.

Now Kondo positions himself more as a life coach. In November 2022, a cleaning specialist released a new book that is built around the Japanese concept of “kurashi” – supposedly “the perfect way to organize your life.” According to Marie, the book reflects the changes in her life after the birth of children: “little joys” came to the fore, for example, from trying on new cotton pajamas or drinking tea in silence.

With the advent of children – and Kondo has three of them – her requirements for cleaning the house softened. After the birth of her first child, the entrepreneur “could not forgive herself” for losing the ability to manage her own life as before.