Keeping your house clean and fresh naturally...

It is so nice to walk in to a home that not only looks clean but smells clean and fresh. One item that has been on the market for many years, but is getting noticed by more folks today, is Murphy's Oil Soap. There also is Flax Soap which is basically the same. This product cleans safely and can be used on almost anything that has been painted or finished i.e. wood floors, kitchen cabinets, ceramic floors, tile floors, wood or metal doors and painted walls. It is gentle on the hands and leaves everything smelling clean. It does not mask odors with a chemical scent.

It has become famous again since so much emphasis is now placed on going green. This item qualifies since it is natural and good for the environment. Since it is popular now, you will find that the price has gone up slightly. If you like strong smelling cleaners, this is not for you. If you like cleaners which are easy to use and won't ruin anything while cleaning and helping the environment, this is for you.

I do not endorse this product or any other product for material gain, I simply like to suggest items which have worked for me. So if you try it and don't like it, thats fine, at least you gave it a shot. I, however think you will find many uses for it around the house...

Cleaning up...

I don't know about you, but I save everything. i always think i will need it someday so I should save it. What is it? It is just about anything from paid bills to an extra screw left over from a job. I have saved so much stuff that I myself don't know what I have or half the time where it is. This brings me to the point of my blog. I save stuff thinking I will need it one day, the thing is that when that one day comes I forgot where I put it so I go out and buy another. You see I create so much clutter that when I need something I rather go and buy it than waste useful time looking for it. So I, with the aid of my son ?Dave, got rid of a whole lot of it, junk! I also cleaned out my kitchen cabinets. There was so much stuff under there you would not believe me if I told you. Now there is so much space under my cabinets and in my bedroom closet...I feel good since it feels clean now. And the few things I did keep are handy where I can get them with no trouble at all. i cleaned out my file cabinet, I had coupons and expired junk back from 1986. That stuff was older than my son Dave, he was born in '87. Some of that stuff been with me so long that I did not want to part wit it. But, I did and as I said less clutter. I condensed about 6 boxes and numerous bags, into two boxes, one of which is a plastic under the bed storage unit.

So, if you also have saved stuff throughout the years, clean-up! As an example of how hard it is to find something when you have so much clutter, even organized clutter, is the example of when i was looking for the Deed to this property a couple of weeks ago, I never found it, I in fact had to purchase a copy of it. Now with my new found space I can tell you exactly where it can be found.

Don't complain that you don't have enough space, make good use of the space you already have by cleaning up...

Some of the best advice...

Well, you can do everything around your house or home to keep it in good shape, but there is one area which cannot be ignored. I realize most of us older folk know this by now, but for the youth out there and those of you new homeowners, that which cannot be ignored is the payment of all bills.

These bills are:
Mortgage payment
Property tax payment
water/sewer payment
Homeowner's insurance payment
Gas bill payment
Electric bill payment

These are the bills which must be paid. I did not include cable or phone since those bills will not cause you to lose your home if not paid. The others can and will cause you to lose your mind if not paid regularly.

I will speak of property tax bills for a minute. This bill comes twice a year. There are exemptions available to all homeowners. You must however apply for these in the county where you live. These will not be applied automatically. Some must be applied for on a yearly basis. These can save you thousands of $$$$$. If you have a monthly mortgage, make sure the bank is paying these on time. You can do this in several ways. One is to check your escrow balance on a monthly basis. This balance is used for your taxes and homeowners insurance payment. So at least three times a year this balance will decrease, CAUTION, it should not however go to zero or even close at any time. If you know that next month your taxes are due in the amount of $500, and you only have $250 in your escrow account, then you must make a higher payment this month indicating that you want the extra payment to go to your escrow account. If you do not take this action on your own, you can expect to see you mortgage payment increase to make up the difference. In fact it is always a good idea to add a few extra dollars to your escrow account when you can. After a year or so, you will be able to tell if there is sufficient funds in your escrow account to cover: taxes and insurance. You can prevent the bank or lender from raising your monthly installment by doing this. you can check your monthly escrow amount/balance by looking on your mortgage bill whether this is a paper bill or an e-bill, there is a section reserved for escrow as well as a section where you can add funds to the escrow. This is just as important as your monthly installment amount, so take the extra time to look at it and become familiar with it. If you elected not to have an escrow account applied to your mortgage, then be aware that you and only YOU are responsible for taxes and insurance payments.

Your water and sewer bill will not be paid by the bank, so make sure you pay this on time in order to avoid surcharges. These two, property taxes and water/sewer taxes, can cause you serious problems if not paid. The city or county can and will place a lien on your property and the longer the bill or bills are unpaid, the higher the chance your home can be placed on the auction block. So do yourself a favor and make sure you or your bank are paying these, and make sure the correct amount is being paid. This amount could be incorrect if exemptions which you do not qualify for are being applied to your bill, i.e. if you purchase your home from and older person, they were intitled to a senior discount, which you are not qualified to recieve. Your bank will not check this for you, you must do so. If you go online and check your tax bill by using your permanent tax id number, you will be able to check which exemptions are being applied or not to your tax bill. If you ignore this the county will at one point realize their mistake and YOU will pay for it with interest. Believe me it is not a pretty picture when a few years have passed and this amount has increased. your bank or lender will not come to your rescue since it is your responsibility to check this regularly.

So, there you have it. The other bills if unpaid will have immediate consequences, those being loss of heat, loss of electric, loss of phone or cable. These also hurt your credit rating. So, enjoy your property and while taking care of all the regular up-keep, be mindful of those very important bills which will not go away....

Cable ties...

Cable ties are a very handy item to have around. You can even purchase these at the $1 store.

Nowadays with so many electronics in the house, these plastic ties can organize the wires so they aren't all over the place. I know many items are wireless now, but not all are. For example, my PC right now has a usb keyboard, a usb mouse, a usb printer and the power cords, not to mention the speaker wires. I have these held together with a couple of cable ties. I tie these high on the power cord so that they are not all over the floor. This comes in handy when sweeping or mopping. And for those of you who have rugs, this is a must so you don't chew up these wires with your vac. This would not only ruin the wire, it will also damage your vac.

When using these ties pull them til they are tight and then with a pair of scissors cut the excess cable off. Once you are done you can hardly tell the cable tie is there.

Trust me, you will find a whole lot of uses for these little ties.

Check the bottom of your chair legs...

This does not seem so important, but if you have a ceramic flor or even better, a marble floor, you need to check these. Why? Because most chairs come with a plastic glide hammered to the bottom of each leg. These are great until they wear down or break off leaving a nail head to scrape your flor.

If you find that this glide is no longer there, turn your chair so that the legs are facing up, with a pair of pliers or flat head screwdriver, remove the nail. Replace the plastic glide with a new one. It may be a good Idea to change all the glides since they are just as old as the one you replaced.

If you have a hardwood floor, you might consider using the glides which have felt on them. The furniture glides easier and there is less chance of scratches.

Enjoy your furniture...

Let's change a light fixture...

Let's change a light fixture...

Whether you are changing a fixture because it is ugly and you are tired of looking at it or just because you want a fresh new look, you can do it yourself.

First make sure you have a safe step ladder. Turn the circuit breaker off or if you wish just turn off the light at the wall switch. Place ladder securely under light. Place your straight and phillips screwdriver or your four in one screwdriver on the top of the ladder. Place your pliers and electric tape there as well. Look at the fixture carefully. Remove the glass shade or cups which ever you have. Remove the bulbs and then find out how the fixture is fixed to the ceiling. It is either held up with one center nut or two screws. The two screws may also be facing down towards you with two rounded nuts at the end of each. Remove the retaining nuts or screws, lamp should also have a non-electric wire holding it up, leave this wire alone for now. Remove the wire nuts from the lamp wires which connect to the house wires. Now remove the non-electric wire and light fixture is, or should be unattached. Place the old fixture out of your way. Look at all the parts included with your new fixture. Look to see if the new lamp has the same type of assembly as the old one, if it does you can proceed to assemble it, if not you will have to remove the silver bracket which is still on the ceiling screwed into the junction or electric octagon box. Remove this by removing the two screws. Keep these screws handy in case your new fixture is not equipped with them. Now place the new bracket onto the octagon box with the two screws. Assemble your lamp if required. Now using the non-electric wire which is connected to your new fixture, tie this around the silver bracket. Don't worry if it is too long, you can easily cut off the excess. Now connect your white lamp wire to the white house wire, followed by the black lamp wire to the black house wire. Use your new wire nuts for this. Place a small piece of black tape around the wire nut where it meets the wire. If your lamp has a green wire, this is a ground wire you can attach this to either of the two screws holding upt the bracket. Now place lamp against ceiling and fasten the two screws or the center nut. If your fixture is equipped with a chain you will need to adjust this to the proper length by removing links. Place the bulbs and glas shade or cups and secure in place. Turn on circuit breaker or light switch and you are done.

The non-electric wire I mentioned a few times usually only is found on larger fixtures so don't worry if yours doesn't have one. This wire is just there to help support the weight of the lamp, it has no electrical power.

The assembly of your fixture may differ a little from the way I described, but for the most part this is how they all are. Along with my suggestions refer to the owner's instructions which came with your fixture, and you can do it yourself.

Throw away your old lamp, or recycle it by giving it away. Put your ladder away, sit back and enjoy your handy work.

Your tool box..

These are just a few of the tools every homeowner should have. Even if you are not handy, they can come in handy.

The box can be plastic or metal, your choice. You should have the following:
> Claw hammer
> Four in one screwdriver
> Pliers
> Channel lock pliers
> Hacksaw
> Utility knife
> Flashlight with fresh batteries
> Electric tape
> Duct tape

These are the primary tools which will come in handy when something decides to break-down. You may also want to pick up some assorted nuts and bolts, nails, screws and a pack of assorted hose clamps.

If you want you can also add a battery powered radio which you keep in the box for emergencies when the power goes out.

Keep this tool box where you can easily get to it and after using any of the tools in it remember to replace the tool right back in the box.

Which lubricant to use...

Actually I want to speak of the lubricant not to use. I am talking about bearing or wheel grease. This is great stuff when used as intended, but very damaging when used incorrectly. On a car wherever grease is used it is capped off. This is to prevent any dirt or grime to contaminate the grease. When dirt or debris sticks to grease it then acts as sandpaper or grinder. It will destroy the item by wearing it down. I learned this the hard way a few years ago. I thought it would be a good idea to grease the wheels on my garage door, and for a while it seemed a great idea, until the wheels filed down to half their original size.

There are specific lubricants for all jobs, but I have found that WD40 works great on almost everything needing a little lube job. And an added benefit is that it also prevents rust by removing all moisture from a metal surface.

You know when you next take your car for a lube job, if you notice that the attendant is going to apply grease on the hood latch or door hinges, tell him "NO THANKS" not only will this do more harm than good, but just think of the day you are all dressed up and you find it necessary to look under your hood and just by touching the latch you get all full of black grease. Or for you ladies, think of the day you have a beautiful dress on and you are entering your car and part of your dress gets caught in the door jamb and lucky you it's all full of grease. As I always say, "It's better to prevent than to lament."

Label your breakers...

It will make your life much simpler if you label the circuit breakers in your home. This is easy to do. Just buy some self-adhesive labels at your local stationary store or your good ole Walmart. turn on all the lights in the house. Switch off one circuit breaker at a time. Now walk through the house and write down which lights are off. These correspond to the breaker you switched off. Write down the rooms on the label and stick to box, either next to breaker or on the door. Now switch that breaker back on and turn off the next one. Proceed the same as before and do this for each breaker and you are done.

If you find that you can't fit all the rooms on the label for each circuit breaker, then use the number method. Place a label next to each breaker with a number, now on a sheet of paper assign that number to the correct rooms in the house. Tape this sheet to the inside of the door of the breaker box. You are done.

If someone in your house is blind or visually impaired, work with them to come up with a system they can use when they are home alone. Remember, maybe a blind person does not need the lights on, but they do need the appliances to operate.

As a side note: if you are reading this and you find that your home still has fuses, I would strongly reccommend that you have your service updated. This will be a requirement in some counties before you can sell your home.

Let's change an outlet...

First go and buy the new outlet. Most of the time all you will need is a 15amp. standard outlet. Now get your phillips and straight screwdrivers. Have some electrical tape and we can get started.

Turn off the power to the outlet by switching the breaker in the circuit box to the off position. If you are not sure which is the proper one, plug in a lamp or radio into the outlet or have someone tell you when the light in that room goes off as you switch the breakers. If you use the radio method, you can listen for the radio to stop working. Now remove the outlet cover. Remove the two screws holding the outlet in place. Gently pull the outlet towards you. Remove any tape or debris that may be on the outlet. Observe the way the outlet is wired. Loosen the screws holding the wires in place. Remove the outlet from the wires. You should have one black wire and one white one. The black is a hot wire the white is the negative. Some call it the ground wire. Place the black wire on the gold screw. Place the white wire on the silver screw. Some new outlets have a black screw instead of the gold for the hot wire. Don't worry even though this is a hot wire, it is dead since you switched the breaker to the off position. Tighten the screws and now wrap some black tape around the screws and exposed wires to prevent a short if they come in contact with metal. Return outlet to proper position and screw into place. Note that if the new screws are to short you will need to use the ones that were on the original outlet. Replace outlet cover and switch breaker to the on position. Plug something into the outlet and admire your work.