Dear Home Ec 101, How do you keep a clean house? Signed, N00b in Newford Heather says: The short answer? You put crap away. If every person in every home simply put things where they belonged, keeping a clean house would only be a matter of dealing with dirt. Unfortunately the universe tends toward entropy, …
Ivy says: My kids were joking recently that we had cleaning ninjas in our house. I had cleaned the kitchen while they were at school and they thought some cleaning ninjas had miraculously come by to clean it up. From there was born a fun way to clean house with the kids: the cleaning ninja …
Ivy says: As I’ve said here about 50 million times, Mr. Ivy is a restaurant manager. One of the common themes in our conversations is how other people manage the restaurant and how it meshes (or doesn’t mesh) with his own management style. Within your own household, you and your significant other will have different …
A dear commenter named Amy asked this: I searched the site and could not find exactly how a toilet cleaning is done. Besides the obvious – Outside first: top, sides, bottom then Inside: scrub. I have read you can use toilet bowl cleaner, diluted to clean the whole toilet. One must wear gloves of course. …
Hi Ladies,I have a quick question about washing my apartment walls. I desperately need to get my security deposit back, and they look nasty. Normally, I’d just use some soapy water and dig right in, but my landlords used cheap, lousy, thin flat white paint. I’m afraid that my washing will ruin the surface. I …
Ivy says: About 80% of the people I know would describe their house as “comfortably lived in.” That title is not always accurate. I remember some people Mr. Ivy knew that described their house that way and a couple of years later, Child Protective Services came in (this woman also described herself as a great …
Ivy says: One of the most frequent questions I get is “How do you get your kids to help clean?” Short on the heels of that question is “How do you get kids to do a good job when cleaning?” Now, my kids aren’t the best cleaning helpers EVER, but they do help and they …
Ivy says: For many, keeping up with laundry is their Achilles’ heel when it comes to housekeeping. I know that it sure is mine. It seems that whenever I manage to get caught up, there’s a new giant pile lurking somewhere 5 seconds afterward. So I share with you some of the strategies I’ve picked …
Ivy says: Getting your house back in shape absolutely requires that you clean the bathroom. Let me tell you, you could have mounds of laundry piled everywhere and a spotless bathroom and I totally wouldn’t think you’re gross. But make me use a dirty bathroom and I’ll take pictures and post them here on Home …
Ivy says: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from people wondering, “Where do you start when your house is a mess?” Yes, sometimes it is very overwhelming when pretty much everywhere is a disaster. I ask people: “What bothers you the most? Start there.” Now, the answer does differ some, but largely …