Getting Your Kids To Keep Their Rooms Clean

I love when you, the readers of the blog write me!! Here's an email I received from Heather who is at her wits end with her teenage daughters bedroom!

Dear Dawn

Hi,

Any advice on organizing my 16 year old daughter’s bedroom. I’ve come to peace with the fact she has no intention of tidying or cleaning it, but I would still like to have a way to keep the mess “contained”.

Please let me know if you have a way to make her disorganized chaos into an organized one.

Thanks much,

Heather

***
Dear Heather,
Sounds like you have given up. My question to you is why? She is 16 years old and should be responsible to clean her room and keep it tidy at all times. Under no circumstances should she be allowed any extras if her room is not clean. You’re responsible for checking it daily.

Her bed should be made each day, and clothes hung up and put away. Perhaps you can meet her half way and tell her as long as she keeps it picked up and tidy all week, you will clean it, change sheets, dust, vacuum etc.

There is no reason that a 16 year old can’t keep her room neat. It’s our jobs to follow through and teach them responsibility. When they have their own homes then they can keep them any way they like, but while living under our roofs there will be rules to follow. If she argues or doesn’t do what is expected you have the control to take things away, or not let her go out until her room is cleaned. Your house, your rules!

I will suggest that you help her to organize and clean it up the first time. When its all picked up let her know this is the way you expect it to look at all times. Go through and toss clothes that don’t fit or she doesn’t wear, box up items that she’s outgrown but wants to keep.

Maybe freshening her room up with a coat of paint and letting her do a little decorating will motivate her to keep it clean and neat. Let her put her personality and mark on it. Check back for tomorrows article. We'll go over some great ideas to update your kids rooms!

INDOOR HERB GARDEN

Growing herbs indoors is not only cost effective, but also a fun way to get your thumb a little green! Some of the easiest herbs to grow indoors are thyme, basil, parsley, oregano, chives, mint and sage.

There are several ways to start an indoor herb garden: transplanting store-bought or starting new ones from cuttings or seed.

You can start with seed, but it’s the messiest and not the most successful way. Here are the easiest and most effective ways to start an herb garden for your kitchen!

Stem Cutting

Stem cuttings are an easy method to grow herbs indoors. Use cut herbs available from a grocery store. Cut about six inches of a stem at the base of the plant.

Once the branch is cut, strip the foliage off the bottom so it won’t rot. A root should develop everywhere that a leaf or stem has grown. Place the cutting in a small jar or glass of water, and in no time you will see roots. When that happens, pot the cutting and let it grow. Remember that these cuttings need a sunny location, and the water should be changed out every day. This is also a great way to share herbs you may already have with friends. Wouldn’t an herb garden be a spectacular Mothers day gift for your Mom! Or better yet you’re Mother in law; she’ll see how great of a homemaker you really are!

The Easiest Way

If you don’t want to wait to grow plants from cuttings, you can have an herb garden now by purchasing live, grown plants from your local garden center. Keep plants in a sunny location with sufficient water. Once a week, feed them, using a diluted, organic fertilizer. . Also give your plants a periodic trimming as it helps them to branch out and grow more vigorously.

Being able to just snip some fresh herbs make cooking and your food so much better. I love using fresh basil and parsley in everything. If your children are helping with your indoor garden, a nice idea is to take some plain plant pots, and let the kids decorate them with paint, paper etc. to produce their own unique pots.

You can also think outside the box, I grow my basil in tomato cans.

• Simply take a can and wash it well.
• Turn it over and poke some holes in the bottom. A screw driver and hammer works well for this!
• place some pepples in the bottom to form a single layer.
  
• Fill with potting soil to fill the can 2/3 full
• Remove a potted plant from its container and transplant into the can
• Fill the edges with remaining potting soil and gently pat down. Don't make it too tight.
• Place the can on a pretty coordinating plate to catch drainage
• Add water to your newly planted herb!

You can also decorate cans to coordinate with your decor. Simply paint the can with a some acrylic base paint. Let it dry, and then paint desired colors and designs on it. Stripes, polka dots, or whatever suits your fancy. This is a great project for kids!

Did I mention how fabulous your kitchen will smell?

Once your herbs are established, and your area is free from frost or even cooler weather you can move them to your deck or patio if you would like. If your more ambitious, go ahead and plant them for an outdoor herb garden!

Get planting and send in your pictures. I’ll post the best of the best!

housewifehints@yahoo.com

Chores For Children

Chores for children. Yes, Spring/Easter recess is coming up, yet they still need to help around the house and perform some of their own daily chores before getting out to play all day.

Giving your kids chores is going to keep them in good habits for when school starts back up. Keep them in the mindset of work before play.

So this week’s challenge is to build a chore list for your kids. What type of chores and how many chores your children do depends on their ages. Heres a simple list of chores that you can choose from depending on age appropriateness.

Make beds: get kids in the habit of doing this first thing in the morning. Do not let them get into the habit of procrastinating! Pick up rooms- let them know that their bedrooms are to be picked up. No clothes on the floor, no toys everywhere, teach them to put things away, and have respect for their belongings.

Vacuum Most kids do not mind this chore. They may not do as good a job as you would do, but that’s ok. You can teach them what you want done, and how you would like it done.

Set the table This is a pretty easy task for kids of most ages. Even the little ones can set the table if you get out the dishes and cups for them.

Clear the table: I think it is important to teach children to bring their plates to the sink when they are done eating. And they can do Mom and Dads too. They can put away the milk, butter, salt and pepper, or whatever else may be on the table.

Clean the windows: Yes little kids love this job. Give them a spray bottle with some water in it and let them squirt away. With older kids you can give them a bottle with vinegar and water and teach them to do the windows/mirrors in the house the proper way.

Take out the garbage: Simple task for most kids. Even the little ones can grab the bathroom baskets and bedroom baskets for you.

Unload the dishwasher: Give the silverware to the little kids (not the knives of course), and let them put them in the proper place. Older kids should be able to unload a dishwasher with no problem.

Pulling weeds, mowing the lawn: Pulling weeds is a simple task for the little ones to keep them occupied while you are in the garden. Older kids can mow the lawn for Dad. It is also a great way for them to make some pocket money if they do it for some neighbors.

Use your imagination: Think of things for your kids to do. Make the chore chart/list and have a family meeting. Be sure to set times you want things done by.

I believe that kids having daily chores and then a few weekly tasks is a great lesson in work ethic. It teaches them responsibility, and gives them skills in the process. So get the kids to work. Let them help out. The sooner all the daily chores are done, the sooner everyone can go out and play! Make sure they learn about priorities...work first, play later!

Motivation!

Sorry to frighten you with that picture! But I could have put up a worse one, believe me!! Dust and dirt are very icky things. So take some time to read this and maybe it will give you the kick in the pants you need today to get up and go clean!!!

Why you need a regular cleaning schedule:

• You will keep up your cleaning so you won’t be overwhelmed with too many tasks.
• Your house will be a healthier environment.
• You will have extra time available for larger jobs.
• You will not be so worried about a specific problem – like dust on your shelves – when you know it will be taken care of at a later specific time.
• Most cleaning is much easier when done regularly, rather than waiting for it to get really dirty.
• Almost all items or surfaces will last longer and look better when lightly cleaned regularly rather than harshly scrubbed infrequently.
• Regular cleaning of many items – carpets, furniture and wood - will delay or eliminate the need for expensive, professional cleaning or restoration.
  

Some interesting facts to keep you motivated:

Fact: The U.S. EPA ranked indoor air pollution among the top 5 environmental dangers to the public and concluded that indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than the worst outside air
Fact: The average 6 room home in the U.S. collects 40 pounds of dust each year.
Fact: Homes with open windows and screen doors can contain roughly 70% as much pollen as the outdoor environment.
Fact: House dust is a mixture of materials that can include textile fibers, decomposing insect parts, pet dander, human and animal hair, food leftovers, pollen grains, skin flakes, insulation, sand and other organic materials.
Fact: A typical used mattress can have from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites and 10% of the weight of a two-year-old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings.
Fact: An estimated 6 million Americans are allergic to cats and approximately one third of them have cats in their home.
Fact: Nearly 100,000 dust mites can live in one square yard of carpet

Did You Know?
• Many people suffer from perennial allergies, which result in symptoms throughout the year.
Perennial allergies are triggered by indoor allergens, including house dust mite waste, animal dander, cockroach waste and indoor molds.
• Dust mites are the number one cause of indoor allergies.
• The common dust mite can be carried in or on your clothing or body and can be found all throughout the home.
• The life cycle of a dust mite is 2-3 months and they are found in areas where skin is shed. One gram of dust can house up to 500 dust mites.
• Common symptoms of dust mite allergies include sneezing, itching, watery eyes, and wheezing.
• If you are allergic to dust mite waste, it is important that you use a quality vacuum with a good filtration system.
• Vacuuming alone removes up to 20% of dust mites found in carpet. The higher quality vacuum the more the percentage will rise.
So who wants to go clean now?

WEEKLY MENU PLAN

With the price of groceries and the price of gas all sharply increasing its time for the Housewife to step up her game. Its part of our jobs as the managers of our homes to control the spending and keep to our budgets.
This week I want us all to try menu planning.
On Sunday, look at the weekly flier from you grocery store. Check out what meats are on sale, and what meals you can make.
Be sure to write down all the ingredients you will need for each meal, and then check your pantry and cupboards to see if you have those things. This is going to save you the guessing game in the store and save you money because you will not be buying something you already have.
Write a list out and most importantly, stick to that list.

Don’t forget the coupons, but don’t use just because you have them. If there is a cheaper brand, go for it. Some of the generic brands are just as good as the pricey name brand stuff.
Try to use your imagination on what meals you can make from leftovers, to stretch that dollar ever further.
Always try and wash your produce before you even put it away. Another good time saving idea is to prep some food for the week. You can chop some onions, pre cook some of your veggies, etc. On busy days you'll be thankful you did it ahead of time!

The first thing you need to do is clean your refrigerator out!
I clean mine every Monday. This is also my shopping day.
Who wants to bring home fresh produce and put it into a icky fridge with things that you can't actually identify? Yes it may have been food once, but now its the beginnings of penicillin or the beginnings for the need of penicillin.
Get in there and clean it out before you go grocery shopping!
Take it all out, wipe down all the shelves and walls and grooves and draws..get it clean!! If its really bad you may have to remove your shelves and wash them in the sink. After you have all the sticky icky cleaned up, you can begin to put things back in. You really should have some order to how your fridge is stocked!
Try and keep like items together.
Dairy on one shelf, cheese and coldcuts in the meat drawer, etc.
One trick I do is to set paper towels inside the drawers. If anything leaks, or is wet it will soak it up. Its easier also the next time you clean the fridge. Just remove the paper toweling and most of the "ick" will be on there and not in the drawer!

Wipe down all the jars and lids before putting them back in. Be sure to also check all the expiration dates.

Your pantry also should be kept clean and organized.

An important rule of meal planning is to know what you have on hand!
Don't just wing it at the grocery store, and assume you have something, or that you don't have something.
That is where we waste our valuable money, or time.
It will set you up to fail at meal planning.
If you think your at the store and think you have everything to make stew, then find out later that week that you in fact don't have everything, chances are you'll either order pizza or just open a can of soup. All because you didn't plan!!

• Clean Your refrigerator
• Check to see whats on sale
• Make a meal plan
• Get your recipes out and check to see that you have everything on hand!!!
• Make your grocery list
• Bring your coupons
• Wash your produce as soon as you get home
• Chop up or prep anything you can ahead of time for the week.
• Stick to your meal plan, but be flexible enough to switch days menus if needed.
• Always have one day that is an "easy day". That day can be used in case of an emergency or an extra busy day!! It could be simply soup and sandwich night.
• Have breakfast for dinner!! Kids love this. Especially if they only eat cereal for breakfast most of the time. Have pancakes, eggs, french toast..Personally I could eat breakfast for three meals a day!

Give it a try this week and report back how much you saved by being prepared for the grocery store!! One last tip: NEVER GO TO THE STORE HUNGRY!!!

For some great and easy meal plans check out Whats Cookin'

Spring Clean Your Car!

Start the spring out with a detailed car! You do not have to spend $100 to get that detailed finish interior. Here are some simple tips to get it fresh off the lot clean! Time to get the 3 month old cheerios, old coffee cups, mail, clothes, toys and whatever else you have been accumulating, out of the car! There is nothing like getting into a fresh smelling, clean car that you can actually see out of the windows!

Cleaning the Inside of the Car

Put on some good music, a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt and lets get to work!

Begin by getting the car emptied out. Get in there with two bags. One for garbage and one for stuff your keeping. That bag can be sorted through later.

Regular maintenance on car seats, the dashboard and carpet will protect the value of your car.

There are many products on the market for cleaning leather seats. A moisturizing soap will keep leather looking new. Just take a wet soft cloth, rub the bar on it, and lather it up real good on your leather. You do not need to rinse this off, just buff it up with a soft cloth. The moisturizer in the soap keeps the leather soft and supple.

If you have ink stains on the leather, you can remove it with cuticle remover — not nail polish remover! Just put some on the stain and let it set in anywhere from 10 minutes to overnight and then wipe it off.

If you have fabric upholstery, vacuum it well and then spray it with a fabric protector. This will keep spots from forming and makes cleanup easier. Febreeze fabric freshener will make it smell wonderful. Even the old stand by of baking soda will help to absorb and remove the stale and unidentifiable odors! Remove your floor mats and vacuum well and treat any stains.

For detail cleaning on the dashboard, the best thing to use is a soft paintbrush. It gets into all the grooves.

Another handy item to use in cleaning the dashboard is a damp Q-tip. You can work it into all the grooves to remove the accumulated dirt that has built up. Plain old alcohol works great. As does vinegar and water.

The best thing to use to clean the dashboard is a wet microfiber cloth. There is no need to rinse, it does a perfect job. Keep a micro-fiber cloth in the car at all times for those little accidents.

Clean the windows with white vinegar and water solution and newspaper. If you smoke or have had a smoker in the car, this may take a few tries to get the windows streak free and really clean. Be sure to do each window and also all the mirrors.

The last thing you need to remember is your carpet. You want to treat it just like the carpet in your house. Use your favorite carpet cleaner.

Salt residue is a problem for cars in colder parts of the country. Here a recipe to remove the salt.
Removing Salt Residue

Ingredients and Materials:

One part water
One part white vinegar
Spray bottle
Cloths

Mix a 50/50 solution of the water and vinegar. Spray it onto the salt and really saturate it. Take your cloth and blot until all the salt is removed. You may have to do this a couple of times. You may want to take your carpet spotter and go over it one last time.

Club soda is great to use on stains. The salts in the club soda prevent a stain from setting. Do not be afraid to pour it on the carpet or the upholstery to get any kind of spot out of it.

Shaving cream is another great spot remover. Put some on the spot, massage it in real well with a soft cloth, and then blot it all up. It works well because it is nothing more than whipped soap and works great as a little spotter.

There are two items you never want to be without.. The first is a hand sanitizer — it is a wonderful cleaner because it is loaded with alcohol and alcohol is a great spot and stain remover. The second item is baby wipes — you can use them to wipe up any spot or spill. The oil in the wipe will not harm leather upholstery.

Last but not least, get the outside of the car washed and waxed. It can take a lot of work to do a good job yourself, or take it to a carwash that offers detailing on the outside of the car. If you have a build up of salt on your car, you want to get it off, it can be very damaging to the exterior of your auto. Protect your investment!

Try and follow the rule "Never Leave the Car Empty Handed"..that includes you and your kids. If everyone grabs something, you'll have less junk piling up inside the car!

Now grab the kids and go for a drive, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

conquer the morning madness

The alarm goes off and you hit the snooze button three times. By the time you fly out of bed, your kids have exactly 20 minutes to get ready before the bus gets there. You throw open their doors screaming to them to hurry up or they are going to be late. As if this is their fault. You go to the kitchen and find that there’s no milk for cereal. But that’s ok, there isn’t any cereal either. Kids will have to make do with a breakfast bar.

It says it’s full of nutrition, and hey, they won’t starve, they’ll eat again at lunch, in about 5 hours. Uh oh, lunch. Well there’s no time for you to make lunch, the kids will have to buy their lunches…again. Mystery meat Mondays never killed anyone right? Your oldest is yelling because she can’t find a pair of clean matching socks, your youngest just remembered that she is supposed to bring in 50 blank index cards. Index cards? Why didn’t you know about this? She says the paper telling about it was in her folder, which you forgot to look through last night. Great. Do you think the teacher would accept blank envelopes instead?

By the time you usher them out the door and into the car, you are a jumble of nerves. You catch a glimpse of yourself in the rear view mirror and see a crazy lady with hair sticking out and raccoon eyes staring back at you. This is not the way to start your day. It is also not a good example for your children or a good way for them to start their day. Get a schedule in order. A morning routine can make all the difference in your day and your kids day. Here is an example of my morning routine during the school year.

• 6:00-wake up, get a cup of coffee. I set the coffee pot up the night before so it is ready when I walk into the kitchen. If you need your coffee before you can uncross your eyes, get a maker with a timer on it!
• 6:15-throw a load of laundry into the wash
• 6:25-start breakfast for the boys. I like to send them out with a hot meal. It is a long time before they eat again and they are growing boys. So I usually make some eggs, toast, put some fruit on the table, juice, and of course their vitamins. If you are efficient, you will set the table the night before.
• 6:30-wake the boys up. They will get dressed before coming downstairs to eat. When they were younger, clothes were picked out the night before and set out on the dresser.
• 6:40-They come into the kitchen to eat. While they are eating, I will unload the dishwasher. When they are finished, I put their dishes into the dishwasher.
• 7:00- Boys go upstairs to brush teeth, comb hair, wash face, and make their beds. I put clothes into dryer
• 7:20-we leave the house for the bus stop.
• 7:35-I get home and start breakfast for my husband.
• 7:45-Husband comes down to eat. I sit with him and have a cup of coffee. Load up the dishwasher when he’s done, and wipe up the counters and stove, and sweep the floor quick.
• 8:00-Hubby goes up to brush teeth, I grab clothes out of dryer and fold. (if they are done)
• 8:15-Hubbty leaves the house. I go upstairs and make our bed, and wipe down the bathrooms.
  That is it. After that, my regular routine kicks in. However, if you look at the schedule, no one is rushed. Everyone has time to do what is needed. You have to figure out how long your children take for each task, and start your schedule there.

Some tips.

1. Make lunches the night before. I seriously do not think the bread gets soggy. Its fine. Its not like its not sitting in a lunch box for 5 hours anyways. It will not be any soggier if you make it the night before, I promise.
2. Set the breakfast table the night before.
3. Get up before the kids. This will give you time to wake up, get their breakfast started and greet them with a proper good morning, not a frantic yell.
4. Make sure all papers are signed the night before. Or designate a time of day after school that you will go through all the papers. Take care of things right away, do not put it off or you may forget about it.
5. Make sure backpacks are packed and ready to go.
6. Have laundry done, folded and put away each day.
7. If your child needs something for school, and it’s not on a paper that they bring home, and they forget to tell you, don’t save them. You can give them a break maybe once, as everyone forgets sometimes. However, don’t continually try to save them. They will never learn to be responsible if you have to always run to the store at the last minute or make a special trip to school because they forgot. Let them except the consequences, and teach them a lesson. If the consequence is an F, than so be it. That is what they earned. You running to the store did not help them, it just enables them.

Garage Sale Buying & Selling Guide!

Some quick tips for buying and selling:

BUYING:

1.Never pay full price! Be prepared to haggle the price. Experienced garage sale shoppers know that the sticker price is not the real price!

2. Break down the item! Check out the pictures for sale. While you may not like the picture, the frame could be a great find!

3.Be Prepared! Don’t go to sales with large bills. Much easier to haggle the price when you have smaller bills!

4.Think outside the box! Don’t overlook things that can be used differently than its intended purpose. That old beat-up tin bucket can make a really cute flower planter.
5.Test it out! Always ask to test anything electric or that takes batteries. If you’re selling, have batteries on hand and an outlet. If you don’t have an outlet in your garage, run an extension cord from the house.

6. If you don’t need it don’t buy it. Don’t buy something just because it’s cute and you might use it one day. Unless you have an exact plan for the item, it will end up in your garage sale next spring.
Also, with spring right around the corner, now is the time to start gathering up unwanted items and prepare for a garage sale!

Garage sales are not only a great way to make some extra cash, but to also purge our homes of unwanted and unnecessary items and get organized. Remember that your trash is someone else’s treasure!

SELLING!

1. Plan ahead! Decide on the date you would like to have your sale. Be sure not to pick a holiday weekend. Setting a date now will give you the motivation you need to start purging. You’ll have something to look forward to and a deadline to meet.
   
2. Go through the house with two boxes. One box to sell, one box to toss out. When the sell box is full tag it. Don’t wait till you have everything you want to sell to start pricing. This takes up more time than you would think, so its best to get it done in smaller groups.
3. Get the kids involved. Give them boxes to put toys into that they don’t want or play with anymore. Be sure to let them know that they can keep the profits from whatever they sell.
4. Advertise!! Your local paper, neon signs, and the internet are great ways to draw buyers to your sale.
5. Be Prepared! On the big day be sure to have plenty of change, and bags.
6. Atmosphere!Also set a tone to your sale. Keep things organized and displayed just like you would see in a store. Don’t just pile things on a table. Get creative. Do you have old plates to sell? Set a table with them. Candle holders? Put some candles in them. Do you have vases for sale? Fresh cut flowers from your garden will catch the eye of a buyer. Think about putting some soft background music on. People will respond to a friendly, comfortable and clean setting instead of a messy, disorganized chaotic mess!
   
7. Barter!! Always be prepared to haggle in a friendly way. We want to get rid of the junk, and every penny counts!
8. If you’re selling a lot of one kind of item like vases, offer an individual price and a group price.
9. Involve the kids! Make the garage sale fun for the kids too. Set up a lemonade stand for them. Shopping is thirsty work and they can make some money too!
10. Be friendly and smile. Have fun with it. If you make the experience fun, and have a good time, it will show in your profits!

Pick Up After Yourself-A Place For Everything And Everything In Its Place!

Picking up after ourselves!

I want all of us to do this, and to get our families on board too! It is so simple an idea, yet people tend to leave things out of their place, and next thing you know our homes are a mess! If you started your spring cleaning and have been decluttering your home, than this is the next step! You want your home to stay clean! We didn't do all that work for nothing right??

Here is the challenge:
For seven consecutive days, be vigilant with yourself and your family on putting things away when they are done using them. Here is a simple list of examples that you can go by.

• Laundry…when it is folded, immediately put it away. Either do it yourself, or have each family member put their own away. In the drawers, hung up, not on the bed, dresser, or floor!
• Dirty clothes…put in hamper as soon as they are taken off. Now I know that some of us with teenagers, they tend to try on six outfits for school and leave the rest on the floor. Make sure they hang them back up before they leave the room. Otherwise, they will throw clean clothes into the hamper and make more laundry for us.
• Dishes…when the dishwasher is full, run it, when it stops unload it. Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink; they go into the dishwasher immediately.
• Mail…Do not just throw it on the counter or table when it comes into the house. Go through it. Throw out the junk and file the rest where it belongs. Use the "touch it once" rule!
  
• School papers… I know I receive a ton of handouts from school. Then there are the papers the children bring home to show us, and the artwork. It never ends. Sort through it, keep what you want and toss the rest.
• Shoes, jackets, book bags, and hats…into the closet they go! Do not let your children come home from school and just toss the stuff where they want. Designate a place for them to put it and follow through on enforcing that they put it away immediately upon arriving home.
• Toys…keep the toys to a minimum and in one area. Be sure your child knows that whatever they take out they are going to have to pick up at the end of the day. And follow through. Children of all ages can either help to put away toys or do it themselves, there should be no reason you are picking them up alone! Teach your children young to pick up after themselves to save your sanity later on!
  

The most important part of this challenge is to have a place for everything. People will know where to put something if you ask them to put it away. You’ll sound like a broken record for a couple of days, saying “please put this away”, “don’t leave that there”, “pick that up”…but sooner or later they and you will just do it automatically. You will have to check up on kids with their rooms, and with their stuff. You will have to go into the rooms and check. Are there clothes on the floor? Call them in and make them put them away. Once your family knows what you expect, you will be surprised at how they will clean up after themselves.

State the rules.

• Leave the room the way you find it.
• When you are done using something put it away where it belongs.
• Remember the biggest rule of all… A place for everything and everything in its place.
• Follow that simple rule and your home will always be picked up, and will be so much easier to clean.

Clean Your Lawn and Deck Furniture

I can not wait to sit on my deck and sip a vodka and tonic and feel the sun shine on my face..if the damn snow would stay away!!!! In the meantime, I can plan my deck. I have a lot to do!! This year we have to stain the railings. Then powerwash the floor of the deck. I can start looking for some pots to plant my tomatoes and other veggies in too! This year I may get some new pretty outdoor pillows to brighten up the area as well. I just love spending time on the deck in the summer, and view as an extension of my home. And just like my home, all needs a good spring cleaning!!! So heres some tips on getting your lawn furniture in tip top shape for your next cook out!! Trust me, you don't want to invite your neighbor over, have her show up in white pants, and leave with a dirty behind!! Not very neighborly..so get those chairs cleaned!

Lawn furniture requires care while in use and before seasonal storage. It receives a lot of abuse from the elements. There are different ways to protect your furniture depending on what kind you have.

Aluminum Although it does not rust, aluminum can become dull and pitted when left outdoors. To clean, restore the shine, and smooth the surface of unpainted aluminum chairs, scrub the frames with a plastic scrubber soaked in detergent or with a soap-impregnated steel wool pad; rinse and towel dry.
Use a sponge soaked in detergent and water to wash tubular aluminum with baked-enamel finishes; rinse and dry. To maintain the luster of any aluminum surface and to make cleaning easier, wax the pieces from time to time with automobile paste wax.

Canvas Soiled canvas seats and seat backs are usually machine washable; be sure to put them back on the furniture while they are still dam so they retain their shape. You can scrub large canvas pieces like awnings and umbrellas with a firm bristled brush and a solution of water and an all-purpose cleaner. Rinse well with a hose and air dry.

Plastic Wash plastic furniture with an all-purpose cleaner and water solution and the rinse with the hose and dry.

Wood Scrub stubborn soil with a brush and a solution of water and an all purpose cleaner; rinse well and towel dry. Wood furniture may need to be stained or to have a wood preservative applied periodically for protection.