18 MAY 17, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
AT HOME
3 warm-weather home cleaning tips
Warmer weather and more
daylight hours bring renewed
energy to truly enjoy
your home with family and friends.
Spring is a great time to get rid of the
lingering grime and grit of winter to
keep your clean home happening all
season long. With a thorough home
clean, you can create a vibrant living
space for your day-to-day life, whether
it's playing with the kids, tackling
your to-do list or simply relaxing. Here
are three tips to help tackle some of
the dirtiest places in and around
your home.
WASH YOUR WINDOWS
You'll be surprised how dirty your
windows have gotten and how much
brighter your home, and outlook, will
feel once they are clean. First, remove
the screens and use a vacuum's extendable
attachment to remove the loose
gunk and dust. Then, wash with soapy
water and a fi rm brush, rinse with a
hose and let air dry. For especially
dirty windows, fi rst clean with soapy
water, then move on to an even mix of
water and white vinegar. While using
a lint-free towel or cloth will help avoid
streaks, a car windshield squeegee is
the expert choice.
TACKLE INDOOR SURFACES
It's important to make sure guests
at your next get-together experience
a clean and healthy home - but a full
vacuum bag or clogged fi lter can reduce
suction, leaving the dirt, dust and allergens
that build up on many surfaces
behind. For an ideal clean, make sure
your vacuum is at its peak performance
by replacing bags and fi lters. Arm &
Hammer Premium Allergen bags and
HEPA fi lters are designed to capture
allergens, and need to be replaced every
one to two months for bags and every
three to six months for fi lters. If you
have pets, use Arm & Hammer Pet Fresh
Dry Carpet and Carpet and Upholstery
Extractor Cleaners to neutralize pet
odors and break down lingering stains.
SPRUCE UP OUTDOORS
Winter weather and activities can
take a toll on the fi nishes and surfaces
outside your home. Cleaning a few key
areas will refresh your home's look
and feel as you spend more time enjoying
your outdoor spaces for birthday
parties, barbecues and more:
• Siding: No need to get complicated -
fi rst, rinse with a garden hose, then
scrub the dirty areas with a brush
and soapy water and rinse again.
Make sure to avoid chlorine-based
bleaches to keep surrounding
plants healthy.
• Driveway and garage: First, soak up
oil, stains and other nasty winter
reminders by spreading a drying
material, such as sawdust, on the
stain. Leave it for one day before
scrubbing with soap and water. A
power washer can be used for particularly
tough stains.
• Grill/barbecue: For gas grills, make
sure the propane is disconnected.
Then, soak the grates in hot soapy
water and rinse. Scrub thoroughly
under the hood and on the inside
walls with a hard brush, fi rst covering
the heating elements, to get rid of
grease and particles from last year.
Wipe down with a damp towel.
With these tips, you are ready for
a clean, healthy (and fun) season. For
more tips, visit www.armhammervac.
com.
Courtesy BPT
How your lawn equipment is harming the environment
Spring is upon us and our yards
are beginning to bloom. The
grass needs to be cut, the hedges
trimmed and the debris blown away.
This is an exciting time of year as we
all look forward to getting outdoors
aft er a longer than desired winter
season.
As we begin our list of
warm-weather chores, is it possible
that our lawn equipment is actually
harming the environment? Unfortunately,
the answer could be yes,
depending on the type of equipment
you're using to keep your lawn in
tip-top shape. If you're still using
gas-powered outdoor gear, here
are some important facts that you
should know, according to Ted Steinberg's
American Green:
• A gas-powered walk-behind mower
running for one hour emits as
much pollution as eight cars operating
for the same period of time.
• A riding lawn mower emits as
much pollution as 34 cars operating
for the same period of time.
• In the U.S. alone, 17 million gallons
of fuel are spilled into the ground
every year during the refueling of
lawn and garden equipment.
Now that you know some of these
shocking statistics, what can you do
to make a diff erence?
Fortunately, thanks to advancements
in technology, there are now
viable alternatives to gas-powered
lawn equipment. Battery-powered
outdoor gear delivers the same power
and run-time of equivalent gas equipment,
and battery-powered options
completely eliminate harmful emissions.
Importantly, battery-powered
gear doesn't require the mixing and
pouring of gasoline, and is quieter,
lighter and easier to use than gas
models.
The good news is that people are
making the change from gas to battery
powered equipment. For the fi rst
time in 2017, more battery-powered
leaf blowers were sold than gas
models, according to TraQline. Hopefully,
with your help, that trend will
continue to grow across all product
categories in the future. For more information
on battery-powered tools
and how you can make a diff erence
when working on your lawn, visit
greenworkstools.com.
Courtesy BPT
/www.armhammer-vac.com
/www.armhammer-vac.com
/www.armhammer-vac.com
