The flowers are about to bloom, the birds are singing… but the house still feels stuck in the winter blues! Spring cleaning is one of our favourite traditions – it allows us to freshen up our homes and get a head start on the hectic seasons of spring and summer. We’ve got a few tips to help you make this your easiest spring cleaning sessions yet!

Clean Room-by-Room

Approaching your home room by room is the most effective way to deep-clean your home no matter what time of year, but especially in spring. Use room checklists as a springboard for deep-cleaning the areas of your home that really need extra attention. Feel free to skip items that have recently been cleaned so you can focus on the parts of your home that have been neglected through the winter.

Organize & Clear the Clutter

One of the biggest parts of spring cleaning is getting rid of clutter you no longer need. Now is the perfect time to take advantage of that natural spring urge to get rid of items that are weighing you down and begin fresh with a more streamlined lifestyle. Sort your belongings into four categories: trash, donate, store, put-away. This is a perfect time to plan a garage sale or donate items to a good cause. Cleaning is so much easier with fewer things in the way!

Involve the Family

If you need a little help in your cleaning projects, get the whole gang involved! Even the most unwilling helper can make a difference in the workload. Put some music on or establish a family reward as an incentive to finish the job.

Tackle the Seasonal Chores

There are some special shores that must be done seasonally – time to bite the bullet! Even though those chores need only be done once or twice a year, they’ll help your home look better and run more smoothly. Outdoor chores like cleaning the BBQ, patios, and windows can be daunting, but you’ll be relieved once they’re done.

Keep Cleaning Products to a Minimum

You don’t need to resort to harsh chemicals and toxic cleaners to get your house into shape! Nellie’s makes just about everything you need, from the All-Purpose Cleaner to the One Soap and more!

We wash our clothes to keep ourselves, our families, and our favourite items smelling and feeling fresh, but there is actually such a thing as washing too much or too little! There are downsides to both: laundering your clothes more than necessary can shorten their lifespan and ultimately wear them out more quickly, and washing them too infrequently can be unhygienic and lead to bacteria growth. Yuck! When to wash? We’ve got you covered. Keep reading for our general laundry guidelines for you and your family!

For your clothes

Bras: After three to four wears
Underwear: After every wear, of course!
Stocks and stockings: After every wear
Sports and swimwear: After every wear
Jeans: five to six wears, although some advocate washing as little as possible
Tops: One to two wears
Dresses: One to two wears
Pants, skirts, and shorts: Three to four wears
Jackets and blazers: Five to six wears
Coats: Once every two months of wear, and before storing away for the season
Pajamas: Three to four wears
Get your clothes fresh and clean, but don’t sacrifice your health and the environment! Wash clothes (and towels, bedding, etc.) with Nellie’s Laundry Soda, and remove tough stains with the WOW Stick. If your clothes need some extra brightening or whitening, choose Nellie’s Oxygen Brightener instead of resorting to harsh and toxic bleach.

For your kids’ clothes

Washing your kids’ clothes doesn’t need to be a massive chore! Many experts say you can wash their clothing along with yours anytime you see stains or they don’t pass the sniff test. The problem is that kids tend to get dirtier more often than adults do, so those stains and smells come up more frequently. Here’s a handy guideline: the lighter and softer the fabric, and the closer it hugs the body, the more you need to wash it. But as long as you don’t notice dirty patches or stains, kids can wear clothes multiple times before they’re ready for the laundry pile, just like you.

Whether you’re looking to extend the life of an investment piece or give Grandma’s hand-me-down a loving boost, regular cleaning (ideally once per season) can grab dirt before it truly becomes part of the furniture. Here’s our quick and easy plan for keeping upholstery fabric fresh and stain-free.

What You’ll Need

A vacuum
A few clean white cloths
A can of compressed air
Nellie’s WOW Stick Stain Remover and/or the Oxygen Brightener
A small bucket
Carbonated water (optional)

The How-To

Using the upholstery attachment, vacuum left to right in short, overlapping strokes, starting at the top of the piece of furniture and working towards the bottom. This left-to-right method is especially important for materials that hold onto dirt, like suede, velvet, and corduroy. Switch to the crevice nozzle (if you’re worried about sucking up coins, cover it with a piece of old nylon pantyhose secured with a rubber band); vacuum under cushions and around seams. Then grab the can of compressed air to blast dirt from tufting and buttons.
Attack stains on linen, cotton and polyester-acrylic blends with the WOW Stick Remover or the Oxygen Brightener.
For the Oxygen Brightener, create a solution using 1tbsp per 16oz (500ml) of water for upholstery (also works for counters, trash cans, and all over water-washable surfaces). Apply solution to stain with a cloth, wait 1 to 5 minutes, and scrub with sponge or blot with a towel. Rinse thoroughly and allow to dry. Do not use on leather, silk, or wool.
Alternatively, use the WOW Stick Stain Remover on any stubborn stains. Simply wet the stained area (you can use carbonated water here to help lift old stains), rub the WOW Stick onto the stained area, and agitate the stain underwater. Repeat until the stain is removed, and let air dry. The WOW Stick is ideal for removing grass, makeup, wine, and blood stains.

Even though the one purpose of the refrigerator is to keep your food safe – by chilling it enough to slow bacterial growth and rot – it actually poses some risks to your health! When you think about it, it makes sense: it’s one of the few places you go in and out of multiple times per day. When you do, you’re typically moving around food, in the middle of cooking (hello, yucky hands!), or putting away new packages (which have picked up who-knows-what along their way).
While there are a few spots you would probably guess are gross and germy (like the door handles), the worst spot is pretty surprising.
The dirtiest spot is actually your vegetable drawer! This may come as a surprise, because veggies seem sort of innocent. Yes, you’re supposed to wash them, but they aren’t as obvious a risk as chicken or other raw meats. But in a series of tests, experts have found germs like Salmonella and Listeria, as well as yeast and old, in the veggie drawer. The problem isn’t veggies themselves but that they become cross-contaminated with other items, including meat juices, in your shopping cart, grocery bag, and other food handling. Most of us are very safe when it comes to handling meat, but we just don’t think about it the same way.

How to Fix It

What’s the fix? Start using Nellie’s Fruit & Veggie Wash to clean your produce as soon as it’s home from the grocery store or farmer’s market. It leaves no taste behind, but cleans all pesticides, contaminants, and preservatives. Plus, it’s gluten free, vegan, and biodegradable so it’s safe for you and the planet. Next, take out the veggies and wash the drawer in the sink with your favourite One Soap and some hot water. Either let it air-dry on your counter or pat dry with paper towels before replacing it in the fridge. Easy peasy!

Like most things in life, laundry can come with a learning curve! If you’ve ever shrunk a shirt in the dryer or discovered detergent residue on your favourite jeans, you know what we’re talking about. What’s the deal with laundry detergent stains? Keep reading to find out!

Can Detergent Stain?

Technically speaking, no. Laundry detergents are formulated to leave clothes clean (some with more chemicals than we think necessary, you can read about that here). However, some detergents can leave spots or residue on clothes, especially with improper use. The good news is you can get those spots out relatively easily if you wash the garment immediately!

How to Remove Detergent Residue from Clothes

If you have a detergent mishap and the spot doesn’t come out after re-washing the item, you’re not hooped just yet. Try this six-step routine:

1. Rise the spot under hot water to remove as much residue as possible.
2. Gently wring out the excess water from the item and lay it flat.
3. Apply household rubbing alcohol to the spot, being sure to cover the entire affected area. We recommend spot-testing on an inconspicuous spot of the fabric first though!
4. Let the spot soak for at least 10 minutes. The longer the better!
5. With warm or hot water, rinse the fabric. This should remove the spot. If not, repeat the above steps!

How to Prevent Laundry Detergent Stains

The short answer – switch to Nellie’s Laundry Soda! Thanks to our highly-concentrated and quick-dissolving formula, you're not likely to run into this kind of issue. If you're still using a conventional detergent, here's the long answer: while laundry detergent doesn’t technically ‘stain’ clothes, the spotting that comes with overuse or washing issues is totally preventable. Using your detergent, whatever brand, as intended is the best route. For complete instructions on how to best use the Nellie’s Laundry Soda, click here.