Anyone who spends hours dusting furniture and other areas of the home would love to find a way to cut down on the amount of dust in the house. The best way to minimize dust is to have your duct work cleaned, and use air filters on your vents. Carpeting also attracts dust, so you may want to reconsider having wall to wall in every room.Be sure to frequently wash bedding as well. It is important to use a good vacuum cleaner, such as a shop vac, rather than one that sweep, which often just redistributes the dust. Also, when dusting in your home, do not use a feather duster. This just causes the dust to settle elsehwer. Instead, use a cloth sprayed with dusting spray or a dryer sheet.

Cat Urine Odor

Cat urine odor is the worst! Unfortunately, this is something one must contend with as the owner of one of these wonderful pets. To keep your cat's litter pan smelling fresh and free of cat urine odor, all you need is to follow a few simple steps. Be sure to remove solid waste and clumped urine twice a day. In addition to this, sprinkle baking soda or pet odor removal powder (found in the supermarket aisle with carpet cleaning products ) on top of the litter box once a day to absorb odors.For maximum pet odor removal, make sure the litter pan is thoroughly cleaned and washed at least oncea week.

Cleaning Ceramic Tiles

When floor cleaning ceramic tile floors, use a simple solution of soap and water. The trick is to use a rubber scraper - the kind they use at gas stations to clean the windows on your car.

You can also find specialty cleaning products that whiten grout and tiles to give your bathroom that sparkling shine.

Vinegar Uses

Vinegar is the secret to many terrific house cleaning techniques.

Vinegar is a wonderful, economical, all-purpose cleaner. You can use it to wash windows, cut grease, and to freshen the air. It is particularly effective in removing soap residue on just about all surfaces. Brighten up your floors by washing with a solution of vinegar and water, or add 1/2 cup to the rinse cycle of your wash to remove odors and leave your clothes soft (a great alternative to fabric softener).

Vinegar is also great for taking pet stains out of carpet, or removing perspiration stains in clothing. To remove household odors, simply place a few small bowls of vinegar throughout the house, and it will absorb the odors (particularly effective for cigarette smoke), or, dampen a tea towel with vinegar and wave it around the room.

Bleach Stain Removal from Carpet

A bleach stain doesn't have to be the end of your carpet. If it's not a huge spot, you can get away with repairing the spot and no one will be the wiser. It's not as simple as cleaning carpet stains, but it's cheaper than tossing your rug out to the curb. Cut a swatch from a hidden area of your carpet or leftover remnant. Take your swatch to your local crat store and see if you can find a fabric paint or dye that will match your carpet.If this isn't a viable option, a professional who can remove carpet stains may even be able to recommend a product to use to get the color back into your carpet.

Wood Floor Maintenance

Most wood floors can be kept clean by first sweeping or vacuuming with a floor nozzle to remove most of the surface dust and dirt, then damp mopping with clear water (dip a sponge in clear water, squeezing it out so that the mop is barely damp, almost dry). Use very little water and rinse your mop thoroughly after each use since excess water can dissolve protective coatings, alter the color of the wood and raise the grain to roughen the surface.

If your floors are not dirty enough to need mopping every week, then you should not do it, as it will wear the floors faster, not to mention waste your time. Simply sweeping is often all they need.

If need to restore the shine to your wood floor after you get it clean, try damp mopping it with 1/2 cup vinegar and 2 tablespoons furniture polish in a gallon of warm water. Vinegar is also useful for removing any soap residue or build-up, but should not be necessary every week.

Canvas Mold and Mildew Removal

To remove mold and mildew from your canvas tent, or awning, first vacuum or brush soilded areas to remove any excess dirt. Wash the affected area with a solution of 1/2 cup Lysol to a gallon of hot water. Rinse with a solution of 1 cup lemon juice and 1 cup salt to a gallon of hot water. Allow the canvas to air dry in the sun.

You can also try applying a cleaner such as IOSSO Tent & Camping Gear Cleaner. This cleaner is made to remove tough dirt and mildew stains. Afterwards, you may want to treat the canvas with a water-repellent compound such as Canvak.

Removing Pet Odors

One can usually tell a home with the pet as soon as they walk through the front door. This, of course, is not to reflect unfavorably upon the house cleaning skills of the home owner. It's a fact of life. With pets come odors. If the pet smells have permeated your carpet, there are ways to neturalize these odors. Try sprinkling baking soda on the carpet. and leaving it to sit overnight. In the morning, vacuum the baking soda, leaving the carpet underneath fresh smelling and clean. If this doesn't do the trick, you may need to spray a commercial product such as as PAWS - Pet Accident Washup Solution on the soiled area, and then allow it to penetrate for approximately five minutes. Using a clean white absorbent cloth, blot the area, pressing down firmly (do not rub) for 30 seconds. Repeat this blotting process until the area is dry. If the pet stain or odor persists, repeat the process. If nothing seems to worse, you can call some professional house cleanin gservices and see what they recommend.

Remove Pet Odors from Car

If your pet lkes to go for a ride in the car on a regular basis, you're probably in need of some pet odor removal in your car, one that does more than the pine tree air freshener hanging from your rear view mirror! To neutralize odors, first clean the intereior with your favorite car upholstery cleaner. When the interior of your car is clean, leave a pan of vinegar in the car overnight to absorb and neutralize and lingering pet odors.