I always look forward to the summertime when my kids are off from school and neighbors and friends drop by when vacationing in Florida. Our guest room gets to be used and all welcomes long summer days and evenings. The only part I don’t enjoy is the cleanup and preparation that comes with the kids out of school, vacationing guests frequenting and more traffic through the house means.. yep.. more stains and dirt! I’m excited to pair up with P&G (Procter and Gamble) and shop at Costco to highlight their Households Needs Details Matter campaign. All the essentials needed to make your summer home easier to clean and to welcome friends.. and unexpected friends.

All Images: ©Stagetecture.com

Coming up with a house cleaning checklist is easier with the right products

P&G always has such a wide variety of cleaning products to use in the laundry room, guest rooms, kitchen/bathrooms and even for your car! So I was excited to shop at Costco and try these 3 products throughout my home to get my guest room and home ready.

• Bounty Advanced Paper Towels
• Clean Magic Eraser
• Swiffer Duster Refills

Food stain removal made easier with Bounty Advanced paper towels

Every spring and summer it seems like my daughter loves the reddest of foods that leave the biggest stains. From red popsicles to red drinks and watermelon juice, my white countertops look like a crime scene J I love the Bounty Advanced paper towels with the “Select-A-Size” perforations so you only tear off how much you really need.

They are the strongest and most durable sheet when wet vs. National Bounty Original paper towels. I tell her to only use the first tear, and I use 2 to 3 tears for all of her messes that she seems to miss. These are lifesavers in the kitchen, bathroom… and in the garage!

Cleaning guest bedroom ideas using Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

Since our oldest sons moved out we’re fortunate to have guest bedrooms for family and friends that love to stop by on their way to Disney World. (They never invite me to go with them, ha!) This season I was thankful for the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers that clean off scuffs from baseboards, fingerprints on light switch plates… and ink left from my son on the night table. Thank goodness these pads helped me removed the stains, and I used them to take scuffs off of my daughters white sneakers before summer camp. I love multipurpose products. All you do is add water to the surface and its Micro Scrubbers reveal the clean underneath. I think they’re rocket science.

Removing dust, allergens and pet dander with Swiffer Duster Refills

Lastly in our guest room it often gets termed as “Snow’s room” because my white cat snow enjoys laying on all the wood surfaces. From the wood headboard to the dresser and side tables, the Swiffer Duster Refills are perfect for removing dust, and all of her white cat hairs. They trap and lock dust from any surface. They also help remove common inanimate allergens from cat and dog dander and dust mite matter. This leaves my guest room ready for summer visitors!

What P&G Products will help bring your family home back to clean again? We’d love to hear what summer activities, travel plans and entertaining tips you have for keeping your home and family clean and healthy with P&G Details Matter products.

For more cleaning ideas on Stagetecture, see our cleaning checklist!

As if it isn’t bad enough that you cough, sneeze, and wheeze your way through spring thanks to outdoor seasonal allergies, now you’ve discovered that the interior air in your home could be to blame for ongoing allergy symptoms. And there are all kinds of culprits that could have you rubbing your itchy, watery eyes, gasping for breath, and reaching for tissues day and night to stop up a nose that leaks like a faucet. However, when you know what could be causing your indoor allergens, you’ll find that there are a slew of simple solutions that will help keep them to a minimum or even eliminate them entirely. As you probably aren’t keen to hermetically seal your home and install a decontaminant chamber for everyone that walks in the door, here are some tips for controlling indoor allergens and creating the comfortable safe haven you crave.

Image via: JAUREGUI Architecture Interiors Construction

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1. Eliminate sources.

If you’ve had a scratch test done then you know exactly which items are triggering your indoor allergies. But even if you haven’t been tested you can probably take a guess. The most common indoor allergens include cigarette smoke, pet dander, and dust. The first is easy enough to undo; just take your habit outdoors. As for pet dander, chances are good you’re not going to get rid of your furry friend, but you can certainly engage the services of a groomer more frequently and use shampoos and conditioners meant to cut down on dander. And all three of these allergens, but the last one especially, will require you to deep clean your home in order to remove as much of the offending allergen as possible.

2. Use green cleaners.

Did you know that the fumes from toxic chemical solvents that most people use to clean their homes are responsible for a number of respiratory issues, such as asthma and allergy symptoms? By switching to greener options you may be able to significantly reduce your respiratory distress, all while cleaning out other allergens such as dust and dander.

Image via: Dura Supreme Cabinetry

3. Perform an energy audit.

Even well-built homes will settle over time, potentially suffering gaps that lead to leaks. Although an energy audit is ostensibly meant to determine where your bought air is getting out, you should also know that these areas are letting outside air in, potentially bringing outdoor allergens like pollen and mold into your home. By adding proper weather stripping or other sealants you could not only reduce your energy bill, but also your allergy symptoms.

Image via: Bates Masi Architects LLC

4. Use air purifiers.

These handy, portable devices are a great part of your overall plan to reduce interior allergens because they are designed to suck allergens out of the air. With a wide range of models and prices to choose from, you can install small units in every room or spring for a pricier product for the area of the home you use most.

5. Install HEPA filters.

Unless you happen to enjoy geothermal air conditioning, chances are good that you’re using a standard HVAC system, which means your heating and cooling systems are probably spewing allergens throughout your home. If this is the case, you can combat the condition by installing HEPA filters that are designed to catch and trap allergens as they go through the system.a

For more green living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

After an especially long, cold winter, we welcome spring with open arms – the ability to throw open the windows and experience the sunshine and fresh air. However, if you are one of the 40 million Americans who suffer from seasonal allergies, outdoor air (and uninvited pollen) can make it difficult to breathe, sleep, and generally enjoy a comfortable existence in your own home.

We often associate making a home energy-efficient with financial savings – and while that is definitely true, things like air sealing and insulation have an added benefit – curbing springtime allergies.

Image via: Feldman Architecture, Inc.

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In the majority of homes, there are more air changes per hour (ACH) than we’d like. In other words, air you’ve paid to cool or to heat is escaping and being replaced with unfiltered air (aka, air full of pollen!) from outside. According to EnergyStar.gov, the below are common household air leaks:

• Attic hatches
• Behind kneewalls
• Wiring holes
• Plumbing vents
• Recessed Lights
• Crawl spaces
• Windows and Doors

Image via: Utopis Lifestyle

Air sealing is one way to stop this from happening. Even if your house is properly insulated, you could be losing air (and money) through these leaks. Caulk, weather stripping , expandable foam, and/or rigid foam board is used to seal gaps and cracks.

If you’re a “do-it-yourselfer,” some of this can be done yourself. For instance, you can purchase self-adhesive weather-stripping (available in either rubber or plastic) at a local hardware store for relatively cheap. You can also caulk around where plumbing and electrical wiring comes through walls if you notice gaps.

To really assess air leakage, however, professional assistance is recommended. Each home has an ideal ACH number, and there are diagnostic tools that professionals have that can determine where these leaks occur, and also to ensure that the home isn’t sealed to an unsafe level which would compromise air quality.

Learn more about air sealing by calling Mark Group USA at 877-865-1997.

For more green living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.