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How to get rid of cockroches

shanthysathees — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:30:10 +0000

To get rid of cockroaches, you must take away their:
Food
Keep food in sealed containers or in the refrigerator.
Paint cabinet shelves and drawers with enamel and keep them clean.
Rinse all recyclables clean and take them out every few days.
Put garbage in tightly covered containers and keep them outside.
Wash dishes, tables, counters and stove tops every day.
Store flour, sugar, cereal, pasta and crackers in tightly covered plastic or metal containers.
Hiding Places
Clean out junk and clutter from storage shelves, drawers and closets.
Don’t use shelf paper.
Get rid of unused furniture, appliances, food and clothing.
Do home repairs: fill in cracks, seal openings around pipes, and remove chipped paint using care not to make dust if paint contains lead.
Remove or repair loose wallpaper and plaster.
Water
Fix all leaks.
Clean drains.
Keep all areas clean and dry.
Get Them Out!
Basic steps:
Remove clutter.
Vacuum well and often. Clean floors, furniture, walls, cabinets, moldings, baseboards, etc. Sponge mopping floors is very useful, too.
Wash hard washable surfaces with cleanser (ammonia and water works well).
Dust out of sight spaces with boric acid powder. Dust and seal any cracks and openings closed with caulk.
Use roach baits near hiding places like behind pictures and wall hangings, under sinks and undersides of furniture.
Check for roaches that may still be there with (sticky) glue traps.
Pesticides should be used carefully, and as a last resort. Use the least toxic product that works, follow label instructions and keep out of reach of children and pets. Vacuuming can easily remove many roaches, but it raises dust. A special filter (called HEPA) is available for many brands of vacuums to help control dust. Most roaches will be killed by vacuuming, but it’s a good idea to change the vacuum cleaner bag often and dispose of it in a double garbage bag.
KEEP THEM OUT.
Place screens (insect mesh) in windows.
Vacuum (or sweep), then sponge mop kitchen floor every week.
Be sure to mop up all the water.
Seal cracks and openings with caulk:
where the wall and the ceiling meet;
where the wall and the floor meet;
baseboards;
door and window moldings;
splash board at sink;
inside cabinets.
Add draft sweeps to bottoms of outside doors.
Encourage everybody who lives in the building to work together.
If you have asthma, cockroaches can make it worse.

The Keep It clean Plan

shanthysathees — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:29:41 +0000

These room-by-room to-do lists will help you get the work done quickly so you can put your feet up sooner rather than later. Are you too busy? here is something for you

Kitchen, 4 1/2 minutes daily
Always start with the sink. “Keep it empty and shining,” says Marla Cilley, author of Sink Reflections (Bantam, $15) and creator of FlyLady, a housekeeping website. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen’s benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, and the stove top spick-and-span, too.

Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds).
Wipe down the stove top (one minute).
Wipe down the counters (one minute).
Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).

Bathroom, 2 minutes daily
Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. But don’t stop there. Get the most out of your premoistened wipe by using it to clean around the edges of the tub and then the toilet before tossing it.

Wipe out the sink (30 seconds). Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds).
Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds).
Wipe the mirror and faucet (15 seconds).
Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds).
Spray the entire shower and the curtain liner with shower mist after every use (15 seconds).

Bedroom, 6 1/2 minutes daily
Make your bed right before or after your morning shower. A neat bed with inspire you to deal with other messes immediately. Although smoothing sheets and plumping pillows might not seen like a high priority as you’re rushing to work, the payoff comes at the end of the day, when you slip back under the unruffled covers.

Make the bed (two minutes).
Fold or hang clothing and put away jewelry (four minutes).
Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds).

Family Room, Living Room, Foyer, 6 minutes daily
Start with the sofa — as long as it’s in disarray, your living room will never look tidy. Once you’ve fluffed the pillows and folded the throws, you’re halfway home. If you pop in a CD while you dust, you should be able cover the whole room by the end of the third track.

Pick up crumbs and dust bunnies with a handheld vacuum (one minute).
Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use (two minutes).
Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints (one minute).
Straighten coffee-table books and magazines. Throw out newspapers. Put away CDs and videos. (Two minutes.)

For weekly and seasonal to-do lists, see
How to Speed-Clean Your Kitchen
Clean Your Bathroom, Fast
A Guide to Cleaning the Bedroom
A Guide to Cleaning Your Living Room

How to clean bedroom in 15 mintues

shanthysathees — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:28:43 +0000

Your bedroom is supposed to be your sanctuary, a place where you lie down at the end of the day and let your worries drift away. Instead, our rooms turn into storage areas where we dare not let anyone enter. Learn a quick cleanup for your room that will let you find the bed and the floor.

Grab your supplies.
Few of us have supplies to clean the bedroom actually stored in our bedroom. Gathering all supplies together before beginning the job will keep you from getting distracted and failing to complete the job.

Grab all dirty clothing and put it in a hamper.
Since you’re in a hurry, don’t worry about unrolling socks, and pulling shirts right side out. These tasks are easier to do while sorting the laundry. Just grab all of the dirty clothes and place them in the hamper.

Grab all clean clothes and refold or re-hang.
If you have a significant amount of clean clothing lying around waiting to be folded and hung, skip this step and place the clean clothing semi-neatly on your bed after you complete Step 5. You can hold your bed hostage and remind yourself to take a few minutes to put away the clothing before bed.

Grab all trash and put in the trashcan.
This is not the time to determine if you’re ready to trash old copies of magazines, or that pair of shoes you’ve needed repaired for two years. We’re throwing away obvious trash, not sorting through boxes and closets. Save the major trash sweep for when you have more time.

Make the bed.
Yes, I know there is a major debate about whether or not to make the bed. You are just going to get back into it in a few hours. But if we used that argument for other areas of our home, we would never have clean floors, dishes, or laundry. Why wash something when it’s just going to get used again? Making the bed changes the look of a room. It makes a room more inviting and uncluttered looking.

Pickup all the misplaced items on the floor, bed, desk, etc.
Put them in a basket, box, or bag. These are items that belong in another room in the house. Don’t try to take them back one at a time. Just put them all in one location for now and move on.
Straighten surfaces.
If it has been a long time since you have cleaned in here, you may have large accumulations of your stuff that belongs in your room but is not in its proper place. Take a brief survey of this “stuff”. If in a minute or less you can put it all away, do so. If not place it all in a container so that you can go through it and organize it later

Sweep and mop or vacuum.
Don’t move furniture to sweep or vacuum. Just do a quick run through.

Put away your supplies
Allow yourself to reflect on how much nicer this briefly cleaned room is. If you keep up this regime regularly on your room, you’ll always be able to find your bed. And isn’t that what we all want.