My Tips + Tricks for Keeping My House Clean with Two Dogs

Sponsored Post: This post was sponsored by the Libman Company, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.  

I'm a little bit of a neat freak.  My sanity and the cleanliness of my home are intricately interwoven:  I need a clean, tidy space to feel calm and relaxed and, when I'm stressed, I clean.  I don't actually like cleaning though, so I'm always looking for ways to make cleaning easier.

Meanwhile, I'm convinced that my two pups conspire to make it more difficult! 

I love where I live, but sometimes having Lake Superior in our backyard makes life messier.  Our lawn sort of flows right into the lake with a rocky shore that's been submerged (thanks to super high water levels), but there's one spot where we access the lake that's sandy and that little niche just beckons Hynda and Szuka, who often run down there for a drink of water, end up getting soaked, and then try to get back into the house sopping wet.  Living in the country, my two girls also love romping through the woods and tackling each other in the gravel driveway, just mushing as much dirt and muck into their (lake dampened) paws as possible.  Szuka is a lady, but Hynda will also roll in anything gross she finds: fox poop, bear poop, deer poop, goose poop... She's had many impromptu lake baths this summer!

But look at those sweet faces!  We spend as much time outside as possible because they love living on Lake Superior as much as Hubby and I do.

I can't blame the dogs solely for any lakeside mess though, because even Hubs and I will go for a swim or stand up paddle boarding, and then run inside for a snack, dripping water and sand in the kitchen.  Fall cleaning seems to be the worse because we all track in gross damp leaves on top of everything else.  But lake life is chill and I've had to learn to relax a little with the cleaning.  A little.

I still run a pretty tight ship.

To mitigate the mess the puppies make, I have some tricks and tips to share (and I'd love to read about yours in the comments).

Create a Drying Station:

I have trained both pups to head straight into the laundry room (which is right by the front door) the minute we set foot inside, whether they're muddy or not.  They know this routine so it prevents anyone from running through the house tracking muddy pawprints everywhere.  It's also where we keep Szuka's food and water in her DIY raised feeder.

Train Pups to Wipe Their Feet

Once inside the laundry room, we wipe paws with an old towel - whether they need it or not.  Getting both pups used to having their paws handled and dried every time we come inside has made this infinitely easier.  We're still working on Hynda so throughout the day I'll just gently rub her paws and give her a treat to associate paw handling with positive vibes, but Szuka knows the routine and actually even knows what "left paw" and "right paw" mean - it's adorable.  Plus we taught her to "stand," so we can reach those back legs and dry her tummy if she's tried to escape by swimming.  On days they're SOAKED, they chill in here with a treat until their furry bodies are dry enough.

Block off Areas

I have a cute pen for Hynda to play in when I can't watch her because she's still young and potty training.  It's connected to her crate so she can have a nap but we don't close the door to the crate until we go to bed at night.  During the days she has this little space to romp and play (and nap stretched out) when I'm occupied, but we go outside for lots of playtime and then she's free for tons of supervised indoor playtime too.  But even when I let her loose in the house, I use the living room ottoman to keep her out of there (or in there at night if we're watching a movie and want to keep an eye on her while she plays).  I also close the bedroom doors during playtime.  Confining her helps prevent potty training accidents and also keeps the house cleaner.   

Designate a Spot for Everything

Our dogs have a lot of stuff!  Toys, ear cleaner, medications, nail clippers, food, treats, life jackets, spare collars - you name it.  I store food, toys, towels, etc., in the laundry room and things like medications, bum wipes, and ear cleaner in the the adjacent half bath because that's where I use it. There's a special hook for leashes and I try to have a spot for everything so their stuff doesn't pile up.

I love storage bins for toys so they can reach them and I can scoop them up and put away all of the toys quickly at night. 



Invest in a Good Quality Mop

I don't really vacuum much anymore but I sweep daily because despite my best paw wiping efforts, they still manage to bring in a little sand and gravel.

While a quick sweep does the trick, I also like to wash floors regularly because these girls drool and leave nose prints all over the hardwood.  I can't stand seeing those smudges!

I was not happy with my old sponge mop though, so I was looking to upgrade and The Libman Company has a great line of convenient mops.  I don't enjoy dragging a bucket around, so I was super excited about switching to the Libman Freedom Mop, which has a handy bottle that dispenses the floor cleaning solution of my choice.  The microfiber pad is washable up to 100 times and refills are fairly inexpensive.  Because it sprays the surface, it allows me to really quickly run a mop around and give the floors a great wash in half the time.  Plus the floors dry much more quickly, which means the pups (and humans) can be let loose from wherever I've cordoned them off much quicker!

It has such a great swivel head which means I can reach under all of my furniture, something my old foam mop and bucket couldn't do.  There's a great line of Libman cleaning products, which you can easily find at Canadian Tire (where I bought mine) or The Home Depot.  Also - and this is really important to me - these products have been made in North America since 1896.  I try my best to buy as many products made in Canada or the States as possible, and this North American made product has the cutest family history too. 

Ditch the Rugs and Carpet

This is why I'm so enamored with mops: I don't have any rugs or carpets, other than a little mat by each door!  I know I'm weird because most people love rugs and could never give them up, but I am not a fan or rugs and carpet for various reasons and with two messy dogs, having hardwood, tile and linoleum floors has been crucial.  Szuka was easily house broken but Hynda had SO many accidents in the beginning - I shudder to think how pee-soaked any carpeting would have been!  I know carpets and rugs can be cleaned but with a puppy, honestly I personally just think naked wood floors are so much easier and I'm all about making cleaning easy.

Avoid Really Textured Furniture

This was a tough lesson.  I had successfully kept our mint Mingo chair and our velvet mid-century modern chair clean all these years so I naively thought we could handle tweed dining chairs.  Szuka isn't allowed on the furniture, although she'll come cuddle when we're on the sofa, resting her head on our laps and rubbing her dirty beard on the seat cushion.  When we're really weak, she's allowed up on the ottoman but because our sofas have been leather, they've been easy to clean.  She rubs against the blue tweed chairs, though, rubbing her fur deep into the fibers and although I lint roller my heart out, there's a faint light swatch of rubbed fabric, thanks to her loving all over the tweed.   I think the fabric has also been sort of buffed there, because of this weird rubbing she does.

It's difficult to see, I think, but I notice it every day.  They look dirty even when they're not, so I think this tweed was a mistake - I'll admit it!  It always had a matte texture and probably wasn't super high quality so I think if I get chairs again I'd switch back to something like leather or a fabric with more sheen that isn't so textured and grippy.  

Find a Cheap DIY Pet Washing Station

We used to bathe Szuka in the tub but after the bathroom was renovated, I didn't want her nails scratching the new bathtub so we sought out a cheap place to wash her.  A pet store in town offers $10 DIY washes at their incredibly handy pet washing station and it's totally worth it because, given her size, we probably use that much in soap alone.  One day I'd like to renovate the laundry room and add a DIY pet washing station but when we can't get to town, a lake bath does the trick in the summer and a "snow bath" works for winter. 

Those are my tips for keeping the house clean even with two messy pups and a sandy lake in my backyard.  I'd love to hear your tips!  And if you've been eyeing up my new Libman Freedom Mop, or curious about what other products they have, take a peek here.  I am honestly so impressed with the Freedom Mop I chose because it's just SO much easier to clean up those nose prints and rogue bits of sand - plus it does a way better job by reaching under all of my furniture. 

P.S. The great gams in these photos belong to my lovely Mom, who I asked to help me snap some photos for this post.  

She came over wearing the CUTEST leggings, designed by a local clothing designer who has a shop downtown, so I asked Mom to model my new mop for me because her leggings matched my decor so well.  But I, uh, "needed a bunch of different angles" so she ended up mopping the entire living and dining room while I pretended to take photos, lol.  She's the one who realize this mop fits under even my low TV stand and sofa.  I have the sweetest Mom.          

DIY Fabric Clothespin Bag

Wayfair recently posed a challenge: tackle a DIY project that makes life easier!  One of those, "why, oh why, didn't I do this sooner?" type of projects.  I had just the project: a DIY clothespin bag!

Truth be told, last spring I had one:

But it was a disgusting one that came with the house.  It smelled bad and was filled with spiders, but it was better than the torn plastic bag my Mummu was using to hold her clothespins.

Hanging laundry outside is something the women in my family are fanatic about.  My Mummu, like a good Finn, hangs her laundry outside all year round.  My Mom and I, while still deeply committed to outdoor line drying in the warmer months, stick to indoor clothes racks and lines as soon as the snow flies.  Thoroughly disgusted with both of our clothespin holders, last spring my Mom volunteered to help us each sew a pretty cloth clothespin bag.  Before we had completed the first bag, my Mummu gleefully threw out my skunky old bags and pins.  (I don't think she appreciated that I had set them on her dining table).  She scooped the first clothespin holder bag we sewed and we made plans to get together and sew a second clothespin holder later that week.  Well, life imploded and we never made that sewing date!

So I resorted to using an old plastic bag.  Cue the sad trombone.

On the bright side, we learned that the clothespin bag we sewed weathered living outside really well.  Sheltered under the eaves, it looks brand new a year later!  Confident in the design, my Mom and I finally whipped up a clothespin bag for me!  Below is the how-to, but I will warn you that my Mom is an ambitious DIYer and she's upped the ante by making this clothespin holder self lined - with a pattern that lines up perfectly!  The end result looks beautiful, but it has a few extra steps which I've tried to explain thoroughly.  Just let me know in the comments, though, if any of the directions don't make sense and I will happily clarify.

Supplies:

• Child-sized hanger (this is nearly identical to what we used, but you can also use plastic)
• Outdoor fabric (leftover from my back tab curtains - see the post for info on the fabric)
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Sewing gauge (optional)
• Marking pencil
• Small bowl (for tracing)
• Cute clothespins! (like these retro looking ones or these pretty floral ones)

How to Sew a Self-Lined Fabric Clothespin Bag:

To determine the shape, place the hanger on the fabric, near a corner so as not to waste fabric, and measure the center of the hanger.  Approximately two inches below the bottom of the hanger, use a bowl to trace a circle for the opening - choose a size that fits your hand comfortably.  We used a bowl with a 5" diameter (the overall diameter of the finished opening is 5"):

Using a gauge, mark 1" all the way around the hanger and then draw a straight line down from the outside edge of the hanger.



The idea is to create a snug fit around the hanger, and then allow for 5 to 6 inches below the opening.  My finished clothespin holder is 17" tall and 12.5" wide. 

With the shape cut out, trace and cut out three more identical clothespin bag shapes so you have four in total.

Place the piece with the circle and one of the other cut outs together, right sides facing in:

Pin around the circle and sew around the circumference:

Tie off the thread, cut out the middle, and then snip in toward the sewn line, careful not to cut the thread:

Reach through the circle and pull one layer of the fabric inward, to turn the hole inside out:

Ta da!  Next we'll pull a rabbit out of a hat...

Iron the fabric to smooth out the circle opening and then pin down and sew the circumference once again - this will help it lie flat:

And that's the front, which has two layers: 

To attach it to the back, grab one of the remaining two cut outs and place it right side up, underneath the front half you sewed earlier:

Pin the top layer of the fabric out of the way, and sew together the bottom layer and the additional piece, leaving a small opening at the very top for the hanger to poke out:

Then place the fourth cutout on top of the front of the clothespin holder, right side facing down.  Pin it together with the side you pinned out of the way earlier, and sew it together.  This is my Mom sneaking it into place to demonstrate:

Now then turn everything right side out:

See how the hole now has the right side of the fabric showing behind it, as opposed to the wrong side of the back showing?  Self-lining it took a few extra steps and twice the fabric, but the end result looks so good!

For the top, you can hand sew the opening, try adding a grommet, wrestle with it under the machine to do a button hole, throw in the towel and just apply some fray check, or ram in under the machine and sew around the opening - much like you would around the slit of a wrap dress - which is what my Mom did.

With the bottom still open, slide the hanger into the clothespin bag up through the body of the clothespin holder through the hole left in the top.  Then simply pull the bottom edge back up through the hole, stitch it closed, and push in back in.

Whew!  You're done!  Now stuff it with pins:




By using indoor/outdoor fabric, this clothespin bag can definitely be kept outside, but it's pretty enough to hang on a hook in a laundry room to keep it bug-free until laundry day.



I'm pretty thrilled!  Living lakeside, it can be pretty windy some days, which totally messes with my hair but, combined with a gloriously sunny day, dries my laundry in a snap so I can't complain. 
 

 
This post was sponsored by Wayfair.  Any thoughts or opinions expressed are my own.  P.S. if sewing your own clothespin holder looks like piddly work, you can always just buy this cutie from Wayfair.  Just sayin'.   

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How to Clean Glass Fireplace Doors - Easily!

Handy Hubby and I consider ourselves pretty lucky because both of the homes we've purchased have had wood burning fireplaces.  Hubby grew up in a cozy country home with a wood stove, while I grew up with a Mom who pined for a fireplace my entire life; we both had it hammered into our heads that a house is homier with a fireplace.

In the townhouse, the fireplace boasted an illegal insert (thanks, home inspector who "specializes in fireplaces") so we were forced to remove it and use it as a masonry fireplace.  When it was in use, the glass doors were open.  In the lakehouse we once again have a fireplace insert, which operates with the doors closed.  The noisiest fans in the world help push the warm air into the room, although even without them it gets so toasty that the furnace shuts off.

It's much more efficient than the townhouse fireplace, but the downside is that the soot bakes onto the glass.  Cleaning the glass fireplace doors is a regular chore in the winter, but luckily I've picked up a trick to quickly and painlessly remove that baked on soot from the glass!

When we first moved here, I scrubbed the glass with Windex and a chore boy scrubbing cloth (love those things).  I'd have to let the Windex sit for awhile, trying to keep it from dripping everywhere, and then get the best core work out of my life, scrubbing.  (Cleaning this fireplace is clearing vexing, remember the shop vac mishap?)  One day we were at my father-in-law's place and he started cleaning the glass on his fancy new wood stove (so jealous).  He whipped out a can of Bon Ami foam glass cleaner and it cleaned the glass in seconds - NO scrubbing!  I immediately bought a can and tried it myself.  I just sprayed it on, let it sit a minute, and wiped it off with a paper towel.

Blech.  But look, it's like magic!

It was SO much easier to clean the glass fireplace doors this way.  I think either my Mom or Mummu used Bon Ami, because I have memories of cleaning glass with it as a kid, so I eschewed it when shopping for glass cleaner as an adult (weird, the things that motivate my consumer habits).  Well, I'm back in the Bon Ami Bandwagon, because look at my glass fireplace doors now!

In case anyone has struggled to clean their glass fireplace doors, I wanted to share this as a PSA.  I like a clean home, but I want cleaning to be easy, so from time to time I share products that really knock my socks off (like that citru-shine stuff I'm still smitten with).

Looking for more cleaning tips? 

Here's my tip for how to make chrome and stainless look (and stay looking!) brand new and gleaming.

This is how I clean lampshades without a vacuum (it takes two seconds).

My post on how to clean black marks from Pyrex - and bring back shine to Pyrex that's dishwasher dead - has been viewed 75,000 times!  In that post I've also got a tip for removing utensils marks from bowls and plates in seconds - I made a cereal bowl set look brand spanking new!

I did a follow up post about how to remove that really grimey, baked on grease from glass and Pyrex - you'll never guess what product under your sink did the trick!

And, if you're updating a space, find out how I turned worn our lacquered brass into bright, brushed gold with one magical ingredient and two easy step!

Last but not least, here's how I wash ( and de-pill) dry clean only cashmere and wool at home - great for laundering delicate vintage woolens and even pretty wool rugs from the thrift store (because who wants to spend $30 dry cleaning  a $3 find?).

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