Whether you are choosing from luxury house plansor prairie style house plans, one thing remains the same; you will want to maintain its beauty and charm with these simple household cleaning tips. Spend less time cleaning your dream home and more time enjoying it with these useful and step-saving ideas.

• Following these simple household cleaning tips will make cleaning your dream home quicker and easier to save time and money.  For example, you can use hairspray to effectively clean a countertop, wallpaper or wall.  Just lightly spray the hairspray on the surface, let it sit for a few seconds, wipe it away and repeat if necessary.

• Prior to getting started with your cleaning session, take stock of your cleaning supplies.  After all, you don’t want to wait until you are ready to clean the oven to discover there is no oven cleaner around.  Have everything you need to clean on hand and ready to go.

• Once you are ready to get started, an efficient way to clean mini-blinds is to use a lamb’s wool duster.  Close the blinds and starting at the top, gently sweep the entire surface.  When done regularly, you don’t need to do anything more for clean mini-blinds.

• In many parts of the country, mildew is an unhealthy nuisance and vinyl siding gives it a great place to grow.  To remove mildew, mix a cup of household bleach into a gallon of water and apply the mix to the surface with a pump sprayer.  After letting the solution sit for about five minutes without drying out, pull out a hose and thoroughly rinse the siding from top to bottom with fresh water.  Bleach can harm delicate plants so protect them by spraying their leaves with clear, clean water prior to and after treating the siding.

• For the proper preservation and protection of exterior trim and doors without hiding the beauty of the wood, take a hint from boaters and use marine varnish.  Also referred to as spar varnish, the high oil content in this finish coating makes it more flexible than other clear finishes and it also contains ultraviolet inhibitors that act as a sunscreen to preserve the finish. After all, when you chose to build your house plan you really appreciated the quality of the wood you selected and you will want to preserve it.

• When you are cleaning your refrigerator, never use disinfectants because the food inside will pick up the odor and taste of the cleaning solution.  Warm, soapy water works quite well and is a less harmful cleaning choice.

• Trying to get scuff marks off a vinyl floor can be a chore.  When you use an art gum eraser like the tan one you had in elementary school or a pink pearl eraser, the job becomes easy.

• If foul odors are coming from your garbage disposal, drop a cup of vinegar with a bunch of ice cubes in it.  Run it for a minute or so and the ice will scour the blades to get rid of stuck on gunk and the vinegar kills germs.

• Doorknobs, phones and switch plates get grimy regularly.  To quickly clean them, put a little rubbing alcohol on a soft cloth and wipe to clean and disinfect those areas in minutes.

• Once a month, you should clean the inside of your dishwater.  Fill the soap cup with some lemonade mix and run the dishwasher through a cycle.  The citric acid in the lemonade cleans the racks, interior walls and jets of your dishwasher.

• To clean the windows of your home, use newspaper.  Not only is it cheaper than paper towels, the ink is actually a polishing agent that won’t leave streaks on your windows and you will minimize lint. Good alternatives for washing windows if you don’t have newspaper are a cloth diaper and coffee filters. For sparkling clean windows, mix a solution of half water and half vinegar and pour into a spray bottle.  This mixture removes grime and grit from windows with little effort.

• While many homeowners use a sponge to wash dishes, washcloths are easier to launder.  If you still choose to use a sponge, sanitize it periodically in a mixture of bleach and hot water to prevent germs from collecting inside.

• For fresher air in your home, put a few drops of lemon juice in your vacuum bag when you change it.  As you vacuum, the fresh smell will spread throughout your home.

• Rubbing waxed paper on your appliances and countertops after you clean will give them an attractive shiny finish that helps to repel dirt and dust.

• Keep your countertops uncluttered by storing small appliances such as mixers and blenders or spices and cooking items out of sight.  Having uncluttered countertops will make your kitchen appear more spacious.

• You should never use a wet mop on a wood floor. Before you start mopping, squeeze out as much of the water from the mop as possible.

• To get rid of musty smells from a piece of furniture or cabinet, fill plastic containers with white vinegar and punch holes in the top.  Put one container in each drawer overnight to absorb unpleasant odors.

With a few easy cleaning tips, the dream house you chose will be sparkling sooner than you think.