Vacuums sold for over $200 tend to be a better quality. They will last longer, and remove more dirt out of your carpet. Try to buy a vacuum made in America if possible. I know it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do today. American made vacuums are Riccar, Simplicity, and good old Kirby. This is important if you need parts, or service. There are great vacuums made overseas but sometimes parts are an issue if they break. Miele is a high quality vacuum as is Bosch. The old standbys we grew up with Hoover, Eureka, Royal, Dirt Devil, and Bissell are all made in China, or Mexico. They have some good models that grade out well with Consumer Report, but the quality of workmanship has really slipped. Avoid any vacuum sold on the internet, or with an unfamiliar name. History is full of vacuum companies that were here today, and gone tomorrow. Can you say Phantom, Regina, GE, Whirlpool, and many others that tried their hand at vacuums. The Dyson is made in Malaysia, and I’m not a big fan of any of their machines. They seem to put all the emphasis on the advertising, and promotion of the machine. The combination of the English accent, and hitting all the hot buttons with consumers has them lining up in droves to purchase their machines. Satisfaction after you buy is often a different story. If you ever need to get it repaired, or buy filters for it bring a big wallet.

The type of vacuum you buy is a personal choice. Uprights, and canister vacuums will both do a good job. I find if you grew up using a certain style of vacuum you’ll probably stay with that style. A home with all hard surface floors, and no carpet is probably the perfect venue for a straight suction canister vacuum. You don’t need the rotating agitator because the dirt is right there on the surface. Dirt works it’s way into the carpet, and requires a revolving agitator to bring it to the surface. A little demonstration you can do to see if the vacuum you’re interested in or currently own will do this is to take sand and rub it into an area of the carpet until it disappears. This is the kind of dirt tracked into your home on the bottom of your shoes. Get your vacuum, turn it on and stop the vacuum just in front of the area you poured the sand into the carpet. You should see the sand coming to the surface from the bottom of the carpet. If you don’t the vacuum you have or are considering will only surface clean the carpet. It’s okay if you’re renting, and it’s not your carpet, but bad if it’s your carpet. You can get even more information by clicking here to see a short video on the different types of vacuums.

Experts recommend adding a cup of bleach to the water in the tub before you drain it, and turning the jets on. This will circulate bleach water throughout the tubs system. Of course you do this after you’ve stepped out of the tub.  Wipe your tub dry after you drain it. Then spray the inside with a disinfectant spray, or foaming disinfectant cleaner.

Using your brush or bowl swab I want you to flush the toilet, and as water starts to fill it push the water down the hole at the bottom of the toilet. Your goal is to get as much water out of the bowl as possible. The reason being when you add the bowl cleaner you don’t want it diluted by the water. Add the bowl cleaner, and starting under the rim swab the chemical from the top down to the bottom of the bowl. Allow this to sit in the toilet bowl for 5 to 10 minutes so the chemical has time to work. Return with your bowl brush or swab to give it a final scrubbing then flush. Hotel housekeepers will empty the water out of the bowl add the cleaner, and clean the rest of the bathroom before doing the toilet last. A final caution is if your bathroom floor is polished stone make sure you don’t drip any of the bowl cleaner on the stone as it will etch the stone removing the shine. Watch a short video of how this is done by clicking here.