When it comes to #cleaning, the professionals don’t use a lot of different products; a general-purpose or DIY cleaner can handle most surfaces and cuts costs. One of their favorite hacks? Using dryer sheets to get rid of dust, hair and other detritus that sweeping and vacuuming might miss. “They’re especially great for cleaning ceiling fans and baseboards,” ProHousekeepers’ Jennifer Rodriguez told Southern Living. “You can wrap dryer sheets over a duster or an extended paint roller for those hard-to-reach places by using rubber bands to hold [them] in place. You’ll be surprised at just how effective [they] are!” #CleaningHacks
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Make Spring Cleaning More Fun
#Spring is here, and it’s time for spring #cleaning! If that’s not something you look forward to, helpful cleaning “hacks” can make the task less onerous. Make cleaning as fun as possible by pairing it with a favorite podcast, TV show or music, The Every Girl suggests. Also dedicate small chunks of your day to cleaning so that it becomes routine — washing the dishes after dinner, starting a load of laundry or “resetting” the living room when turn off the TV. “By routinely chipping away at small cleaning tasks every day, you’ll save yourself from having to do an intensive deep-clean later.” #CleaningHacks
Spring Cleaning Has Lasting Impacts
If you’ve ever participated in the ritual known as #spring #cleaning, you know the effect that a #cleaner, #tidier and more #organized space can have. But while the concept has long been tied to the warmer temperatures and sense of renewal that spring brings, it can have benefits that last throughout the year.
Psychologists explain the penchant for seasonal cleaning as a “fresh start” effect. Fresh starts are often related to a temporal landmark that motivates people to make a change, set a new goal or initiate a new project. The new year and birthdays are classic examples, and many people start their diets or on Mondays. The change of seasons is a similar marker.
“People are not automatically, by default, thinking of spring as a time to start new habits,” says Wharton Professor Katherine Milkman. “It’s going to depend on the person and what resonates with them, but spring is a more natural fresh start for people than winter — spring is the season of rebirth and Easter, and everything is green.”
Spring cleaning is literally a fresh start in terms of #dirt and #grime. These build up when a home is closed against winter’s inclement weather, and a good spring cleaning can get rid of the dust and dirt that household surfaces such as shelves, floors and linens have collected during the dark and dreary winter months.
But spring cleaning is also a fresh start for the psyche. Clean spaces reduce stress and anxiety, boost productivity, help prevent respiratory issues and improve sleep, according to St. Joseph Hospital. The act of #cleaning and #decluttering itself burns calories, making it a healthy part of your routine.
A #decluttered life is a calm and effective one. “We can calm the inside by bringing order to the outer,” Zen Organizer Regina Leeds told CNN. “The average person lives in an environment that sabotages his or her best efforts at every turn. You can accomplish more, quicker and with ease if your environment nurtures and supports you.”
Get a fresh start this season. Start with a single room, sorting everything you don’t #trash immediately into #keep and #donate piles. Clean the space, #organize and store the keepers, and contact ClothingDonations.org for a free #donation #pickup. We’ll get that extra stuff out of your way fast — and you’ll be on the way to living your best life.
Are You a Decluttering Lion or Lamb?
With its rapid temperature fluctuations and blustery winds, it’s often said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. This begs the #spring-cleaning question: When it comes to #decluttering, which one are you?
#Decluttering lions roar into a room and make snap decisions. They’re prepared to sort things into #keep, #trash and #donate piles fast, and have labeled bins, boxes and bags at the ready. They’re fed up with #clutter and perhaps preparing for a deadline or an imminent life change.
“Aggressive decluttering isn’t gentle editing; it’s decisive, time-boxed and real about what your home can hold,” says The Scarlet Society. “You’ll move fast, make smart calls and stop saving for a ‘someday’ that never comes.”
Aggressive #declutterers often follow if/then rules: The 20/20 rule, for instance, says that if you can replace an item in less than 20 minutes for less than $20, then get rid of it. If you can replace a rarely used memorabilia item with its memory (a photo), it’s time to say goodbye.
You might take as little as 48 hours as a decluttering lion, spending a few hours on each specific area of the home and paring things down to the essential, often-used #stuff. Then, you can bundle the rejects for #sale or #donation and contact ClothingDonations.org for a #free #donation #pickup.
If you’re more of a lamb when it comes to #decluttering, you will aim for slow and steady progress instead of a frantic purge. You might target one drawer instead of a whole room, taking just 30 minutes to #sort things out. The next day, you can move on to #organize another spot.
Gentle #declutterers often get overwhelmed by the task. To prevent decision fatigue, Simple Clean Living suggests keeping a “Not Sure” box close to catch things that may have true practical or sentimental value. “You can revisit it days, weeks or months from now, when your nervous system is more settled.”
You can let go of #clutter without the rush if you do it in manageable moments. The key is to make it a regular, ongoing practice to ensure progress. With time and regular effort, lambs can create calmer #spaces for themselves.
Lion or lamb, ClothingDonations.org is here to accept your #donations of lightly used clothing, media and household items. Let us take care of the things that no longer serve your lifestyle or fit your space!
African Americans and the Vietnam War
It’s Black History Month — a great time to remember that African Americans have served honorably in the U.S. military for as long as there has been a U.S. military. But service often meant fighting for one’s country even while being denied equal rights at home.
More than 300,000 Black Americans fought in the #Vietnam War, making up an outsized share of those drafted (16.3%) compared to representation in the general U.S. population (11%). Black soldiers were more often assigned to combat duty in Vietnam and less likely to be elevated to command roles.
Fighting shoulder-to-shoulder in desegregated units for the first time in Vietnam often helped build camaraderie among the troops, regardless of racial and ethnic differences. But most Black #veterans recall discrimination during and after their service.
Upon being drafted or enlisting, “Black soldiers were immediately faced with discrimination and racism during basic training, which typically took place in the Jim Crow South,” an article in Time magazine says. “The racism was there: It was real and felt between soldiers.”
After the war, Black veterans suffered disproportionately high rates of PTSD and were twice as likely as white veterans to lack full-time employment. Veterans Affairs often routinely denied Black veterans’ claims for disability benefits even through the 1970s.
Institutional and interpersonal barriers have since eroded with no small amount of struggle. Military service is now regarded as a viable career option among African Americans; today, they make up one-quarter of enlisted Army soldiers while making up 13% of the population.
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and its local chapters support all veterans of all U.S. conflicts by helping with benefits claims and connecting them with health care and mental health care services, housing and job assistance, and much more. And it does this with your help!
You can easily support the nation’s #veterans by clearing out some of your #clutter and scheduling a #free #donation #pickup with ClothingDonations.org. Your lightly used clothing and household goods will be resold to #support programs that #veterans rely on nationwide.
Celebrate Black History Month with a #donation! You’ll #support veterans and eliminate some of the #stuff you don’t need at the same time. #BlackHistoryMonth