Is It Safe To Clean When Pregnant? + GIVEAWAY

26/10/2015 By All Mum Said 10 Comments

Is It Safe To Clean When Pregnant?

Are you pregnant? Constantly cleaning, scrubbing and tidying? Is it safe to clean when pregnant?

As every woman who has ever been pregnant knows, you have the urge to scrub, tidy and generally have everything spotless. This is most commonly known as nesting and unfortunately (or fortunately for others in the home) we all suffer from it.

Should any housework be avoided?

I hate to tell you but most cleaning jobs are safe to do while pregnant. In moderation of course, so you don’t overdo it. There are some things that should be avoided (aka left to someone else) or kept in mind while on your cleaning spree. These include:

• Cleaning the oven – Due to majority of kitchens being a smaller, more enclosed areas; fumes from oven cleaners are cause for concern. Especially when pregnant. In addition to toxic fumes there is also the bending and crouching to consider. It is best to hand this chore over to someone else.

• Clean only in well ventilated areas. Most chemicals and domestic cleaning products are safe to use when pregnant however the fumes and smell may cause you to feel light headed and sick if the room is not ventilated enough. Open doors and windows to allow good air-flow!

• Use protection – I’m not talking to prevent pregnancy. I mean rubber gloves and a mask to protect yourself from touching and inhaling chemicals. You can never be too safe.

During the later stages of pregnancy, you will find it harder to get up and down to clean showers, bath tubs, etc. on a daily basis. I know all too well and as a result of me being 37 weeks pregnant and not being able to maintain the level of cleanliness I like in my bathrooms; I hired a cleaner for the first time in my life. My bathrooms have never shined so much, or maybe that was the euphoria I felt because I didn’t have to clean them and yet they were spotless!

I typically live by my 5 minutes a day rule for cleaning the bathroom << check it out! It will save you a lot of hard work but as I am now heavily pregnant, I just cannot keep it up. For more information on staying healthy and safe during pregnancy, click the link.

This is not my cleaner. I cleaned other parts of the house while my bathrooms were being scrubbed.

I never saw the value in a cleaner until that life changing day last week. My eyes have been opened. To be honest the bathrooms are my most hated household chores! I know I am not alone in this which is why I have a great opportunity for one of All Mum Said’s amazing readers.

HomeHello have offered their services to help a mum (or dad) get on top of their cleaning. Or just so you can have a day off! Both of those options sounds great.

Who are HomeHello?

HomeHello is a team of experienced and insured local professional cleaners that provide high quality cleaning services at a seriously affordable rate to thousands of homes across metro regions of Sydney and Melbourne.

By clicking on their website, you are given a 3 simple steps to book your next clean. Select the details about your home, how many hours you want them (or you can use their suggestions based on the details you provide) and any additional chores you want done. You then select the date and time you’d like your cleaner to arrive.

You also don’t have to set a regular appointment if you don’t want, you can hire for a one-off, weekly or fortnightly home cleaning with their instant booking confirmation.

Prize Includes: 1x 3.5 hour HomeHello voucher (valued at $92).

This prize is only available to metro regions of Sydney and Melbourne!

See if you are in the serviceable area by entering you postcode here.

**As the winners are chosen based on skill and not chance; you will be sharing for 0 extra entries however I’d love you to share the giveaway with friends and family. Sharing is caring and karma loves kind people. **

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions:
1. Australian residents only.
2. Judges decisions is final.
3. Winners must make contact within 72 hours.
4. This is a game of skill. Chance plays no part!
Therefore no extra points are given for sharing however it is good karma!!
5. All Mum Said is not responsible for delivery of prize.
NOT endorsed by or have anything to do with facebook.

If you want to enter more giveaways click over here.

This is an S1 POST.

Tips for Saving Space in Your Pantry

29/07/2014 By All Mum Said 4 Comments

It really does not matter how large or small your pantry; to make the most of the space you have, your pantry needs to be effectively organised. You need to be quite ruthless in determining what stays and what goes, and take advantage of storage solutions outside of your home (such as storage at a Fort Knox Storage facility), for items that are used infrequently or really do not belong in your pantry. Here are some great tips how saving space can be quick, easy and budget friendly.

Getting started…

Pull everything out of your pantry

To get really organised, you need to remove the entire contents of the pantry and commit to disposing of everything with an expired use by date. Items that are not out-of-date, but are open and look to be past their best, should go too.

Clean while the pantry is empty

With a completely empty pantry, you have the perfect opportunity to give the space a thorough clean. If drawers are a feature of your pantry, start by vacuuming them out, and then give all surfaces a complete wipe down.

Logically sort and group pantry items

With items still outside of your pantry, sort them into logical groupings, such as flour and baking items, tinned food, pastas, sauces and cereals. Before you return these items to the pantry, think carefully about how they can be best positioned and arranged.

Keep heavy appliances on trays

A great tip that has been practiced for decades, is to sit heavy appliances like food processors and blenders on trays. Doing so makes it easy to slide the appliance from the back of the shelf to the front where it can be more easily lifted out.

Saving space with tins and bottles

In most pantries, tins and bottles can be difficult to store, because of their bulky size and shape. It is now possible to purchase expanding racks for the pantry which are attached under the shelf. You will be adding extra storage and creating a space where all tins are visible and neatly organised.

Use containers for your dry goods

Stop the chaos and loss of space that results from opened boxes and packets falling over in your pantry. It’s far better to empty your dry goods into containers and containers that are clear glass or plastic are preferable, as they make it easier to find particular products.

To optimise space, use square or rectangular containers, rather than round ones which do not fit beside each other quite so well. Use labels for the easy identification of products and ensure that all containers have airtight lids.

Make the most of baskets

Baskets are an invaluable resource in a pantry as they provide a place for all manner of items, from cake sprinkles and food colouring, to garbage bags and aluminium foil. Save space and stay organised with baskets that are clearly labelled and logically arranged.

Generally speaking, space is at a premium in most people’s pantries. It really doesn’t matter how large or small your pantry is, it can be well-organised so that space is maximised and all items can be easily located and used. What are your tips to saving space in the pantry?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored guest post.

How to Declutter Your Garage

24/10/2013 By All Mum Said 1 Comment

Guest Post written by Mick Cutcliffe.

Bio paragraph: Mick Cutcliffe leads a very busy life, a single father of 3 boys, working through the day and writing through the night. Cutcliffe is an avid writer for Fort Knox business storage.

There is too much stuff in our garage that only my car fits. Mr Dad has to park his car on the driveway ;)

A garage can be a really useful space for storing things and depending on how well you organise the space you can usually have room for storing the car and some of your stuff. One important thing to do to ensure that you are making the best use of the space is to declutter, and only keep things that you really need to in the garage. Here are 5 tips to decluttering your garage.

The shelves are great but a tidy up wouldn’t hurt!

Have a Chuck Out

First things first, before you can really utilise the space you will need to have a chuck out, and get rid of everything that you no longer need. Often the garage space can be a place where we dump anything that we don’t have a place for, and it builds up in piles and becomes a really untidy space. Getting rid of the things that you don’t need will free up your space, both physically and energetically, and your home will feel a lot clearer.

Store What You Don’t Need Now

If there are things in your garage that you need to keep, but don’t need to use on a day to day basis then an option that might work for you is to put them into storage. Often we may need to store papers and other things related to business etc, and only need to access them once a year, or once every few years. Business storage would be a good investment for you, but make sure you keep your storage facility in a place where they will be kept safe and sound for future needs.

Define the Space

One great way to utilise the space as well as it can be used is to work out what you want to use it for, and plan accordingly. If you are using it to store your car then you will want to organise the remaining space accordingly so that you can make the most of it. If you decide to use it as a studio or work space then shelves, benches and cupboards will be of great assistance to keep the place clear and uncluttered.

Overhead Shelf

If you are using the space to store your car but still have a lot of stuff to keep in the garage then you might want to think about installing some overhead shelving above the car. This way you can use that space that would usually be left unused. There are some really interesting designs for this that can be made easily and attached to the roof to make this shelving unit.

Tool Board

An interesting way of storing tools is to create a tool board with hooks where you can have your tools hanging on display so you know where they are and can easily grab them when you need them. The display board can be used for storing other things in your garage according to what purpose you are using the area for.