Summer Cleaning Tips: It's Only Natural

Here is Part 2 of our feature blog to brighten your home for the summer. In case you missed Part 1, you can catch it here!

To make cut flowers last longer, slash them again at the sink, making an upwards diagonal cut. A smashed-up tablet of aspirin, believe it or not, in the bottom of your vase also prolongs cut flowers’ life. As always, make sure to change the water in your vase each day.

Even without a garden, there’s a great deal you can do to fill your house with summer style. Fresh fruit, always plentiful at this time of year, looks so good in the right bowl, artists have created masterworks celebrating these “still lifes.” Match your fruits judiciously: bananas, for example, don’t look their best next to pears. On the other hand, bananas on a colorful platter, next to other tropical fruits such as mangoes and papayas, give your room a saucy beach-life vibe. Simple, inexpensive woven baskets are terrific for displaying fruit.

And don’t stop there.

Shop at your local farmers’ market for attractive, perhaps unusual vegetables, such as kale, radicchio, and crookneck squash. Arrange these in a hanging wire basket, stick in a baguette and voila! Welcome to southern France.

No one likes to talk about odor control, but summer is a smelly time. Everything ripens faster, including your trash can and garbage disposal. Fight back with citrus! Squeeze a lemon down the drains, or rub a cut edge along your countertop (lemon juice won’t harm marble or granite). Scrub trash cans with lemon halves, and then toss in the used skins for more preventive fragrance. Artificial air fresheners are full of chemicals, some of which are known to be carcinogenic. Why use a lemon-scented spray, when the real thing is cheap and available?

Finally, take a close look at your windows.

Washing them may not seem like fun, but when you do, the results will astound you. Save money in the process: a simple mix of vinegar and water cleans glass as effectively as high-priced sprays. While you're at it, dunk your blinds in the tub while you’re at it. Vinyl, wood, or aluminum slats all wipe clean with little effort.

All these tips will cost you little or nothing. Don’t settle for a dull and wintry house: splash into summer with fresh flowers, fruit, and vegetables, and keep those windows sparkling clean.

Nationwide Relocation Services wants to know how you're planning to clean your house for the summer. Don't be shy – feel free to share your summer cleaning tips with us on our Facebook or Twitter page!