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Cleaning Hacks to Help Prevent the Flu

November 7, 2015 By

With the cinnamon-flavored joys of this season come another set of not so pleasant activities. Coughs, sneezes, and stuffy noses are sure to come as the weather cools down and brings the flu season upon us. However, there’s hope. Keeping clean may prevent transmission of the flu, so we’ve provided hacks that may protect you and your family.

Sanitize surfaces

When multiple people come into contact with the same surfaces, they run the risk of spreading and contracting germs. Find common areas that your family uses and disinfect them often. Obvious places include the kitchen counter, bathroom sink, and toilet, but don’t forget about spots in the rest of the house. Home offices and staircase railings get a lot of action, too.

Launder linens

When you reuse towels and sheets, you’re reintroducing yourself to germs that might have accumulated there. During flu season, it’s more important than ever to keep these items fresh. Linens, especially ones that you use on your face like pillowcases or bath towels, should be washed more often in a hot water cycle.

Cut out carriers

Certain items in your home are more likely to accumulate bacteria, which can turn them into potential carriers. These items include (but aren’t limited to) the one listed below.

  • sponges
  • toothbrushes
  • bathroom sink handles
  • dish towels
  • welcome mats
  • TV remotes
  • cell phones

Replace the items you can like sponges and toothbrushes, and be sure to wash or wipe down the others.

Don’t wait until you see symptoms to start cleaning. Prevention is key, and by avoiding the flu you can save your sick days for a “stay at home, cuddled in blankets” day, instead.

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How to Make Your Lawn Look Like a Baseball Field

July 10, 2015 By

It’s time to take throwing the ball around with your kids to the next level. Advance to the big leagues by getting creative with backyard landscaping. Here are our tips for how to make your lawn look more like a baseball field.

It’s all in the stripes: Professional stadiums have those clean, beautiful stripes in the grass. This pattern is created by bending the blades of grass: blades that are bent toward you look dark and blades that are turned away look light.

Refine your mowing technique: Pay careful attention to your mowing and make sure to stay in a straight line. Always look a good few feet ahead of you while you mow. Try to cut the grass long, as long grass bends more. The longer the grass, the better the stripe.

Roll it out: After you’ve mowed, you’ll need to intensify the stripes by going over them with a roller. This will really bend the grass. If you have a gas-powered rotary lawn mower, you can attach a roller to the back (found at your local garden care center or home improvement store). You can also go the DIY route and either attach weights to the rubber tail on the back of the mower, attach a heavy welcome mat to the back, or build a roller yourself.

Choose your grass: Different varietals bend differently. Northern grass may bend best. And of course, make sure to fertilize well to increase the likelihood of a full, healthy, green lawn.

Pick your pattern: You have three standard stadium patterns to choose from: the basic stripe, the checkerboard, and the diagonal. To get the basic stripe look, first mow around the perimeter of your lawn, then mow in alternating directions to create the stripes, and finish by mowing over the perimeter again. For the checkerboard, do the same as the basic stripe, but add in a step traveling in the opposite direction to create perpendicular stripes. The diagonal look is achieved by creating a checkerboard pattern but in diagonal directions.

There you have it, a few ways to make your yard look more like a field of dreams. Batter up!

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