This post is sponsored by Endust.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve never been one to do tons of deep cleaning BEFORE the holiday season or before company arrives. In general, my house is always relatively organized, relatively neat, and relatively clean — so if I know company is coming over, I might take 15-20 minutes to wipe up any spills or stains on the bathroom counters and toilet and run a vacuum over the main living areas.
That’s it.
My reasoning might be slightly selfish, but I honestly don’t want to “waste” my deep cleaning efforts just for company to come over, trample through my house with their shoes on, drop crumbs all over my floors and furniture, and possibly spill large amounts of liquid or other food items. Plus, I don’t know about your company, my MY company doesn’t usually care if there’s a little dust on the baseboards or a stack of papers on my desk 🙂
I’d rather just sit back, relax, let my company do as they will — all with the knowledge that I’ll clean much more thoroughly AFTER they leave.
Then WE get to enjoy OUR clean house!
So now that the holiday season is officially over, I’ve started working my way through the various areas of my home, doing a little more deep cleaning than I’ve done the past several months.
- I’m scrubbing behind the toilets and in all the little grout crevices.
- I’m washing pillows and comforters and rugs and other things I don’t normally wash every week (or every month).
- I’m polishing my stainless steel appliances.
- I’m washing windows (at least the insides).
- I’m scrubbing the floors.
- I’m cleaning out closets and purging drawers.
- I’m dusting baseboards, window sills, door frames, and all those high-up places only Dave can see.
- and I’ll probably get our carpets cleaned sometime in the next couple of months.
I’m just doing little bits here and there, maybe one or two small areas every week, but I always love how my house feels once I take all the Christmas decorations down, do a little purging, and then a little extra deep cleaning.
Ahhhh!
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For me, the cold winter months just seem like the perfect time to deep clean as I’m cooped up inside anyway… and if I play my cards right, I can actually get my kids to be somewhat helpful — at least when it comes to dusting!
Since my children are quite young yet (5, almost 3, and 18 mo.) I haven’t gotten too crazy with specific chores — and we certainly don’t do fancy chore charts yet.
However, ALL 3 of my kids have a weird infatuation with dust mops, dust cloths, and pretty much all dusting tools — to the point where they actually fight about whose turn it is to help me dust.
True Story: sometimes I purposely wait to dust until they are asleep for the night so I don’t have to deal with their “helpfulness”. 🙂
Thankfully, we have a whole supply of my favorite Endust products (including my kids’ favorites — “Special Spray” and “Magic Duster”)
Can we all just pause for one moment and smile at the thought of my sweet Simon begging for the ‘peshal ‘pway and dustor, only to be interrupted by Nora chiming in, “But I’m older so I get to do the Special Spray while Simon uses the Magic Duster.”
Yes, these are very real conversations at the Dekker house.
Anyway… I’m a huge fan of the Endust products because they dust AND clean oil-based stains like fingerprints and smudges at the same time (I cannot even tell you how many fingerprints and smudges we have going on over here!)
Plus, since Endust is made of a silicone-free formula, it cleans and shines WITHOUT any residue or build-up — which means I don’t have to worry too much about how liberal Nora is with her spray.
I usually use the Endust FREE for most of my dusting — simply because I feel it’s safer for the kids and I like that it doesn’t have any smell.
Of course Endust cleans more than just furniture. They also have a great streak-free stainless steel cleaner, a fabulous multi-purpose spray, and a wood floor cleaner that won’t dull the floor’s finish.
Since the kids and I have enjoyed using the Endust products in our home, we figured it was only fair to share the love with you all as well!
In case you didn’t already know, Endust products are EXTREMELY affordable and readily available in most grocery stores like Walmart, Dollar General, Kroger and Kmart. Our local Meijer carries a wide selection of Endust products; and of course, they’re available from Amazon!
However, before you run to the store to grab your very own “Special Spray” or “Magic Duster”, you might want to take a minute to enter the giveaway below!
Visit Endust on the Web:
Visit their website: Endust.com
Facebook: Endust
Twitter:@Endust
Pinterest: EndustClean
Enter To Win This Giveaway!
Today, ONE lucky reader will win a $75 Visa Gift Card and a stash of amazing Endust products — perfect to help you clean up your home for the New Year (and probably enough to share with your kids!!)
To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below (it might take a second to load).
Also, just for fun, I’d love to know what chores your kids (or grandkids) like to “help” with!
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This giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST, Wednesday, 1/25/2017 and are open to US residents, 18 years or older. The winners will be randomly selected via Rafflecopter and notified via email. I received compensation in exchange for hosting this contest — all opinions are 100% my own. Please see my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you have. Good luck!
Melissa A says
My kids are 14 and 9 so they can be more helpful that yours can at this time. So we have chore charts from A La Board on the fridge, magnet – dry erase charts. LOVE. The 14yo has to do homework, sort out the dishwasher (unload/load), clean her room and practice her flute. The 9yo has to dust, sort out the silverware, clean her room, and sometimes we add another thing or two to balance it out. I don’t have a huge list of chores and I don’t nag them about it mostly, it’s more of a guideline of what I expect and leverage for later if they want to watch TV but haven’t done their chores, that sort of thing. So far it works really well for us.
Andrea says
I’m sure Nora will totally get into chore charts when she’s a bit older too!
Tina says
hopefully this will help kids to help out
Ed says
kids love helping out
Sean Fiorenza says
my kids help pick up and put things back in place just starting them out small
rob fiorenza says
dishes, cleaning there room and taking out the trash
Nancy Fiorenza says
my kids all six of them help with everything from cooking to washing dishes etc thank you for this great giveaway
Edie says
Great giveaway! Thank you for the opportunity to win! My kids (8 and almost 7) enjoy helping my husband and I cook by using a veggie peeler, adding ingredients, and mixing things up. I should let them more often, but the extra “help” often slows meal prep down!
Teri says
Both my sons (3.5 years old and 1.5 years old) LOVE to vacuum. They also like to sweep, like they beg me to give them the broom. It’s ridiculous. Melissa and Doug makes a cleaning toy, and I got that for them for Christmas. Now they can sweep, mop and dust in play and hopefully help me sooner rather than later. 😉
Hannah Beth Reid says
My children, who used to dislike the vacuum because of the noise, now like to use the little detail tool to clean the baseboard area or inside the furniture. It is great, because they’re closer to the floor to use it anyway!
Andrea says
haha — Simon and James are still at the point where they try to stick the vacuum attachments in their mouth. SO GROSS!
Summer says
I am totally with you! As a Michigan winter household AND the sprout of a new fresh free new year, I LOVE cleaning and getting stuff organized and uncluttered! We keep up on it, mostly, but there is just something about the new year and winter that I get all excited about my cleaning! I am about halfway and will start some touch up painting on the baseboards and windowsills next! Is it the non sunshiney days that inspire us so?! *Giggle*
Blessings Andrea to you and yours!
Trudy says
My grand daughter loves to help Swiffer or sweep the floors. The cute thing is while she does it, she sings “It’s a hard knock life” from Annie….oh my goodness, she is so funny
Muriel says
My kids love to help with vacuuming, dusting and anything involving a spray bottle or wipe. I also sometimes do it while theyou are sleeping just to get it done quicker.
Debbie says
Love a clean house, but I love your hair even more! 🙂 I wish I have the face shape to wear a crop like you. It looks great and easy to style.
Andrea says
Thanks Debbie — yes, I’ve been loving my short hair now for over 6 years! It’s VERY easy as long as I get it trimmed every 5-6 weeks!
Ginger McMahan says
Andrea…thanks for the giveaway!
Strange question…is that an old Kenmore sewing machine? It looks like the one I just gave my newly married daughter that is about 40 years old! And it works great!
Andrea says
Yes it is! It’s from my grandma and it works just great!
Shan says
Andrea, love seeing your beautiful and clean house! Yes, we should clean house so WE can enjoy it 🙂 My little boys enjoy helping clear the table after lunch. Your kids are so cute holding the cleaning supplies with such sweet smiles!
Andrea says
Thanks Shan! It’s not always clean, but we do keep it picked up most of the time when we’re not playing! Also, clearing the table is a fabulous skill for kids. Nora always “forgets” and then has to come back to the kitchen after I remind her 🙂
Kim says
My grandkids like helping in the kitchen, especially mashing the potatoes for Sunday dinner!
Nancy says
Love the simplicity of signing up for your giveaway- thanks!
Andrea says
thanks Nancy! And you’re welcome 🙂
Jan says
I’ve got dusters here, too!
Anna Lutz says
My kiddos (5 and 2) love to feed the dog, load the washer, and set the table! I always let them, even if it takes longer is less orderly because pretty soon, I’ll want them to do some chores. Might as well encourage the ones they enjoy while it’s still exciting to them
Donna G says
I don’t have kids or grandkids, but I wanted to say that I HATE dusting so any help from Endust might make it something I actually do on a regular basis…for whatever reason the dog and the cats (the source of much of my cleaning responsibilities) don’t seem to want to help.
Andrea says
haha — I don’t particularly love dusting either (it was always my chore growing up) but I hate dust in my house enough to do it on a somewhat regular basis. That said, my definition of a “regular basis” is probably only a once a month 🙂
Jessica says
My two year old LOVES cleaning. Laundry, sweeping, mopping, wiping mirrors/glass, you name it. If I’ll let him help, he’s in. And if I don’t want to let him help, he’ll want to even more. Just the other day he DESPERATELY wanted to help with the hand washing in the kitchen. I keep reminding myself that it’s great he wants to clean instead of super obnoxious that I can’t just do it and be done.
For the record, he also likes making messes. 😉
Andrea says
wow — sounds like an amazing two year old to me (but you probably already knew that!)
Fran hogsett says
I love your website .
Andrea says
Thanks Fran 🙂
Leanne says
laundry… I gave up LONG AGO the need for it to be perfectly organized… I just want it PUT AWAY… this means I will find my jeans mixed in with my husbands sometimes 🙂 and I just recently did a “sock dump” where I spent an hour figuring out whose were whose…but its worth it to get the help!!
Andrea says
someday my kids will do the laundry… someday!
I totally do not care about laundry either — as long as it’s clean, I really don’t care how it gets washed or how it’s folded either!
Sarah says
Mine LOVE to mop. We’ve had many talks about how they can’t mop before we’ve swept (which they don’t want to do), and plenty of fights over which one gets to mop.
Andrea says
mopping is always good — until they spill the water, right!?
I realize this might not be as fun, but I sometimes just give the kids a rag and a spray bottle of vinegar water (I clean our wood floors with vinegar) so they can each help clean the floor. I’m sure they would enjoy using an actual mop more, but I’ve never actually owned a mop so they probably don’t know what one is!
Mara Yager says
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve actually been trying a few different dusting products because so many of them leave behind almost oily-looking streaks or are pricey and run out FAST! Definitely agree with the colder weather cleaning, I have been doing the same! It’s almost 30 degrees here in WI today and I even have a window cracked while I am cleaning a bit 🙂 🙂
Andrea says
wow — you’re brave to crack a window at 30! It’s supposed to be close to 50º here by the end of the week, so we might crack a window then!
Michelle says
Ohhhh the picture of Nora and Simon makes me smile! So much joy in dusting!! You’re raising them right, haha! And James and his smiley self. Thank you for making me smile this early in the day!
My kids love cleaning windows and baseboards. And using the handheld vacuum. I will take any help I can get!!
Jennifer M says
My 5 y/o twins LOVE to vaccum! They argue over who gets to do what room. 🙂 I love when they come up to me and ask on their own to vacuum their room….. “of course my loves..anytime!!” 🙂
Andrea says
what — they can vacuum! Nora totally isn’t strong enough to push our vacuum — or tall enough for that matter. What kind of vacuum do you have?
Jo says
My 14 month old loves to use our floor swiffer! I have many pictures of him swiffering our kitchen floors 🙂
Andrea says
My kids all did this too… have you tried unscrewing the middle section and just screwing the handle to the swiffer pad section? It makes the perfect size for a 1-2 year old and is SOOOOO cute! I have several pictures of all my kids using a Swiffer this way!
Amy B says
My 2.5 and 4.5 YO love to help clean the bathroom floors and walls with rags and vinegar (I think they just like the spray bottle), and my 4.5 YO loves to load the dishwasher–she actually asks to help! 🙂
Andrea says
yes, Nora and Simon love spraying vinegar water and using rags to wipe pretty much anything 🙂 They don’t necessarily “help” me all that much, but I suppose it can’t really hurt anything either!
Kristi says
My 11yo volunteers to clean the toilets and has been doing so for several years. I think he mostly just likes to swish the water around with the brush. Dusting though, that’s a chore we have to draw straws for in our house. Lol!
Andrea says
haha — maybe it’s because you don’t have a “Magic duster”! On the flip side, I’d gladly take a kid who wants to clean toilets!
Amy says
My five year old loves to make her bed, clean/organize her room, and wash dishes 🙂 My three year old….I really need to work on him!
Andrea says
Nora makes her bed, but she complains about it every morning… she’s not even close to washing dishes though! Aren’t you worried your 5 year old will break something?
Molly says
My son actually likes to help clean the bathroom. I take advantage of a it all the time. Although I still do the toilet he has everything else down, not too bad for 6 years old!
Andrea says
that is quite impressive! I feel like my kids are too gross to let them do the bathrooms yet. They would probably end up touching everything with the toilet brush and just create a bigger mess for me 🙂 Maybe in another year or so!
Kari says
My four year old cried last night because I vacuumed while she was in the bathtub…so she vacuumed another area when she was done.
My two girls also fight over who gets to scrub the toilet.
Andrea says
haha! I still remember when Nora was about Simon’s age, As I was putting her to bed, she asked “Are you going to do the laundry and wash dishes after I fall asleep?” I said yes… and then she responded, “I knew it, you always do all the fun stuff when I’m sleeping!”
So funny!
Shan says
LOL!