Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Are you a germaphobe? I am....


On the lookout for germs in your kitchen? (Or am I the only one….) Look no further than your kitchen sponge or scrubber or whatever you use on a daily basis to wipe down counters, clean up spills and wash items that you don’t run through your dishwasher (not many of THOSE in my kitchen). I’ve tried different methods of sanitizing, like microwaving and using bleach and did some research to see which was the most effective. It turns out both can work very well in getting rid of bacteria. In my own experience, though, I’ve found that occasionally my scrubber will partially burn in the microwave, which of course smells up the kitchen and gets one sponge in the garbage. Oh, and I had to learn the hard way to remove the wand part because it will melt in the microwave.

Mostly I just use bleach (3/4 cup to one gallon of water and soaking for 5 minutes). According to Good Housekeeping and the EMSL Testing Lab, this method apparently removes 99.9% of bacteria.

Another method is putting the sponge in the dishwasher. You can just pop it in one of the utensil sections each time you run your dishwasher. Be sure to let it stay in throughout the entire wash AND dry cycle.  How easy is that?

Also, don’t use your sponges or scrubbers to clean up cutting boards or counters where raw meat has been. Use paper towels or kitchen cloths that can be laundered. For convenience, we now have those great “pop-up” disposable cleaning cloths or to save money, keep a spray bottle with diluted bleach and use with reusable cloths. How easy is that?

None of the research gave a definitive answer on how often you should replace your sponge or scrubber. I don’t need a study to tell me, but I’m thinking if it’s been in your kitchen for a year, it’s technically “gross”.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Is Staging Really Important?

If you are considering selling your home, you've probably been thinking about staging and where to begin, where to end, where to start. Staging is talked about A LOT among brokers. There are TV shows about it, magazine articles about it and businesses devoted to it.

Just how important is it really?  VERY!  I view properties all the time and, believe me, I can tell by the pictures of the home how it's going to present itself. I have an opinion just like the buyers who are walking through the door and it is formed VERY quickly. It's about sight AND smell.

I want to start with the one thing that is so basic, everyone is qualified to do it:  CLEAN! Your home must be spotless, from the front entry, through the kitchen, to the corners of the bathrooms. I'm not just talking picking up the clutter (although you need to do that too). I'm talking sweeping, scrubbing and making-windows-shine clean. The stovetop looks good enough to cook on; the bath looks clean enough to take a bath in; and the buyer will WANT to take-their-shoes-off-in-your-house clean.

And here's another tip:  your house needs to smell clean. No cooking odors, pet smells or smoking residue. Be careful not to overdo the air freshener or any type of perfuming of the air either, which can be offputting and make buyers wonder what you are trying to cover up.

A clean house tells the buyer that you care about your home. That it's been well cared for. It is smells good enough to hang around.

So, yes, staging IS important. But you need to clean first.

It can seem overwhelming, but with the guidance of your broker or a professional stager, you can accomplish a lot more than you think fairly easily.