5 Vines About outdoor bubble machine That You Need to See

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Hi! This week I’ve invited cleaning expert and friend of Smarter Living Jolie Kerr to talk about her favorite cleaning tools. Have a cleaning question? Email her at joliekerr@gmail.com or tweet her at @joliekerr.

Have you been gripped by Spring Cleaning Fever? I know I have. In fairness, I’m pretty much always in the throes of some sort of cleaning fever (occupational hazard) but I definitely level up in April and May.

As you might imagine, I spend a lot of time thinking about cleaning products, and I for sure have my favorites. Someone once said of me, enviously, “I wish I loved anything in life as much as Jolie Kerr loves Scrubbing Bubbles.”

It’s true! I do love Scrubbing Bubbles! Here’s why: I’m really committed to having a clean bathroom, and using my pals the Bubbles every week on my bathroom sink, tub and toilet truly takes so little time and effort. Spray, leave it to do its scrubbing and bubbling thing for five minutes while I clean the mirrors and floor, then wipe everything down and voilà! A clean bathroom.

In collaboration with Wirecutter, a New York Times Company that reviews and recommends products, here are four other cheap(ish) things that will make you love cleaning as much as I do — or at least not hate it so much.

(To go even deeper, here is the full Smarter Living guide to cleaning your home. And in a special treat for subscribers, get a jump on your spring organizing with this step-by-step program to tidying up your home.)

A (mostly) all-purpose cleaner

The other Sunday I put on Little Mix, cracked a beer, filled a small bucket with diluted all-purpose cleaner, grabbed a microfiber rag and absolutely went to town on my kitchen and dining nook.

It was a good reminder that cleaning is so much easier when you streamline your products and tools. The world is full of specialty and single-use cleaning products (vertical blind dusters, anyone?), but the truth is that most cleaning tasks really only require a rag and a good multiuse cleaner, like Puracy Natural Multi-Surface Cleaner, which Wirecutter found was the most all-purpose of all the all-purpose cleaners they tested.

Good paper towels

A few years ago, in a devastating turn of events, my favorite paper towel brand, Viva, changed its formula. I held out hope that I’d just gotten a few bum rolls before finally admitting that, no, this is just the way things are now and going back to Bounty, Wirecutter’s pick for best paper towels, because good paper towels are like good toilet paper: worth it. A paper towel that turns to tatters after one swipe of a countertop, or one that leaves lint behind on a mirror, is a paper towel that has no place in your life.

A no-rinse laundry detergent

Washing clothes by hand is so much less of a chore than it sounds like it might be, and it’s a handy (heh) skill to have when you’re traveling or if you want to save yourself a trip to the laundry room.

SOAK Wash, which Wirecutter found was tops in their review of detergents for hand-washing, makes the job even easier by cutting out the need to rinse away detergent — because it’s a no-rinse formula. It’s also gentle, which means it will be perfect for washing bathing suits and other summer delicates.

A portable carpet/upholstery cleaning machine

A few weeks ago, a listener of my podcast contacted me in a panic: An entire takeaway container of coconut shrimp curry had spilled onto her upholstered car seat. Fortunately, she had a portable upholstery cleaning machine that she was able to turn on that be-curried seat.

While Wirecutter’s top choice in this category, the Bissell SpotClean Pro, isn’t exactly cheap — it’ll run you about $130 — it’s definitely cheaper than replacing a couch, favorite reading chair industrial bubble machine or, yes, even a car seat. Using these machines is also weirdly satisfying, because you get to see all the grime the machine sucks out of furniture and carpeting; and when you’re done you can tweet me a photo of the filthy wash water!

How to Maintain Sibling Relationships The quality of sibling relationships is one of the most important predictors of mental health in old age.

Five Ways to Make Spring Cleaning Easier: Spring cleaning checklists can easily become overwhelming. Here are a few tips that take some of the hard labor out of the most onerous tasks.

Maybe You Shouldn’t Outsource Everything After All Recent studies have hinted at the happiness that can come from outsourcing routine tasks. But what about the pleasure of doing things for oneself?

Got Wedding Jitters? Take a Hike (or Grab Your Blankie) Instead of being caught off guard by that tension, some brides and grooms are taking creative steps to calm themselves on the big weekend.

Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Still looking for a present? We’ve got gift ideas to delight every kind of mother — even those who say they don’t need a thing.

I Have a Real-Life Wicked Stepmother. How Do I Handle Her? A young woman wants to model healthy relationships for her half brother, but she can hardly stand his mother.

• Kill your toxic ego.

• Climb into a sauna to reduce stress.

• The true cost of eating meat.

• Investing $100 each month can change your life.

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