**Special note: There’s a pretty significant and amazing giveaway at the end of this post! Don’t miss it! Info HERE too.
Sometimes I have to laugh at how often I find myself spouting cooking and cleaning tips here, after years of being what I like to call “domestically challenged.” The truth is – I’m learning a lot in my 30’s lately. It’s never too late to learn, right? As part of my personal holiday countdown, which seems to start in early-mid November these days, I like to write a little checklist of what to clean and when before hosting guests. Since the kids’ and the guests’ bedrooms are carpeted, and we just got our finished basement carpeted, I’m more aware ever of my love for the BISSELL ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet. Athena too.
1. Decluttering! I’d even say this is a priority. The kids were away for the weekend, and we did a real number on the house. Cassidy is better at getting rid of clutter than I am, but every now and then I make a huge dent. Like when I got rid of 95% of the baby clothes while he was sailing on the Amazon! True story. We both play up our strengths. I’m better at going through my own stuff, obviously. When we work together and sort things into keep, toss and donate piles, we’re much happier!
2. Child-proofing! Honestly even though our own kids are older now, we have younger nieces and nephews, and two nephews on the way. It’s wonderful for everyone when we all feel safe with kids being here for overnights.
3. Food! Have everyone’s favorite foods and snacks on hand, or at least some good communal choices that everyone loves. We also love to set up a coffee station so our families don’t have to wake us up to find coffee.
4. Make it cozy and personal! There’s nothing like the smells and feels of candles on the counter and mulling spices with cider on the stove. I also love to make little “hotel baskets” for guests, full of comfort items and goodies.
5. Clean the floors! We have kids and pets. We have kids and pets who visit. The floors get very messy. And like I said, most of our guest areas have carpeting. Don’t have carpeting in your house? No problem! The BISSELL ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Carpet Cleaner can be used on soft surfaces that you or your family come in contact with every day, including pet areas and beds, carpet, stairs, area rugs, cushions, couches, upholstery, car seat upholstery, mattresses and others.
This innovative deep cleaner allows us to deep clean entire rooms, or use the hose and simple attachments to clean our stairs, upholstery, rugs, car interiors and more. The BISSELL also cleans hard surfaces, when used with the Bare Floor Tool and Hard Floor Solutions Formula. The BISSELL takes the hassle out of deep cleaning.
The BISSELL ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet offers multiple cleaning modes, combining dual DirtLifter brushes with heated cleaning and powerful suction for a deep-down clean, and also comes with BISSELL Deep Clean + Antibacterial formula. The formula deep cleans and controls odor-causing bacteria in your carpet – providing you with peace of mind and convenience.
Key product benefits:
• Lightweight Design and Low-Profile Foot – Weighing 18 pounds, with a low-profile foot, the ProHeat 2x Revolution allows for easy maneuverability around and under furniture.
• Deep Cleaning Formulas – BISSELL Deep Clean + Antibacterial and BISSELL 2X Professional Deep Cleaning Formulas refresh carpets.
• Detachable Hose – For upholstery and spot cleaning.
• Dual Powerbrushes – Feature 12 total cleaning rows for a deep down clean.
• Adjustable Cleaning Mode – The ProHeat 2X Revolution features two different cleaning modes
* Express Clean Mode offers great cleaning that dries in around an hour
* Deep Clean Mode delivers professional-style results when used with BISSELL Professional Formula**
It gets even better, For every purchase of the BISSELL ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet, BISSELL will donate $10 to the BISSELL Pet Foundation to help America’s homeless pets.
And now for the incredible giveaway! BISSELL is offering two product bundles (including a BISSELL ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet and BISSELL Deep Clean + Antibacterial formula). Two winners will be chosen at random from blogs participating in this campaign.
To enter to win, leave a comment on this post with your favorite spring cleaning tips. BISSELL will review all the comments and pick the winners that will receive the product bundles! So be sure to leave your email address in comments if your profile doesn’t include it. Good luck, and for more info, go HERE.
I will be hosting five family members in a small three bedroom house for Thanksgiving. I’m working on all of these things right now. I would add rethinking the organization of your furniture. It may work well for your day to day, but not for the busy home. Thanks for the awesome giveaway. April spiritedlife@gmail.com
What a smart tip! Thanks! That absolutely is something we’ve been doing lately, in anticipation of guests.
My favorite cleaning tip is to focus on one thing at a time. I am so good at starting in one place, then moving on before I’m done. It’s so much better if I start and finish one room, or one section, at a time.
And I really, really need a new vacuum. I’ll definitely be looking at Bissell.
Same here! I’m so all over the place. I think focusing on one thing at a time makes it much more palatable.
Neat!
A cleaning tip is to toss all the kid’s toys. You’d be amazed at how clean your home looks afterwards! I’m kidding. Sort of.
No, but really, clean one room at a time. Otherwise you’ll get overwhelmed and curse. Or maybe that’s just me.
hahaha! I laughed out loud. Cassidy would agree with you. And we do major purges every now and then.
And your tip is good – a bit like the one above you and totally brilliant.
My favorite is definitely decluttering and throwing away as much as I can as possible, because I truly hate when we hold onto too much and just don’t have enough space for it. That said I am thinking I may need to look into the Bissell though with Elsa here as she sheds something crazy and constantly giving my vacuum a workout for that and more. So, thank you for sharing about it here tonight! 😉
The Bissell would be great for Elsa! Athena doesn’t have a lot of fur, but she totally sheds. And cats do a lot too!
Since we have pets we ended up getting this as well. Well I got it for free but it was heaven sent. I don’t know how I lived without it before. Definitely love it and can’t recommend it enough. Those are awesome tips because we have kids and pets too.
Oh, nice! I’m glad you have it too. It’s pretty awesome and it was easy for Cassidy to put together.
Ha I am a clean whore! I need to find a vacuum worth getting but I have my eye on that Dyson V6 I think it’s what its called. Woop woop! The one we have has lost its umph and doesn’t work anymore. It was so nice today omg – was it nice up there too? I’m binge watching Gossip Girl and I can’t stop, it’s taking an inordinate aount of my time. Lol. You know Christmas is coming, I can always ship those malt chocolate doughnuts for you 🙂 Take Care Tam Tam -Iva
I hate when vacuums lose their “oomph.” Not cool.
I have seen every Gossip Girl ever, so we should talk. And I need to give you my address and surely take yours so I can send you delights as well. DOUGHNUTS!
OMG can we talk Gossip Girl? I’d screw the living daylights out of Chuck. He’s my favorite, as is Blair. She’s just awesome! Together they’re amazing and yet destructive, lol. Email or text me your addy!!! I am making those doughnuts, I’ll double the batch and make you guys some 🙂 FOOD!!!
hahaha! You just made me laugh. Chuck… well.. he develops a lot. That’s all I’ll say. I can’t wait to hear what you think.
Doughnuts, doughnuts!!
Cleaning is such a therapuetic activity for me…absolutely love being in a sparkly space! One thing I love to do is set a timer for 15 minutes, put on some fab music, and GO! I get as much done in those 15 minutes as I can, and after the timer goes off, I’m done! It’s amazing how much you can actually achieve in a short period of time.
That’s a great tip if you’re seeing this, Bissell! haha. I think music and timers are the key to really anything I do ever.
My favorite spring cleaning tip? Hmmm… I like to wipe the baseboards with a dryer sheet after cleaning them so they repel dust.
My favorite cleaning tip isn’t really about spring cleaning, it’s about laundry. Because laundry used to be my arch-nemesis. Then I learned this life-changing laundry tip. Now everyone in our house has two laundry baskets in their room. (Darks and lights) When a basket is full, it gets washed. No more holding court in the living room with two baskets of unclaimed laundry, holding up each piece asking “What about his one? Who does t his belong to?” This always left me with a basket still containing unclaimed items at the end of each session. No more wondering! No more sorting and filing stuff off into separate bedrooms! Oh, it’s lovely!
Now, I know this isn’t a big deal for you right now. It’s easy to tell stuff apart at your house. But with 5 kids? There comes a time when you do not want to go through and beg people to tell you which underwear and socks belong to them. You don’t want to remember who went to what concert and bought which t-shirt, ya know?
Now, if only someone could tell me how to stop the doggie tumbleweeds before they happen?
Yes, brilliant. Say we do have our third (which I assure you is not happening anytime soon, trust me) I think laundry for five people would need this. Cassidy does his own mostly, but offers to help with mine. And vice versa. We both wash the kids’ laundry or the household stuff. It does get hectic even with just four of us.
It seems like I’m always working on decluttering. Right now we are working on getting rid of some toys that they have outgrown.
I really need to invest in a carpet cleaner one day. Ou
Didn’t finish my comment before I accidentally hit submit. But most of our house is carpeted.
I think we’re about half and half. But the hardwoods get really scuffed and dirty too! Every little part of the house needs love.
I have 2 kids, 2 dogs, a husband that works in a shop and a house full of carpet, I definitely need this! My biggest spring cleaning tip is dust during the day and use natural light because it shows the dust better!
Yes, it sure does! ha! Sometimes I find it almost beautiful, but mostly when the kids point it out, I realize I need to clean.
Well yes mam that is a pretty awesome giveaway! I love how your dog looks like”Um I have done nothing to make these carpets dirty… It is all the children’s fault!” Go holiday prep! With Bissell we can do it 🙂
haha! She does look that way, right? Compared with kids and cats, I think she’s actually one of the cleaner ones in this house.
This is an AMAZING giveaway! We have been operating on a broken vacuum cleaner for a few years now and would love to win this! I’m a bit of a clean nut and actually wrote a blog post last year in preparation for spring on the top 10 cleaning tips for cleaning a house with kids (and how to get them to even help out). With 2 young kiddos cleaning is a necessity but also an arch rival with toys constantly cluttering the house: http://burlingtonvt.citymomsblog.com/2015/02/17/confessions-of-a-borderline-ocd-mom-top-10-tips-for-keeping-a-relatively-clean-house-with-kids/
I think my need to clean all stems back to a story from when I was a little girl and my sister used to trick me into cleaning the house by saying “let’s play Annie, you be Annie and I’ll be Miss Hannigan” and then would proceed to boss me around while I cleaned the house singing it’s a hard knock life. It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I realized she tricked me into doing all the chores!!
Anyways, would love to win this 🙂 taraerobertson1@gmail.com
Thanks!!
I would love for you to win this! Truly!
And it’s fun to see your post too and that we’re both bloggers with two kids in New England.
Yay! Thanks 🙂 Me too!!
Hi Tamara, it sounds like your holidays will be jammed pack full of fun and with that comes mess. Great idea to invest in one of these Bissell babies. I should have done that when my kids were young. Great idea to have a comfort gift basket for your over night guests! can I come to visit? LOL.
haha yes!! I really do need a B&B so I have room for all my super awesome out of town friends.
My cleaning tip is hire somebody to help but OMG the Bissell pet spot thing saved our lives!
ha! To both. Yes. I told Cassidy that we had to hire someone and he was like, “Bring it!” It’s just too much without.
The Bissell helps a lot too.
My biggest cleaning tip is from reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up: take out everything from one area (such as clothes) and go through it all at once and purge what you no longer want/need/makes you happy. Sam and I did this a few weeks ago and we got rid of a ton of clothes and really decluttered in that area.
This vacuum sounds pretty amazing, especially given how much our cat sheds!
Yes. Cassidy is on a Konmari kick and he’s working on the clothes right now and holy cow, what a project. I mean.. life changing.
So, just need to give you a cheer for #1…yay! Go! Declutter it! Let it go! Rah, rah, rah 🙂
That was a little nod to you and your awesome work!
I need that sooooo bad! Elderly dog = pee pee on the carpet.
My best spring cleaning tip PURGE THE CLOSET!!! If you have not worn it in two years, donate it. (or sell it online…there is an app for that!) This also works for stuff in the closets/garage like old sports equipment or toys. Reduce the clutter and your home all of a sudden seems bigger!
Plus, especially around the holidays, those less fortunate need things like coats and warm clothes. If you no longer need it or your kids have grown out of it, pay it forward.
Aw, Maggie! May you win it and love it.
Cassidy did a major closet purging over the weekend and beyond and I do think it was life altering and maybe even magical.
And think of all the people who got donations of awesome Grateful Dead shirts at Goodwill!
Uhm, hi. This is pretty much one of the coolest giveaways ever. I have a slobbery elder pup who likes to spread out on the sofa and drool on the pillows. I love him so much, I’d never think to move him (obviously I clean the spots later).
OMG, what pressure! Bissell is reading these comments?! STUFF EVERYTHING IN THE CLOSET! Does that count as a good spring cleaning tip? Actually my favorite is USE THE FILING CABINET FOR PAPER STACKS. My clutter tends to consist of stacks of paper all over and having a filing cabinet has really helped eliminate some of this.
XOXO
Hi! And thanks! Although sadly I didn’t come up with the giveaway. But I would!!
Just think about it. Bissell is reading YOUR words! And probably loving them.
I spent the weekend cleaning out closets. Getting ready for guests and ask ng inventory for Christmas shopping. In the spring I take the mattresses out side to air out! And I love packing away the winter gear.
You and Cassidy had the same exact weekend!! I hope it was as productive for you.
I need this like right now! Forget spring cleaning I need fall cleaning, and winter cleaning…sigh. I want that for Christmas btw…
Yes. All of the cleanings! I love January cleaning, when we take down the tree, put away the ornaments, and fly to Florida.
What a great value! The pricing on these is pretty good!. I clean a bit every day, just rotate areas of the house. I like a clutter-free home and by doing a little each day, it does not seem like a daunting task.
I love that! What a great idea. I think a little every day is better than a last minute scramble after two weeks, and before guests. We do that way too often.
Hi Tamara! I SO need this! Two little boys and two pets PLUS allergies and a room under construction! I can’t keep up! I LOVE that Bissell Is donating to such a wonderful cause!
Great review 🙂 you are rocking it girl! I am so proud of you!
Ooh, I really hope you win!!! You’d be the perfect candidate for such an amazing product.
Ugh! I’m constantly cleaning the floors here. My dog sheds like CRAZY!!! We have hardwood floors throughout the house, so you’ll find me at least twice a day cleaning the downstairs floors (because that’s where he likes to shed the most and the kiddos like to hangout downstairs too).
xoxo
I always had long-haired dogs and Athena isn’t one. But she totally sheds too! I find her cute little red furs on my black pants!
So, I think I need that vacuum cleaner. I have two cats plus major allergies, so vacuuming is a must, but my vacuum has seen better days… This sounds like a winner 🙂
I’m sorry about the major allergies! I get them in the springtime sometimes, but not every year. It’s hard to live here sometimes.
We need a new vacuum… BAD! With five indoor cats and a golden retriever we kind of need something hardcore, haha.. – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
Oh boy. Yeah. You need a Bissell!
Can I tell you how much I need something like this?! 3 kids, 3 dogs, 4 cats…plus major pet allergies for me (in the past year). I can’t believe how much our animals shed. I do my best to keep on top of it, but it is not easy.
Yes, this would be perfect for you!
I am already starting to get that ‘buzz’ of anxiety over family coming for Thanksgiving and all the chaos and dirt and incredibly busyness that ensues!! Your tips are perfect. And that vacuum sounds INCREDIBLE. I am allergic to dust mites and that alone is something that makes cleaning the floors from SO many people coming in my house a priority. I also host two different ministries in my home a week- and so I am constantly trying to keep up with the cleaning…
It never ends.
I get a little anxious about the holidays too, but mostly about traveling! And sometimes about certain family members. I can’t help it.
The Bissell is really incredible and great for people with allergies!
I have a similar Bissell vacuum cleaner and love that thing. It replaced a much pricier vacuum cleaner but this one works! Hope you have a fantastic holiday with your fam, Tamara!
Oh, I’m glad to hear that you love it!
I hope you have a fantastic holiday too!
Our dining room has carpet. Let me say that again: Our DINING room has CARPET! I don’t know who thought that was a good idea. And we can’t afford to re-do the floors (they are only concrete underneath, I’ve checked). I could use a good, deep cleaning vacuum for under the table, that’s for sure!
haha! Ours has hardwood floors and that’s hard enough. You need this product!!
My favorite tip is to not get overwhelmed (and I constantly have to remind myself of this) — make the family help! It’s easy to get sucked into the idea of “I have to do all of this cleaning by myself”. My hubby is a master craftsman at vacuuming (hehe) and my kids do all of the pick up around the house (toys, crayons, papers, etc) while I tackle the other chores. Everyone chips in, and that’s not optional.
I know that so well. Cassidy gets like that. He’s the martyr. And doesn’t ask for help and then gets overwhelmed when he doesn’t get the help he didn’t ask for.
So I hired a maid service to come in daily.
I mean… er.. I use the Bissell and I’m trying to be better!
We got rid of all the carpet because my eldest has asthma. Now the youngest does too. Best thing I ever did. I hate dirty carpets.
Yes, me too! Hence, our love for this Bissell!
My favorite cleaning tip is to use a slightly damp cloth to dust with. If the cloth is not damp, dust will go in the air and everywhere, which defeats the purpose of dusting, such a waste of time and effort. You can dust your kick-knacks, ceiling fans this way, as well. Thanks for the chance! jslbrown2009 at aol dot com
That is so true!! I forget that sometimes and just send myself sneezing.
Good luck with the contest! You gave a truly great tip.
Cleaning the floors is a constant battle with kids. I shudder just thinking about the nastiness underneath our kitchen table most days. Yuck. We have a steam cleaner of our own, and it’s definitely come in handy for accidental spills and things. Carpets get so gross so fast, too. Not that I would know…it’s not like nesting got a gigantic hold on me and had me steam cleaning the carpets in both the girls’ room and the nursery last July….
Our kitchen table too. Our dog does not do a good enough job with cleaning that up, actually. And then we use our Bissell to clean up her fur! Uncool, Athena.
Hosting for me is so completely exhausting. I love it but the clean up before and afterwards?! Lol I just want my two days off from work. Is that too much to ask?! I am looking into a deep cleaning vac so I appreciate seeing this one here!
I really, really get exhausted too. Although driving to New Jersey and back with two kids and a dog is exhausting too!
I have a Bissell! They are good vacuums. Ours has a hepa (??) filter which is fantastic since we do have a cat. I love the see through front so that I can see all the Lego, Barbie shoes and Shopkins that I accidentally sucked up. It’s a neat little toy story tornado. 🙂
Nice about the hepa! We’re in the talks of adopting a pure white cat. I had pure white pets growing up. Did not go well with anything that wasn’t pure white carpeting!
Hi Tamara, I have been what you would call domestically challenged all my life. My intentions are good, but domestically I’m just now very good! Scented candles, a coffee station and a hotel basket, have you got any room for me over the holidays?
The Bissell vacuum sounds perfect for us. We’ve never managed to find a vacuum that can successfully clean our carpets of pet hairs, luckily every spring they all come up and we give them a good scrubbing down outside and put them away for the summer.
xx
haha, yes, come for the holidays! Although I’d rather go where you are. All winter long.
i love vacuuming. for me, it’s such a zen, cleansing experience. i remember when i was in grad school and i didn’t have to be up early for anything, i just started vacuuming my apartment in a high-rise in chicago. then the lobby personnel called to ask me to please stop vacuuming, it was 3am in the morning!
HAHA! I’m sorry. That’s hilarious. Your neighbors must have looooooved you.
You know, I need to do like Thoreau did in Walden and toss out the rock. In this case, the rock is a whole lot of clutter that takes so much time to maintain that you don’t have time for anything else. Declutter, for sure.
My favorite cleaning tip is to double sheet the toddler bed. When I am done washing Aiden’s sheets I put a fitted sheet on his mattress like normal, but then I flip the mattress and put a fitted sheet on the OTHER side as well. This way if there is a midnight accident I can just take off the wet sheet and flip the bed! No fumbling around for a sheet! 🙂 mattandbranson @ gmail.com
I need a good one as well.. 2 kids and cluttering here and there :). This one looks like a great one to try :)..