With shorter, cooler days, wouldn’t you rather spend time curled up by the fire, with a good book, in stead of heading to the grocery store to pick up things like cleaning supplies, sponges, shampoo and candles? I know I would! That’s why I am so excited to tell you about Grove Collaborative. With Grove I can stay cozied up under a blanket because they deliver the best, natural products (carbon offset) right to my doorstep, on my schedule. They remember my favorites, and remind me when I’m about to run out of hand soap or shampoo.

Plus, Grove introduces me to great new products that I never would’ve found at my local grocery store. My Fall favorites are the Mrs. Meyer’s seasonal scents – Apple Cider and Mum. The Apple Cider smells just like real apples, it’s tart and juicy, with the right amount of spice. The Mum is a warm floral scent that reminds me of a fall garden.

With Grove’s exclusive offer for my readers, you can experience Mrs. Meyer’s seasonal scents for FREE!

If you’re new to Grove Collaborative you can get the set for free, in your choice of Apple Cider or Mum scent, when you sign up using THIS LINK. Here’s what you’ll receive:

• Free Mrs. Meyer’s fall seasonal hand soap
• Free Mrs. Meyer’s fall seasonal dish soap
• Free Mrs. Meyer’s fall seasonal multi-surface spray
• Free Grove Collaborative Kitchen Towel
• Free 60 Day VIP trial

To take advantage of the offer, all you have to do is spend $20, here’s what your first basket might look like including the Mrs. Meyer’s FREE fall set, and some of my Grove Collaborative favorites:

If you’re already a Grove Collaborative customer they want to make you feel special too! You can get the set at 50% off when you use THIS LINK or click on the box below.

Don’t forget to take advantage of the free 60 day VIP trial! My VIP membership has paid for itself with free shipping alone, but with the VIP membership you also get perks like price matching, exclusive sales, personal service and free gifts!

If you want to take advantage of this deal you have to HURRY!

There are limited number of sets and they will go quickly so make sure you click the box below and head over there right now, to claim yours, before they’re gone!!!

Here’s how to get yours:

1. Sign up for Grove Collaborative HERE. You will receive the Mrs. Meyer’s offer for FREE when you sign up.
2. Answer 4 quick questions about your home that Grove Collaborative will then use to customize your first basket (it’s super fast and you’ll be surprised at all the awesome products they pick out for you!).
3. Once you’ve answered the questions, you can finalize your basket of products to suit your household needs, by adding or removing items.
4. To receive this offer, your order needs to be a minimum of $20. Choose the combination of products and scents you love, and want to receive in your first box.
5. You made it! Click Finish & Pay and place your order.

And because Grove is a company that likes to give back, light of everything that’s been happening with Hurricane Matthew, on top of this great offer, they are going to donate $100 in 10 reader’s names, to the Red Cross hurricane Matthew relief efforts!

Photo credit: AP Photo/David Goldman (WTHITV.com)

They will randomly select 10 readers, who join Grove, before this deal ends on Sunday, and make a $100 donation in their name to the Red Cross Hurricane Relief fund. How amazing, and generous is that!? It’s acts of kindness like this that remind me there are still good companies out there, they aren’t all just big box chains.

Tip to save: Once you’ve submitted your Grove order, be sure to sign up for the free 60 day VIP trial. You’ll get free shipping, free gifts, price matching, exclusive sales, and personal service.

HURRY before they’re all gone!!!

This post contains some affiliate links, for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

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The post FREE Mrs. Meyer’s Fall Scents are HERE!!! appeared first on Ask Anna.

It’s pretty bad, and it was really starting to bug me.

But since we are in the middle of Fall Cleaning, I thought this would be the perfect time to show you how to wash windows without chemicals! I used to wash my outside windows with a bucket of soapy water and a squeegee, but since the SteamMachine has a steam attachment for windows I thought I’d give it a try!

Even our cat is sad about the super dirty windows!

Steaming the windows was a very quick and easy way to clean them and it was much easier then lugging around a bucket of water, a rag and a squeegee. We started at the bottom of the window and released the steam as we moved the wand up to the top of the window.

Then as we pulled the squeegee down, toward the bottom of the window, we would steam some more. Some of the windows we didn’t have to steam it both up and down, but on the really dirty windows we had to. The SteamMachine holds a lot of water so we were able to do 19 windows and doors before we had to refill the water tank!

Look at the transformation it made! No products, no chemicals, just steam!

Now we can enjoy the view from our house and not have to look through the “haze” of water spots and years of dirt. Cleaning the windows is not my favorite Fall and Spring cleaning task, but it is definitely one of the most rewarding!

How is your Fall cleaning coming along? If you still need a copy of my Fall Cleaning Printable CLICK HERE to print it.

This post contains some affiliate links, for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

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The post Fall Cleaning ~ How to Wash Windows without Chemicals appeared first on Ask Anna.

This week for Fall Cleaning we are going to be tackling 5 places we don’t normally think to clean. I told you a few weeks ago that I had received the Bissell PowerGlide Lift-Off vacuum and that I would be back to show you how it has helped me with my Fall cleaning!

Some of the things I really don’t like to clean (because you usually can’t SEE the difference, even though you know it’s cleaner) are blinds, lampshades, and fans. Luckily having a vacuum with a detachable hose makes these jobs a lot quicker and easier.

The easiest way to clean a lampshade, and the blinds, is to use the crevice attachment on the detachable vacuum hose. This gives the hose a more focused suction, which gets rid of the dust without wiping it into the fabric.

Mine were really dirty because of our demo a few weeks ago.

To clean the fans I removed the cleaning pod from the vacuum and climbed up on a chair to reach the blades. There are lots of ways to clean fan blades but I like to vacuum them first so the dust doesn’t have a chance to drop down on anything else in the house.

Fall is also a good time of your to vacuum and spot clean your furniture. I bet if you lift up your couch cushions you will be shocked to find what has been hiding down in the cracks! Start by removing all the cushions. Use the detachable hose to vacuum all the corners of the couch.

Next put the TurboBrush attachment on and vacuum the base of the couch and all around the outside of the couch.

This is a great way to get rid of any unwanted pet hair, as well as fluffing the fibers of the couch.

Once you are done with the body of the couch check the cushions for any stains. If you find a stain use (my favorite stain cleaner ever) Woolite Pet + Oxi to get it out. After you have removed any unwanted stains, vacuum the cushions with the TurboBrush to get rid of pet hair, dander, and to fluff the fibers.

The last thing we are going to clean today are the stairs. If you don’t have stairs then you’re in luck! You might be thinking, “I clean my stairs all the time”, and so do I, however when I clean them weekly I don’t detail all the corners to get out unwanted dust, hair, etc.

First take the crevice tool and vacuum each stair where it meets the wall. Then vacuum each corner where the stairs are joined.

Once you have vacuumed all the edges of the stairs then go back and vacuum, and fluff, the stairs with the TurboBrush.

Those are my Fall cleaning tips for today! If you still need to print your Fall Cleaning Checklist, click HERE.

There are so many more ways to use the BISSELL PowerGlide Lift-Off vacuum and if you would like a chance to win your very own vacuum head over to BISSELL’s Facebook page to enter to win the BISSELL PowerGlide Lift-Off vacuum or a $50 gift card to bissell.com!

After using the vacuum for about a month I would recommend it to a friend. It’s a good vacuum and very affordable. Here’s my honest evaluation of it:

Pros

• Great suction. Picks up things my other vacuum doesn’t (yes I did actually test it)
• The removable pod for cleaning, we use it all the time for stuff all over the house.
• The 27-foot cord. This is great because we have a very long house and I don’t like having to switch plugs all the time.
• Swivel steering is great for going around furniture.
• The adjustable handle. This is a nice feature because we are all different heights.
• The large dirt canister. I appreciate this feature so I don’t have to empty it out as often while I’m vacuuming.
• The crevice tool and the TurboBrush. I use them all the time, especially the TurboBrush.

Cons

• It’s heavier than other vacuums I’ve owned so it took some getting used to.
• I would like the stretch hose more if it were longer. With the current length you are kind of limited with what you can do.

If you can’t wait to win, and need a good vacuum sooner rather than later, then head over to bissell.com and use the code: POWERGLIDE to receive $20 off, plus FREE shipping for the following products: PowerGlide Pet Vacuum with Lift-Off Technology – 2763; PowerGlide Pet Bagged Rewind Vacuum – 38631; PowerGlide Pet Vacuum – 1044. Valid 9/12/2013 – 11/30/2013

The post Fall Cleaning ~ How to Clean a Lampshade, the Fans & more appeared first on Ask Anna.

When it comes to Fall cleaning, one of the things I focus on is getting rid of all the dust and dirt that made it’s way in the house, during the summer months. In our new house we have a few different types of flooring on the main floor, which means that dirt and grime get stuck in the floor transitions. It’s particularly bad in this house because I don’t think the transitions were ever cleaned before we moved in (or anytime in the last 22 years)!

I tried getting this gunk out with my regular steam mop, but because of the difference in flooring surfaces it didn’t work. Luckily HomeRight makes the SteamMachine, which was exactly what I needed to get rid of this gunk.

I attached the small scrub brush to the steam wand and used it to steam the dirt right out of the transition.

It was pretty gross because I got to see how much dirt was actually in there, but it felt good once it was all gone!

I cleaned all the transitions from wood flooring to laminate and it looked MUCH better when I was done.

Another place summer dirt likes to hide is  in all the nooks and crannies of fireplaces, appliances, etc. I used the SteamMachine to get rid of the gunk in these spots too.

I didn’t have to do any scrubbing, that SteamMachine literally blew the dirt right out of this corner!

Much better. I even steamed the caulking around the fireplace and it lightened up a few shades. (Seriously how can people let things get this dirty?!)

The other place in my kitchen that had gathered quite a bit of filth (you might gag when you see this picture) were the transition around all my appliances. I used the small wire scrub brush attached to the steam wand, and the grime came right off.

The steam even lightened up the floor a little. Every time I steam mop these floors they get one shade lighter. The house was SERIOUSLY filthy when we moved in.

There are lots of places where summer dirt, and dust, accumulate that you could use the steam want to get rid of it. For example behind, and around the toilet, the thresholds of all the doors, etc. These are just a few of them, to print my complete Fall Cleaning checklist click HERE.

To make the rest of your Fall Cleaning tasks easier I thought you might like to have the chance to win your own SteamMachine! With the SteamMachine, and it’s variety of attachments you can sanitize and clean floors, stovetops, ovens, kitchen countertops, bathrooms, grills and more. It doesn’t require the use of any chemicals and kills 99% of all germs and bacteria. There’s also an attachment for cleaning windows (more on that coming in a couple weeks) and removing wallpaper! Fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter to win your very own SteamMachine from HomeRight. Good luck!!!

This post contains some affiliate links, for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

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The post Fall Cleaning ~ Getting rid of Summer Dirt & a Giveaway!!! appeared first on Ask Anna.

Today I’m sharing my Fall cleaning checklist and in the days to come I will be breaking down some of these tasks, to show you how I do them, and I’ll be sharing some new cleaning tools that will make these jobs easier.

To make it easy for you, this Fall cleaning checklist is broken down into three categories: General cleaning, Deep cleaning and Outdoor tasks. Pick a category a day (or two) so you don’t feel like you have to accomplish the whole list in one day! If you can tackle the whole list in one day then you are amazing, and will you please come over to my house and help me? {wink}

For a printable version of the Fall Cleaning List click HERE.

Good luck with your Fall cleaning! Light a deliciously scented candle and have all the ingredients ready to reward yourself with a dark chocolate martini, and you’ll be done with your cleaning, and ready to celebrate Fall in no time!

The post Fall Cleaning Checklist & FREE Printable appeared first on Ask Anna.