Ask the expert: holiday speed clean

Question: Time is at such a premium during the holidays, any tips for speed cleaning before guests arrive?

“I think everyone can relate to this question,” says design and décor expert, Janette Ewen. She suggests doing a major clean in November to keep the focus on maintenance leading up to the holidays.

If that's not possible, she recommends having the right items on hand to do a clean-up quickly and effectively. According to Ewen, it's amazing what can be accomplished in half an hour, “You always want to create a good first impression, so spend ten minutes cleaning the entrance way and clean the floors with a Swiffer Sweepervac. Chances are your guests will use the bathroom, so spend another ten minutes wiping down surfaces and mirrors so it will smell fresh and look clean. I find Mr. Clean Disinfecting Spray is perfect for this. Finally, use the last ten minutes to remove clutter—this alone will make your house look cleaner and more organized.”

Janette Ewen has been one of Canada's leading décor and lifestyle experts for more than a decade, passing on her passion for design to avid fans through magazines, newspapers and television.

A home inventory may be the best gift of all

(NC)—The season of giving is all about sharing time with family and friends, the light of children's eyes as they open presents, and festive holiday music playing everywhere. But with all of the gift giving over the holiday season, Aviva Canada is stressing the importance of a home inventory.

A home inventory protects you in the event of theft or major damage.

But many Canadians think –“it's okay, I have insurance.” And while the peace of mind that property insurance provides allows us all to sleep at night, most don't realize what a traumatic experience these events can be.

“Trying to remember all of the items in your home can add to an already stressful event. Having an inventory of items in your home is one of the best ways to prepare yourself,” states Wayne Ross, insurance and claims expert with Aviva Canada. “Besides helping ensure you have the right amount of insurance, an inventory will help settle your insurance claim faster.”

Sure, but who has time to go through every item in their home? The task need not be onerous and can be as easy as taking a video account of each room in your home. Many insurance broker or insurers also prepare content lists that can act as a helpful starting point.

Whether you conduct a video or written inventory of your home, don't forget to keep your inventory in a safety deposit box or other safe place away from home. That way you'll be sure to have something to give your insurance representative if your home is damaged. You should also keep in a safe place a record of legal documents, such as birth certificates and passports, and financial documents, such as bank account and insurance policies on your inventory.

More information is available from your insurance broker or avivacanada.com

Mount your television on the wall for style and safety

(NC)—Wall mounting your TV not only looks great, but did you know, it's also safer than setting the screen on a piece of furniture? The ultra-thin flat-screen TVs on the market these days are easily prone to tipping, potentially causing damage or injury.

Mounting your television is a great way to add instant style to any room, and it keeps your expensive TV investment intact and people safe from accidents. Mounts are easy to install and a great do-it-yourself project for any homeowner.

Here's another benefit of TV wall mounting you might not know about: Mounted TVs may actually improve your entertainment experience. Studies have proven that when watching TV at increased angles from the screen, people notice significant colour degradation and loss of picture clarity. Full-motion and tilting mounts allow you to adjust the screen's position for the best possible viewing angle.

More information on TV wall mounting is available online at www.sanus.com.

Top five flu prevention tips

(NC)—There are a few simple steps families can take to avoid the spread of influenza this winter. “Canadian moms are always looking for ideas to keep their families healthy—especially during flu season,” says Minnow Hamilton, founder of SavvyMom.ca, one of Canada's top websites for helping women manage modern-day motherhood. Simple tips like these can help Canadian families prevent the spread of influenza.

Minnow's Top Tips to stay flu free

Maintain a healthy diet—Eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grain and protein will help build a strong immune system.

Cough/sneeze into your sleeve—When there are no tissues around, remind kids to sneeze or cough into their sleeve. Learn more on the proper way to sneeze from the Public Health Agency of Canada (www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/influenza/flupc-eng.php)

Count to 20 when washing your hands—When it comes to hand washing, parents with young kids should supervise to ensure all areas are thoroughly scrubbed with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds. Try singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” or “Happy Birthday” with the kids to make hand washing fun—capturing their attention with a song will help them wash for the recommended 20 seconds.

Disinfect and clean surfaces—High traffic areas in the home can become a breeding zone for influenza. Try adding another step into your weekly cleaning routine by wiping down faucets, door knobs, remote controls and floors with a cleaning product like Mr. Clean with Febreze freshness disinfectant liquid which is formulated to kill the flu virus (influenza A2) when used as directed. This extra but simple task can help to prevent the spreading of germs.

Rest when you need it—When you're feeling the pinch of the flu, it's important to stay home and rest especially if you work around little ones. Your body needs rest and your friends and colleagues don't need the flu. Every little bit counts to prevent the flu virus from spreading.

More helpful tips and tools to keep your home clean can be found online at www.mrclean.ca.

Safe Kids Canada launches a new fire safety campaign

(NC)—Canada's leading child safety advocacy organization is teaming up with the country's leading smoke alarm manufacturer to support parents to help them take greater responsibility for their kids' fire and burn safety.

Safe Kids Canada, through its partnership with more than 2,000 community organizations across the country, has announced plans to create a new national fire safety outreach program. On average, 19 children aged 14 and under are killed by fire or smoke each year in Canada. Nearly 600 are hospitalized.

“Children are the most vulnerable when fire strikes. Their safety ultimately rests with their parents,” says Pamela Fuselli, executive director, Safe Kids Canada. “It is a parent's responsibility to give their children every possible chance of survival from smoke and fire. So a big part of our education effort will focus on preventative steps parents must take.”

The Safe Kids Canada announcement comes on the heels of an unprecedented five-year, North America-wide partnership with market-leading smoke alarm and home safety product manufacturer Kidde. In Canada, more than 80 per cent of smoke alarms sold are manufactured by Kidde. The company already supports numerous public education programs with fire departments and fire safety organizations and views broadening that commitment with Safe Kids Canada as a natural extension.

“When it comes to fire safety, complacency kills,” says Carol Heller, a home safety specialist with Kidde. “In two of every three fires where there are fatalities, investigators find no working smoke alarms. Either the batteries are missing or expired, or the smoke alarm has been removed from the ceiling or was never installed at all. It's a parent's duty to equip the home with fire safety devices and to equip their kids with fire safety knowledge. This will be the core of our Kidde for Kids program with Safe Kids Canada.”

Some additional tips for parents:

• You have less than three minutes to escape a fire. So when smoke alarms sound, everyone in the family must know what to do and where to go.

• Evacuating a burning or smoke-filled home places different demands on parents depending on the age.

• Stress to children never to go back into a burning house to retrieve pets or personal items.

• Install one smoke alarm per storey and outside bedrooms. Install inside bedrooms if you sleep with doors closed.

• Buy alarms with a 'hush' button to deal with false alarms. This way you can silence an alarm while the smoke or steam clears, but you remain fully protected in case a real fire breaks out.

• Replace all smoke alarms over 10 years old, whether battery operated or hardwired into your home's electrical system.

• Teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like to reduce shock and fear when it goes off.

More resources for parents can be found on the www.safekidscanada.com and www.safeathome.ca web sites.

Home building essentials for heating your home

(NC)—When building or renovating a house there are number of factors that need to be addressed to create the best home environment possible.

Heating is one of these factors, yet a recent national survey from Ipsos Reid found a lack of awareness and consideration around this issue. A Beautiful Heat survey looked at Canadians' perceptions and awareness of home heating. The poll found that almost all respondents (96 per cent) said the type of heating in their home would be an important factor. However, when it came time to buy or renovate their home, just over half (51 per cent) said the type of heating system wasn't a consideration and almost two-thirds (65 per cent) said their contractor didn't offer them a choice.

The poll also revealed that Canadians want their heating system to be:

• Cost efficient: Most surveyed (93 per cent) want the production of heat in their home to be more cost efficient.

• Energy efficient: The majority (92 per cent) want the production of heat in their home to be more energy efficient.

• Clean and healthy: Eight in 10 wish the air in their home could be cleaner.

• Uniform in temperature: Nine in 10 (90 per cent) of those with inconsistent or uneven heating wish they could have a consistent temperature throughout their home with no areas that are hotter or colder than others.

• An efficient use of space: Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of those with bulkheads in their basement wish there were no bulkheads affecting the usable space available.

Canadians can find all of these attributes in radiant heating. It provides significant environmental, economic and architectural benefits to homeowners. It works by moving warm water through a network of tubes in floors, walls and baseboards spreading heat throughout the home. Instead of forcing hot air into a cold space, a radiant system is engineered to bring uniform, even heat to every corner of every room.

Homeowners who are renovating or building a home can visit BeautifulHeat.com to learn more about radiant heating. The site includes information on radiant heating systems, a number of useful videos, and it can also help homeowners find a Beautiful Heat installer in their area.

How to craft a lot of fun for the holidays

(NC)—Across our beautiful country, Canadians are actively preparing for one of the “most wonderful times of the year”. They gather in the homes of their loved ones, sing carols in front of a crackling fire and decorate their homes with holiday cheer. Because of the brisk air outside, Canadians are poised to take full advantage of the warmth that homemade holiday décor can bring to their homes.

“The holidays are a perfect time of year for families to get together and get creative,” says Shelli Gardner, cofounder of Stampin' Up!, a crafting and décor company explains.

“Whether you're decorating your house prior to the festivities, creating a perfect table setting for your holiday meal or gathering all of your memories in a scrapbook, our crafts will give you and your family a lot of options this holiday season.”

There are so many ways to add the perfect pinch of pizzazz to your home says Gardner, and here are a few:

Decorate

Nothing is more festive during the holidays than a perfectly festooned home. Stampin Up! offers you a variety of ways to turn your home into a yuletide extravaganza. The holiday stocking Bigz L Die, for example, lets you cut paper or fabric to create your own stocking. Bigz décor elements are fantastic holiday-themed vinyl pieces that create a beautiful damask background to bring the spirit of the season right into your home. You can also add a hint of holiday flair with the stitched felt and quilted satin ribbon, which allow you and those you love to design the perfect tree ornament or greeting card. Top these off with mini jingle bells to make your seasonal projects and décor ring out.

Greet

The designer series paper makes the art of card creating a cinch. You and your family will want to wrap yourselves up in these warm textures to create cozy cards for the holidays. Nothing spreads cheer faster than handmade greetings. You can even add a touch of glimmer and give them an antique look with embossing powder.

Set the table

Letterpress plates give an embossed look to items, lending a hint of year-end joy to any gathering. Use various cards to assign place settings, label dishes and create cocktail themes. The time it will take your family to make the table cards will definitely allow the chef of the house to focus on the feast.

Give

The holiday spirit is built around love and generosity for others. There is no greater way to share your love than through a personalized gift. Why don't you bake some homemade cookies and customize them with sweet pressed cookie stamps to give to your neighbour who shoveled your driveway last week? These stamps are food- and kid-safe and can be used with your favourite shortbread cookie dough or fondant. Better yet, give your sweets a personalized touch by placing them in a homemade decorated box wrapped with the designer series paper and designer fabric.

“As you can see, there are so many ways to add seasonal merriment to your home,” says Gardner. “Anyone interested in learning more about these creative ideas is encouraged to attend a demonstrator's workshop. Visit www.stampinup.ca to find a demonstrator in your area and add a little spice to your holiday.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms last forever…don't they?

(NC)—If you have smoke and carbon monoxide alarms installed on every storey of your home and outside bedrooms, and they each have fresh batteries, give yourself a pat on the back.

But if any of those smoke alarms is more than 10 years old, or any CO alarm is more than 7 years old, your family safety efforts are being wasted. Because just like other appliances and devices in your home, smoke and CO alarms wear out and must be replaced.

While newer models have a built-in “end of life” warning - a chirp that tells you to replace it - older ones do not. So how can you remember to replace alarms, and, when?

Follow the '10/7 Replacement Rule'. It goes like this: replace any smoke alarm after 10 years, and any CO alarm after 7 years. It doesn't matter whether your alarms are battery operated or hardwired into your home's electrical system. The 10/7 Replacement Rule still applies.

Other handy home safety tips can be found online at www.safeathome.ca.