Reclaiming your home after the kids go back to school

It doesn’t matter whether your kids are toddlers or teenagers, having them at home for 6 weeks over the summer holidays has probably taken its toll on your home. So this month we’ve been chatting to Amy Treasure, founder of popular family blog, Mr and Mrs T Plus 3, to get her advice on reclaiming your home after the kids go back to school.

We’re also giving you the chance to win your very own powerful 18V MultiReach. Just enter via the app at the bottom of the page to be in for a chance of winning!

Were the holidays hard going for you, or did you enjoy every minute? Me personally, I let out a sigh of relief once all the kids were back at school/college and that’s not because I don’t love them being around – I really do, just perhaps not for 6 weeks – but when the house is my own again, and I can work in peace without being surrounded by mess, well, it’s my sort of haven really.

With the older two; Lewis and Holly being much older now (16 and 17 eek!) I do my best to teach them life skills such as being able to cook 4 basic meals by themselves (no child of mine is eating cold baked beans from a tin), knowing how to put a load of washing on without mixing darks and whites, and tidying up after themselves. I’ve taught this as standard and for the most part, I must admit I am quite lucky in that both of them prefer their personal space in the house when it’s clean and tidy but it can be an effort, shall we say, to get them to clear up.

For example, during the holidays I posted something on Facebook about the curious case of the missing forks…literally, every single fork went AWOL from the kitchen. They were found languishing (if a fork can languish) in various food containers, pot noodles and the like, on Holly’s windowsill. The replies to the post did make me laugh as it does seem that a lot of teenagers hoard mugs and cutlery in their bedrooms. Some sort of strange science experiment, or sheer bone idleness perhaps?

Mouldy crockery aside, the kids know that when I say clear out your bedrooms I mean business. Up until recently, I had the sort of vacuum you have to lug about, plug and all. You know, the one that follows you around and you have to tug at it to move forward which often makes it topple over like some weird vacuum turtle that needs to be rescued and yanked until it wheels freely again. All very time consuming.

Until that is, the BISSELL MultiReach Ion 2 in 1 cordless vacuum turned up on my doorstep. Happy days.

Now I know it’s not cool to get excited by a new vacuum, but I was and that is for two reasons: firstly, it’s CORDLESS which is pretty fabulous isn’t it? A cordless vacuum that you can just carry around with zero faff. Secondly, it has one of those removable hand vacuums attached! I have wanted one of those forever but have not been able to quite justify having two vacuum cleaners.

With the BISSELL MultiReach, you get the functionality of an upright with the ability to whip off the little hand held whenever you need to. Awesome stuff.

With the help of Holly and Rose (read: Rose was no help as vacuuming her own clothes was not part of operation clean bedrooms) we put the BISSELL MultiReach to the test.

We’d just stripped a load of wallpaper so it was great to give the stairs a whip over with the handheld.

It’s highly portable and, like I mentioned, easy to carry about. I found the handheld attachment excellent for reaching under beds and Holly gave the cobwebs near the ceiling and tops of the doors a good going over. We even vacuumed the curtains but this was more for effect as the curtains are actually brand new, but still you could do yours if they’re dusty.

The important stuff: BISSELL MultiReach Cordless 2-in-1 vacuum.

Detachable hand vacuum; cleans hard to reach areas
• Two-way folding handle; for easy reach and compact storage
• Cordless convenience powered by longer lasting batteries give freedom to clean around the house
• Swivel head cleans easily around furniture and makes the Lift-Off very manoeuvrable
• 18V LI-ION battery (powered by lithium ion technology)
• Edge reach technology
• Lightweight, weighs just over 3 kg

Does anyone else’s little ones eat stuff and then just chuck the leftovers on the floor? Honestly, it’s like I raised a little wolf cub when I look at Rose sometimes. She has this annoying habit of eating strawberries and throwing the green bit anywhere but back in the bowl. I’ve been using the BISSELL stain busting Carpet & Upholstery Aerosol which has come in really handy for spot cleaning in this type of situation.

Find offending stain, hold the brush head (attached to the bottle) over it and spray out a bit of foam, scrub lightly, leave to dry then vacuum and voila, good as new. Until the next time…

I’ve admitted on the blog before to being a bit of a clean freak and anything that makes my life easier and cuts down on time spent cleaning is a winner. The BISSELL MultiReach is great for around my home and would also be a perfect compact vacuum for student digs, something we’ll be thinking about very soon. It makes light work of cleaning up a room, reaching awkward to reach places and cleaning deeply into all the edges and corners because it’s so easy to use, it’s very powerful too.

Would you like to win one?

Of course you would! Here’s your chance to win a brand new BISSELL Multireach 2 in 1 lightweight cordless vacuum. Just enter below.