#1 Secure the corners

The first trick was inspired by duvet covers we purchased for our girls’ shared bedroom (they got big girl beds!).  When I first put the duvet covers over their comforters, I noticed at one short end of the duvet cover (on the inside) there were two fabric straps hanging from each corner.  I immediately knew what these were supposed to be for, but I kind of wondered: (1) why are there only two sets of straps, and (2) what am I supposed to tie these straps to?

I came up with a solution to the problem by using an old t-shirt to create my own loops and straps for the duvet and comforter.  On each corner of the comforter I attached a strap to make a loop and sewed it onto the comforter. No one will ever see the comforter without a duvet cover over it, so it doesn’t matter that my sewing abilities are novice level. Next, on the inside of the duvet cover, I sewed two straps on the corners that didn’t have straps.

These sets of loops and straps make it really easy to keep the comforter inside the duvet cover from slipping down when my girls tug the covers up over themselves at night.  And they make making their beds super easy, too.

#2 Putting the cover on

I have to wash our duvet covers a LOT – little kids are messy!  So, I need a really easy way to get the duvet cover on, and off, the comforter. The easier the process is, the more likely I am not to put it off until another day.

Here’s my tutorial for the simple process to get a duvet cover ON a comforter:

1. Place the duvet cover inside out, flat on top of the mattress, with the opening of the duvet, at the foot of the bed.
2. Lay the comforter on top of the duvet and tie the straps of the duvet cover to the loops of the comforter.
3. Starting at the head of the bed, roll the comforter, and the duvet cover, toward the foot of the bed.
4. When the comforter is fully rolled up, tuck the corners of the comforter inside the duvet cover. (see picture above).
5. Next button/snap the duvet cover at the opening.
6. Holding the corners that were at the foot of the bed, unroll the comforter back up toward the head of the bed.

It reads like it is a little bit complicated, but I promise, it isn’t!  It is as simple roll it in, roll it out.  I also made a video tutorial – so you can see how it’s done, and how easy it is to do!

I hope these two simple tricks will help you enjoy your duvet covers more, while also making it easy to help you keep them cleaned regularly. No more that late-night tugging and fighting with the duvet cover!

Leah

Simple.Home.Blessings.

Looking for more Simple.Home.Blessings.?  Here’s what’s new over at my site:

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The post 2 Duvet Cover Tips that will make Your Life SO Much Easier! appeared first on Ask Anna.

We have this horrible red dirt that gets all over the place and is hard to clean up, especially in all the grooves of our new patio. I tried sweeping it but the red dirt didn’t want to come up so I thought I’d get out the Deck Washer and give it a try.

As you can see in the video the Deck Washer made cleaning up the red dirt, and chalk, so easy! My favorite feature is the nozzle that controls how much water is being put out. It’s convenient in a summer where we are in the middle of a drought but it’s also nice because I can turn it to release less water, so I’m not spraying things in my outdoor kitchen/living room, that I don’t want to get wet.

If your home has a deck, patio, sidewalk and/or front porch (so that’s probably almost all of you) I highly recommend investing the $38.00 for the Deck Washer, I promise you will thank me.

Disclaimer – This post is sponsored by HomeRight but all opinions are my own, as always. I will always tell you if I think a product is just “okay” but if I tell you I love it then it means I really LOVE it! I have included an few affiliate link to the product, if you buy through the link I get a small commission but you don’t pay a cent more than you normally would. Thank you for supporting Ask Anna!

The post The Easiest Way to Clean a Deck or Patio *video tutorial* appeared first on Ask Anna.

We’ve owned a handful of houses since we’ve been married and honestly we’ve never taken the time to seal or stain a fence but Matt is so proud of this fence (I’m telling you, it’s hilarious) that we want to keep it looking nice for years to come. Since I love my HomeRight Finish Max Pro Fine Finish Sprayer so much, I thought I’d give it a try using it to stain the fence, because who wants to spend their weekend rolling stain on a fence, no thank you.

The Easiest way to Stain a Fence (or anything really), here’s what you need:

• HomeRight Paint Sprayer
• Stain (here’s what we used)
• Wood sealer
• Mineral Spirits (for the clean-up)

This post is sponsored by HomeRight but all opinions are my own, as always. I will always tell you if I think a product is just “okay” but if I tell you I love it then it means I really LOVE it!

Step #1 Picking out the stain

I enjoy picking out paint and stain colors so this is fun for me but I know for some it can be stressful. Unless you work with the product a lot it’s hard to know what it’s going to look like when it’s actually on your fence, as opposed to the sample in the store. If you aren’t sure what color to pick take a picture and ask one of the sales associates to help you. For our project I chose Minwax Red Mahogany stain color because I wanted to coordinate with the red brick on our house. I know it’s not technically our fence but our house is the only one there so I think it’s important for it to look good standing next to it.

Step #2 Load the sprayer

Once you’ve picked out the perfect stain, get the paint sprayer all set up. Pour the stain into the paint container and attach the spray gun. Set the gun to the spray pattern you want to use.

Step #3 Staining

Just like you would if you were rolling the stain on, spray the stain on in the direction of the grain. Since the grain on the fence goes up and down Matt used vertical strokes to apply it.

If you want the stain to be darker apply multiple coats. We applied 2 coats to our fence to get the color we wanted.

Step #4 Sealer

This step is optional but I want to make sure our fence stays looking nice for a long time so we decided to take the extra step and go ahead and seal it while we were at it.

Pour the remaining stain back into the container. Once most of it is out of the paint container add the sealer. I didn’t clean it out in between because I figured a little extra stain wouldn’t be bad.

Apply the sealer the same way you applied the stain, using strokes that follow the direction of the grain. Once you’ve finished applying the sealer pour the remainder back into it’s container.

Using the Finish Max Pro Fine Finish Sprayer made this project go SO fast! From start to finish the whole thing only took us about 30 minutes, isn’t that amazing?!

Here’s a little video to show you exactly how fast and easy it was.

Step #5 Clean up

Rinse the paint container out with water to get any remaining stain or sealer out. The trick to making clean up super easy is this magic, it’s called Mineral Spirits.

Pour Mineral Spirits into the paint container, cover the top with your hand and shake it really well. After shaking it well empty the paint container, rinse it with warm water and set it aside. Pour a couple inches of Mineral Spirits into the container.

Next unscrew all the parts of the spray nozzle and remove the pick up tube, rinse them with warm water and place them in the paint container with the Mineral Spirits. Let them soak while you clean the body of the sprayer and then use an old toothbrush or a small scrub brush to scrub the stain off of them. You’ll find that the stain comes off really easily so you should need to do very much scrubbing.

While the little parts are soaking run warm water through the sprayer to rinse the majority of the stain out. then pour Mineral Spirits though the sprayer to clean out the inside. Use a toothbrush or small scrub brush, and a little Mineral Spirits, to clean all the little nooks and crannies of the sprayer. Once the water runs clear (should only take a couple rinses) set the sprayer aside to dry.

This project was so easy even my husband was shocked! He kept telling me I was genius to think to use the Finish Max Pro Fine Finish Sprayer and then he was equally shocked at how easy it was to clean up! So if you have a staining project you’ve been putting off because the thought of it is too daunting, don’t wait any longer!

Did you know this is one of my most popular posts!? To see more of the posts people love click on the titles below:

• How to Update an Ugly Bathtub
• How to Paint a Perfect Line – Click HERE for the video tutorial
• How to Stain Brick to Update it’s Look
• An Easy Solution for Storing Foil and Plastic Wrap
• The BEST Moscow Mule

For your convenience this post contains some affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

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The post The Fastest and Easiest Way to Stain a Wood Fence appeared first on Ask Anna.

Welcome back to another week of “Love to Clean”! Last week I shared all my favorite cleaning products, what I’m currently using to clean my home, and today I’m hear to share why I’m naming the HomeRight Steam Machine Plus as my favorite steam mop. Make sure you stay ’til the end because I’m giving another one away!

It’s actually not quite accurate to say “my favorite steam mop” because the HomeRight steam mop is more than a mop, it’s a SteamMachine! A couple weeks ago I showed you how it could easily clean even the nastiest grout but today I wanted to show you why I love it not just as a SteamMachine, but also just as a basic steam mop. Let me also preface with the fact that this is my 4th steam mop, among ones I’ve purchased and been given as reviews, and this is my most favorite, the one I choose to use when I’m cleaning my own home.

Here’s why I love it –

• It’s light weight (which makes it easy to whip around)
• The triangle-shaped mop head makes it easy to get into corners and around furniture
• The head of the mop also swivels, which makes maneuvering the mop super easy
• It heats up in a flash! I usually don’t have a lot of time to clean so this is a really nice feature.
• The steam heats up to 205 degree temperature which kills 99.9 percent of germs and bacteria (a lot of steam mops on the market do not get this hot so your floors might look clean but aren’t actually clean)
• The steam is hot and the mop puts out the perfect amount so that it cleans but dries quickly. If you have kids you know why this is important! It also makes it so that I’m not worried about water sitting on my wood floors for too long.
• The handle folds down which makes it nice for storing it in the coat closet

Now that I’ve told you why I love it so much, let me show you why I love it. I’m a visual person so seeing something always helps me understand it more, oh and yes, I’m a total goob in this video, I kept saying it “vacuumed” and of course it does not vacuum because it’s a steam mop! I guess it’s that natural blonde coming out.

Now it’s your turn to enter to win one of these amazing SteamMachines! Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter to win and good luck! If you don’t win you should still get one, trust me, you will thank me after your first use! You can purchase them on Amazon for $128, and it’s worth every penny, because remember it not only cleans the floors but it’s also cleans grout, around toilets, greasy places in your kitchen, windows, mattresses and so much more!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post My Favorite Steam Mop & a Giveaway! appeared first on Ask Anna.

Last April I wrote a post showing how I turned our ugly pink bathtub and tile surround, into a thing of beauty with the Rust-Oleum Tub and Tile Refinishing Kit.

Since posting the pictures and my video review of the project, I have received countless questions about how the bathtub is holding up, if I’m still happy with it and would I still recommend it.

During the process of painting the tub.

So almost a year later I’m back with a follow up video to answer your questions and let you know what I think of the product, how it’s holding up and more!

Now that you’ve heard my thoughts, I’d love to hear your thoughts! What do you think of the product, would you give it a try on your ugly bathtub or tile counter?

See the original video tutorial HERE. To purchase the Rust-Oleum Tub and Tile Refinishing Kit click HERE.

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

The post Rust-Oleum Tub and Tile Refinishing Kit, a Year Later (video update) appeared first on Ask Anna.