Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties 10 Easy Upgrades for a Healthier Home ’Tis the season for pollen and pesticides, not to mention pet dander and disease-carrying creepy-crawlies. The editors at ThisOldHouse.com checked in with health and environment experts across the country for easy, inexpensive tips to help keep your home healthy. Here are 10 tips to keep in mind: Add mats on both sides of the door.  Up to 80 percent of the dirt that gets tracked inside—along with countless allergens, bacteria and lawn chemicals—can be caught before it makes itself at home with washable mats on both sides of the door. Establish a no-shoes-indoors policy.  Keep a basket of slippers or socks near the entryway for family members and guests alike. Create a pet checkpoint.  Treat cats and dogs with a monthly tick-and-flea medication, and use a fine-tooth comb to catch fleas before they come inside. Know that flea shamp...

Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties 3 Ways to Clean Your Sponges Sponges are a kitchen staple, but a clean sponge can spread grime all over your eating space. How often should you clean your sponge, and how should you do this? Don’t just trash a sponge when it begins looking spotty. Instead, clean them weekly, and toss them out monthly or sooner, depending on frequency of use. Our friends at Good Housekeeping offer the following solutions: Soak ’em.  Mix a third-quarter cup of bleach in one gallon of water. Soak the sponge for five minutes, then rinse. How effective is this? In testing, the bleach solution kills 99.9 percent of the three bacteria strains from the test sponges, which is the benchmark based on the EPA’s requirement for sanitization of non-food-contact surfaces. Brine ’em . Not a fan of bleach? Vinegar is nearly as effective, killing 99.6 percent of bacteria. Simply soak your sponge in full-strength vinegar for five minutes, then rinse w...