Get your day back

“Turns chore time into your time”

Starting this month, Jelmar has launched their newest commercials for the CLR product line with the new theme line of “Turns chore time into your time.”  CLR products have always made quick work of the cleaning challenges you face in your home.  The less time spent on your cleaning chores the more time you can turn into your time.  Time for you to relax and enjoy your clean home.  To learn how to turn chore time into your time check out our latest commercials!

We are ALL looking for ways to get some of our day back from all the chores we have around the house.  Jelmar has a few ideas for you.  Keep your eyes open in January for the brand new CLR BRAND - FAMILY OF PRODUCTS commercials.  Our products work quickly and easily with no rubbing and scrubbing so you can get your chores done and get on with your day.  Check out the commercials…you’ll pick up a few time saving ideas!

Looking up to Dad

Have you ever felt that feeling of pride when one of your children looks up at you and you can see it in their eyes that they think you are the greatest?  Randy from Norman Oklahoma had that feeling when his son bought his first home and asked for his help with a problem he was having with his faucets.  Moments like these are priceless so I thought I would share this one with you.

“Hello, I have used CLR Calcium, Lime & Rust Remover for years and have always been very happy with the results.  My son just bought his first house and he was asking me what to do about all the faucets, shower heads, etc. that seem to be mostly plugged up.  Well, I told him I would be over in just a bit.  I grabbed my jug of CLR and went to his house.  After removing the screen apparatus from the faucets and taking the shower heads off, I loaded them in a container of CLR and let them soak awhile as I helped him with another project.  Later I removed all the items from the container and reinstalled them.  Without even trying the water flows after reinstallation (because of my strong faith in CLR), I told him to go turn on all the taps and showers.  My goodness you would of thought I had invented the light bulb!  He was so shocked and also very proud of his dad who he always knew through his life could fix anything.  I think he is still running around checking all the water flows.  CLR has made me look like a magician and my son a much happier 1st time home buyer.  Oh what a great feeling it still is to have a child look up to you in awe.  But alas, I told him about CLR and after pouring the used solution (less calcium bits) back into the bottle (recycled its still good) I gave him my jug.  All I can say is "thank you CLR/Jelmar," I have never written a company before about their product(s), but I felt so happy I just had to relate the story to you and thank you for such a great product.  Also when registering to leave a comment it made me pick a product, I had no idea you made all those other CLR type products of which at least a couple of them I will be purchasing in the next week.  Thank you so much for your time and keep up the good work.”

The weather is changing and it’s time to get the outside of your home ready for winter.  Clearing out your gutters, winterizing your irrigation system and cleaning your chimney will help make sure your home is safe over winter.  Cleaning your outside furniture as well as your grill will make spring cleaning a little easier too.  Jelmar’s CLR Facebook page has two articles that will help you create your winter “to do” list.  Check it out!

Real Moms Real Views blog recently blogged about how cleaning helped relieve tension, makes you feel better or helps you focus.  In their view, receiving these feelings of inner peace is made better if the cleaning is done in half the time.  They made these statements while they were reviewing CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner.  Besides the speed with which it cleaned, they also liked the different surfaces that it cleaned and the fact that, as they put it, “it doesn’t make you gag.”  For an independent review of CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner, go to Real Moms Real Views.

Are you always the first to pick up the broom or clear the table?  Do you have secret tips of the trade – perhaps a brilliant solution to getting rid of grass stains or making your dishes sparkle?  CLR wants YOU to put your cleaning talents to the test in the search for the CLR Cleaning Council – a panel of everyday experts who will share their insights, advice and tips of the trade.  Best of all, CLR will compensate you for your time and you may be able to participate in some media interviews.

If you are interested in entering, tell us why you would be a great addition to the CLR Cleaning Council in 500 words or less.  Submit all applications to Jolyn.koehl@ogilvypr.com.  Entries must be received by September 1, 2011.  A panel of judges will decide the finalists based on creativity, passion and expertise.  CLR will announce the panel in late 2011.

Thank you for entering and we wish you the best of luck on your application!

Alison Gutterman, President of Jelmar, has an unique relationship with her father.  Besides being her father, he is also the one who hired her to work at Jelmar.  Alison did not join the family business in the typical way.  In fact, it took her until two years out of college before she joined the company.  Read Alison’s Father’s Day post to see how it all came about.

In today’s hectic world everyone is feeling stressed out by the end of the day. Work, the kids, bills, the pressure builds as the day wears on and by the end of the day you need an outlet. My favorite outlet is my backyard. Last month Joe talked about cleaning your outdoor furniture with CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner. Now that your furniture is clean take a few minutes and go outside and relax. Smell the freshly cut grass and the fragrance of your flowers. Feel the cool breeze on your skin and enjoy the warmth of the sun. After a few minutes your stress will melt away and you’ll feel like new.

Sue

Have you ever wondered how families can balance the duties of business and parenthood? Alison Gutterman, the President of Jelmar, is in a unique situation. Not only is she the daughter of her predecessor as President, she now has two children that will grow up with their mother running the company. Alison recently began posting her feelings on business and parenthood in her blog. You’ll find how she began her career at Jelmar interesting reading. You may want to stop by her blog from time to time to read her thoughts on all aspects of business and family.

Sue

It’s February and everybody in my family is getting a little stir crazy.  It’s still too cold to do much outside, but if you want to curb the winter blues why not throw a picnic…an indoor picnic.

You’ll bring back memories of last summer by bringing some of the sights and smells of a picnic into your kitchen.  If you don’t have a grill top on your stove, get a stove top griddle or a grill pan.  Nothing will remind you more of an outdoor picnic than the smell of hamburgers cooking on a grill.  To go along with the hamburgers, make a few of your family’s favorite picnic side dishes.  We have some great recipes for Italian potato salad and baked beans on our site.  For dessert, if you have a gas stove or a fireplace, toast some marshmallows over the burners on the stove or in the fireplace and make S’Mores.

Sue

Family New Year resolutions

The new year is upon us and it’s time to make some New Year’s resolutions.  This year I am going to suggest something different.  Instead of making resolutions for yourself, make them for your family.

Every morning do you find a ring from your husband’s coffee cup and crumbs from the bread he used to make his sandwich on your granite countertop?  Are there hand prints on the new stainless steel refrigerator from your son’s dirty hands?  Is the counter in the bathroom dirty from your daughter’s makeup?  If this is the case, its time to give each member of your family a cleaning resolution.

To get started, decide which products they’ll need for their chores.  From the surfaces this family will be cleaning, I suggest giving the husband a can of CLR Stone Cleaner, the son CLR Stainless Steel Cleaner and the daughter CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner.  Instruct them on how to properly use the products and tell them what time of day to do their daily chore.

Once you have them trained and remind them a few times that they have cleaning to do, you’ll be able to enjoy a cleaner home without having to do the cleaning yourself.

Sue

As much as I enjoy entertaining indoors, I don’t like the fact that I have to clean my house.  I would much rather enjoy cooking and decorating for the get-together, but I want a clean house for my guests so I get my home “company ready.”  In my eyes, company ready means that all the areas of my home that will be trafficked during the get-together will be spotless.  Here are a few tips that will get your home clean for your company.

1) Before you set your table, take a look at your plates and glassware.  If you have water spots, take out your CLR Calcium, Lime & Rust Remover.

2) If you are having a big dinner for the family during the holidays, you will want to make sure that your dishwasher is in top shape with CLR.

3) To get your kitchen and bathroom really clean pull out your CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner.  CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner is safe on glass, plastic, fiberglass, ceramic tile and more!

4) To clean your countertops, CLR Stone Cleaner is formulated to clean without scratching and provide protection against spills, food and grime on a wide variety of surfaces including granite, marble, Corian and tile.

4) If you have stainless steel products, CLR Stainless Steel Cleaner removes dirt, residue, water spots and fingerprints from refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, grills, small appliances and more.  Once the item is cleaned, our cleaner will leave a streak-less, shiny protective barrier which repels dust, dirt, grime and even fingerprints.

5) One last suggestion for after the get-together.  Make sure you have CLR Power Plumber on hand.  Power Plumber can be used to unclog blocked sinks and tubs, slow-moving drains, double sinks, toilets, shower drains, floor drains and garbage disposals.

These are just a few tips on getting your house ready for company.  For complete directions on how to use these products refer to the bottle or go to our web site.

Sue

Have you ever wondered why you have to wear rubber gloves while using CLR products when they are EPA friendly and safe for the environment?  The scientific answer is that CLR products have a pH of about 2 while our skin’s pH is 4.5 to 5.5.  What does that mean?  It means the products in the CLR product line can cause dry skin.  Your skin will get dry enough this time of year.  Do your skin a favor.  When using CLR products, wear rubber gloves.

Sue

If you are anything like me or most of the people I know, you wait until the last minute to clean your house when friends or family are coming over. My normal cleaning habit is to take one project at a time, complete the project and then go sit down for a half hour. If you take this approach before parties, you’ll still be cleaning when your guests arrive. For parties, I always use speed cleaning to get my house shipshape for any get-together.

Speed cleaning takes some organization and no distractions for the duration of your cleaning session. Before you begin, eat something light so you are not hungry, get all of your phone calls out of the way and get some loud, up tempo songs on your stereo. Then pick a room to start in and get together all of the cleaning products you need for that room. It will help if you have a cleaning product like CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner that you can use to clean multiple surfaces. You’ll conserve time by not having to use too many different products while you are cleaning. Now it’s time to begin. Get into the rhythm of your songs and start cleaning. Don’t stop until you are done with the room and then move onto the next room. Before you know it, you’ll be done cleaning your house and you can sit down and relax before everyone arrives.

Sue

Jelmar and CLR recently conducted a study on couples or roommates, their cleaning practices at home and, in some cases, the resulting arguments. On October 20th, relationship expert Dr. Robi Ludwig was interviewed on the Today Show on the challenges involved in keeping these Chore Wars from affecting relationships. Watch the video and see her secrets to a clean home and a happy marriage.

Joe

A great way to teach your children teamwork and cleaning at the same time is to create a contest for the family. Make yourself and your spouse the captains of two opposing teams and divide your children up between the two teams. Next, make two lists of chores around the house from simple projects such as taking out the garbage to more complicated ones like cleaning the bathtub. Make sure each list has about the same amount of work to do and the difficulty factor is about even. Once your lists are done, let the contest begin. Have the children complete the chores while the parent supervises and instructs the child on how to complete the chore and with what cleaning product to use. When each project is done, time is called and the parent from the opposing team inspects the completed project. If the chore is completed properly, the contest starts again and the team that finished the project moves on to the next project on their list. The team that finishes their list first wins! My suggestion is make an agreement before the contest that the losing team has to get the winning team ice cream that way both teams win and your kids learn about cleaning and teamwork.

Sue

I’ve found that one of the best ways to motivate kids to clean is to make cleaning a game.  I’m sure you have all participated in a White Elephant gift exchange over Christmas.  My suggestion is to use a gift exchange as a motivation for cleaning.

Develop a list of chores to be done around the house that your children are capable of successfully completing.  Make some of them simple such as taking out the garbage and some of them more challenging like cleaning your shower enclosure with CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner.  Get a present for each chore that is commensurate with the difficulty of the chore.  Wrap the presents and you are ready to start the game.

Pick a child to go first and have them pick a chore to complete.  I would suggest starting with the youngest and going up in age.  Work with them to make sure that they complete the chore correctly.  Once they are done with their chore, let them choose a present, but don’t let them open the package.  Have your next child pick their chore and then, once they are done, their present.  Once all of your children have a present, start all over with the first child.  After the first child completes their next chore, they can either pick another present from the remaining gifts or they can “steal” one from one of the other children.  Keep going until all of the chores have been completed and then let the kids open their gifts.

Sue

When your kids get older, before they start working, they have reached a point in their lives when they need money but they have no other options other than to get money from you.  When that time comes, you’ll have your best occasion to teach them responsibility around the house and what it means to work for a living.  Instead of just giving them an allowance, develop a list of chores around the house that they can do to earn their allowance.  Teach them the proper way to complete these chores whether it is cutting the lawn or what cleaning supplies should be used on what surface.  I’d suggest using CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner if their chore is cleaning the bathroom since you can use it on most surfaces in the bathroom.  Show them how to complete these chores safely.  Tell them why they should wear safety glasses while cutting the lawn and wear rubber gloves while working with cleaning solvents.  Teaching them the right way to clean will have a long term benefit not only around your home, but it will lay the groundwork for them to someday keep their own home clean.  When you develop your list of chores assign a different pay for each chore depending on the difficulty and the length of time it takes to complete.  Your child will learn the harder they work the more money they can make.  Make sure that they have chores around the house that they have to complete that are not for pay.  After all, it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep their home clean.

Sue

Are you fighting a Chore War?

Did you know that 97% of all American couples who share chores around the house have a happy marriage? Find out who does the work around your house.

Stop by Chore Wars and have fun while you find out what type of cleaning personality you have and receive tips on how to avoid a cleaning battle in your home.

Cleaning toys for charity

How would you like to get your child’s playroom and your backyard clean of old toys as well as teach your child the virtues of helping their fellow man?  To achieve this lofty end, sit down with your child and explain to them that not all children are as lucky as they are and that those children don’t have any toys.  You can probably find a list of local charities to which you can donate the toys on your city’s web site.  Work with your child to help them sort out with which of their toys they no longer play.  You may have to remind them from time to time when they don’t want to give up a toy that some poor child would get a lot of fun out of playing with that toy.  Once you sort out which toys you are donating, look at each to make sure that they are in good shape.  No charity will accept broken or damaged toys.  Discard the broken toys and clean the other items you are donating.  Some of the toys you will just be able to throw into your washing machine.  For the plastic items, get out your CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner.  CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner cuts through outdoor dirt, grime, bird droppings, grease and food spills.  You can clean any plastic, rattan, wicker, wood, wrought iron, vinyl, PVC or canvas item.  CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner is safe on white and colored resin sporting or play equipment and contains UV protectants to keep outdoor toys from fading and discoloration.  Clean the toys outside and enjoy a beautiful spring day.  CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner won’t harm your lawn, shrubs, flowers or pets.

Sue

Teaching kids to clean

One of the harder tasks you’ll face in raising your children is motivating them to clean.  One technique that I have found to be successful is to tie the chore with a reward and to hide the entire lesson from the child.

My children love brownies.  Last Saturday, I had them help me make a batch.  While the brownies were in the oven, I told the kids that we needed to clean up the counter so that we could cut the brownies and have them with ice-cream once the brownies were done baking.  They were so excited about the treat that they actually forgot they were cleaning.  When cleaning my counters I always use CLR Bathroom & Kitchen Cleaner.  After my kids and I put on our rubber gloves, I had one of them spray the counter and the other look at the second hand on the clock.  After two minutes, I wiped the solution off the counter and had them rinse off the counter with cold, clean water.  Once we were done cleaning, it was time for brownies and ice-cream.  Now if I can figure out a way to get them to help with the dishes!

Sue

Coin collecting is a wonderful way that you can have fun with your children.  Start by buying them a cardboard coin folder for Lincoln head pennies and a roll of pennies for the folder.  Sit down with them, go through the pennies and help them insert them into the folder.

Now that they’ve started collecting, let the fun begin.  Every night when you come from work or the store, empty your change out on the table and look for any new pennies that your children can add to their folder.  When you go out together, check the spare penny dishes at convenience stores and small restaurants for pennies they may need.  The fun is in the searching!

Start with pennies because they are inexpensive and easy to find in your everyday life.  When you start finding some old pennies on which you have a hard time reading the date, get out your Tarn-X.  Before you begin using Tarn-X, keep in mind that some coin collectors feel that Tarn-X can lessen the value of a coin.  If you are collecting for more than family fun, research other ways to clean coins.  To use Tarn-X, first wash the penny in hot, soapy water, rinse and dry the coin.  Pour the Tarn-X into a small dish and set it on an old plastic tablecloth.  While wearing household rubber gloves, dip the penny into the solution, rinse in cold water and dry the coin with a soft cloth.  Do not leave the penny in the solution for more than two minutes.  If the penny is not clean enough to read the date, repeat the process.  When you’re finished, you’ll be able to see the date and your child will be amazed at the shine on their penny.

Sue

I have been told how difficult it is to get teenagers to do housework and that is why I was so pleased to get a note form Karen in Farmington, Missouri.  “I have tried every bathroom cleaner there is to remove soap scum.  Seems like nothing really works like they say they do until I tried CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner.  I was amazed at how great it worked. My tubs have never shined like they do now.  I have 2 teenage daughters who hated to clean their bathrooms until now.  With CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner the job is much easier for them and they love the results.  I haven't seen any advertising for this particular product.  I just happened to come across it at the grocery store and thought I would give it a try.  Glad I did.”

Glad we could help motivate your girls, Karen.  CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner is the fast, easy way and almost the only product you need to clean your bathroom.  Just remember, always use CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner in a well ventilated area while wearing household rubber gloves and test a hidden area of the surface before beginning to clean.  Never leave the solution on a surface for more than two or three minutes and always rinse thoroughly when you are finished.

Sue

At my house my kids always come first so when spring rolls around and it’s time for them to go outside to play, I pull out the CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner.  My kids are young so many things still go in their mouths.  They don’t care that their sandbox shovel has been lying out all year and that a bird left its calling card on the handle.  Into the mouth it goes!

I can’t afford to get new outdoor toys every year – who can.  The only thing I can do to keep my kids healthy is make sure all their toys are clean before I give them to them.  Over the years I’ve tried soap and water as well as every imaginable general cleaner.  CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner is specially formulated for outdoor cleaning.  I know when I use it on my son’s plastic shovel, bucket, chair and truck they are really clean.

Once I’ve cleaned my kid’s toys it’s time for me to get after my husband to get the rest of the outdoor furniture clean.  I’m amazed at all the materials and surfaces CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner cleans.  It will clean the full range of outdoor furniture surfaces from cushions to framework – even strapping – without harming surrounding lawn, shrubs, flowers or pets.  CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner cuts through outdoor dirt, grime, bird droppings, grease and food spills.  You can clean all of your plastic, rattan, wicker, wood, wrought iron, vinyl, PVC and canvas furniture.  CLR Outdoor Furniture Cleaner is safe on white and colored resin including resin furniture and sporting or play equipment and contains UV protectants to keep outdoor furniture from fading and discoloration.

Sue