Spring is the season for deep cleaning. Everything from flowerpots to wheel rims needs to be cleaned.

 

Spring cleaning: hard work that pays off

 

Reuse is our absolute favorite word, and of course that applies to pots and saucers too.

Before reusing your pots, however, be sure to wash them out carefully to prevent unpleasant things such as fungi, bacteria, or other pests from spreading and taking hold in this year’s fresh plants. (Unless you washed them last autumn.)
Wash all pots; terracotta pots and plastic pots alike all need to be clean for a successful planting year.

 

 

Small, thin plastic pots can also be recycled, as long as you are a little careful when washing them; if they are broken, they should be sorted as rigid plastic.

What about the patina? The patina on a used terracotta pot IS very beautiful, but if you use soap flakes, you’ll notice that the pot becomes clean, while much of the patina you worked to create will reappear quite quickly. So there’s no need to worry!
You can find cleaning tools here!

 

Here’s how to do it:

A dish brush for flowerpots is very practical to have. With a coarse brush like this, it is easy to remove dried soil. You will find that the brush’s shape, matching that of the flowerpot, is very practical, although a regular dish brush works fine too. So … get rid of the soil stuck in the pots.

If you have had problems with particularly troublesome pests, you can freeze your pots to reduce the risk of them spreading, and of course consult your garden center, as they know how to handle and remedy problems of this kind. Pots placed outdoors to freeze must be completely dry; otherwise, they may crack.

Plastic and porcelain pots can be washed directly. Terracotta pots benefit from being soaked for a while beforehand.

Wash the pots with soap flakes. If you prefer solid soap, you can simply put a dab directly on the brush; if you choose liquid soap, you can pour it directly into the pot and scrub it clean with warm water.
The meticulous reader may now be wondering whether dish soap wouldn’t work just as well?! And of course the pots will get clean with dish soap too, but it isn’t quite as easy, and the fact is that algae, fungi, and similar organisms really hate soap flakes. It’s easier to get rid of such things with a good dose of soap flakes. Outdoor windowsills and garden furniture affected by algae can also be treated with soap flakes.

 

 

We wash the outside with an eco-fiber sponge and soft soap.

 

 

Let them dry, and then you can start planting.

 

Never pour leftover soil down the drain—it can easily cause a blockage! The sink and dish brushes must be cleaned thoroughly with soft soap after washing soil out of pots.

 

Geraniums and cuttings are part of spring. Taking cuttings from geraniums isn’t difficult. They’re hardy plants that tolerate both a little rough treatment and the occasional watering mistake.

 

Prune your scraggly, overwintered geraniums and take cuttings at the same time (cut off small branches that stick out and look healthy). If you have time, place the cuttings in a glass of water; roots will soon form. Otherwise, you can also stick them directly into the soil, but then it’s especially important to remember to water them. The new plant must not dry out at first.

 

This way, you’ll get lots of new plants. You can also buy cuttings at a florist or garden center.

 

 

If you get cuttings from a friend, be a little careful. Keep them separate for a week or so to make sure they aren’t carrying any infection or pests that could spread to your plants.

 

Feel free to place a plastic bag over the pot with the new little plant to create a small greenhouse and help the little plant grow quickly.

Tire-changing season means dirty fingers

 

Changing to winter tires is much more enjoyable if you take the time to scrub the tires and wheels, and it’s also much nicer to handle them when they’re clean—and they look so much better too!
A wheel brush is a great investment right now … it lasts an “eternity” and lets you clean your wheels in the blink of an eye. It reaches everywhere and doesn’t scratch!

Would you like more car-cleaning tips? There’s a blog about it here!

All the products used in the blog above are available to order at www.vasterbottenssap.se