Healthy Living

It’s that time of year again. Holiday parties are just around the corner in the Boston area, so if you’re planning on hosting or attending a party, take a moment to make sure you and your family are ready for such an event. Follow the tips listed below to not only make the most of your holiday party, but to also help the people you love to make the most of their own events. It’s the season of giving, after all. So do your best to give, both to yourself and your loved ones. Look Your Best A big part of holiday prep before a party goes into looking good before the event starts. Start getting ready early so that you can take your time.  Dry clean your holiday outfits  and if you plan to host parties at home, make sure you take your tablecloth and linens to the cleaners, too. With so much cleaning to do, it is best to simply schedule a  laundry pickup  to save time. While you’re working on looking your best, take a bit of time to make sure your home looks great too. If y...

Laundry is one of those chores that can be resource intensive and a significant polluter, but it doesn’t have to be. Yes, you can go green and get your laundry clean. There are a few simple things you can do to make wash day more eco-friendly. Do Full Loads A full load uses less energy and water than two half loads. Save water, energy, and time. Use Eco-Friendly Detergent Choose a laundry detergent without added dyes, fragrances, and petroleum-based chemical compounds.  Some dry cleaners offer  eco-friendly wash, dry, fold service  that uses custom detergent, formulated to be eco-friendly and boost cleaning power. Use Less Detergent Pay attention to the amount of detergent you use, too. Read and follow the directions on the detergent box. Too much detergent not only dumps more soap into the water, but also reduces the washer’s efficiency. Use Non-Chlorine Bleach Chlorine has many damaging effects on the environment, and you don’t really need it to get your laundry white....

We usually celebrate Mother’s Day with flowers and gifts for mom, taking her out to dinner and may be a shopping spree or a trip to the spa or salon. While our city is still in lockdown, with restaurants, salons and shops closed, how are you celebrating Mother’s Day? Mother’s Day Gifts For the most part, we can order gifts online and get them ready by Mother’s Day. If you cannot get a gift delivered in time, don’t forget that your  local drugstore  is still open and carries a variety of  health and beauty products  that your mom would love – from age-defying skin care, hair coloring and styling to perfumes and manicure products. Your  community pharmacy  may provide curbside service so you can stay safe. Take a load off Mom is always busy caring for her family. The list of household chores is never ending. During the quarantine, the amount of cleaning and disinfecting has probably quadrupled. So a great gift would be to take over some of her wo...

Everyday household tasks can become a source of anxiety in these times. Do you start worrying about how to get the basics done while keeping yourself and loved ones safe and healthy? Simple hygiene measures can help. Personal Hygiene A piece of advice that is repeatedly stated by the authorities as a top precaution is to wash our hands frequently with soap and water or use hand sanitizer. Make sure the soap or sanitizer fully covers your hands, then rub hands together for 20-30 seconds. For hand sanitizers, use those that contain at least 60 per cent alcohol.  Having trouble finding hand sanitizers in the grocery store? Try your  community pharmacy . If they have the ability to provide  compounded medications , they may be able to produce sanitizers themselves. Remember to avoid touching your face because the virus is spread through droplets that may cling to surfaces that you touched. Cleaning Clothes There’s no research as yet on how long the COVID-19 virus ...

Newton has the fifth largest senior population in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and older people are known to be at higher risk from COVID-19. Although the city is working to make sure seniors are safe, you may be wondering if your parent or senior loved one who lives alone needs extra support during this pandemic. The best thing you can do is encourage them to stay home and practice social distancing to avoid exposure. Here are a few things to make staying home easier. Before you talk with your loved one about the need for COVID-19 precautions, get up to speed on facts and information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or from the state or local health department. This will help you be better able to correct any misinformation they may have. If there is home health aide , some precautions are needed. Discuss with the home care agency  what protocols they have in place to reduce risk. In addition to helping with activities of daily living, the  home caregiv...

With the COVID-19 outbreak surging in Boston, we are all concerned with keeping our home and family safe from germs, bacteria and viruses, especially when you have  seniors living at home . You know how to keep your floors and surfaces disinfected, but what about your clothes and linens? When someone in the household becomes ill, it’s even more important to disinfect laundry to keep the rest of the family safe. Here are some easy ways to disinfect your laundry. Photo by  Annie Spratt  on  Unsplash Tips for Easy Disinfecting When someone in your home is sick, try to have them use 100% cotton sheets and clothes in light colors. This makes them easier to disinfectant in the washing machine using the strongest possible disinfectants. Wash all contaminated items separately from other laundry and wear gloves while handling it if possible. Wash your hands after and avoid touching your face. Safe Laundry Disinfectants to Use at Home Although it’s great for re...

Canadian stand-up comedian, Russell Peters, once joked that everyone in Boston thinks they are Irish. Indeed, St Paddy’s Day Parade is a major event in the city of Boston, which is often called the capital of Irish America. The parade has been running since 1901 in South Boston, the most Irish neighborhood in Boston. It features marching bands and pipe bands from throughout North America, as well as colorful floats, music and plenty of Irish good cheer. The parade begins at the Broadway 'T' Station and ends at Farragut Road, South Boston. Stake out a spot somewhere on Broadway for a good view. Whether you are Irish or not, it’s certainly worth sharing in the fun. Clearly, you need to dress the part – in green, preferably with Irish luck motifs like shamrock, or a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. You can even go all the way by dressing as a leprechaun, with green tall hat, red beard and even green hair! Be careful when you dye your hair and use other hair pro...

We all love our furry friends, but the truth is they can be quite messy and smelly. Unlike humans, pets keep themselves warm with their soft fuzzy fur. But that fuzzy fur can shed, collect dander and be annoying to clean. Besides the hair, even the best-trained pets have accidents or throw up, usually in the most inconvenient of places. So for my fellow animal lovers, here are some tips on how to remove pet stains and odors from your home. Carpet Stains Pet stains on the carpet are the most frustrating since I can’t pack up my floor and take it to the dry cleaner near me or throw it in the laundry . But before you call a professional carpet cleaner, try this method. After soaking up as much of the fresh stain as possible with a towel, mix two cups of warm water with two cups of vinegar and four tablespoons of baking soda. Pour the mixture into a clean spray bottle and saturate the stain. After letting sit for 10 minutes, blot dry with a towel. For extra odor removal, sprink...

Stains can be extremely frustrating, especially if it’s on something noticeable like the carpet or a favorite piece of clothing. Some items might be able to be saved by taking to a  Boston dry cleaner , but let’s try to salvage them at home first. Read on for ways to remove stains around the house using easy to find ingredients. Baking Soda Baking soda is pretty much a superhero when it comes to stain removal. To make a stain-fighting paste, mix a few tablespoons of baking soda with a little bit of water at a time until it forms a thick paste. For carpet stains, rub the mixture on using an old toothbrush, let dry and then vacuum up. This is a great method for pet stains because it acts as an odor remover as well. For clothing, blankets and comforters, mix a bit of laundry detergent with the baking soda paste and pre-treat stains with a toothbrush or small nailbrush. Let sit for about 20 minutes before washing normally. You may need to repeat the process once or twice more ...

The New Year is right around the corner, so it's time to unclutter your life. When was the last time you cleaned out your closet? Are there clothes that need washing, or even professional cleaning by a dry cleaner ? Put them in a pile and if there are a lot of clothes that need cleaning, it is wise to use a laundry delivery service . It's a great idea to donate the clothes you no longer wear, but what about those pieces that aren't quite in shape to donate? Or the pieces you want to hold onto but aren't sure how to use them? Read on for some ideas on how to repurpose the clothes in your closet. A T-Shirt Quilt Have lots of old band or travel t-shirts sitting around? A t-shirt quilt is a super cute way to preserve your memories while repurposing those old shirts. If you're not the crafty type, don't worry. There are several different companies and services that do this sort of thing for you or, ask around for local artisans. Turn Long Sleeve Shirts i...

When most of us think about taking clothes to our Boston dry cleaner , we think of our work casual wardrobe, suits, dresses and maybe some of our fancier attire like gowns, dresses and delicate materials. But there is actually more items that are safe to be dry cleaned than you realize. Read on for some surprising items that can be taken to the  dry cleaners nearby . Designer Jeans We all have at least one pair of designer jeans that we splurged on because they just fit so amazing. To keep them fitting so amazing, did you know you can take them to the dry cleaners? Dry cleaning services include denim garments like jeans and jackets. Premium denim can lose it's shape and color in the laundry when you run them through the washer and dryer. So to get your money's worth, take those fancy jeans to the dry cleaners. Comforters Depending on what material your comforter is made of, you may be able to get away with washing it at home. If you have a down comforter, you should av...

Condo prices have gone up again this year in downtown Boston, according to Boston Magazine. For example condos in the South End area cost nearly $1 million while in Back Bay they are over $1.2 million. As more and more businesses in the innovation economy move to Boston, mostly technology and life sciences companies, the demand for residential condo units go up. Most of these condo developments are in the high end category and concentrated in the Seaport District, Back Bay, West End and also across the river in Cambridge. South End is one of the most desirable places to live in the City of Boston. There you'll find interesting upscale specialty shops, coffee shops and restaurants, convenient services like dry cleaners , salons, and friendly community pharmacies . The brownstone lined streets are charming and relaxing with plenty of green public areas. It's also a stone's throw from major shopping centers in Copley where you can find major luxury brands. There is...

Do you want the best results from your  Boston dry cleaner ? Take a few minutes to prepare your clothes before bringing to the dry cleaner. A little preparation before sending your  laundry  to the dry cleaner helps make sure you get satisfactory results.  Here are a few tips for preparing your clothes for the dry cleaner. ​Read the Care Tags Make sure you send the right clothes to the cleaner. Their tags will tell you whether or not an item can be dry cleaned. If the label says “machine wash or dry clean” or “dry clean only,” you’re good to go. Notice whether items have any additional special instructions for handling, and separate them from the rest so the  dry cleaner in Boston  can easily identify clothing that requires special care. Empty the Pockets We all accumulate things in our pockets: pens, gum, makeup, and even small toys.  Things like lipstick, gum, and ink pens can damage clothes if you leave them in the pockets. Cleaners...