B&D Buddy – 7

Dear B&D Buddy,

I am a newcomer to DIY and am very interested in creating a unique piece of furniture on my own. When I check online DIY forums, I hear about so many technical sounding woodworking tools that I don’t know where to start! Please help.

Confused in Chennai

Dear Confused,

We have all gone through this stage when getting into serious DIY for the first time; so don’t let this make you hesitate to jump in! These are the most common tools that you will need for woodworking:

• A saw for cutting the planks of wood to the desired sizes
•  A router for cutting in precision and with angles and curves where needed
• A planer for removing a surface cut and leveling the pieces, in thicknesses such as 2mm at one go
• A sander that can level for finer thickness and help in sanding your wood.

Depending on the project that you embark on, you may need at least 2 or more of the above. Do check out our range of woodworking tools from B&D here.

Easier Said than Done!

B&D Buddy

How to Create a Cleaning Schedule for your Home

Do you ever feel like the time that you spend on cleaning and the final look of your house don’t seem to match? This is mostly because of the dust and clutter that builds up on a daily basis and are tedious to handle continuously as and when you see them. Here are some simple tips to create a cleaning schedule that will help you keep your home visitor ready at all times:

Club tasks together based on regularity: Is the TV stand in your living room gathering dust too quickly because there is a construction activity happening next door? This means that you need to add it to the list of daily activities for now. An example of a weekly activity would be changing the sheets on your beds and something like rearranging the cupboards could be done on a monthly or even longer schedule.

Set a time: Choose a time of the day when you are high on energy and do not work continuously for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Try to do some of it when convenient, such as the TV stand cleaning can be done during one of the commercial breaks of your favourite show or movie. Try not to delay any tasks other than just clearing out the dining table to the end of the day, unless you feel this is your high-energy time.

Schedule your time well for a clean kitchen http://bit.ly/1gYZsQI

Get help: Nobody expects you to be Superwoman (or Superman!) and do it all yourself. Delegate the simple chores to your children; you might just have to make it sound more creative and fun for them. You will find a lot of help online as well, with varieties of cleaning checklists and schedules like this one already available for you to tailor to your own home.

B&D appliances are also meant to help you clean your home more quickly and efficiently. Do check out more about them on our website:

http://www.blackanddeckerindia.in

Tips to teach kids about DIY

DIY is not just something that kids should learn, it is a way of life. It is a great way to teach children to be independent and to think about how to do something themselves, instead of expecting help for it. This doesn’t mean we are suggesting handing your toddler a drill just yet, but there are many ways in which you can reinforce an interest in DIY:

Setting an example: This is always the first step when trying to teach kids about something. If we say something, and do something else, kids are very fast to pick up and will not really learn what we expect them to. I think most parents would be nodding their heads to this already. So let’s pick up that drill and make that first hole in the wall, to start our kids on the DIY journey as well.

Introduce DIY kits: Whether your kids are interested in cars or dolls, buy them something where they would have to put together a car or toy instead of just getting it readymade. You would be surprized to note that this retains their interest in the toy as well, as they would realize the work that goes into it.

Making a kite can be a great DIY activity for kids http://bit.ly/1eSMt7d

Involve them in simple chores: Unless we introduce children to simple tasks, they would never know their capability at doing something. Even a 4 year old can fill those water bottles if you provide the means to do it. A fun activity like packing gifts or even making some on their own is a great one to do with kids. You will definitely see them have a sense of pride at achieving something new.

Our appliances from Black & Decker make DIY easy for you, and make it easier for you to pass on the enthusiasm to your kids too. Do check out our website for details:

http://www.blackanddeckerindia.in