Tell us your household tips

[kenny]

This one is "Save on Plumbing Bills".

Before bedtime pour a quart of bleach down each drain.
Cover the drain with plastic wrap if you don't want the bleach smell.
When you wake up pour a huge pot of boiling water down each drain.

Do this every other month or so or when you notice a drain is slow.
Works like a champ.

What are your household tips?

 

[janinegirly]

Novice here, so nothing to add, but I would LOVE to hear of ways to keep on top of dust..you know those annoying dust balls that form in corners and on wood tables. I do try to sweep, clean, dust--but they come back so fast!

Is there something that can assist with staying on top of it (other than a maid .

 

[packrat]

I had our ducts/vents cleaned once and thought it was THE best thing ever. If I could afford to do it every year I would. I seriously did not see dust in the house for months.

 

[elrohwen]

Oo, that's a good tip about the drains. I usually buy a bottle of draino, but bleach is easier because we always have it on hand. Didn't know it would work just as well.

I use white vinegar mixed with water (50/50) for cleaning up pet accidents. It's safe for animals if they lick it up and neutralizes pee smell. It does smell vinegary for a second, but that dissipates quickly.

Cider vinegar left out in a glass is good for trapping fruit flies. They'll congregate on the inside of the glass, then I cover it with plastic wrap and shake the vinegar to trap them. And some fly right into the vinegar on their own.

I use the vacuum hose attachment to get pet hair off the wood floors and to dust furniture. It doesn't dust quite as well as a cloth, but does a good enough job that I only have to dust half as often and it's a lot faster. It's great for getting tumbleweeds of pet hair and dust without having to move furniture and things. Just sucks it right up.

 

[kenny]

Date: 5/4/2010 3:02:13 PM
Author: janinegirly
Novice here, so nothing to add, but I would LOVE to hear of ways to keep on top of dust..you know those annoying dust balls that form in corners and on wood tables. I do try to sweep, clean, dust--but they come back so fast!
Is there something that can assist with staying on top of it (other than a maid .

Central vacuums, CV, may be worth a mention.
All regular vacuums send the finest particles of dust back into the room, because all vacuum bags and filters leak.
The have to.
If they didn't they'd just keep expanding and explode like a ballon.
Even those HEPA ones send the finest dust back into the room which settles on everything after vacuuming.

CVs are groovy because the dusty exhaust air, instead of being blown back into the room, is sent outside through a pipe.

People think CVs are too expensive and the tubing must be installed when a house is built.
Not so.
I put one into our old house.
The 42-foot hose reaches the entire house from a central outlet so plumbing was a breeze for me to do myself.

If your house is bigger may be cheaper to install one motor unit on each side of the house to avoid or minimize plumbing.
My power unit was about $600 and I know people spend more than that on portable vacuums.

This vendor had great prices and service.
They'll even have their techs walk you through the installation.

Click

 

[packrat]

Kenny, we''ve talked about the central vacs too..we didn''t realize they were so cheap (relatively speaking) tho! Thanks for the heads up on that!

 

[PinkTower]

I bought some Sabatier knives and the saleswoman told me how to clean the blades:

Wet the blade a bit and sprinkle Comet on water spots, stains, and whatever else won''t come off. Then, rub with a wine cork until clean. The shine on the knife isn''t scratched, and you don''t have to worry about cutting yourself because the cork is close to the blade instead of your hand. We live on an island, and our water is quite hard. This works wonders.

 

[yssie]

-plastic wrap on the windows in winter to keep heat in
-egg-white and sugar wash to cover holes in pastries when I poke at them to see if pies are done
-bits of spare aluminium foil in place of brillo pads for dishes
-2pks powdered lemon koolaid or orange tang and a couple of tsp vinegar to clean the dishwasher

 

[radiantquest]

Date: 5/4/2010 4:27:53 PM
Author: yssie
-plastic wrap on the windows in winter to keep heat in
-egg-white and sugar wash to cover holes in pastries when I poke at them to see if pies are done
-bits of spare aluminium foil in place of brillo pads for dishes
-2pks powdered lemon koolaid or orange tang and a couple of tsp vinegar to clean the dishwasher

So do you put the two packs of kool aid in the little door where I would normally put my pod?

 

[yssie]

Date: 5/4/2010 7:32:21 PM
Author: radiantquest

Date: 5/4/2010 4:27:53 PM
Author: yssie
-plastic wrap on the windows in winter to keep heat in
-egg-white and sugar wash to cover holes in pastries when I poke at them to see if pies are done
-bits of spare aluminium foil in place of brillo pads for dishes
-2pks powdered lemon koolaid or orange tang and a couple of tsp vinegar to clean the dishwasher

So do you put the two packs of kool aid in the little door where I would normally put my pod?

Yup. I usually mix in a little dishwashing liquid and vinegar and warm it up a little before using it - it seems to make the powder more soluble or something. I could be imagining that. Gets the thing clean, though!

 

[zoebartlett]

I was going to suggest Tang to clean the dishwasher. My friend told me about it last year and I thought she was nuts. Turns out though, she was right! It workes great!

 

[yssie]

Date: 5/4/2010 7:43:59 PM
Author: Zoe
I was going to suggest Tang to clean the dishwasher. My friend told me about it last year and I thought she was nuts. Turns out though, she was right! It workes great!

Tang works really well on tarnished brass, too.

 

[ladyciel]

Barkeepers Friend - it's a non-abrasive powdered cleaner that does AMAZING things for getting spots/tough messes off of pots, pans, knives, the sink, counters, etc...basically any hard surface. It gets rid of lime and rust marks w/ almost zero effort, and I've found nothing else that shines up the stainless kitchen sink quite as well. All-clad recommends it for use on their stainless steel pots, which is how my mom found out about it before passing the tip on to me. It comes in a gold can similar in shape/size to Comet, is cheap, and one can goes a looooooong way.

 

[kenny]

I''m starting to think Tang is something we should not be drinking.

 

[Indylady]

Date: 5/4/2010 11:36:59 PM
Author: kenny
I''m starting to think Tang is something we should not be drinking.

I love the stuff when I''m sick, but I''m starting to think that too.

 

[HopeDream]

Tang as cleaner: It's just the citric acid in it - degreases and dissolves mineral deposits (mainly calcium and magnesium). Citric acid is water soluble so your body can flush out the excess no probs. Might keep away scurvey too

The active ingredient in Barkeeper's friend is oxalic acid - (300 times more powerful than vinegar)

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 5/4/2010 11:36:59 PM
Author: kenny
I''m starting to think Tang is something we should not be drinking.

Hahahaha! That is exactly what I was thinking!

Put a cut lemon in a bowl of cold water and microwave it for five minutes before you clean the microwave. It loosens anything stuck on and gets rid of any food odours. You just have to give it a quick wipe out after that and it''s sparkling.

If you have a dishwasher, put your kitchen cloth in it before you turn it on (I saw this on How Clean is Your House) to keep the cloth fresh.

Bicarbonate of soda sprinkled generously on rugs and carpets soaks up odours and generally freshen them up. Leave for a few hours then vacuum.

Windows only need to be cleaned once every 7 years.*

Jen

*this is true. We moved into our house 7 years ago and a couple of weeks back we cleaned the many, many windows. Within a week, they looked as bad as ever. Windows can only get so dirty, and they do it in the first week after cleaning. You might as well leave them alone.

 

[soocool]

Date: 5/4/2010 2:56:49 PM
Author:kenny
This one is ''Save on Plumbing Bills''.

Before bedtime pour a quart of bleach down each drain.
Cover the drain with plastic wrap if you don''t want the bleach smell.
When you wake up pour a huge pot of boiling water down each drain.

Do this every other month or so or when you notice a drain is slow.
Works like a champ.

What are your household tips?

I use white vinegar instead of bleach, but I do this with most of our drains each month. I even run one dishwasher cycle a month using vinegar to keep it clean.

Before I go on vacation, I put a cup of bleach in the toilet. No rings around the toilet when we get back. I also clean/ disinfect the washing machine with just a hot water/bleach cycle each month.

Ditto, the Barkeeper''s Friend for use on the sink and shower. All water stains and calcium deposits come right off.

I use old stockings as a duster. All dust sticks to it and will put an old stocking on a yardstick to clean under the stove and under the refrigerator (tight spots).
I also use old stockings to clean deodorant marks on garments. They come right off and no lint!

 

[soocool]

Date: 5/4/2010 9:25:26 PM
Author: ladyciel
Barkeepers Friend - it''s a non-abrasive powdered cleaner that does AMAZING things for getting spots/tough messes off of pots, pans, knives, the sink, counters, etc...basically any hard surface. It gets rid of lime and rust marks w/ almost zero effort, and I''ve found nothing else that shines up the stainless kitchen sink quite as well. All-clad recommends it for use on their stainless steel pots, which is how my mom found out about it before passing the tip on to me. It comes in a gold can similar in shape/size to Comet, is cheap, and one can goes a looooooong way.

It also comes as a creamy liquid cleaner too!

 

[geckodani]

If you''re sensitive to bleach you can dump a cup of baking soda followed by a cup of vinegar down the drain and let the foaming action clear it out as well.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

PSA from bitter experience - don''t put bleach down your toilet or drains if you have a septic tank. It can kill the bacteria that makes the tank work and it will be expensive...

 

[TooPatient]

Date: 5/5/2010 11:07:28 AM
Author: Mrs Mitchell
PSA from bitter experience - don''t put bleach down your toilet or drains if you have a septic tank. It can kill the bacteria that makes the tank work and it will be expensive...

Thanks for the reminder.

We have a septic tank and I don''t keep bleach in the house because I had heard somewhere it is bad for them.

 

[TooPatient]

Fruit fly catcher:
Enjoy a glass of wine with dinner and leave the nearly empty (just 1/4 inch or so on bottom) wine bottle out on the counter over night. Use a damp cloth to clean around the opening and outside of the bottle. The fruit flies will go in to get the wine and not be able to get out again. (Try different types of wine -- they like some better than others.)

Extra fresh laundry:
Every once in awhile I add baking soda to a load of laundry. It comes out even cleaner and fresher smelling than usual. (don''t do too often since it might wear on your fabrics)

Dust:
Our forced air system has an allergen filter on it. Certain air vents get an extra air filter to catch anything that may have made it through the first one. Vacuum often (including hardwoods & furniture). Use Swiffer pads (just the plain dry ones) to dust since it clings to them.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Baking soda does a pretty decent job cleaning sinks. It''s not as good as comet, but since baking soda is nonitoxic, it can be sprinkled in every morning and wiped up to lightly freshen up the kitchen. Yesterday, my cat sat next to me (up on the counter - bad kitty) and hung out while I cleaned up and there was no concern about him breathing in the fumes!