Household Tips

[jkpescador]

Anyone care to share household tips on keeping your home in good condition? I would like to know what cleaners your use? How do you remove mildew? Any neat projects you did to save energy, space, etc?

[lavagal]

Re: Household Tips

hahahahahahaha! oh my! i'll need to read this!

[Miulang]

Re: Household Tips

Simple Green for just about anything that needs cleaning. It's biodegradable, doesn't contain any harsh chemicals (safe around kids and pets) and it really works. We've used the original product for years and years. Now they've come up with specialized formulas for different types of cleaning, but the DH just used the original Simple Green formula and some elbow grease last weekend to degrease a garage floor that had about 6 months' worth of oil on it and it worked perfectly.

There's even a $1.00 off coupon on the website.

Miulang

[tutusue]

Re: Household Tips

With any luck my suggestions will be superceded with better ones as I, too, am always in search of the best products (hopefully mutipurpose).

I think I mentioned a couple of years ago that I use Dawn dishwashing liquid not only for dishes but also in place of laundry detergent. It does a great job on both.

Swiffer is my friend and I'm now trying to decide which one to use on my new, laminate flooring...wet or dry or both, interchangably. Advice appreciated. I also use the newest Swiffer duster, the one with an extendable handle and disposable, shaggy, fluffy heads. Love these!!!

I've used Oxiclean for years as a laundry additive in place of bleach for colors. It works on whites, too, with a 15 min. pre-soak. When I got spots on carpeting, Oxiclean worked very well. I'm now happily rid of carpeting, tho'!

I'm a fan of the Mr. Clean eraser sponges/pads. The Safeway brand equivalent works just as well for less money. They're great for marks on the wall, fingerprints on laptops, keeping the tub/shower/walls clean (once clean...won't work on heavy soap scum)

Now, all that said, can anyone confirm something I read...somewhere...that only bar soap causes soam scum on showers, tubs and their walls. IOW, the soap that remains on these surfaces, if not removed, hardens back to original consistency. And, that liquid soaps don't cause a problem or, at least, as much of a problem as they don't harden.

Saving space really boils down to a lack of accumulation. So, purge, purge, purge!

[Karen]

Re: Household Tips

Sue, I dig Swiffer a lot! I use it several times a week. My daughter's townhouse has those laminate floors and she uses the wet and dry, the dry like a quick vacuum and the wet for dirty floors. She says they both work well and she's the one that turned me onto Swiffer wet. It works really well on our ceramic tile.

I have never tried Oxyclean, so thanks. I was assuming it was just another tv infomercial ripoff. now I am wondering about the other types of products that Oxyclean makes. I think I've seen it in a spray bottle like windex is, at walmart, vaguely seems so.


We live without dishwasher and Dawn is the only soap for me. I read at plumbing sites that it really is better cuz of grease. we're just now trying Bio-Clean for buildup in the sink drain pipes. Had to have a plumber out cuz it got totally clogged after five years in this house. (Man! even in the eighties I woulda never dreamed I'd ever agree to live without a dishwasher, again)

Bio Clean is a bunch of pancreatin digestive enzymes and some safe bacteria, so safe reportedly that the salespeople put some of it in their mouths at trade shows. I bought it cuz it's safe for the kitchen sink, meaning the next day I can rinse the sink, of course clean it again and not worry if any of that stuff backwashes into the side I wash dishes in. (It was 45 bucks for two pounds but only takes a tablespoon at a time, and I already know Pancreatin isn't cheap cuz I take it sometimes)

ah, the magic Erasers! I like them a lot for the fridge handle, and they can actually make milk-white grout less stained but what a tedious job! Never, ever buy a house, heck rent or whatever a house with milk white tile!! and grout....dumb, very dumb...looks good when new, and then the staining begins no matter how often you mop, yikes! If anyone knows of any miracles for the grout, lemme know.

Soap scum! ARGH...I have a life and it doesn't include scrubbing tile for hours, sigh. oh the floor of the shower and the bottom of the tub looks great cuz the bleach does all of the work, but the scum! Yes, I can believe that the liquid body soaps don't make scum cuz they aren't the consistency of the bar soap to start, but if I am running late that liquid soap can drive me crazy cuz my skin feels as if it isn't rinsed completely off, LOL. Otherwise, I dig the stuff and some of it smells so good that who wants to get it off?

[Peshkwe]

Re: Household Tips

If you have sharpy marker or ball point pen ink on a vinyl surface use the acne cream Oxy10 on it. It'll take a bit of time but it'll fade right out, putting the thing so the sun hits it speeds up the process.

I found this out when my youngest (then 3yrs) decided to 'decorate' an old vinyl doll I had as well as her older sister's Barbie dolls. Just put a thickish coat on the ink marks and let it set for about a week. It'll work on car dashboards and seats too, comes in handy if you've ever forgot a pen sitting there and the heat from the sun made the ink bubble out all over.

[Pomai]

Re: Household Tips

My sister moved into a rental home temporarily while she hunts for a place to buy.

She hung their pictures and other decorations on the walls all around the house using those removable 3M Command wall hangers. No drilling required.

When they move out, she'll be able to remove all of them without damaging and repairing the walls.

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Iodized table salt is great for absorbing freshly-spilled liquids on carpet. Especially dark stuff like red wine or fruit juices. Pour a liberal amount over the spill and let it sit until you see most of the salt clot and absorb the spill, then vacuum the salt up. Usually there's little or no stain left behind. If necessary, use an appropriate carpet stain remover to finish the job.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Household Tips

Windex with ammonia in the kitchen when cleaning any place that has a greasy build up.

Clorox spray cleaner for mildew in the tub and shower and on the shower curtain. I also use it to pretreat the tile floor or carpet before shampooing.

For outside mildew, I use a 3 gallon yard sprayer. Fill it with about 1 1/2 cups of bleach and the rest with water. Spray the side of the house and eaves. Once the mildew has "melted" away, rinse the area down with water. It may take 2 to 3 applications, depending on how black the wall or eaves are. There's also another solution you can buy at places like Ace, but it's not any safer to use than bleach and costs way more. Also be careful with certain plants. Some plants will die after being drenched with the bleach solution. A warning. Use a face shield when spraying the eaves. The solution, although on the weak side, is still strong enough to affect your eyes. Burns like a dickens and can impair your vision for a few days. I do not know of nor have I heard of anything safer that can be used to rid the outside of the house of mildew. Maybe someone else may have heard of something new on the market?

[jkpescador]

Re: Household Tips

I'm not sure how safe this is but I bought some crystals for cleaning pools and threw them on the algae growing near the water that comes from the AC and it cleared that up. I also threw the crystals in the yard where algae was growing and it cleared it up and the grass turned yellow at first but then grew like crazy. I also filled up the tub with water and threw some in the tub.

Any tips on keeping the kitchen clean ... microwave ... oven ... stainless steel sink?

How do you keep waterspots off the windows? Can I wax them?

Keep up with the tips. Mahalo!

[1stwahine]

Re: Household Tips

I clean as I cook.

I use Fantastik Heavy Duty Cleaner, Comet and a lot of grease elbow!

I also take the top of my stove and clean it once a month with Comet.

I clean the inside of my Microwave every day.

My whole kitchen area gets general cleaned once a month.

Daily cleaning is the key.

I general clean my Hale every month.

I pour clorax in all pipes once a week.

I use Pinesoil when I mop.

I have the Blue thingy in my toilet.heheheh

A Clean Hale is a Happy Hale!

Auntie Lynn

[SusieMisajon]

Re: Household Tips

Clean? You mean like...get off the internet and do stuff?

[infinitypro]

Re: Household Tips

We use AWESOME as a degreaser in the kitchen, car engine, car oil stains, etc.; as a disinfectant anywhere in the house; as a mildew remover in the bathroom, shower, AC overflow; as a stain remover on clothes, shoes, apparel; the list goes on!

In Texas I was able to find it for a dollar at the nearest Dollar Tree store, however in Hawaii I've only found it at Pearl City Longs for about $2.99.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Household Tips

I'm not sure how safe this is but I bought some crystals for cleaning pools and threw them on the algae growing near the water that comes from the AC and it cleared that up. I also threw the crystals in the yard where algae was growing and it cleared it up and the grass turned yellow at first but then grew like crazy. I also filled up the tub with water and threw some in the tub.

Any tips on keeping the kitchen clean ... microwave ... oven ... stainless steel sink?

How do you keep waterspots off the windows? Can I wax them?

Keep up with the tips. Mahalo!

How'd those crystals do in the tub?

Microwave-Windex. Just let it soak in for a few seconds before you start wiping it up.

Stainless steel can be cleaned with a fine abrasive cleanser. They sell them in places like Longs and are specific for stainless steel. Also for quick jobs, you can use scotch brite pads. We used to use scotch brite for cleaning and polishing stainless steel galley counters and sinks onboard the ships we worked on at Pearl Harbor.

Can't see any reason why you can't wax the windows. You could also use something like RainX.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Household Tips

Shucks, if you live in a newer home, your oven/range should have a cleaning feature. Just set it and forget it, but make sure all your windows are open and you have adequate ventilation. It can get pretty smelly. What happens is that it'll lock the oven door and go intermittantly at a really high temp. More than you could set the oven for. When done, everything is nice and clean except for a small bit of fine ash on the bottom of the oven.

If not, well I guess you're going to have to use one of those spray on oven cleaners. Really nasty, smelly stuff. Don't forget the elbow grease.

[cezanne]

Re: Household Tips

I always have this cleaner recipe handy on the computer:

10 parts water
2 parts alcohol
1 part ammonia
1/4 part liquid dish soap

Put in spray bottle.

We used it to clean our model planes after a day of flying at Kawainui Marsh. But it's a great household cleaner too. Greasy kitchen, glass,...