Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shovelling the walk before it stops snowing. ~Phyllis Diller, Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints, 1966
Cleaning the Blender
To clean the Blender, take a few drops of detergent, fill halfway with hot water, and turn on blender for a while. Rinse and dry the blender.
The Breadboard
In order to remove onion, garlic, or fish smell. Cut a lime. Rub it over the surface of a cutting or breadboard.
Broken Eggs
If you drop an egg on the floor, generously sprinkle salt over it and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Sweep the dried egg into a dustpan.
Cleaning up Broken Glass
To clean the broken glass from the floor, sweep large pieces into a dustpan; pick up slivers with a damp paper towel.
Burnt Food in Pan
To remove Burnt Food in Pan, boil water in the pan to loosen food. Or you can sprinkle baking soda generously over the burned food and moisten with water. Let stand for few hours. Wash it with plain water. Read the rest of this entry »
In a 32 oz. spray bottle, add 1/3 cup white (clear) vinegar and 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol. If you absolutely must have another cleaner, add 1 tablespoon automatic dishwashing detergent.
Tubs and Shower Stalls
Alkaline deposits in the water cause those not so pretty spots on your glass doors and shower walls. Apply a car wax to the walls and doors, but not the floor or it gets real slick. Both fiberglass and glass are porous. The car wax seals those pores, which makes cleaning easier and keeps water spots away. Reapply twice yearly.
Squeegee or wipe down your shower after each use to further prevent buildup. If you’re tired of fighting the soap scum buildup, switch to liquid soap, natural soap or Dove. It’s the talc in most bar soaps that causes the buildup. Changing soap can eliminate the buildup. You still need to clean the shower once a week, but the job is easier. Clean the showers once a week with an orange citrus based cleaner. Spray on and give it ten minutes to dissolve the dirt. Why do all that scrubbing when your product does it for you? OK, so the soap scum refuses to budge and friends are coming for a visit. Use your orange based cleaner concentrated. Pour plenty on an old dishrag and wipe on the walls and doors. Use can use boiling hot white vinegar (wear gloves) but you must keep applying it as the white vinegar dries. It takes time to dissolve that buildup. Patience now becomes a virtue. Wait and wait and wait some more. Go clean the rest of the house. If the cleaner starts dripping down the walls, wipe it back on. Check the walls with a fingernail. If the residue removes easily, round one is about over. Use a white bristle pad to scrub. They look like fibers and are glued to a sponge. Use the white ones only. The colored scrubbers are coarser and do scratch. Test a spot to make sure it won’t scratch the fiberglass. Dampen the pad, keeping it good and wet and gently scrub. This removes the soap buildup and most of the white mineral deposits on the glass doors. Nothing removes the etch marks themselves, but further damage is halted. Reapply the orange citrus cleaner if necessary. Plastic shower curtains can be machine washed. Remove, spray with your diluted orange based cleaner and wait about 10 minutes. Wash with your rags and they come out quite clean. Air dry. If the curtain is long enough, cut off the seam at the bottom to prevent mildew buildup down there. Read the rest of this entry »
Innovations over the years have made oven cleaning a very simple job.
For those of you who have invested in those "self cleaning" ovens, congratulations. Please take good care of them.
If you don’t have a "self cleaning" oven there are some great oven cleaners out there you can use.
Oven Cleaning - When it’s a self cleaning oven
Self cleaning ovens work when the clean mode is turned on and the interior surface of the oven heats up to about 800-900 degrees. For 2 - 6 hours all stains, grease and spills are turned into a gray ash.
To start oven cleaning your self cleaning oven, remove the oven racks and soak them in warm water mixed with a dishwashing cleaner.
Set the clean mode timer for 2 - 6 hours and make sure the oven door is locked.
When the oven cleaning cycle is complete, let the oven cool and then wipe out the ash with a damp sponge or rag.
Don’t forget to clean the inside of the oven door. With a little bit of cleaner and a rag, wipe the inside the door, paying close attention to the seal around the door. Rinse well with a damp sponge or rag.
You should also wipe clean the outside of the oven door and the stove.
If you have stove racks soak them in in warm water mixed with dishwashing cleaner. Read the rest of this entry »