Archive Category: 'Cleaning'

• How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies: Fruit flies are tiny, pesky flies that are brown and appear to have no fear of people (often it seems they’re trying to fly up your nose and in your mouth) but they’re mostly just clumsy fliers. The good news is that getting rid of and killing fruit flies is not difficult, you just need [...]
• How To Clean Cat Spray: Recipes & Tips: f you’ve ever had a tomcat stroll by and spray around your basement window or front door, you know what a stink that is! Cat spray is pretty potent stuff and the smell is not something that dissipates easily. The quicker you clean it up, the better chance you have of avoiding a repeat performance (the [...]
• How To Wash A Feather Duster: id you know that handy little gadget you use for dusting can easily be washed, over and over again? Good quality ostrich feather dusters hold up to washings better than the cheapies, but if your duster is this-close to being tossed because it’s worn down and heavy from all the dirt buildup, give a quick [...]
• Dusting: Tips, Tools & Prevention: ow that the weather is nice, windows and doors are kept wide open so we can enjoy all the lovely fresh air that we’ve been missing over the past winter–the downside to this is that with so many openings into the home, dust and dirt accumulate throughout the house quicker than ever. Dust buildup is one [...]
• 10 Ways Herbs Can Freshen Your Home: a href=”http://tipnut.com/ultimate-spring-cleaning-tips-guide/”>Spring cleaning is in full swing this time of year, here are ten ways you can use herbs around the house to perk things up… 10 Ways Herbs Can Freshen Up Your Home Homemade Herbal Carpet Freshener Recipe: I like to use dried lavender, but I included other herbal mixes to try as well. This makes [...]
• Tipnut’s Guide To Spring Cleaning: Here’s a peek at this year’s battle plan for the big Spring Clean in my home, I’ve also included references to homemade cleaner recipes, tips for specific cleaning jobs and assorted fix-it projects that will help make this year’s job a big success. Spring Cleaning Tips Mission: Clean – Declutter – Organize Every surface is cleaned, everything [...]
• House Cleaning Kit – Tips & Ideas: One of the secrets to efficient house cleaning is to cart around your own customized cleaning kit from room to room, this saves you time since you have everything you need at hand. As common sense as it sounds, this isn’t something that occurred to me until FlyLady caught my attention a few years ago, she [...]
• 10 Quick Tips For A Shiny Bathroom: Apply a thin layer of lemon oil to shower doors. This helps keep soap scum from building up by making the soapy water bead up on the glass and slide on down the drain. Pour 2 tsp of lemon oil on a clean cloth then wipe the doors. Do this every other week for best [...]
• 20 Cleaning Tips & Work Savers: Timeless Wisdom: hese vintage cleaning tips are a collection of snippets found in books and magazines from the 1940’s and early 1950’s offering advice to homemakers. Since they didn’t have the appliances, tools and cleaning products that we have today (that make our tasks so much easier), every good tip made a difference to the homemaker’s daily [...]
• How To Clean Needlework: If you love to display cross stitch, embroidery and crewel work, here are step-by-step instructions for cleaning pieces that are in dire need of freshening up. No matter how carefully we display our needlework, they can get grungy with smoke, grease and handling stains. As always, first test a small area before trying a cleaning [...]
• Grime Busters For Outside: 8 Quick Tips: Mechanical Grease Hand Cleaner: Drizzle some olive or vegetable oil over dirty hands that are covered in grease (from vehicle repairs, mechanical parts, etc.). Work the oil in a bit by rubbing it all over then wash hands in hot soapy water as usual. The grease will wash away much easier. Tree Sap & Tar Remover: [...]
• Cleaning Your House on the Cheap!: Today’s feature is from DIY Maven at Curbly with Curbly Recession Busters: Cleaning Your House on the Cheap!: The wisenheimers among us might say the best way to save money on cleaning supplies is not to clean. That, however, is not an option. You can be broke and clean. (Just ask any depression-era housekeeper.) In an [...]
• How To Clean A Clogged Iron & More Tips: Is your steam iron acting a little sputtery and doing an inconsistent job when ironing? It’s probably just clogged with mineral and lime deposits, all it takes is a simple cleaning job to get it back to like-new shape. Here’s how to do that (plus a few more tips & goodies): How To Clean A Clogged Iron Fill the [...]
• Nitty-Gritty Guide to Cleaning Household Surfaces: Today’s feature is from RealSimple with Nitty-Gritty Guide to Cleaning Household Surfaces: With just one bucket of supplies, you can scrub the entire house — here’s which products clean what … You’ll find 18 quick, no-nonsense tips for cleaning all kinds of household surfaces: How to Clean Butcher Block How to Clean Ceramic Tile How to Clean Cork Flooring How to [...]
• 10 Household Cleaning Quick Tips: Cleaning Louvers & Venetian Blinds: Use a soft paint brush to get in and wipe away the grime in between louvers (slats) and venetian blinds. If you do this regularly, the paint brush technique should be enough to prevent a grime buildup that will need more scrubbing power. Here are more types of brushes you [...]
• Wallpaper Cleaning & Repair Tips: For grease spots apply a paste of cornstarch and water to the stain and allow to dry. Brush or vacuum off the cornstarch after a day, the grease should be gone. If you have a little nic or tear in the wallpaper, you can conceal it by coloring in the damaged area. This won’t work for [...]
• Quick Tips For Mattress Care: Use a mattress cover to protect the mattress and wash at least once a month. You can make your own to fit perfectly, see Perfectly Fitted Mattress Pad. Remove stains by lightly dabbing with liquid dish detergent that has been well diluted in water. For tough stains like blood spots, try blotting with hydrogen peroxide. For [...]
• 10 Tips For Mastering A Messy Home: Living a clutter free and bare-bones minimized possessions lifestyle would be great and easy to manage in single or adult couple homes–but here are 10 practical tips for mess-free family sized living: Regularly Junk Hunt: Practice the 27 Fling Boogie made popular by FlyLady. Race through the house and grab 27 items to throw away. Then [...]
• 10 Easy Household Time Savers: Keep the dishwasher open and fill with dirty dishes as you cook. Have a sink full of hot soapy water to hold the hand wash items so they can soak and be easily cleaned. If you don’t have a dishwasher, wash the dishes by hand while you’re waiting for the meal to cook. No more [...]
• Spring Cleaning: Motivation Tips: Here are a few tips that will help put a little bounce in your step and some fire in your belly while doing the best job you can this Spring… Spring Cleaning: Motivation Tips Start the cleaning when the weather is warm and Spring really is here. I haven’t started Spring cleaning yet because it’s been chilly [...]
• Spring Cleaning Outdoors – Chore Chart: Yesterday’s big list of Spring Cleaning tips was for indoors, but the yard and outside of the house has a bunch of chores that need to be tended to–plus there’s plenty of prep work to be done for the upcoming season (whew!). Here’s a chore chart to help you get organized… Spring Cleaning Outdoors Chore Chart Check & [...]
• Printable Recipe Cards For Homemade Cleaners: Today’s feature is from the David Suzuki Foundation with printable recipe cards for environmentally friendly homemade cleaners (pdf download). There are four recipe cards available: Liquid Laundry Soap (also see Tipnut’s list of 10 laundry detergent recipes) Powdered Laundry Soap Fabric Softener (also see Tipnut’s recipes here) Furniture Polish These recipes were found in Nature Challenge Newsletter for April, 2008. If [...]
• 40 Household Jobs In 5 Minutes or Less: Today’s feature is from Woman’s Day Magazine with 40 Household Jobs In 5 Minutes or Less, I’ve also included another 12 ideas below: You’ve done it, you know you have: looked at a messy room, sighed and walked away. Just thinking about cleaning the house is enough to exhaust, and deter, most of us. Then one [...]
• 27 Ways To Use Citrus Fruit Around The House: Today’s feature is from Re-Nest with 27 Household Uses For Citrus Fruit: A staple in most homes, citrus fruit, including oranges, lemons and limes, makes a beautiful, fragrant display that can piled in a bowl. We also like to use them in a flower arrangement. Peeking out from the bottom of a clear glass container, they [...]
• Tipnut Mailbag: Clip Sponges & Cloths Used For Dirty Jobs: This tip was sent in from Margie and it’s a great way to keep sponges & cloths used for nasty cleaning jobs separate from your good stuff: Clip Your Cleaning Sponges & Cloths If you are going to use old face cloths, dish cloths, tea towels or sponges as dust rags or for messy cleaning jobs cut [...]