Archive Category: 'Cleaning Tips'

• Freshen Your Home With Eucalyptus: Recipes: Eucalyptus is one of mother nature’s most powerful disinfectants, what better option to clean with! ere are a few different homemade cleaners I have on file that incorporate Eucalyptus oil and can be used to freshen and clean your home, just in time for Spring Cleaning. Floor Cleaner Add 1 tablespoon of liquid castile soap to 1 gallon [...]
• 10 Ways Herbs Can Freshen Your Home: 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… strong>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 a [...]
• 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 [...]
• Pantry Pests: Getting Rid Of Flour Bugs: Opening a bag of flour and noticing the contents crawling with little bugs is horrifying, but it happens. Throwing out the bag will not necessarily solve the bug problem and you may find frequent occurrences. he secret is starving the pests and their access to food and a thorough cleaning job. Here’s how to reclaim your [...]
• 20 Cleaning Tips & Work Savers: Timeless Wisdom: These 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 [...]
• Homemade Granite & Marble Cleaner: Here’s a recipe for an earth-friendly “green” cleaner suitable for many household surfaces including granite and marble. Ingredients: 2 cups water 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar 1 tsp pure castile soap (peppermint, etc.) 3/4 cup hydrogen peroxide 20 drops tea tree oil 20 drops lavender or lemongrass essential oil. Directions: Mix all ingredients in a 32-ounce plastic spray bottle. Cleaner can be used to clean [...]
• Quick Tips For Drying Laundry: If you’re in a rush for a load of laundry to dry–try tossing a clean, thick cotton towel in the dryer with the wet clothes. Because the towel is dry, it will absorb some of the moisture and clothes will dry faster. If it’s a large load of laundry, throw in two or three towels. If [...]
• Fresh Summery Scented Bedding Year Round: Tip Sheet: Winters are pretty cold here in Canada so windows are kept shut and clotheslines hang empty for months, but there are a few tricks us Northerners have that help us enjoy fresh, fragrant bedding year round (with no nasty chemicals or expensive laundry products). One of the things I miss most in winter is flinging open [...]
• Homemade Laundry Detergent FAQ: Two years ago (January, 2007) I published an extensive list of homemade laundry detergent recipes (see 10 Homemade Laundry Soap Detergent Recipes) and it’s been one of the most popular and commented on tips posted here. I’m proud to say it’s one of the most informative resources available on the net for making homemade detergent [...]
• 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 [...]
• Homemade Oven Cleaner Recipes: With the exception of one of the recipes below, you can make oven cleaners that are much safer for the environment than commercial oven cleaners containing harsh chemicals. They’re also much more frugal! Homemade Oven Cleaner Recipes Recipe #1 Baking Soda Water Dish Detergent Directions: Fill a spray bottle with water and spray oven generously. Generously sprinkle baking soda over the water. Leave [...]
• 10 Alternative Household Cleansers: Today’s feature is from Woman’s Day with 10 Alternative Household Cleansers: We’ve discovered ways to clean everything in your home with natural items you already have on hand. From vinegar to toothpaste, read on to learn how you can use these safe, inexpensive items to make your house shine. You’ll find recipes and tips for how to [...]
• Vintage Ironing Primer: Tip Sheet: Here’s a sweet old booklet I have from 1946 called “The Betty Crocker Ironing Primer”. I scooped many of the tips into one handy sheet and also included a few quaint pictures and notes. First Things Come First In doing a big ironing, begin with the fabrics needing low temperatures (rayons) and work up the dial to those [...]
• Laundry Stain Treatments: Tip Sheet: *Each point is a separate treatment, choose one method. Test a small hidden area first to make sure garment color or fibers won’t be damaged. Blood Stain Removal Apply hydrogen peroxide to the stain, cover with salt, then sit for several minutes. You should see the blood draw up from the garment. Remove salt once stain has [...]
• Homemade Window Cleaner Recipes & Tips: Recipe #1 2 cups rubbing alcohol (70 percent isopropyl) 1/2 cup ammonia 1 tsp dish detergent (liquid) top with water until you have 1 gallon of window cleaner Recipe #2 2 cups water 3 TBS vinegar 1/2 tsp dish detergent (liquid) Recipe #3 1 gallon water 1/4 cup vinegar 1 tsp dish detergent (liquid) Recipe #4 1 gallon water 1/4 cup vinegar 2 TBS lemon juice squirt dish detergent (liquid) Recipe #5 1/2 cup [...]
• Laundry Stain Treatments: Methods & Guidelines: Fundamentals of Stain Removal Treat stain as soon as possible, a fresh stain is easier to remove. Test treatment on a hidden or unseen area of the clothing, test for color fastness before treating stain in a visible spot. Avoid hot water on the following stains: blood, egg and milk. Follow directions of commercial cleaners, be aware of any [...]
• Homemade Laundry Stain Pretreater Recipes: Frugal Laundry Soap – Pretreater Save pieces and leftover slivers of bar soaps and collect in a jar. Those little hotel soaps are ideal for this too (cut them down to small pieces). When jar is filled half way with soap chunks, add boiling water. Mix soap bits and water until soap is melted. Once cooled this will [...]
• 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 Turn Bacon Grease Into Soap (Really!): Today’s feature is from Little House In The Suburbs with a tutorial for Making Soap from Kitchen Grease: If you’re saying to yourself, “Ivory, I don’t wanna to BUY fat to make my soap. I have plenty of fat in my grease can!” then this is the post for you. So, how do we turn icky, blech-y, [...]
• 20 Ways Vinegar Can Help Your Kitchen Sparkle: Microwave Cleaner: Use vinegar & water to clean your microwave–cleans up easily no matter how grungy it is! See How To: Microwave Cleaning Tips). Coffee Pot & Kettle Cleaner: Clean scum and lime deposits from your coffee pots & kettles (see How To Clean A Coffee Pot). Pots & Pans Stubborn Stain Scrub: mix 50/50 flour and [...]
• Vanilla & Cloves Air Freshener Spray – Recipe: Ingredients 1 cup water 1 cup household vinegar 1 TBS vanilla extract 1 tsp cloves Directions Bring all ingredients to a boil then simmer over medium heat for two minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain cloves then pour liquid into spray bottle, shake and use as needed. Note: You can increase/decrease the vanilla & cloves amounts to your preference. More Homemade [...]
• Homemade Makeup Brush Cleaners: 7 Recipes: Recipe #1 1 cup Distilled Water 2 TBS Rubbing Alcohol 1 TBS Baby Shampoo Recipe #2 1/2 cup Warm Water 1/4 cup Vinegar Recipe #3 1 cup Warm Water 1 tsp Liquid Castile Soap Recipe #4 1 cup Warm Water 1 TBS Baby Shampoo Recipe #5 1/4 cup Warm Water 1 TBS Woolite Recipe #6 1 cup Warm Water 1 TBS Liquid Dish Detergent Recipe #7 1 cup Warm Water 1 TBS Baby Shampoo 1/2 tsp Tea [...]