Archive Category: 'Cleaning Tips'

• 10 ReaLemon Juice Household Hacks Plus Bonus Recipe: Garden Grit Hand Cleaner: Splash some ReaLemon in your hands and scrub in hot soap and water. Gets the grime off lickety-split. Laundry Booster: Toss in a half cup of ReaLemon (plus laundry detergent) when washing whites. Also a good stain pretreater (for whites), just spritz on some ReaLemon and soak before washing. You could also [...]
• How To Remove Wax From Pants (and other items): I received an email yesterday asking if I had any tips on how to remove wax drippings from pants (there was a candle/hot wax spill). Here’s the info I replied with based on my notes, hope it helps anyone looking to remove wax from clothing (and will work on carpet spills too–just use ice instead of [...]
• How To Get Rid of Cockroaches – Roach Ball Recipe: Here are a few tips for how to get rid of cockroaches, if you have a surefire method of your own–feel free to share it with everyone and add it below. Roach Ball Recipe White Flour Boric Acid Confectioners Sugar or Brown Sugar Water Mix 50/50 flour and boric acid. Sprinkle in some confectioners sugar (about 1/4 of the amount of [...]
• More White Stain Removal Tips For Wood Furniture: If the last tip for removing those pesky white water rings or steam marks from wood tables and furniture was a bit too aggressive for you, try one of the tips below: Mix 50/50 toothpaste and baking soda, rub into mark. Do not use gel toothpaste for this. Rub in a paste of salt and olive oil, [...]
• How To Wash & Dry Woollen Garments: Here are a few tips collected plus two full sheets of instructions from vintage Beehive knitting pattern books that detail how to wash and dry wool clothing. The instructions are repeated a bit, but each set has some useful info that is unique. Washing Dissolve completely a little soap, flakes or powder, cold water soap or good detergent [...]
• How To Clean Cast Iron Cookware: Keep your eyes open for neglected pieces of cast iron cookware offered at garage sales and auctions. With a little elbow grease you can bring the cookware back to gleaming shape and they will last a lifetime with proper care, the tips below will help clean and prepare these pieces. For cleaning tips, see How [...]
• Old Wash Day Recipe: Variations of this ‘recipe’ handed down from a grandmother to her granddaughter on her wedding day has circulated around the net for years. Snopes declares this was making rounds well before the internet as “xeroxlore”. Whether it truly written by a grandmother to her granddaughter we’ll probably never know. But it is quite charming [...]
• 5 Laundry Bloopers & Fixes: Wet Laundry Left In Washer Too Long: To get rid of the mildew smell, rewash the laundry with 1 cup of vinegar tossed in with the laundry detergent. If it’s a load of whites that can handle bleach, wash with bleach instead of vinegar. Red Item Washed With Whites = Pink Clothes: If you’ve washed a load of whites [...]
• George Foreman Grill Cleaning Tip: Here’s a cleaning hack for those of us with George Foreman Grills (as well as similar grills): After cooking, unplug the grill and lay three layers of wet paper towel across the hot plates (completely cover the plates). Close the lid and enjoy your meal. When ready for cleanup, remove the paper towels and wipe the grill [...]
• Vintage Linens: Soaks & Cleaning Recipes: For old vintage linens that are yellowed with age and need more than spot cleaning, here are some recipes for soaking the entire piece. Notes: Check a spot to make sure the recipe won’t damage the fabric or colors before soaking the entire item. When drying linens in the sun, lay them directly on the grass instead of [...]
• Sour Milk Silver Soak: If you have a carton of milk that has expired, don’t toss it out because sour milk is a great silver cleaner. Sour Milk Silver Soak For every cup of of milk, stir in one tablespoon lemon juice or one tablespoon vinegar and leave for five minutes so it sours. If the milk is sour already, you [...]
• Enamel Cookware: Stain Removal Tips: Method #1 Fill enamel pot 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Toss in a bunch of peels from lemons and/or oranges. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Pour out water and rinse. Wash with hot soapy water. Method #2 Apply a baking soda/water paste to stains and let sit for an hour. Fill with water [...]
• Homemade Fly Paper Recipe: Items Needed: 1/4 cup maple syrup 1 TBS Brown Sugar 1 TBS White Sugar Directions: Mix well then dip strips of brown paper bag into the mixture. Coat the strips well and lay them on plastic overnight to set and dry a bit. The next day poke a hole in the paper strip about an inch from the edge and loop [...]
• Homemade Air Freshener Sprays: Lemon Air Freshener Spray Ingredients 2 cups hot water 1/8 cup baking soda 1/2 cup lemon juice Directions First dissolve the baking soda in hot water then add the lemon juice. You can use ReaLemon for this (expired is fine). Quick Tip: Easy Homemade Deodorizer Sprays: You can also whip up some good, fresh smelling spray with just two ingredients: water or vinegar [...]
• Homemade Softscrub Cleaner Recipe: Here’s a quick and easy recipe for a great soap scum buster on the tub surround or a great cleaner for around the kitchen and bathroom. Homemade Softscrub 1/2 cup baking soda 1/2 cup liquid dish detergent 1/8 cup – 1/4 cup vinegar Mix the baking soda and dish detergent first, then add the vinegar. Adjust the baking soda or [...]
• Kitchen Cabinet Degreaser Recipe: Ingredients: 1 gallon hot water 1 cup household ammonia 1/2 cup vinegar 1/4 cup baking soda Directions: Mix ingredients well in a large bucket, make sure to dissolve the baking soda completely. Soak a sponge in the cleaner and then apply to surface of cabinet. For hard to remove grease spots, hold sponge firmly on spot for several seconds and then [...]
• Dust Mite Busters: If you have perpetual stuffiness or the sniffles when you wake up each morning–it may be a slight allergy or reaction to the dust mites living in your pillows and mattress. Here is a collection of home remedies and tips to try combating the mighty dust mites… Dust Mite Busters Make lavender sachets to place underneath mattresses [...]
• Mold & Mildew Surface Cleaner Recipe: Test area first to ensure paint, aluminum, vinyl or material isn’t damaged by cleaner. Ingredients: 3 cups water 1 cup bleach 2/3 cups TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) 1/3 cup Tide (or other laundry detergent–nothing with ammonia) Directions: Make sure to keep skin covered when using this (rubber gloves for sure). If you’re reaching up to clean, wear goggles. Also keep nose and mouth [...]
• 3 Cool Laundry Tips From Arm & Hammer: Chlorine Bleach Booster Cut back on harsh chemicals in your laundry by reducing the amount of bleach you use. When washing whites, add 1/2 cup of baking soda with 1/2 cup of bleach (instead of using a full cup of bleach). This helps cut down the stinky bleach smell too. Liquid Laundry Detergent Booster Add 1 cup of [...]
• 10 Arm & Hammer Household Tips: Cleaning Silver Make a paste: 3 parts baking soda 1 part water Rub paste on silver with a clean cloth or sponge. Rinse off paste thoroughly then dry pieces. Works on sterling, silver-plate and stainless steel. Microwave Mop-up Wipe down the inside of your microwave with a clean, damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda. Rinse wipe with water. Freshens the place [...]
• Tipnut Mailbag: Remove Microwave Scorch Marks: Ta da! Here’s the first tip to be published in the Tipnut Mailbag category. For tips that are received by email and published on Tipnut, they’ll be filed here as well as the fitting category (such as Cleaning, etc.). Tips sent in that are published on other websites–they will still be published as Feature Tips with [...]
• Quick Tip: Starch & Stiffen Crinolines: 1 cup boiling water, 1/2 cup sugar. Boil and cool. Add: 1 tbsp. gelatine and thin down to thickness needed. To Stiffen Crinoline… Dissolve 1 package gelatin in 1 cup water. Wash and rinse crinoline then soak and squeeze crinoline in gelatin mixture. Remove and drain without rinsing. This will stay stiff longer than starch. *Found on loose [...]
• Washing Leather Gloves – Woman’s Home Companion: Woman’s Home Companion Household Book 1948 Leather Gloves Wash only gloves which are labeled washable. Wash them frequently so that dirt and oil from the skin will not become embedded in the leather. This will cause a change of color and harden the leather. If the gloves have ever been dry cleaned, do not attempt to wash them. Use tepid [...]
• Easy Refrigerator Deodorizer Ideas: After cleaning the refrigerator, keep it smelling fresh with one of these deodorizer ideas: An open box of baking soda or an open bowl/container filled with baking soda A small muslin or cloth bag or open container filled with fresh coffee grounds Keep an open container of charcoal briquettes in the fridge Open dish with 1/2 cup baking soda [...]
• Quick Tip: Stinky Luggage: Musty trunks and funky smelling luggage pieces can be freshened up by sprinkling baking soda inside, closing the case and then let sit a day or two. Remove the baking soda with a vacuum. If you don’t use your luggage that much and have it stored away for long periods of time, make little sachets [...]