Now that summer is over many of you will be putting away your baseball & softball gloves until “spring training” next spring. Here is some advice on how to keep that glove in top shape and ready for next season Many types of treatments and care have been suggested over the years for baseball and softball gloves.
Some of these are safe and some, unfortunately, may damage glove leather. We recommended that one of the best and safest leather cleaners and conditioners is untreated petroleum jelly. Professional glove repairmen and leather specialists agree that this is one of the best applications, both for cleaning and conditioning glove leather.
During the break-in period, treat your new glove with a light application, working it into the leather. This will reduce the stiffness of the new leather and facilitate a faster and more comfortable breaking in procedure. Also, at the end of the season, take a generous amount of petroleum jelly and thoroughly cover the outside and inside of the glove.
Don’t ignore the laces or hard to-get-to areas, both inside and outside the glove. Then take a clean rag and wipe off excess to remove grit and grime. This will also remove and help neutralize much of the salt and acid buildup inside the glove caused by perspiration, a chief problem to the leather lining, usually made of softer leather. We do not recommend neatsfoot oil, linseed oil or silicon-type spray as these tend to close the pores of the leather, causing it to dry, harden, and become heavy over an extended period of time and through repeated use. Petroleum jelly keeps the pores open and in effect, keeps the leather “alive” while also providing a softening condition.
Basically remember that leather is skin and leather experts tell us not to treat glove leather any differently than you would your own skin. Prolonged harsh temperatures, excessive water soaking (especially use of hot water), abrasives, the salt and acids produced from perspiration and excessive dryness all or individually can be harmful to the glove leather.
Also, continued exposure to sunlight may result in fading of the leather color. Be careful about sealing gloves in plastic bags for over 12 months. We hope this gives all you players a good idea on how to care for your glove until the next time you hear those words so near and dear to our hearts – PLAY BALL!!
How to Clean Resin Patio Furniture
How To Clean Resin Patio Furniture 
Resin plastic chairs are popular as patio furniture because they are inexpensive, durable, easily stored and easy to clean. The original protective coating wears off over time, however, particularly if you leave the chairs sitting outside all the time in the sun, rain and snow. These chairs then tend to develop a chalky film that gets onto skin and clothing. With a little elbow grease, you can clean resin patio furniture and get the pieces looking great again.
Instructions for How to Clean Resin Patio Furniture
Things You’ll Need:
- Garden hose
- Water
- General purpose cleaner (like fantasik)
- Clean cloth
- Soft-bristle brush
- Bucket
- Bleach
- Plastic spray bottle
- Rubber gloves
- Sponge
General Purpose cleaner
Step 1
Hose off loose dirt and dust from the chair.
Step 2
Spray a generous amount of general purpose cleaner onto the chair. Allow it to soak on the chair for five minutes. Agitate with a soft bristle brush.
Step 3
Then hose the chair off again and allow it to dry in the sunshine. Or buff dry with dry cleaning cloths.
Now you can enjoy your patio furniture again!
Resin Chairs
Bleach Solution
Step 1
Use a bleach solution if chairs are covered with mildew. Add three-fourths cup bleach to a gallon of warm water.
Step 2
Apply a little to the underside of the chair to make sure it does not cause discoloration. This is unlikely but may occur on chairs with bright or dark colors.
Step 3
Pour the bleach solution into a plastic spray bottle. Apply a generous amount to the chair. You also can wear rubber gloves and apply it with a sponge or clean cloth. Let the solution sit on the chair for five minutes.
Step 4
Wipe an area of the chair where you found chalky stuff. See if the bleach solution removed it. If not, try scrubbing the chalky areas with a soft-bristle scrub brush as you did with the general purpose cleaner.
Step 5
Rinse the bleach solution from the chair with the hose and let dry in the sun.
Tips & Warnings
Don’t use a coarse bristle brush or any metal-based scrubbing pads, as this may scratch the resin.
I have also heard of people who use car wax to try and restore a better finish to a resin chair that is all chalky due to the finish being worn off. Or paint the chair, but frankly resin chairs are so cheap you may be better off just buying new ones.
How to clean…
Quick tips for having a cleaner life.
Don’t delay your cleaning, try to do small clean up often.
Have a cleaning cloth under the sink for quick wipe up of the sink and counter in the mornings or throughout the day.
Make your bed first thing when you get up. This is a great way to start the day. Coming out of the shower into a bedroom with a neatly made bed will give you a good feeling.
I know it sounds silly, but it really works. Don’t knock it until you have tried it. Try this for one week: make your bed first thing when you get up every day, and see what a difference it makes in how you view yourself and the cleanliness of your home.
As I mentioned above, clear the table right after a meal. Put your dishes in the dishwasher immediately as you clear off the table.
It takes more steps and more work to clear dishes off the table, then stack the dirty stuff all over the kitchen, and then to make another trip to scrape the plates and finally put them in the dishwasher later.
Make it one step: take the dishes from the table past the garbage can for scraping, then into the empty dishwasher, add soap and get it running right away.
Get those pots and pans washed immediately, too. It really doesn’t help to let them sit around. (I have tried this, and I found that they were still in need of washing when I looked in on them the next morning.)
Things tend to be easier to clean when they are cleaned immediately. Stains will set into fabric, carpet, whatever, when they are left there, and everybody knows what damage spilled liquid can do when it is left on most any surface. It is much easier to avoid leaving glasses of water sitting around, than to clean up the mess that result from a spill.
With cats, and dogs, and kids, the place can get messy fast. I don’t think I am super neat but I do remember my Mom always cleaned up right after a mess was made. I didn’t think anything of at the time but I find now with a full house of kids and activities that life is just easier doing small cleaning jobs throughout the day.
Using Coca Cola for Cleaning
One of the active ingredients in Coca Cola is phosphoric acid. It has a pH of 2.8, (On a scale of 1 -14, with 1 being the most acidic, 7 being neutral, and 14 being very caustic). Pure phosphoric acid can eat through metal, and dissolve concrete, but it sure makes the coke taste good.
Rumors say that Coke distributors have used it over the years to clean the engines of their delivery trucks, and it also works to help scrub road grime from your windshield. We can’t actually advise using Coca Cola as a substitute for regular detergents, however there are some interesting ideas people have put forward over the years:
Toilet Cleaning
Pour a can of coca cola into the toilet bowl. Let the “real thing” sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china. It should work equally well for sinks and bath tubs.
CAR BUMPER RUST
Rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in cocacola.
CLEAN CORROSION FROM BATTERY TERMINALS
Pour a can of cocacola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion. This is according to Heloise.
LOOSEN A RUSTY BOLT
Applying a cloth soaked in Coca Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
REMOVE GREASE FROM CLOTHES
Empty a can of Coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The cocacola will help loosen grease stains.
Cold Beer…essential holiday tip
While this is not really a cleaning tip, I think its a good piece of info with the holiday weekend coming up soon.
Beer Cooler
To get beer cold really quick, put ice in a large bucket and fill it with water and sprinkle a good amount of salt in the water. The salt speeds the cooling process so your beer will be cold much faster.
Computer Keyboards Cleaning
Computer Cleaning Tools & Chemicals:
Soft cloth, Computer cleaning fluid, compressed air, pre-treated computer wipes, vacuum and computer vacuum attachments. Before cleaning the keyboard, shut down your computer, and unplug the keyboard.
Keyboard Cleaning Technique:
1. Turn the Microsoft keyboard upside down and shake so loose dust, dirt, and food crumbs will fall out. Spray between the Keyboard keys with compressed air or vacuum the keyboard. If you are vacuuming the keyboard, leave it key side up and work in a well lit area. Specialized vacuum attachments are available that slip onto a regular sized vacuum hose which reduces it to a very small opening with a variety of dusting and crevice attachments. This is the most efficient method because the vacuum becomes not only more powerful, but you will actually remove the offending debris as opposed to redistributing it with compressed air.
2. Wipe down the keyboard with a soft cloth dampened with your specialized computer cleaning fluid or plain water. Never spray any kind off chemical directly onto your office equipment, always spray a clean cloth and wipe the hardware. Use a cotton swab to clean between the keys. For hard to remove stains such as ink, use a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol or an alcohol saturated wipe.
3. If you spill cola or coffee in your keyboard the first thing to do stop working. Save your data using the mouse instead of key stroke commands, if possible, and quickly turn the keyboard upside down and unplug it. Allow as much of the fluid as possible to drip from the keyboard, and wipe it down as described above.
4. Although not recommended for the faint of heart, there are more extreme measures you can take to rescue a liquid saturated keyboard. Unplug the keyboard and borrow a co workers for the next couple of days. If the keyboard has an old, or dried spill, you must first saturate the dried liquid. This means submersing it (yes, completely underwater) in a pan of water for a few hours, press any sticky keys to help loosen the dried material. When the dried spill has dissolved into the pan of water, or if the spill is fresh, rinse off the keyboard with distilled water. Use distilled water, as tap water contains minerals that can affect performance even after it is dry. Allow the keyboard to air dry for at least a day or two.
5. Sssssingle sssssticky keysssss can be removed on most keyboards. Just use a small flat head screwdriver to pry the offending key off and after cleaning they snap right back on. Use the corner of a soft cloth or a cotton swab and to clean the key socket as best you can, using a special computer cleaner, rubbing alcohol, or distilled water. If you remove more than one key, remember where it belongs! In fact, it was someone cleaning a typewriter decades ago who wasn’t paying attention, that left us with the jumbled Qwerty mess that we have today.
6. Remember keyboards are inexpensive and plentiful, with each upgraded computer there is usually a lonely unused keyboard sitting in a box in the IT department.
Canister Vacuums
General Information :
Canister vacuums are less popular than uprights but may be more versatile. Since many units feature a power head they will clean as good if not better than an upright. In addition, different attachments will allow you to clean a variety of surfaces and objects more easily than with an upright.
Look for units with these convenient features: on board tool holders, easy/quick change attachments, easy change paper bags, automatic cord rewind, lighted and adjustable power head, handle for easy transport, long enough hose, main unit tracks well behind user, quiet operation, high filtration which is easily changed or cleaned, power head debris shut off, easy change belts and brushes, wide/low profile power head and right to wall edge cleaning.
For many users weight is a major concern. Choose a model that is light enough to carry the main body with one hand and the attachments with another.
Available Products:
Look for upcoming recommendations and reviews.
HowToCleanAnything.com:
Look for upcoming products.
Cleaning Schedule Advantages
General Information :
Try to develop a regular cleaning schedule for your household chores. This will help in several ways:
-You will keep up your cleaning so you won’t be overwhelmed with too many tasks.
-Your house will be a healthier environment.
-You will have extra time available for larger jobs.
-You will not be so worried about a specific problem like dust on your shelves when you know it will be taken care of at a later specific time.
– Most cleaning is much easier when done regularly, rather than waiting for it to get really dirty.
-Almost all items or surfaces will last longer and look better when lightly cleaned regularly rather than harshly scrubbed infrequently.
-Regular cleaning of many items carpets, furniture and wood – will delay or eliminate the need for expensive, professional cleaning or restoration.
Disposal Of Cleaning Products
General Information :
Here is a basic guideline for the disposal of household cleaning products.
Solvents and solvent-based cleaners: Consumers should always dispose of these products only after consulting with you local municipality. Also, you can contact the manufacturer for their recommendation. Most areas now have drop-off centers for hazardous waste. To identify these products look for the toxic, flammable or caustic symbols on the package.
Common or Water-soluble Cleaners: These products are mostly biodegradable and designed to be disposed into the sewer system. Most household cleaners, detergents, bleaches and polishes are this type.
Containers: Check your local regulations to see if they accept empty cleaning bottles. Some may be recycled, some thrown away while others need to be taken to a hazardous waster drop off center.
Also, consumers can avoid a lot of problems by using up the cleaners completely or by giving them to somebody who needs them check with local charities.
