How To Clean Anything

July 3, 2010July 7, 2023

How to clean…

Quick tips for having a cleaner life.

Donâ€™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.

July 3, 2010September 16, 2010

paint brushes

Cleaning brushes can be a pain but it will save you money to not have to buy brushes every time you have to paint.

Latex Paint

Wash immediately after painting with warm soapy water. Do not soak overnight. Comb and straighten bristles before storing.

Oil Paint

Clean immediately after painting using a solvent (paint thinner) or cleaner recommended by the manufacturer. Do not soak overnight. Comb and straighten bristles before storing.

If I am in a hurry and can’t clean the brushes I wrap them tightly in a plastic bag and place it in the freezer. This prevents the paint from drying out before I have to use it again.

July 1, 2010July 7, 2023

5 quick tips for bad dog breath

They start out all cute and cuddly then as time goes on that cute little puppy starts to develop breath that could quite possibly be the worst thing you have ever smelled. Here are a few quick tips to help that nasty issue and allow you to remember the cute dog you used to have.

Start brushing when your dog is a puppy some pet toothpaste comes in dog friendly flavors. It is not really much of a surprise that dogs breath smell, imagine not brushing your own teeth for several years
If brushing is not an option, then buy a hard rubber toy with grooves. These chew toys are designed to help improve dental hygiene. Smear some yummy dog flavor toothpaste on the chew toy and you may even train your dog to brush his or her own teeth.
Carrots make a great snack for dogs and they have a mild scrubbing affect on the teeth.
Feed your dog good dry dog food which has more of an affect of scraping the teeth then wet or canned foods.
A good rawhide chew also helps reduce the plaque build up.

June 30, 2010August 25, 2010

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.

June 30, 2010August 26, 2010

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.

June 30, 2010July 7, 2023

Mirror Cleaning Tips:round mirror,Large mirror,convex mirror,wall mirror,standing mirror

Mirror Cleaning Tips :I recent question I received was from someone saying their mirrors always seem streaky…

Many ammonia based window cleaners can leave streaks, they can also be caused by using too much cleaning solution. Also your cleaning cloth cannot be too wet which will leave streaks as well. Spray a small amount of cleaning solution and clean with a good cotton or microfiber cleaning cloth.

I have a good home window or mirror cleaning solution is 1 cup of white vinegar per gallon of water along with a small drop of dish soap. Less expensive then a store bought cleaning solution, does a great job and is not streaky as long as you follow the above points. When cleaning vertical surfaces of any kind including windows and mirrors start from the top and work down. Remove stickers or tape with a straight razor blade. The razor blade works best for removing paint as well.

June 29, 2010July 7, 2023

How To Clean Dog Collars & Leashes

Someone sent in a question asking how to clean a dog collar. I used to have to wash my dogs collars leashes more often when my dog was younger (she is 14 years old now and doesn’t run much these days ). When she was younger we would go for a trail run a couple times a week and she would love getting all muddy. I used to have a small mesh bag that I would place the leash in the bag and just launder with my regular laundry, as long as it was a heavy load like towels. that way the metal part of the leash would rub up against the washer drum. I would just hang the leather dog collars to dry.

It always worked for me, somes my dog would get into some pretyy stinky stuff out on the trails. You got to love dogs!

June 27, 2010July 7, 2023

Cleaning Golf Club Grips

Gather Cleaning Materials (mild dish detergent, terry towels(2)

To clean your golf grips. You can simply wipe them down with a moist cloth, then dry with a second cloth. You can also spray on a mild liquid cleanser, such as Windex, then wipe off.
The method described here takes a few more minutes than the Windex or water methods, but it works well for getting off the grime that builds up, and for washing away oils from our hands and chemicals from the golf course.

You’ll need a mild dish washing detergent and two cloths, one to use wet and the other to dry with. Fill a Sink with Water and Suds insert a stopper in your kitchen sink. Squirt in detergent as you are filling sink with warm water create lots of suds. Take each of your clubs in turn. Use the wet cloth to grab some suds, then rub the suds into the grip using the towel.

Apply the suds to the grips and work the suds into the grips rinse with warm water and dry with second terry towel. A soft brush is helpful to get the ground in dirt and grease.

June 26, 2010August 30, 2010

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.

June 26, 2010June 21, 2011

The Skinny on Brooms

Cleaning Brooms

Make your next broom your last… Some ideas to make your brooms last longer and do a better job.

1. Always use a holder to keep the broom stored off the floor or store with the broom side up. (Resting on the floor the fibers will flatten and reduce the effectiveness of the broom).

2. Comb out the fibers regularly to remove debris.

3. Brooms and dustpan can be cleaned with mild detergent and water; this is a good job for your spouse if they forget your birthday.

4. Always sweep gently in order to let the bristles do the work.

5. Push broom blocks have two handle holes (one on each side). Change the sides often so that fibers wear evenly.

6. The correct length for a broom handle is from the floor to the bridge of your nose. Remember to sweep in an upright position to prevent back fatigue.