It's Summer, Let's Go Have Fun!
By Alice Osborne
Summer doesn't last long enough, especially where we live, so we try to get the inside work (cleaning, laundry, etc.) done as quickly as possible so we can go outside and have some fun. If you're interested in grabbing more of your summer, too, here are a few tips to not just speed up your cleaning, but improve the process along the way:
CLEANING STERLING SILVER: Use toothpaste.
To get a great clean for your sterling silver, get a soft cloth or a toothbrush, and use regular paste toothpaste. Works GREAT!
CLEANING AN INDOOR GRILL: Cut grease without chemicals.
To get a great clean on an indoor grill (works great on the George Foreman, for instance), try using a freshly squeezed orange or lemon. It cuts the grease, and doesn't leave any chemicals behind on the cooking surface.
CLEANING A COPPER TEAPOT: Use lemon and soap.
To clean a copper teapot mix juice of 1 lemon in a dish with enough dish soap to make it “goopy,” then apply to the copper.
CLEANING AN OVEN: Clean it while you sleep!
To clean your oven, take a throw away pie-tin and fill it up with ammonia, not diluted. Set it inside your pre-warmed oven overnight. Next morning throw away tin and wipe out oven lickety-split.
CLEANING FAUCETS: Shine it fast!
Use rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip to shine bathroom and kitchen faucets
CLEANING CLOGGED DRAINS: Unclog them quickly and safely.
To clean clogged or slow sink drains use vinegar and baking soda. Let sit for 30 minutes and then use cold water to flush drain. Works Wonders!
CLEANING CARPETS: Let vinegar save the day and some money.
This is a cheap handy carpet spot cleaner. Fill a spray bottle with 1/2 cup vinegar, a few drops of liquid detergent and water.
DISINFECTING/CLEANING THE DISHRAG: Give it a regular soak.
To clean your dishrag: make some soapy water and add a cap full of laundry bleach or hydrogen peroxide. Soak and squeeze a few times. Repeat. Like new!
CLEANING GENERAL ITEMS: Call out the baking soda!
Use baking soda to clean almost anything. Wet your fingers and apply powder until it is a paste. It can clean paint splatters off wood. It work like magic, it's a thrill. I use it to scour my sinks—saves the finish and it's environmentally safe!
DUSTING THE MOPBOARDS: Stand up straight!
Tack a fluffed-up dust cloth or micro-fiber cloth to the end of a wooden yardstick and just walk along pushing the dustcloth end of the yardstick down the top edge of the mopboard. Lightly dampening the cloth or spraying with vinegar water makes catching the dust even quicker. No more bending over, aching back or sore knees.
