Cleaning Secrets!!

PappyMom

lol! I am doing a real thorough cleaning of the apartment..and I mean thorough..spending a whole day in each room..before the holidays! I've got some cleaning 'secrets' that you guys may have heard of or do already, if you have any that aren't on my list, pleasseee share! Cleaning is one of my favorite things to do!

1. Febreze who? I make my own using laundry detergent and water..fill-up a spray-bottle with 40% detergent and 60% water and you now have a perfect fabric refresher that not only makes everything smell wonderful, but deep-cleans as well. I spray it on my couches, my bed, my curtains, my carpet, and in my car..it is so wonderful and lasts so long!

2. Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet, and fill a shallow bowl with white-vinegar..place it in the center of the room..and let it all sit for a while. I do it after I've crated the dogs at night..and then I open the windows when I first wake up, before I even get my cup of coffee. By lunch-time..the house is completely odorless! I vaccum up the baking soda and dispose of the vinegar and wash the bowl.

3. If you use a vaccum cleaner that uses a bag, soak a few cotton balls in your favorite cologne/perfume and put them inside of the bag. It'll send the fragrance through your whole house as you vaccum.. =]

4. Drench a few cotton balls or a sponge in vanilla extract in a bowl..and place it on the top shelf of your fridge..You can do the same trick in hidden areas around your house..like behind the couch or behind a corner table..smells wonderful!!

5. I simmer a bit of water, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and fresh apples (sometimes I substitute for apple juice or cider as well..) on the stove..especially just before company comes.. Today I actually have vanilla extract, water, cinnamon, and coffee (ready to brew kind, looks like a teabag only it's coffee..) And the whole house smells like fresh brewed vanilla cinnamon coffee..

6. During the day, when your lights are off and cooled down, spray them with your favorite cologne or perfume..or even a drop or two of vanilla extract. When you turn the lights on..it will warm the scent gradually and make the home smell amazing..

FaithFurMom09

Vinegar can clean just about anything, as can baking soda.

thats about it. lol.

PappyMom

lol, and when you mix the two together, the possibilities are endless!!

pittsabowawa

wow those are great tips... if you don't mind I'm going to print them out for when I go home for thanksgiving... My parents are older so whenever I go home I have to give the house a deepcleaning and those are great tips.

Thanks for sharing

deege39

Simple Green is non-toxic, as claimed by their website, and good for the environment... So I use that for almost everything when I can...

Vinegar is great to use on animal cages, like with small animals and urine build-up...

Oh, and instead of using paper-towels to clean mirrors and windows, use old wash-rags or hand-towels. It not only helps prevent streaks, easier on your arms, but it also saves you a bundle on paper-towels!

Oh, one more thing; I've got a great trick to clean ceiling fans... Turn them off, the lights too... Instead of dusting them off, spray them down with water; It makes the dust thick and clumpy, so you can just take a paper-towel or an old rag and just wipe them clean... It keeps the dust from falling over the bedspread, carpets, and counter-tops...

foxthegoldfish

I need cleaning help lol, I have to clean my flat that has probably never had a good clean in its life (not my fault, i have been living here with horrible flat mates who I have now gotten rid of so I have to do a big clean to get my bond back.)

I have very stained walls and carpets, mould on the walls and floors that wont come up clean no matter what rpoduct I try.

any ideas? I have scrubbed and scrubbed the walls and floor but they are still stained I need to get rid of most of the stains

digits mama

I love my swiffers for predusting..

Dieselsmama

I love a mix of vanilla and water in a spray bottle to spritz the air. Make a room smell yummy

yappypappymom

Those are all great "tips"..I will share one of my very own that has helped me ALOT here..Since I have a ferret also as a pet, & a grumpy husband who likes to complain about my stinky little boy...I take one of those teeny-tiny dip-sized crock pots, & fill it about 90% water & add about 10% fabric softner...I plug it in close to Tiggers "sleep" cage...by the time my DH comes home, he can't even tell that we even have a ferret cuz everything smells so nice & clean!!

Karinia

I don't know if it's all true or not, but I got this in an email:


GOOD FACTS TO KNOW:

1. Budweiser beer conditions the hair (who would waste this???)
2. Pam cooking spray will dry finger nail polish
3. Cool whip will condition your hair in 15 minutes
4. Mayonnaise will KILL LICE, it will also condition your hair
5. Elmer's Glue - paint on your face, allow it to dry, peel off and see the dead skin and blackheads if any
6. Shiny Hair - use brewed Lipton Tea
7. Sunburn - empty a large jar of Nestea into your bath water
8. Minor burn - Colgate or Crest toothpaste
9. Burn your tongue? Put sugar on it!
10. Arthritis? WD-40 Spray and rub in, kill insect stings too
11 Bee stings - meat tenderizer
12. Chigger bite - Preparation H
13. Puffy eyes - Preparation H
14. Paper cut - crazy glue or chap stick (glue is used instead of sutures at most hospitals)
15. Stinky feet - Jello !
16. Athletes feet - cornstarch
17. Fungus on toenails or fingernails - Vicks vapor rub
18. Kool aid to clean dishwasher pipes. Just put in the detergent section and run a cycle, it will also clean a toilet. (Wow, and we drink this stuff)
19. Kool Aid can be used as a dye in paint also Kool Aid in Dannon plain yogurt as a finger paint, your kids will love it and it won't hurt them if they eat it!
20. Peanut butter - will get scratches out of CD's! Wipe off with a coffee filter paper
21. Sticking bicycle chain - Pam no-stick cooking spray
22. Pam will also remove paint, and grease from your hands! Keep a can in your garage for your hubby
23. Peanut butter will remove ink from the face of dolls
24. When the doll clothes are hard to put on, sprinkle with corn starch and watch them slide on
25. Heavy dandruff - pour on the vinegar !
26. Body paint - Crisco mixed with food coloring. Heat the Crisco in the microwave, pour in to an empty film container and mix with the food color of your choice!
27 Tie Dye T-shirt - mix a solution of Kool Aid in a container, tie a rubber band around a section of the T-shirt and soak
28. Preserving a newspaper clipping - large bottle of club soda and cup of milk of magnesia , soak for 20 min. and let dry, will last for many years!
29. A Slinky will hold toast and CD's!
30. To keep goggles and glasses from fogging, coat with Colgate toothpaste
31. Wine stains, pour on the Morton salt and watch it absorb into the salt.
32. To remove wax - Take a paper towel and iron it over the wax stain, it will absorb into the towel.
33. Remove labels off glassware etc. rub with Peanut butter!
34. Baked on food - fill container with water, get a Bounce paper softener and the static from the Bounce towel will cause the baked on food to adhere to it. Soak overnight. Also; you can use 2 Efferdent tablets , soak overnight!
35. Crayon on the wall - Colgate toothpaste and brush it!
36. Dirty grout - Listerine
37. Stains on clothes - Colgate toothpaste
38. Grass stains - Karo Syrup
39. Grease Stains - Coca Cola , it will also remove grease stains from the driveway overnight. We know it will take corrosion from car batteries!
40. Fleas in your carpet? 20 Mule Team Borax- sprinkle and let stand for 24 hours. Maybe this will work if you get them back again.
41. To keep FRESH FLOWERS longer Add a little Clorox , or 2 Bayer aspirin , or just use 7-up instead of water.
42. When you go to buy bread in the grocery store, have you ever wondered which is the freshest, so you 'squeeze' for freshness or softness? Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day has a different color twist tie.
They are:
Monday = Blue
Tuesday = Green
Thursday = Red
Friday = White
Saturday = Yellow.
So if today was Thursday, you would want a red twist tie; not white which is Fridays (almost a week old)! The colors go alphabetically by color Blue- Green - Red - White - Yellow, Monday through Saturday. Very easy to remember. I thought this was interesting. I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers DO have different twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors. You learn something new everyday! Enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color on the day you are shopping.

Don't forget Gatorade for Migraine Headaches. PowerAde won't work. Pass this information on to friends so they can be informed.