Household hints and cleaning recipes!
 

One of my faves...

Vinegar in laundry! Add about 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar to the last rinse. It is too mild to harm fabrics, but strong enough to dissolve the alkalies. It also whitens whites, brightens brights and makes black less blah. AND, it acts as a fabric softener and static reducer; using it will actually make your towels softer. Plus, it helps with the bad smells like smoke etc. Finally, it works on clothes that have mold or mildew (for anyone who has forgotten about a load of wet clothes in the washer).



:sparklyheart:

I never knew this. Thank you for sharing :)

I use vinegar to clean my stainless steel appliances. It gets even the hard water marks off without having to scrub and it leaves everything shiny and streak-free.

Ok, more laundry stuff-kind of.

Laundry sheets uses:

~put in your pocket to help repel mosquitos
~tuck under the seat of your car to help the scent stay fresh
~wipe across hair when static is an issue
~stash in the lingerie drawer for body-friendly sachets

:sparklyheart:

Use an iron, paper towels, and a paper grocery bag to remove candle wax.

paper towels directly on wax then cover that with the grocery bag. Iron the grocery bag until wax melts and is absorbed by the paper towels.

More uses for vinegar
 

Do you have any of those storage things in your shower that stick on the wall with suction cups? If they keep falling off the wall, wipe the back of the cups and the wall with vinegar, wet the suction cups with water, and stick back on the wall . . . they will stay put.

Also, after we had a bathroom repainted I noticed some paint splatter on the chrome towel racks. Guess what took them right off? Vinegar. Plus I noticed how shiny the towel rack was becoming . . . so I cleaned the faucets with vinegar too!

And . . . if you have any stinky kitchen smells (think fish), a small bowl of vinegar left sitting on the counter will get rid of the smell quickly.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Cajun_dee for this topic!
Though I do not have time to hang out here online today, I am commenting so I can easily find this place again.

Off now to do woodworking outside today. It finally quit raining and I must complete my storage room shelves that I started weeks ago. Excited because I can take stuff out of my kitchen like crockpot, veggie steamer, etc. and put in storage room - free up kitchen space. Plus, it is fun to build useful things. :)

Happy day to all! (f)
Brock

Vinegar is miracle stuff.

Another use: run through the coffee pot to clean out water scales, etc. I run a pot with a 1/4 cup vinegar and then two water pots to rinse. The water is used on the potted plants on the front porch.

hmm i have found that a can of coke is helpful to remove grease (from working on cars) .. i put a little in my laundry and it takes hard grease stains out of my levis..have to re wash but the stains are gone. same with tracked in grease on carpet..pour some coke on it let it sit a lil then scrub with a brush then just warm soap an water.
also tooth paste for those white rings on tables (from hot coffee cup an stuff). the regular crest. a dab on my finger ..work it into the wood until the burn is gone.

um also mayo.. when a cigg burn is in carpet or upolstery.. run some mayo on it it will break up that black burn stuff

You can also pour regular table salt on red wine spills this absorbs it then just vacuum it up.

This is so wonderful! Adding a little essential oil with will make your clothes smell amazing.

Vinegar will also attract those pesky fruit flies. They dive right in to a little cup left on the counter.

I have also found that dryer sheets are good for dusting furniture and television screens...anything that usually gathers dust. The fabric softener in the sheet works as a dust repellent.

Also using cooled cigarette ashes mixed with a little bit of water on water stained end tables or coffee tables will remove those white spots.

Toothpaste is an excellent cleaner of silver jewelry. You must brush lightly with a toothbrush because it can be abrasive.

Use a rubber glove to help grip and open tough to open jars. Also if you put it under hot water it helps to break the seal.

Hard to clean shower doors? Use WD 40 applied to a cloth and be careful not to get it on the tub or floor surface because it will make it slippery. But it will clean the hard to get off soap scum.

A clogged drain? 1 cup of baking soda followed by 1 cup of hot vinegar (heated in the microwave) Wait a few minutes and then follow with two quarts of hot water. The reaction of the baking soda vinegar boils out anything that is in there...it's temperature helps as well.

Also you can remove odors from a garbage disposal in the sink by running through some citrus.

Coat a deck of old cards with baby powder to make them slippery again.

Ever wonder why they sell bunches of daffodils together without other flowers?? Do not mix cut daffodils with other flowers as there is a toxin that daffodils produce that will kill the other flowers.

Vinegar water (1/2 cup vinegar to 2 cups water approximately - more vinegar if the glass is very dirty) and old newspapers for cleaning windows for a streak free look.

Crayon on walls? WD 40 or a hair dryer which will help to melt the wax base of the crayon and assist in wiping it off.

Pen or pencil marks on the wall. Cloth dipped into milk and wipe it off.

Clean brass with lemon juice.

Remove chewing gum with peanut butter. If on clothing put it in the freezer and then scrape it off.

Rubbing alcohol to clean flat topped stoves.

Clean the microwave...I always hated this job until I found this! Cut up one lemon and add one cup of water in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for five minutes. It will loosen any stuff from the inside and you can just wipe it out with a cloth. It gets rid of the grime while adding a fresh scent.



I guess that is all from me for now. I have learned many tricks of the trade over the years. I did janitorial work for many years. Hope these help y'all. If I think of more I will post again later.

Am I the only one who gags at the smell of white vinegar? My parents used to run it through their coffee maker once a month to make their coffee taste fresher (yet another use for it), but I HATED those days. I'd run for the jar of Vick's salve and rub some on my upper lip to fight off the smell and the gag reflex (years later, I discovered that forensic scientists used Vick's in exactly the same way, to mask the smell of decomposing bodies... it seems I was on to something. Wait, does that count as a household cleaning tip?).

Anyway, I want to like the smell of vinegar. I do. It's clearly the miracle cleaner, and way better for the environment. But thanks to my nose, just not *my* environment. :(

Wow! My favorite subject is cleaning! Great tips so far.

To clean a slow or stinky drain put a big pot of water to boil. Take some baking soda and pour it into the drain. Pour some vinegar on top and watch it froth up! Let that sit for 10 minutes or so and then pour the whole pot of boiling water down the drain. Do this once a month to keep drains fresh and clear. This will not, however, clear up a very clogged sink.

What are your favorite cleaning products you can buy at the store?

Also cornmeal...

I HATE it...Blech. The laundry tip doesn't leave the vinegar smell in the end.

So... you catch more flies with vinegar than honey? ;)

coffee filters r great on windows too

Facial scrub? :P

I've heard coffee grounds are fantastic for compost. Wonder if I could get a caffeine buzz from the veggies grown from it.

Going organic!
 

Use them in your garden or potted plants...

ETA you can go to your local Starbucks and get grounds... I am not sure if any of the other coffee houses do this but it won't hurt to ask...

Cleaning supplies...