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Prevent Dryer Fires

Posted 1/5/2009 @ 4:10:05 pm by homemakeretc.com

You might not be aware but fires caused by lint in dryers is one of the leading causes of house fires in the U.S. I never realized how much lint can actually build up in the exhaust pipe and the lint trap until last week. Last week while doing laundry I had a AA battery roll into my lint trap. When my husband got home from work he had to take apart the back of the dryer to get to where the batter landed. What we found when he removed the back was lint. Lots and lots of lint. While he retrieved the battery I worked on wiping down and removing the lint from the inside parts.

This is the lint on the inside of my dryer where the trap is supposed to get it.

This is the pile of lint I removed. You can't really tell from the picture but it is about the size of a soft ball. I'm happy to report that I got it all removed and my clothes are now drying faster. The YouTube video will tell more about this problem as well as what you can do to prevent dryer fires.

*In answer to a question posted in the comment section- It wasn't too much of a hassle for me since my husband did it. I had to remove the back because I had a battery that fell in. I believe you can clean it without taking off the back by using one of those long brushes that you can buy at the store.

Cleaning Glass Cooktop Stoves

Posted 11/18/2008 @ 10:12:04 am by homemakeretc.com

When it comes to stoves I prefer a glass cooktop stove over and electric coil stove. I do not have much experience with the gas stoves so I can't compare the three. I find it so much easier to clean a glass cooktop than a coil stove. Sure you can add tinfoil to the drip pans but how nice does that look? There are many cleaning substances for glass cooktops but I found one that I prefer the most, Bar Keepers Friend.

The other day my mother accidentally set a plastic lid on a hot burner and it melted. Aside from the horrible smell it left behind melted plastic right on the burner. We removed as much plastic as we could while it was still soft but there was still a residue. Once the burner had cooled down I sprinkled a little Bar Keepers Friend onto a wet wash cloth and then rubbed the area. It came off in no time. It also works great for the food splatters and boil overs too. It's safe to use this cleaner on stainless steel, fiberglass, porcelain, tile, copper, and brass surfaces as well.

33 Minutes to a Cleaner House

Posted 11/6/2008 @ 9:11:43 am by homemakeretc.com

A friend of mine sent the following in an email to me. Who ever thought it up was brilliant. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

33 Minutes to a Cleaner House…

You're getting company in 30 minutes. Your house is a mess. WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first session of Housekeeping Tips for Regular People. If you're a Martha Stewart type of housekeeper, this column is NOT for you.

However, for the rest of you, this is your chance to learn 15 Secret Shortcuts to Good Housekeeping that your mother never told you.

SECRET TIP 1: DOOR LOCKS
If a room clearly can't be whipped into shape in 30 days--much less 30 minutes--employ the Locked Door Method of cleaning. Tell anyone who tries to go in the room that the door is intentionally locked.

CAUTION: It is not advisable to use this tip for the bathroom.

Time: 2 seconds

SECRET TIP 2: DUCT TAPE
No home should be without an ample supply. Not only is it handy for plumbing repairs, but it's a great way to hem drapes, tablecloths, clothes, just about anything. No muss, no fuss.

Time: 2-3 minutes

SECRET TIP 3: OVENS
If you think ovens are just for baking, think again. Ovens represent at least 9 cubic feet of hidden storage space, which means they're a great place to shove dirty dishes, dirty clothes, or just about anything you want to get out of sight when company's coming.

Time: 2 minutes

SECRET TIP 4: CLOTHES DRYERS
Like Secret Tip 3, except bigger. CAUTION: Avoid hiding flammable objects here.

Time: 2.5 minutes

SECRET TIP 5: WASHING MACHINES & FREEZERS
Like Secret Tip 4, except even bigger.

Time: 3 minutes

SECRET TIP 6: DUST RUFFLES
No bed should be without one. Devotees of Martha Stewart believe dust ruffles exist to keep dust out from under a bed or to help coordinate the colorful look of a bedroom. The rest of us know a dust ruffle's highest and best use is to hide whatever you've managed to shove under the bed. (Refer to Secret Tips 3, 4, 5.)

Time: 4 minutes

SECRET TIP 7: DUSTING
The 30-Minutes-To-A-Clean-House method says: Never dust under what you can dust around.

Time: 3 minutes

SECRET TIP 8: DISHES
Don't use them. Use plastic or paper and you won't have to.

Time: 1 minute

SECRET TIP 9: CLOTHES WASHING (EEWWW)
This secret tip is brought to you by an inventive teenager. When this teen's mother went on a housekeeping strike for a month, the teen discovered you can extend the life of your underwear by two ...if you turn it wrong side out and, yes, rerun it.

CAUTION: This tip is recommended only for teens and those who don't care if they get in a car wreck.

Time: 3 seconds

SECRET TIP 10: IRONING
If an article of clothing doesn't require a full press and your hair does, a curling iron is the answer. In between curling your hair, use the hot wand to iron minor wrinkles out of your clothes. Yes, it really does work, or so I'm told, by other disciples of the 30-Minutes-To-A-Clean-House philosophy.

Time: 5 minutes (including curling your hair)

SECRET TIP 11: VACUUMING
Stick to the middle of the room, which is the only place people look. Don't bother vacuuming under furniture. It takes way too long and no one looks there anyway.

Time: 5 minutes, entire house; 2 minutes, living room only

SECRET TIP 12: LIGHTING
The key here is low, low, and lower. It's not only romantic, but bad lighting can hide a multitude of dirt.

Time: 10 seconds

SECRET TIP 13: BED MAKING
Get an old-fashioned waterbed. No one can tell if those things are made up or not, saving you, oh, hundreds of seconds over the course of a lifetime.

Time: 0

SECRET TIP 14: SHOWERS, TOILETS, AND SINKS
Forget one and two. Concentrate on three.

Time: 1 minute

SECRET TIP 15:
If you already knew at least 10 of these tips, don't even think about inviting a Martha Stewart type to your home.

Tips for Removing Stains From Laundry

Posted 10/14/2008 @ 7:48:28 am by homemakeretc.com

I don't know anyone who hasn't experienced a stain on their clothing or had to deal with laundry stains, especially if you have a child. Here are a few tips for removing stains from laundry.

Always treat the stain as soon as possible. Dab or rinse with cold water if you cannot pre-treat it right away.
Know the type of fabric you are working with. If it is dry clean only then that is what you should do.
Know the type of stain. Water temperature can make a big difference in stain removal. Some stains come out with hot water while others are made permanent with hot water.
Work from behind the stain. Turn fabric inside out and place on a clean cloth or paper towel to prevent further spreading.
Allow chemicals time to work. Some take time and rushing the process could lead to inadequate stain removal.
Do not rub excessively; this will lead to the fabric wearing down.
Test whatever chemicals you use on an inconspicuous place for color fastness. Don't use chemicals that will harm your clothing.

Here are some common stains that you will encounter and tips to remove them.

Grass stains- Blot with cold water as soon as possible. Use a pre-treating agent (Spray and Wash, Shout, Oxi-clean), rubbing alcohol, or vinegar. Let it soak overnight. Rinse with water. Rub normal laundry detergent on the spot and then wash as normal. My favorite pre-treater is Oxi-Clean.
Spaghetti Sauce Stains- Wet fabric and sprinkle with powdered dish detergent. Scrub gently with toothbrush. Rinse and launder as usual.
Blood Stains- Pour hydrogen peroxide on and rinse with cold water.
Ink Stains- Before washing blot with rubbing alcohol. I have heard that hair spray will work too.
Berry Stains- Dab with lemon juice and flush with water.
Deodorant Stains- Oxiclean is my favorite but you can also soak the garment in equal parts ammonia and water. Add a few Tablespoons of liquid dish soap and soak overnight.
Soiled Collars- Take a small paint brush and brush on some shampoo to the soiled area. Shampoo was created to dissolve body oils.

These are just a few. I want to know, what are your favorite stain removers?

Tips for Tackling Laundry

Posted 10/7/2008 @ 9:50:01 am by homemakeretc.com

Laundry is one of those things that never goes away. I know that if I get behind it is almost impossible to catch up. The hardest thing for me is finishing the job. By finishing I mean all of the clean clothes are folded and put away. I can get the clothes clean and folded it is the last step of putting away that gets me almost every time. There are 2 ways of doing laundry, you can have a marathon day where all you do is load after load or assign different days for different loads. I personally have a hard time finishing with the marathon day but my sister prefers this way. I prefer to split up laundry throughout the week. Typically, if I'm on top of things, my laundry days look like this:

Mondays- wash the kitchen rags and towels

Tuesdays- wash the kids colors

Wednesdays- wash the adult colors

Thursdays- no laundry because this is my errand day.

Fridays- wash the whites

Saturday- wash the bath towels and rugs.

Sunday- day off.

It doesn't matter how you choose to do your laundry but here are some tips everyone could use.

Laundry baskets- make sure everyone has their own basket for putting dirty clothes in. They also help for putting folded laundry in to carry to the rooms. My kids all share one that is in a central location of the bathroom since that is where most of the clothes end up. My husband and I have 2 baskets in our bathroom, one for colors and one for whites.
Have a basket or bucket in the laundry room for wet items or items to be washed soon. I have a bucket for the rags and a mesh basket for the clothes that inevitably end up downstairs.
Have shelves above the washer and dryer to hold laundry items like soap, fabric softener, and stain remover.
Have a place to hang up clothes that go on hangers immediately after they get out of the dryer. I have an over the door clothes hook.
Create a space to fold laundry and fold it as soon as it comes out of the dryer, this prevents too many wrinkles from forming.
Most importantly, FINISH the laundry by putting it away immediately.

I will have a post next week about stain removers that work. If you have any great ones please let me know.

Removing Crayon From Unwanted Places

Posted 9/29/2008 @ 7:53:23 am by homemakeretc.com

If you have children in your house you have or will experience crayon in unwanted places. I have had crayon on my walls, furniture, carpet, and clothing. My children aren't the only ones to blame. I accidentally washed a blue crayon with my clothes- blue crayon ended up all over the clothing. Do not try and vacuum up crayons either because they can become lodged in between the rotating brush and the vacuum and just spread crayon all over your carpet. So, should any of this happen, here is what you can do.

If you have crayon on walls, furniture, any hard surface the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works magic. You just get it wet and wipe. I would test it on a small part of what you are cleaning first just to make sure it won't ruin it but I haven't had a problem yet. You can get a free sample here as well as read how other people use it.
On Carpet that is 100% polyester/rubber back/short pile spray it with a little WD-40 and then wipe clean with a soft cloth.
For Carpeting scrape off as much crayon as you can with a knife or a spoon. spray the area with WD-40 and let sit. Work the stain out with a stiff bristle brush and then rinse out with liquid dish detergent and water.
For clothing spray the area with WD-40 let stand and spray the other side. Apply liquid dish detergent and rub and work into a lather. Blot away the stain with paper towels. Wash clothing in hot water for 12 minutes with laundry detergent and color safe bleach.

If these tips don't work on your surface or you have a question about a particular surface or type of crayon you can visit Crayola and find a complete listing.

Stinky Rags

Posted 9/23/2008 @ 6:26:40 am by homemakeretc.com

There are few things I hate but I can honestly say that I hate grabbing a dishrag to wipe down a table or counter and having it have that horrible, awful smell. You know what I'm talking about. I thought everyone knew how to get rid of the smell but I was mistaken. I was at a family member’s house and went to help out with the dishes. I grabbed the dishrag that was already out and instantly my nose hairs curled. I got a clean one out of the drawer and got it wet and the stink was there as well. That smell my dear friends, is the smell of bacteria. If you wipe things with rags/sponges that smell you are only spreading the bacteria around. So, how do you get that smell out? Good old fashioned Bleach.

The first thing you want to do when you are finished using a rag is rinse it out good and if possible lay it out to dry completely. Have a designated place for dirty rags to go until you are ready to wash them so the germs/smell doesn’t get transferred to other items. I use the bucket you see above. It just sits in my laundry room and I throw all of my dirty rags and dish towels in it. You can get rid of the stink by using one of three ways.

Fill up your sink with warm water, add some bleach (For the amount, follow instructions on the side of the bottle), then toss in your rags. This is one of my favorite methods because you also disinfect your sink at the same time.
Fill up the bucket with warm water, add some bleach, and add the rags.
Fill up your washing machine with the right amount of water, add the bleach and your regular detergent, and then add your rags.

If you suffer from stinky rags, please, please, please, get rid of the smell, if not for you, for the people who can't stand the reek.

There may be other ways out there to make it so your rags don't stink. Please share your ideas with us.

The Power of Vinegar

Posted 9/15/2008 @ 8:47:46 am by homemakeretc.com

Oh, the power of distilled white vinegar. If you have white vinegar on hand there really is no other cleaning product you need. It is so acidic that it takes care of most bacteria and mold. Using vinegar eliminates all of the harsh chemicals other cleaners have making it green and safe to use in homes with children. There are so many uses but here are a few of my favorite.

Remove hard water deposits in your dishwasher and washing machine by running them every once in a while with a cup of distilled vinegar.

If you get lime build up around chrome sink fixtures you can remove it with a paste made of 2 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar.

To rid your microwave of hard baked on food, place 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar and 1/2 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl inside your microwave and bring it to a rolling boil. You can now wipe it clean and odors will be gone.

Clean counter tops and make them smell sweet again with a cloth soaked in undiluted white distilled vinegar.

Deodorize the garbage disposal by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes then run hot water down the disposal.

Rid a faucet of lime and Calcium deposits by tying a plastic bag containing 1/2 to 1/3 cup of white distilled vinegar around it and leaving it there for two or three hours. If mineral deposits don’t wipe off, scrubbing with an old toothbrush should complete the job.

To clean a scummy showerhead, pour 1/2 cup baking soda and 1 cup white distilled vinegar into a sandwich bag and tie it around the showerhead. Let this set for an hour after the bubbling has stopped. Remove the bag and then turn on the water.

Get cleaner laundry! Add about 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar to the last rinse. The acid in white distilled vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, yet strong enough to dissolve the alkalis in soaps and detergents. Besides removing soap, white distilled vinegar prevents yellowing, acts as a fabric softener and static cling reducer, and attacks mold and mildew.

You can find these tips and a thousand more thanks to the folks at http://www.vinegartips.com/

Please leave a comment with your favorite vinegar tip. When you use one of these tips please be sure to let us know how it turned out.

HomeMakerEtc.com

Cleaning Posts