Professional Cleaning Hacks

Photo: Storyblock - Royalty Free

Daily, I clean my kitchen countertops with white vinegar and water in a spray bottle, which I mostly also use to mop my floors. For heavy-duty cleaning, I keep another spray bottle of bleach and water, which I use periodically on countertops and floors. What I love about the white vinegar is you never have to worry about a wayward drop of it discoloring your rugs and fabrics; you can skip rinsing; and it dries fast!

To clean bathroom fixtures like the bathtub, sink, and toilet, I mostly use 3% hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. Sometimes I might use a paste of white vinegar and baking soda, or infrequently, a sprinkle of Ajax in the bathtub, if soap residue remains. Occasionally I put a few drops of pine oil in the toilet bowl only, never the tank, for good measure.

Still, we never get too old or experienced to pick up a few expert tips on how to clean better, easier, or cheaper. Recently I stumbled upon 2 professional cleaning tips to share with you. We can all return here to remember them:

 

Jeeves NY Laundry Booster

2 parts washing soda - buy or make it (baking soda spread on a baking sheet, baked in a 400 degree F oven for 1 hour, stirred every 20 minutes)

1 part Borax (sodium tetraborate)

1 part Oxi-Clean (sodium percarbonate)

Extra hack: For the “grossest" stains only, Zach Pozniah (co-owner of Jeeves NY) uses ammonia.

Add one of these boosters with laundry detergent to wash clothes.

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The Big Sweep Method For Restoring Countertops

Making kitchen countertops look new again is a 3-step process: 

1) Fill a spray bottle with equal parts of white vinegar and water. Spray on every countertop material except granite. Let it sit for 5 minutes and wipe. Repeat until a soft cloth comes up clean.

2) Next, fill a spray bottle with warm water and a drop of liquid dishwashing detergent. Use it to spray on your countertops and rinse with clean water.

3) Using a soft cloth, rub a drop of mineral oil on laminate to put a shine on your countertops. With granite or marble, use isopropyl alcohol and water. Quartz doesn’t need polishing.

According to The Big Sweep, we can use step 2 for daily cleaning, step 1 for weekly cleaning, and step 3 for monthly cleaning.

To disinfect countertops, use 70% isopropyl alcohol safely on all surfaces. It dries quickly.

Certainly, these hacks are easy, cheap, and the 2 expert sources cited say they are better than anything else we can buy on the market. That is good enough for me!

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12 Stain Removers For Clothing

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Laundry Stain Removers

Photo: Andy Crawford/Getty Images

Truthfully, I don't want to purchase a zillion different products to do the laundry. Doing laundry should be simple not complicated. I stock an all purpose laundry detergent, bleach (for whites, though I use it sparsely) and Woolite (for hand washing delicates). Sometimes I also add a cup of white vinegar along with laundry detergent to the wash. I buy everything in big sizes, so I don't have to return to the store too soon to restock.

Furthermore, you can save time and money by making some of your own spot removers, as well as, fabric softener.

Quick Spot Remover: If you act fast, you can get most stains out of a shirt, like a spot of tomato sauce or cranberry juice with a dab of dish washing soap and water; or a splash of seltzer water. Get up from the table immediately and run to a sink before the stain has a chance to dry.

If you need to soak a garment overnight to remove a tough stain, such as wine, blood or grass that has already set in, I like this DIY solution --

Heavy duty stain remover:

Photo: PopSugar

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of baking soda
1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide
1/2 cup of hot water
(I sometimes add a bit of liquid soap to the mix for good measure.)

Directions:

1) Mix together; 2) rub into the stain; 3) let set overnight; 4) laundry the next day.

Extra tip: Blood is a protein stain, so if you have meat tenderizer in your spice rack, sprinkle it on the stain to help remove it. Always use cold, not hot water on blood stains.

After reading that clothes get cleaner without fabric softener, I stopped using it. Reportedly, fabric softer builds up on clothing, then later dirt clings to it. However, for die hard fabric softener users, there's no need to buy it. Your hair conditioner does the job. Add 2-3 capfuls of any brand of hair conditioner to the raise cycle; or to a sock and throw into the dryer, as you would softener dryer sheets. 

Alternatively, regular or wool dryer balls will prevent static cling, as will a safety pin pinned to a sock or wash cloth. (BTW, synthetic fibers (polyester, rayon, acrylic) produce static cling, not natural fibers (cotton, linen, wool); therefore a fabric softener does nothing for a load of cottons.)

Here are several more household cleaners you can make yourself cheaply with greener ingredients you probably already have at home. Keep the process and products simple, so you're not always running to the store!

Photo: Cleanipedia.com

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