Tag: housekeeping

1. You can reduce the time you need to clean your bathroom walls by steaming the bathroom first to soften the molds and other buildups sticking to the walls. As soon as you have finished showering, start cleaning!

2. To keep your garbage bins smelling fresh, place a cut-up lemon in it. The lemon scent will keep your kitchen smelling pleasant. You can also sprinkling baking soda into each trash bag to help absorb odors.

3. Remove pills and other fraying from sweaters and clothing by using a single-edged man’s razor. Shave as if you were shaving your face or legs. So long as you don’t press down, you won’t damage the wool or fabric.

4. Never store opened canned foods in the fridge. Transfer the contents into plastic or ceramic containers. The lead in the container can be absorbed in the food and cause illness. Be especially careful with tomatoes and other foods high in acidity.

5. Practice the first-in-first-out principle in the kitchen, especially with food items. Arrange your pantry items in such a way as to put the older purchases in the front or on the top.

6. Remove wallpaper easily with the help of vinegar and warm water. Mix equal parts of vinegar and warm water and roll it over the wall paper you want to remove using a paint roller, until the paper is thoroughly soaked. Repeat again about 30 minutes later. And wait 30 minutes more. The paper should peel off easily.

FURTHER READING:

Your Greener Energy Guide: A Beginner’s Guide to Alternative Energy Production

The Smart Woman’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to a Greener Home

The New Green Family Guide: A Beginner’s Guide to Going Green As a Family

Saving Money, Investing Wisely in 2012: Insider Secrets on How to Make the Most of Your Money in this Ongoing Recession

Make and Freeze Recipes

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Even More Make and Freeze Recipes

1. Make your own kitchen air freshener for the holidays. In a saucepan, bring a small amount of water to a boil and add cinnamon sticks and orange peel. Simmer under a low fire, and let the homey scent fill your kitchen. This will also work well with cloves instead of the cinnamon. For a fresh scent every day, use any discarded orange or lemon rinds you might have.

2. Do you have a child who wets the bed? Or a pet who has soiled his and you’re tired of washing the dog bed all the time? Remove nasty urine odors on mattresses with borax. Dampen the affected areas with cold water, and sprinkle borax over them. Rub the borax vigorously over the affected areas and let dry. Then brush off the remaining powder and it should be much fresher and cleaner.

3. Remove wallpaper easily with the help of vinegar and warm water. Mix equal parts of vinegar and warm water and roll it over the wall paper you want to remove using a paint roller, until the paper is thoroughly soaked. Repeat again about 30 minutes later. And wait 30 minutes more. The paper should peel off easily.

4. Place contrasting elements together to create a dramatic effect in a room. For example, if you have a glass and chrome table, group nicely upholstered chairs around it.

5. Mirrors are best cleaned with newspaper to prevent streaking. After wiping them with a rag soaked in soapy water, rinse and wipe dry with crumpled newspaper. The mirror should be squeaky clean, without any streaks.

6. Schedule once-a-week chores to save on time and electricity. Iron your whole week’s worth of clothes at the same time (while watching a movie, for example, to make the chore less tedious) instead of one piece at a time. De-frost all of your freezers at the same time once a month to keep them operating efficiently and to help sort them and check your log of what you have in each.Go to the supermarket once a week to save on fuel, and to shop the sales at the store.

7. To keep the kitchen free of spills and sticky drippings, transfer condiments, salad dressings, jelly and other messy items into plastic squeeze bottles, using a funnel to avoid spills. Keep the tips of the bottles clean and sanitary by wiping at the end of each use. Use a Q-tip if it really gets clogged.

FURTHER READING:

Your Greener Energy Guide: A Beginner’s Guide to Alternative Energy Production

The Smart Woman’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to a Greener Home

The New Green Family Guide: A Beginner’s Guide to Going Green As a Family

1. To remove candle wax from the bottom of a votive candleholder, leave it in the freezer for about an hour. The wax should come right out, possibly with the help of a spoon or knife if it is a deep holder.

2. If your drinking glasses are cloudy, soak them for an hour or so in slightly warm white vinegar, then scrub them with a nylon sponge (like a Dobie pad). Rinse well and put in the dish rack to dry.

3. Use ketchup to polish copper pots. Just rub a liberal amount of it on the copper and leave for five minutes. Rinse with hot water and dry.

4. To remove fingerprints from your furniture after you’ve just polished it, sprinkle a small amount of cornstarch on your wooden tables and let it stand for a few minutes before wiping off.

6. Prepare a monthly budget to find out what cost-cutting must/can be done. Record all your purchases for three months (one fiscal quarter) in order to calculate an average spent on food, toiletries, cleaning items, medicines, and other regular expenses. Then see where you can trim them, to save even more money.

FURTHER READING:

Your Greener Energy Guide: A Beginner’s Guide to Alternative Energy Production

The Smart Woman’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to a Greener Home

The New Green Family Guide: A Beginner’s Guide to Going Green As a Family