Cleaning Tips
Lesson 1
If your wand is broken and you have to use elbow
grease instead of magic to clean, knowing about
Vinegar may be just as good! Here are only a
few of the many non-edible uses for vinegar.
Clean and freshen the garbage disposal by running a
tray of ice cubes, with 1/2 cup vinegar poured over
them, through it once a week.
1/4 cup of vinegar added to a load of laundry, along
with the usual soap, will brighten colors and make
whites sparkle. This will also act as a fabric
softener, and inhibit mold and fungus growth. Helps
to kill athlete's foot germs on socks, too.
Clean and freshen the microwave oven by boiling
vinegar water in it. Mix 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 cup
water in a small bowl and heat for 5 minutes. This
will remove lingering odors and soften baked on food
spatters.
Simmer 1/4 cup vinegar in a pot of water, uncovered,
to clear the air of lingering cooking odors. Add 1/2
teaspoon of cinnamon to the water for an extra special
air cleaner.
1/2 cup vinegar in dish washing water cuts grease and
lets you use less soap.
Remove ink stains from clothes by soaking them in milk
for 1 hour. Then cover the stain with a paste of
vinegar and cornstarch. When the paste dries, wash
the garment as usual.
Apple cider vinegar removes soap scum from more than
just shower walls. Dilute it half and half with water
and use it to rub down your body after bathing. It
will leave your skin naturally soft, pH balanced, and
free of soapy film. It also acts as a natural
deodorant.
Dissolve chewing gum and remove stuck on decals by
saturating them with vinegar. If the vinegar is
heated, it will work faster.
Remove light carpet stains with a paste made of salt
and vinegar. Dissolve 2 tablespoons salt and 2
tablespoons borax in 1/2 cup vinegar. Rub this into
carpet stains and let it dry. Vacuum up the residue.
Fill your coffeemaker reservoir up with vinegar and
run it through a brew cycle to clean out any mineral
build-ups. Rinse well with water when finished.
A mix of vinegar and water is great for cleaning
windows, glasses, and appliances.
Anti-Pesto and Debugging (not just for your compy): Rub your skin with baby oil, imitation vanilla extract
or cider vinegar to repel biting insects. If you
consume enough (not sure how much is enough) vinegar
on your food, your body will develop an
insect-repelling odor. Same goes for onions. Insects
may not be the only thing repelled, methinks. Your
pet can benefit from vinegar too. To help keep the
fleas and ticks at bay, add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to
each quart of your pet's drinking water.
To decrease the itch of bug bites, marinate the bites
in lemon, meat tenderizer or white vinegar. Stung?
Hold a slice of onion on the spot or glop on some mud.
If bees are a problem, squirt them with hair spray.
Their wings will stiffen and they'll drop like flies.
They'll still be alive though, so be careful. If you
sport a '60's beehive hairdo with tons of hairspray,
you could catch a lot this way too by swinging your
head around ala head-banger style.
Give ant hills on your lawn a wake-up call by pouring
strong, hot coffee on them. Red ants will require
extra dousing.
Spread human hair around crop areas to keep deer away
(as seen in The Rookie). Spread dog hair
around crops to keep raccoons away.
To keep these critters running the other way, put some
solid pieces of laxative where skunks can find them
and also in mole tunnels.
To keep slugs out of your garden, fill shallow pans
with beer and place them in the garden with the rims
flush to the ground. Soon the slugs will be drowning
in beer. Human slugs can be seen doing this in
biergartens also. ;)
Gross-out cockroach trap: Take about a 4-inch high
jar and put bacon grease and a piece of banana in the
bottom. Smear a 3/4 inch wide band of petroleum jelly
around the inside of the jar, about 1/2 inch from the
top. Turn off the lights and go to bed. The roaches
should be packed in there pretty well by morning.
Cockroaches also like those beehive hairdos, according
to the creep-out stories that were once told about
them.
Cleaning Your Formalware
Crystal Glasses or Vases
*Fill with warm water and drop in a crushed
denture-cleaning tablet. Let sit for a couple of
hours, wash and rinse.
*Fill with strong solution of ammonia and water.
Wash and rinse after a couple of hours.
*With a solution of 2 parts vinegar and 3 parts
water, apply solution with a paintbrush to tricky
textured areas. Let sit, then scrub if necessary.
Rinse and let dry.
*Put a few ice cubes and a spoonful or two of salt,
shake gently for a minute or two and then wash and
rinse with cool water.
*Put in some clean crushed raw eggshells mixed in
water. Shake gently, pour out the eggshells, wash and
rinse.
Silver
*Soak tarnished silverware in sour mild for half an
hour. Wash in soapy water to polish and brighten.
*To polish between the tines of a fork, dip a pipe
cleaner in silver polish and run it between the tines.
China
*Soak in a mild solution of household bleach and
water. Soak for an hour or so, wash and rinse.
*Rub on a solution of equal parts vinegar and salt,
then rinse.
*Gold-banded or gold-decorated china and glassware
should never be washed in an automatic dishwasher.
Brass, Bronze and Copper
*Boil onions in water and use the cooled water to
polish.
*Mix equal parts salt and flour with enough vinegar
to make a thick paste. Rub on vigorously with a damp
cloth. Wash, rinse and dry thoroughly.
*Mix 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons vinegar in
1 pint of water. Heat until warm, then apply as
above.
*Apply a little toothpaste (not the gel type) with a
soft, damp cloth or toothbrush. Rinse and dry.
*Dip a lemon slice or rind in a little salt and rub
it. Clean and dry with paper towels.
*Add a little ammonia to a soap-and-water solution.
Apply with a soft paintbrush or rag. Rinse and wipe
dry.
*To clean brass plating, apply silver polish with a
soft rag or rub with a rag dipped in either ammonia
and water or dishwashing liquid and water. Do not use
steel wool or an abrasive cleanser.
*To clean a copper teakettle, boil a solution of
equal parts vinegar and water in the kettle once in a
while.
*To deter tarnish, rub on olive oil or mineral oil.
Or polish with paste wax using a paper towel.
Pewter
*Place old pewter in a pot of water with a little
diswasher detergent mixed in. Bring water to a boil.
Let it cool, then remove the object. Wash in soapy
water, then polish. It may take more than one boiling
to get out all the marks.
*New pewter can be easily cleaned with just soap and
water or by sprinkling baking soda on marks and
rubbing with a sponge moistened with vegetable oil.
*Fill with soapy water, adding a splash of vinegar.
*Prevent tarnish by keeping silver moisture-free.
Either wrap each dry piece in plastic wrap or store
with a block of camphor (available at drugstores).
*To remove coffee or tea stains, wet china cup with
vinegar. Dampen a rag with water, dip it in baking
soda or salt and swab out the stain.
*Rub on Worcestershire sauce or ketchup with a damp
cloth.
*Clean old pewter gently with a steel wool soap pad
dipped in silver polish. Be careful not to rub more
than is necessary or you may rub a hole through the
pewter!