Category: Home Cleaning

You may have left them in the shade, where they became damp and weakened. Or you may have left them in the hot sunshine, where they became dry and brittle. Though bamboo Chippendale chairs look — and also to a large extent, are resilient, they’re not indestructible. With a couple of simple steps, you can save your bamboo chairs in the harshness of the outside. You may not be able to fully restore them to their initial state, but you need to be able to come near.

Set the chair on an old blanket or dropcloth in a well-ventilated location.

Remove dirt from the chair using a rag or the vacuum. Blend 1/2 gallon of soapy water and a couple of tsp of ammonia, and wash the chair using a soft sponge. Rinse with a damp sponge and cool water. Blot the chair dry using a clean rag.

Repair any cracks in the bamboo by trimming trouble spots with fine-grit sandpaper. Remove the dust with tack cloth. Then rub the chair using a paste wax, or use linseed oil or furniture oil specifically created for bamboo furniture.

Apply a coat of lacquer to protect the finish. Pick from a brush-on or spray variety to produce a tough and lasting effect.

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Whether you’ve alloy cabinet hardware made from antique brass, modern stainless steel or even something in between, it requires regular cleaning. The bacteria and dirt from your hands as well as the grease from cooking can leave your metal cabinet hardware looking and feeling grubby. If the hardware appears very dirty or tarnished, you might need to remove it for it thoroughly clean. Keep your cupboards and its hardware looking brand new by adding it to a regular weekly or monthly cleaning routine.

Soap and Water

Fill a bowl or sink with warm water and add a squirt of dishwashing liquid or olive-based soap. Swish the water around with your hand to make suds.

Dip a rag into the soapy water and wring it out.

Wipe the cabinet hardware using the soapy rag. For tough dirt, dip a soft toothbrush into the water and bathe.

Wash the rag, wring it out and then wipe the cabinet hardware to remove the soap residue.

Buff the hardware using a dry chamois cloth to polish and shine it.

Vinegar Cleaning Solution

Pour 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar and 1/2 cup water in a spray bottle and shake the jar to blend.

Spray a rag with the vinegar solution until it’s moist but not dripping.

Wipe the hardware using the vinegar-soaked cloth. Wash the cloth if required and wet it again with the vinegar mix.

Buff the hardware using a dry chamois fabric to get a nice polish and sheen.

Joining and Removing

Unscrew the cabinet hardware from the Interior with a screwdriver.

Fill a sink or bucket with hot water and then add sufficient dishwashing liquid to make suds. If desired, add 1/2 cup white vinegar.

Submerge the hardware in the soapy water for several hours or overnight.

Remove the hardware in the water one piece at a time and bathe it with a toothbrush. If the hardware is tarnished, spray on the toothbrush using white vinegar and then sprinkle the bristles with table salt prior to scrubbing.

Wash the hardware and then buff it with a chamois cloth to restore shine.

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Installing a hardwood floor can be an arduous process, and it may leave a mess behind. Besides dust and wood shavings, you might come across some blobs of glue glue which was vital to the installation. Think of this as a temporary issue and attack it first with ice to literally freeze the glue. Failing that, ramp up your efforts with some other household goods. In no time, you will agree the fuss and bother of installing the hardwood flooring was well worthwhile.

Poke in the glue with a cotton swab to determine its resiliency factor. If some or all of the glue lifts, then you are able to safely clean out the place on the floor. If the glue will not budge, prepare to provide the ice plenty of time to work.

Cover the glue place with a paper towel to supply some protection into the wooden floor as the ice melts.

Place several ice cubes in a plastic sandwich bag. Ensure there are sufficient ice cubes in the bag to fully cover the glue spot on the floor.

Set the sandwich bag full of ice above the paper towel along with the glue place. Weigh down the bag with a heavy object to speed the procedure, if at all possible. A brick is excellent for this particular job; a hefty novel is a worthy substitute.

Check the glue place every 30 minutes. Pry in the place with a cotton swab to assess its consistency. If it becomes hard and brittle, push the glue place to break it away from the floor, with the cotton swab.

Ramp your attempts using spray lubricant into the dried glue. Allow it to sit for 20 minutes. Pry the glue away with a cotton swab. Wipe the area with a moist cloth.

Open your refrigerator and your kitchen pantry and choose products that contain natural oils or acidity to break down the glue residue. One at time, rub mayonnaise, lemon juice, peanut and white vinegar on the blob of glue. Allow each to sit a minimum of 20 minutes to break down the glue. Wipe away the glue, using a moist cloth.

Clean out the place on the floor after the glue is removed, using a hardwood floor cleaner or a damp sponge and a little gentle soap.

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Whether you’ve got a cloth shower curtain with a plastic lining or just one faux curtain, most shower curtains are washable, including in high-efficiency machines. The procedure removes dirt and soap scum accumulation. For synthetic drapes, handy, premeasured detergent and bleach cups create cleaning in front-loading, high-efficiency washers easy. If you’ve got a fabric curtain, read the manufacturer’s washing instructions, so you choose the right detergent and temperature options.

Synthetic and Vinyl Shower Curtains

Synthetic shower curtains have a fresh, crisp look in a toilet, and cleaning is straightforward. After detaching the curtain in the pole, put it in the drier, untwisting it to make certain that water reaches into the crevices. Place the detergent and bleach or premade cup to the high-efficiency drier, picking out the white or hot cycle to make sure that dirt particles and mildew are fully dislodged in the curtain.

Fabric Shower Curtains

Fabric shower curtains require more consideration; read the product care tag in detail. Harsh cleansers, such as chlorine bleach, cause color fading, and bleach erodes water-resistant substances on some drapes. Soap-scum buildup is often the offender. Overuse of high-efficiency detergent ends in detergent deposits, particularly with one-item washes, however substandard detergent does not eliminate mildew. Fabric drapes shrink when drier settings are too hot. If the care directions forbid bleach, then add vinegar as opposed to combat the mildew and other dirt.

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Whether you’ve got outdoor seats made from rigid vinyl or indoor ones covered using flexible, leather-like vinyl, the procedure for cleaning them is similar. Vinyl — more correctly called polyvinyl chloride, or PVC — is nonporous and vulnerable to powerful solvents, so only gentle cleaning supplies and methods are advisable.

Cleaning Soft Vinyl

You can frequently clean soft vinyl couches, chairs as well as automobile or boat chairs with nothing more than a damp rag. Should you want more cleaning power, you shouldn’t use anything stronger than dish soap or even all-purpose cleaner. Mix a ounce or so per gallon of warm water, and rinse with a rag or sponge. If you need to remove mildew, do it using a 4-to-1 combination of water and chlorine, but test this in an inconspicuous spot first to make certain it doesn’t cause any discoloration. Never use abrasives, powerful bleach or wax.

Cleaning Hard Vinyl

The process for cleaning hard vinyl is similar to that for cleaning delicate vinyl — with the exception that you can safely use baking soda as an abrasive to remove scuff marks. Wet the vinyl; sprinkle on some baking soda and rub it with a cloth, and rinse with clear water. You can also remove scuff marks, as well as dye stains, by massaging with denatured alcohol. After washing your hard vinyl chairs, protect them and maintain them shiny by coating them with car glue.

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Those filmy shower doors are not doing anything to the bathroom decor, and you may have noticed that a once-over with soap and water does not get rid of the soapy film or hard water stains. It is possible to prevent the soap scum by showering with liquid soap rather than bar soap, and if you squeegee the glass, then you are never going to have hard water deposits. Those are good strategies for the future, but now that the damage is finished, you may need to try some cleaning hints.

Start With the Soap Scum

You might already have some bathtub gloves, but should youn’t, you can buy a set for a few dollars. They’re made of nylon or fiber mesh and made to be somewhat abrasive, which is a handy feature for cleaning glass and metal — just jump in the shower, lather up the gloves with liquid soap and wash off. The gloves get into tight corners, but you may need the support of a toothbrush. When you turn on the shower and rinse the glass, then the soap scum ought to be gone, but the task isn’t finished.

Acid to the Rescue

The glass may appear crystal clear after rinsing and washing it, however, hard water marks often reassert themselves when the water disappears and the glass dries. The marks are brought on by the vitamins that make the water “hard .” Soap will not emulsify these deposits and loosen their bond, so it is useless to attempt to scrub them. Instead, you need to dissolve them with an acid. That may sound extreme, but you also need only a mild one, and you also have two good candidates in the kitchen — lemon juice and vinegar. In a pinch, you may even utilize a delicious soft drink — the tanginess means the soft drink includes an acid — typically phosphoric or citric acid.

Misting to Remove Minerals

Whether you choose vinegar or lemon juice, it is best to use it full strength: simply pour it straight from the bottle to a spray bottle. If you’ve just rinsed the glass, then wait for it to dry; then generously mist it with the sprayer. The acetic acid in vinegar or citric acid in lemon juice both need time to get the job done. Ideally the glass ought to stay wet for 10 to 30 minutes; you may need to mist one or two additional times to avoid the glass from drying out. After scrubbing with the rubbed and rubbed with the shower head, the hard water deposits should be gone.

A Glue for Stubborn Stains

The most troublesome parts of a shower door to wash are the metallic frame, the hinges as well as the handle, and misting may not get the work done unless you repeat it many times. There is a better means to do it: Make a paste using borax or salt and distribute it on the stain with a toothbrush. It may take one hour or more for the paste to work, but when you return and scrub the stain with the toothbrush, then it should come right off. If not, just repeat the therapy until it does.

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