BS: Organizing/Household Tips

Subject: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 11:54 AM

I guess this belongs in a linked group of other Mudcat threads (neat or messy, downsizing, etc), and those can be added later.

But I have four hot kitchen tips now-- wish I'd known 'em sooner-- and I wanna post before I forget 'em!


1. Set a soapdish/drainer in or near the drainboard for those little bottle tops that are so easy to lose in the big drainer's wide slats. Use them when you refill your recycled bottles (like Starbucks yummy iced coffees) with your homemade, healthier alternatives.

2. Small household, dishes piling up? An old pot's handle can be removed to make a soapy-water pot to sit in the sink. Plop dirty dishes, glassware, or utensils in there as used, one or two at a time. Next time you pass the sink, just rinse one or two of the soaked and now-clean items, and set them to dry. No more dishes piling up. Saves water.

3. Like to sanitize dishes in the dishwasher, but too few people to run a full load? Use the DW as your drainer. As you handwash a few dishes at a time, set 'm in the DW to dry. Whenever it gets full, run it with or without soap to sanitize and dry the dishes. Saves water.

4. Almost any visit to a thrift shop will net a used Brita or Pur water-filtering pitcher for a buck or two. They clean up fine (I bleach them after a good soapy scrub), and so far every used on I've gotten (even the really old models) uses the same filters available now. One for kitchen, one for bath, one for camper, one for office....... as you pour a glass or bottleful of water, add the same amount of tap water back into the pitcher. Soap and bleach weekly (not the filter). Those filters are good for about 2 months, and they easily beat the cost of bottled water (not to mention saving the environment).

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Bee
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 01:57 PM

I don't know how useful these are for other people...

1. Save a couple used toothbrushes for cleaning tiny filter screens (like the ones in some washer filler hoses).
2. Like scrubbed new potatos? Ignore the soft 'vegetable brush' in the grocery store. Buy a small heavy duty scrub brush and make the job easy.
3. 2 to 1 water and vinegar cleans laminate floors better than the expensive stuff.
4. Double bag fish for the freezer = less freezer burn. (We get a lot of fish).

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Alice
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 02:45 PM

Best scrubbing solution to clean sinks, stove tops, water taps, etc., Cream of Tartar mixed with Hydrogen Peroxide.
I used to use baking soda for cleaning, but the C of T with peroxide is MUCH better.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 04:07 PM

Get rid of your vegetable coolers in the reefer if you tend to have rotten stuff there and replace with Tupperware type boxes that can be washed in dishwasher.

And what is too few people for a dishwasher? One is not too few for me. The only number fewer than that is 0 and then I guess that would be true. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: flaj
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 04:42 PM

Hey mg what's a "reefer"?

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Amos
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 04:53 PM

Nautical slang for a refrigerator, Flaj.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 04:54 PM

Tupperware for produce, yes-- with air holes cut in if they aren't already in the T/ware. Line with a damp towel. Bleach as needed (monthly)? Take all produce out of bags/boxes.

Too few people for DW is if you have two people and not every meal is eaten at home, it does not come close to filling the DW even if you put the pots and pans in. Water comes dear in some places.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 06:43 PM

Two is not too few for me. Dirty dishes (quick clean before loading) can be a good long time in the dishwasher if you are healthy at least...They say on average people use less water with dishwashers, assuming full load etc. than by hand, but the extremely cautious would probably use less by hand. Whatever works, but all else being equal, no current drought etc., people should not feel they should not use a dishwasher until a magic number of people uses it. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 06:51 PM

We were going to get one of THESE, but the one we liked was too tall to fit under our cupboards on the countertop. I think we'll probably go ahead and get one of the shorter ones. With just the two of us, the smaller does make sense, imo and we do have drought conditions here.

One little tip that I got years and years ago which I loved, esp. with small children, was to make a small drawstring sack out of a washcloth, using a shoelace for the drawstring. Put all of your soap chips in it, those little bits when the soap gets too small to hold easily. Then use as a soaped up, ready to scrub washcloth.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 07:02 PM

Here's a real money saving tip:

When shopping for kitchen cleanup tools, choose ones with handles that are appropriately shaped to do double duty as marital aids. You'll save money and avoid the embarrassment of having the kids find that drawerful of dildos.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 08:15 PM

My one tip is that if you can't take the heat, stay outta the litchen...

That's me... I mow, weedeat, build houses, renovate hotels, deal with crazy people all day long but I know my limitations and most are kitchen related... Okay, I can wash dishes... Washed 'um tonight, might of fact... Keep my fingernails clean...

Okay, I do have one suggestion... Don't ever install a soap dispenser on the right side of the sink... The left is better... I have done this twice and, grrrrrrrr....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 11:14 PM

A country DW on a well running dry is, sometimes, TOO MUCH WATER to waste all at once. If the DW's full, OK, maybe you run it. If it ain't, sometimes you don't wash much of nothin', and washing... people... comes... first.

Sheeshe!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: GUEST,Bert on Kelly's machine.
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 11:43 PM

That stainless steel sink looking grungy?

Get a sheet of 400 grade wet-or-dry rubbing down paper from your auto parts store and cut it into four.

Go with the original grain and it will get it really clean.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: GUEST,Bert on Kelly's machine.
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 11:44 PM

It's good for cleaning your pots and pans as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 03:11 AM

If you're going to use old shirts as cleaning rags, take the buttons off first or you could scratch whatever you're trying to polish.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 06:44 AM

Ooooh, cast iron pans, cleaning once well seasoned:

You may use either a tiny amount of dish soap in cold water, OR hot water on its own, to remove stubbornly stuck-on bits. A green scrubby used lightly will restore the smoothness of the seasoning's finish to Teflon smoothness. However, always lightly re-season lightly or heavily as needed with a spritz of spray oil on the freshly-heated pan. Polish excess oil off when the pan cools.

A rusted pan can be sanded down to bare iron and re-seasoned; sometimes dry salt will serve to sand it, or the automotive sander used carefully will serve. :~) But a rescued rusty pan, if seasoned properly, will have a long second life.

Seasoning, according to some people, is best done stovetop, frying chicken. According to others, a long, slow bake in the oven is best.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: autolycus
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 06:47 AM

There are loads of books of tips. I've just picked up a pre-publication copy of The Penny Pincher's Book Revisited by John and Irma Mustoe, which is tips and nothing but, around 1500 of them.

One I liked is never go food shopping when you're hungry.


One that's great for saving money is to buy low-energy light bulbs. My electricity plummeted to

£15 p.m.       Let me repeat that, £15 per month.

   It helped that I suddenly realised I h'd had the boiler permanently on. Now it's usually off. (Note to self. Twit).


The book gives some 31 Uses for lists, e.g. for empty tin cans,

e.g.4. Tins make excellent perncil and pen holders.
      11. Put unfiled bills and invoices into a can till you're ready
      15. Put your jewellery in a can in the larder. They won't look there - no time.
      31. Use as target practice, ball practice.



       Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Mr Happy
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 12:06 PM

Re: re-using old toothbrushes, if you immerse the handles in boiling water to soften 'em, you can bend backwards on top of itself to make like a nail brush handle

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 12:45 PM

Moving? A good time to shred years' worth of obsolete files is when you're packing to move-- you get [lenty of free excelsior for glassware, and fewer heavy boxes of paper to move.

Want an inventory of what you've put into storage, or what's in your moving boxes? Put blank address labels on the boxes. Use your digital camera to take a still-life shot of the box contents; put the photo filename on the box label.


Your empty computer boxes are a great place to store those crazy packing peanuts as they pile up in your life-- those styrofoam peanut-shaped thingies that spread everywhere if you let them loose? Let them pile up in the puder boxes; you will have plenty for fragile knick-knacks the next time you move. At moving time, haul out the puder boxes and pack the most fragile items into fresh boxes with those packing peanuts. Throw out any leftover peanuts, and there are your empty puder boxes to use on the last packing day.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Partridge
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 12:47 PM

Catch all the spiders in your home and tie small dusters to their feet... Set them free for dust free crevices.

Pat xx

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: autolycus
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 01:23 PM

LOL


Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 07 - 11:32 AM

Don't bother to catch the Mediterranean house geckos that creep in under the door or when you aren't looking, the cats are bored with them by now so they leave them alone, and they'll eat any spare ants or spiders that have also made it into the house. And if there isn't anything else around, they seem to like the crumbs of cat food the kitties miss around the dish.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: PMB
Date: 10 Sep 07 - 12:28 PM

If you wet yourself in the pub, avoid embarrassment by "accidentally" knocking over the remains of your pint onto your lap.

If your partner snores noisily, clingfilm over the mouth and nose will restore silence.

You can reduce the cost and environmental impact of washing by always using brown bedsheets.

Park on double yellow lines with impunity, by smearing all the car windows with petroleum jelly so the tickets won't stick.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: autolycus
Date: 10 Sep 07 - 12:53 PM

Sounds like Extreme Tips (as it were)

Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Bert
Date: 10 Sep 07 - 04:09 PM

Roast coffee in a cast iron pan to season it.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: MBSLynne
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 02:53 AM

Lol! I like some of those!

Prompted by my sister I joined a US web thingy a few years ago called "Fly Lady...your personal household organisation coach" (or something like that). I don't go on it much any more, but it was usueful. Two of the things from it I still do regularly.

1. When you first go to the bathroom in the morning, give the basin and toilet a quick wipe round and run a cloth over mirrors.

2. When doing any sort of cooking, have a bowl of soapy water in the sink and wash things up as you go along. Saves time later. Though I don't have a dishwasher....

I clean almost everything with either bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and/or lemon juice, either singly or in combination. Vinegar is most definitely the best thing for cleaning any sort of glass. If you use newspaper to rub over afterwards it's even better.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: autolycus
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 03:19 AM

Another tip.

If you're about to snack, drink a glass of water in sips first.

You may find you weren't hungry after all (and it's the cheapest diet solution I know so far).

We rend to think we're hungry when the reality is we were thirsty.


    Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Partridge
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 04:56 AM

To stop mirrors streaming up rub them with soap and dry without rinsing.

if you want to stop cleaning mirrors indefinitely get bitten by a vampire!

pat xx

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 10:10 AM

Wishing you had a double sink? Pick up a big ole canning pot at the thrift store and set it beside your sink. You can use it to set dishes to soak, to thaw a turkey in cold water, or as a backup dish drainer after the DW is too full for those last holiday dishes.

Need an extra drainer? Lay out a handful of chopsticks in a rimmed cookie sheet. You will be able to stand glassware, cups, and bowls on the chopsticks to keep them off the wet cookie sheet as all the water runs off.

Need another extra drainer? Use the empty, just-washed/bleached produce bin (and its lid) to hold handwashed pots and pans. These can be set on the (cool) stovetop; when the dishes are dry, you will find that the water that ran off the bins onto the stove has softened any cooked-on goo.

Need to quick-cool a hot item before putting in the fridge? Set it as near (or on) the exhaust fan to draw off the heat.

Need to quick-thaw frozen beef? Turn a cast iron pan upside down under a lamp, and unwrap the meat as much as possible. Set it directly on the cast iron. Cover it with a metal of glass pot lid or a glass bowl. The heat from the lamp will warm the iron enough to thaw a 1" steak in about 30 minutes. Turn the meat over as needed. (Leave the center of the steak frozen if you like 'em rare.)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: sneeble
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 07:09 PM

ok not a subject I like to tred often.....

when spring cleaning show the kids a banana box and tell them all their treasures to keep must fit in the box, take the box away. You will find the actual amount of hoardings with end up being half the box size again. Cant beat the power of suggestion.

I keep toilet cleaner in the kitchen for cleaning the stove top and the tiles. Obviously the same bottle doesnt get used in the toilet. Shampoo the carpets with ammonia and dishwash liquid, clean the washing machine and dishwasher with pool filter cleaner.
Dip clean jewellery in a strong hot alkaline solution made with dishwashing powder, swirl around and then rinse. This is useful for stuff that cant be cleaned by hand easily or for lab created gems.
Scrub the sink with dry dishwash powder to remove stains, use the toilet cleaner around the rim for cleaning child baking marks.

If you have small children and need a new dining suite go for the distressed timber look, all marks bangs, dents and cuts add authenticity. Buy the nice suite when they go away.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Joe_F
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 09:51 PM

Don't waste space on a drainboard. Hang a dishrack over the sink.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Genie
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 11:35 PM

[[ Bee-dubya-ell said:

Here's a real money saving tip:

When shopping for kitchen cleanup tools, choose ones with handles that are appropriately shaped to do double duty as marital aids. You'll save money and avoid the embarrassment of having the kids find that drawerful of dildos.]]

In a similar vein, use the kitchen floor - or any vinyl or tile floor - in lieu of a bed. (This can make you feel wild and spontaneous, unlike the trite "bed" habitat.)   Both you and your partner -- or your spouse -- don terry cloth shirts, properly soaped up. Then, as you cavort on the floor, you simultaneously get one of your big chores done.

This can also work for windows, with a t-shirt drenched first in Windex.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: mg
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 03:25 AM

Well I suppose you could douse yourself in Dutch Cleanser and cavort in the sink...mg

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: JennieG
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 03:43 AM

Denture cleaning tablets are good for cleaning the inside of cups that are tea or coffee stained - we keep some in our little kitchen at work. Just fill cup with hot tap water, add a tablet, and soak.

Make sure you rinse well after cleaning as the taste doesn't do much for the next cup of tea or coffee.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 10:24 AM

Need a non-slip or oversized clothes hanger? Cut two pieces of a foam POOL NOODLE to approximately fit the garment's shoulders. Slit each piece lengthwise to slip over a sturdy wire hanger. At each end, if the foam's length runs past the end of the hanger, make another 1" slit (or longer) so the foam will catch the bend of the hanger out at the end, and so the initial slit doesn't lie against the top edge of the hanger and fall off. One noodle will do several hangers. They are easily found (cheap) in the summer at WalMart, Dollar General, etc., but can be gotten all year online at various prices. When using, let the garment collar fall close to the hanger's hook, inside the start of the foam, to keep it on the hanger just where you want it for best shoulder shaping. (Make the first one long and trim back as needed before making a full set, so you know what adjustments to make for your particular size requirements.)

I hang blazers/jackets and any seldom-worn dressy items inside out so the dust stays off the show side.

Any garment I can re-wear before it has to go to the cleaners also is hung inside out after the first wearing. That way I'll know it's been worn and may need to go to the cleaners after the next use.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: open mike
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 12:39 PM

i once tried to get my act together but i gave up.
i tried some of these tips:
www.organizeyourselfonline.com

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Mickey191
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 01:37 PM

THread Drift: All you very handy people may have the knowledge I seek. I bought a big jar of squeez'um plastic Kraft Mayonnaise. ($2.80) I left it (new) in the car trunk for 5 very hot days. It looks normal.   

Will I die if I use it?? If so...will it hurt?

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: mg
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 01:54 PM

I would toss it. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 02:27 PM

Never opened, should be OK, but still I'd pitch it. If it's bad, all it takes is one bug to do BAD damage to you.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Mickey191
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 03:03 PM

Okay-Thank you Ladies. It's a gonner!

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 03:57 PM

Far and few, far and few are those who write with pencils these days.

But if you do, and you keep running into erasers that pick up a black skin which then makes the "erased" area a messy smudge, you can clean up the eraser with sandpaper or an emery fingerboard. For a while, at least, it will erase the way it's supposed to.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Genie
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 07:15 PM

... or, Dave, you can "clean up" the smudgy eraser by ERASING.   I.e., what I do is just rub the eraser over scrap paper as though I were erasing something. This usually removes the troublesome outer layer so the rest of the eraser works just fine.

:)

[[JennieG said:
"Denture cleaning tablets are good for cleaning the inside of cups that are tea or coffee stained - we keep some in our little kitchen at work. Just fill cup with hot tap water, add a tablet, and soak.

Make sure you rinse well after cleaning as the taste doesn't do much for the next cup of tea or coffee. ]]

Is this kind of like using Preparation H to tighten up the bags under your eyes or smooth out facial wrinkles? In all these cases it's crucial to avoid getting the stuff into places like eyes, mouth, nostrils, or other sensitive membranes.

Genie

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Oct 07 - 12:06 PM

I'm SO EXCITED about this one I just HAD to share it with you wannabe organizers, de-clutterers, and hoping-to-be-expackrats.

!!!!

Feeling overwhelemed by the prospect of the big, impossible project staring you in the face? Can't think where to start? (Can't think at all?)

Easy-peasy! Just pick ANY practical, hands-on task large or small, and do the things you need to do to start THAT.

I discovered this key to eliminating intertia by deciding I'd vac the LR myself instead of waiting for Hardi to come home and do it. MIL is coming, and until recently I was physically not able to vac. Now I think I can though....

And suddenly, I find all the energy I need to clear up all that pesky, important stuff (mess) that fell over the back of my chairside table, instead of looking at the several mini-messes and major-messes around the room and not knowing what to do first.

Try it!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Oct 07 - 04:07 PM

Ready-to-discard wire hangers will not puncture the garbage bag if you put them inside a used pizza box. :~) Ditto broken glass, but tape the box.

An empty coffee can lined with a used plastic grocery store bag makes a fine sinkside garbage (or compostables) container. The new plastic coffee cans are even better-- no rust, easy to disinfect.

The big plastic coffee cans are also great for freezing stews, stock, etc., and they take Sharpie labeling well.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Schantieman
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 09:23 AM

The broken glass ought to be recycled though.

And who would ever throw away something as useful as a wire coat-hanger? The other weekend I was doing something or other in a boat and one would have been just the job. Sadly there was not one to be seen. (and THAT was shortly before I lost my specs over the side!)

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 09:34 AM

Get a big box.

Put everything in it.

Problem solved!

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 09:49 AM

"cleaning child baking marks"

I find boiling them makes less mess.

If you don't wear dentures or don't want your tea with that minty fresh feeling, try a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Rub around with a cloth or a finger and it will clean up nicely. The lemon cuts through the tannin stains and the salt acts as an abrasive to clean the crap off. Rinse out well and admire the shine. The added advantage is that lemon tea is tasty, whereas fluride tea is not.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 10:31 AM

If you don't wear dentures or don't want your tea with that minty fresh feeling...

I sure hope my new glasses get here soon-- the old ones I am wearing are not only the wrong prescription, but they are scratched: If you don't wear dentures or don't want your bra with that minty fresh feeling

Image of somebody gumming a girl, eewwww....


Here's a nee one: You actually CAN use a pressure-washer on the inside of a fridge! Mind where the water goes, and avoid the electric bits. A wet-dry vac doesn't quite keep up..... just trundle the fridge outside to clean 'er! :~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 10:37 AM

WYS, some people would pay good money for that!!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: SINSULL
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 10:44 AM

I have done that, Rapaire. Several times. Now what do I do with all the boxes?
Mary, who moved to Maine in 2002 with a sealed box packed in Chicago in 1974.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 10:53 AM

Sins - have you never wondered what was in it?

Someone once told me (it may have been Morticia, but I don't remember - it was someone who moved around a lot), that if you haven't opened a box within 6 months of moving into a place then it's obviously full of useless stuff and you should just take the whole box to the charity shop to get rid of it.

We've been here 10 years and there is just one box left unpacked.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 11:37 AM

We'll just call the next MudGathering the "Pressure-Washing Party." (Since mg calls her events rainycamp/sunnycamp, we'll just have pressurecamp.)

Our multi-year box turned up in our dau's room when she moved out so we opened it-- it was that big-ole box of missing (essential) kitchen stuff! I guess she never looked in there either, but it was clearly labeled KITCHEN. Well, long ago her room in this house HAD been a second kitchen, so I guess the local moving van unloaders went with that even though the rest of the furn. in that room was CLEARLY bedroom stuff!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Grab
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 12:54 PM

"cleaning child baking marks"
I find boiling them makes less mess.

Liz, this would be the marks, or the children...?

Emma swears by lemons for de-limescaling the sink.

A music-related one. If you play guitar fingerstyle, use rubber gloves when you wash up, otherwise your fingernails will go all soft and brittle.

A vacuum and brush attachment is great for dusting skirting boards and tops of doors, or anywhere else which doesn't need to be pristine and is a pain to dust with a cloth. Also gets the worst dust off other surfaces before you damp-dust to get the last little bit (if you care enough to damp-dust; I'm not eating off those shelves so the vacuum's good enough for me).

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Kaleea
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 02:00 PM

For the best in household hints, be sure to get a new "Duct Tape Page a Day Calendar" each January. Written by Tim & Jim, the Duct Tape Guys, you can find all sorts of ways to help you out around the house. For instance, if you pop a hole in your official NASA Spacesuit at the next Mudcat Pressure Washing Party, simply step to the side, grab a piece of Duct Tape & slap it down good, & that sucker oughta be good for the whole get together, & maybe the after party, too!
For fingerpickin' at the afterparty Jam, simply cut the lower portion of the glove fingers off the official NASA Spacesuit gloves, & use Duct Tape to securely attach the upper portion to your fingers, sealing each finger section to your fingers with the Duct Tape, just in case some Mudcat joker goes a little nuts with a pressure washer.
Been in the hospital for a few weeks & the callouses on your fingers went soft on you? Just wrap the ends of your fingers with Duct Tape. Instant callouses! note: This tip is not endorsed by Mel Bay.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: GUEST,Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 02:06 PM

It's amazing how much work you can get done while you're avoiding something.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 02:15 PM

This is not a music thread-- hijacked AGAIN! ;~)

Medical tape on the fingers works much better than duct tape. I tape my finger picks on, after I tape my fingernail where the fingerpick would otherwise be digging in. The duct tape is for taping the instrument on, in the absence of a strap. (DO try this at home.) (Of course strapping tape would probably be better.... )

But the real answer for musical stick-to-it-ive-ness is Flapjack's percussion-meister TeiLhard (pron, Tay-AAARGGHHH)'s solution for just the right sound on the washboard-- big white painters' gloves with nut shell halves hot-glued on. Cute on stage, too-- he got the oversize mitts.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Bert
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 10:54 PM

Right you are DaveO.

And for those pencil lovers amongst us. NEVER, EVER drop a pencil. It will break the lead inside. Also NEVER, EVER buy cheap pencils, cos the lead in them is already broken.

To clean pots and pans and stainless steel sinks use a quarter of a sheet of 400 grade wet or dry rubbing down paper from your local auto parts store. Yu can use 250, or 600 grade if the need arises.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Oct 07 - 08:57 AM

To clean nastied tile and grout, put the sheepskin buffing pad on your drill and get going. A little bleach, and viola!

I've seen an angle grinder used on baked-on stove grime on a stainless steel cooktop, but that's not for the faint of heart.

Shocking, the condition some people leave a home in when they move out!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 03 Oct 07 - 02:48 PM

1. A problem we encountered in the Seattle area, which probably doesn't occur in many other places:

A "dishcloth" left hanging on the sink spout to dry inevitably was covered with mildew/greenstuff/slime within 24 hours. Often washing would not remove the stains, so we discarded a lot of dishrags early on.

Solution: the "blue shop towels" (paper on a roll) are absolutely fungus-proof and have sufficient "wet strength" to serve for a week or so for wiping up dribbles and spills, and can be used for light pot scrubbing. While the current $6 (US)(?) per roll pricetag makes them a bit expensive for ordinary paper towel use, a roll should last at least a year for "dishrag" use.

2. For cleaning up cast iron pots and pans, just put them in the oven and bring up to maximum. Most ovens will go to about 550 F (290 C) which is high enough to "pyrolize" all the black stuff and leave you a fresh cast iron surface. Turn the oven off and let things cool before removing. Re-Season the cast iron immediately (or at least apply a layer of cooking oil). If you're stove has an "oven self-cleaning" cycle, that's even better. Just put the cast iron in when you run it. If your oven doesn't get hot enough to remove it all, it will at least get rid of "anything loose."

DO NOT try this method with aluminum pots and pans. Many, if not most, can be melted in a "pizza temp" oven.

3. NEVER wash cast iron in the dishwasher. Little bits of free iron that get into the wash can be deposited on any "stainless steel" stuff, in the same or succeeding loads, and the "stainless steel" won't be "stainless" any more. Note that this applies to some not-obvious things like carbon steel cutlery that isn't really "rust resistant."

4. For a really durable "sink scrubber," a fistfull of used paper coffee filters is almost indestructible in the scrubbing process and absorbs enough of whatever cleaner-of-choice you use, even if it's a fairly abrasive one. A few "grounds" left on the filter just adds some soft abrasive.

Recommendation: even if you have a "garbage disposal" these filters really should not be flushed down the drain. Since they're made to have high "wet strength" they don't get chopped up much going through the grinder, and they biodegrade very slowly, so they are a prime cause of sewer clogs (at least in my sewer).

5. See 4 above: If you have to have your sewer "reamed" try to observe (and/or ask) what the (Roto-Rooter?) snake drags out so you'll know what to quit dumping down the drain. It can make a big difference.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Oct 07 - 03:04 PM

Top: It is harder to clean for one guest (esp MIL) than for a houseful. Plan accordingly!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 01:21 PM

Sometimes things really work out. My fabulous magic closet is inspriring Hardi to let me fabulize his. I got materials out of another room, where they were underutilized.....

So that... simultaneously....

The treadmill we got cheap a few months ago for winter use has finally found a home, n what had been the Pickin/Platyroom out back that is mostly unheated in the winter. Yesterday it became a workout room. The music books, small-church resource library, shelf-stereo and tape/CD/LP archives are still out there with a couch and two chairs, but now it also holds a treadmill with two full-spectrum lamps mounted, and soon Hardi's cycling trainer and ski-exercister will be there, too, along with a case of bottled water. (Bottled right here at home.)

=====

Here's an new tip: that coffee urn we aren't using is converting to be an automatic stockpot. DUH, it has a spigot to drain off the stock!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 01:00 PM

Got an old-style crockpot that has a non-removable crock?

Put a jar-lid or two or three into it (punch holes if necessary), or a veggie steamer backet-- you get the picture. Set a glass quart jar or other conveniently-sized food-safe receptacle onto it, in the crockpot. Put the food in THERE, surrounded by a crock-full (or less) of water. Adjust cooking times as needed.


In fact, a water-boiling plastic appliance can act similarly like a double-boiler if you have a can of soup to warm up, in the run. Don't dilute the soup, either, in the "pot." Just heat up the concentrated soup right in the can, and serve a half-mug of that, THEN dilute in the mug with hot tap water. I lived for two weeks on delicious suppers made this way one time when I was traveling light and cheap. Hash, soup, tamales, stews, ramen pasta with great real sauce.... add a little freshly-grated cheese and yum! Hot brekky, too, easy.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 02:47 PM

Behind on dishwashing?

Do the handwashing first, then, so that you can use the cleaned pans for impromptu dish-drainers-- it will not all fit in the dishwasher and whatever has been pre-soaked will wash up fast by hand. I set a pair or two of chopsticks in my pots to make a ridged draining surface.

=====

Water drips all around your kitchen sink area?

Set out a few clean washcloths before you start, to soak up the inevitable mess. Swipe the area with them when you're done playing with the water, and poof! Clean countertop. Then put them on top of any food drips that didn't come off the countertop the easy way-- on your next trip to the area you will find the messes nicely softened to swipe off. Drop the washcloths into the washing machine to catch the next load of wash.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 07:30 PM

A gaggle of geckos got rid of all the crumbs and tiny insects, Now what do I get to clean up the gecko poop?

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Oct 11 - 11:17 AM

Thought this was a neat idea, from Kovell's:

Orphan lids from bowls and soup tureens make good paperweights. Just fill the lid with plaster of Paris to add weight. Glue a piece of felt on the bottom.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 20 Oct 11 - 11:26 AM

Excellent, kat, and if you lay a leaf on top while the plaster is still damp, perhaps it might make a leaf-impression as decoration? I seem to remember we did this with our Brownies when I was Tawny Owl!

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Oct 11 - 05:03 PM

Oh, sure! Silly me, I was thinking the felt would go on the plaster of paris, so the upside would just be the lid.:-)

My grandma took a very shallow, round lid from a tin, filled it with a thin layer of PoP, then added rock chips and gave it to me. I thought it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. I think I still have it somewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 21 Oct 11 - 04:50 AM

A little drip of baby oil or a smear of vaseline will temporarily remedy a squeaky door hinge.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Oct 11 - 06:36 AM

tight shoes?

20 second blast with Hot setting of hairdryer will soften the leather. Put shoes on immediately.

Subject: RE: BS: Organizing/Household Tips
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 21 Oct 11 - 02:12 PM

When your very naughty Siamese cat wees into a socket (narrowly escaping death) a few minutes with a hairdryer will allow you to put the fuse switch back on!!