BS: Organizing/Household Tips

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!!