Cleaning Miscellaneous Tips

Artificial Flowers:

• Pour some salt into a large paper bag with flowers.  Shake vigorously.  The salt won't look soiled at first, but wait until you see its color when you run water on it.

Candles:

• Sponge with a piece of cotton dampened with rubbing alcohol.
• Candles burn more slowly and evenly with minimum wax drippings if you place them in the freezer for an hour before using.

Candle Holders:

• If your candle holders are coated with wax, place in the freezer for an hour or so.  The wax will peel right off.

Combs:

• Add 3 tablespoons baking soda and 3 tablespoons household bleach to a basin of warm water.  Swish around, rinse and drip-dry.

Diamonds:

• Add some mild soap and a few drops of ammonia to a pot of boiling water.  Place your diamond in a wire strainer and dip it into the boiling water for a few seconds.  Let it cool, then rinse.  Finally, soak it in a small bowl of alcohol for 10 minutes before drying on a piece of tissue paper.

Eyeglasses:

• To clean eyeglasses without streaks, use a drop of vinegar on each lense.

Fireplaces:

• There is less need to scrub the fireplace if you throw salt on the logs occasionally.  This will reduce the soot. 
• Vinegar will clean brick around the fireplace.

Garage Floors:

• To remove oil dripping from concrete:  Soak with mineral spirits for 30 minutes and then scrub with a stiff brush as you add more mineral spirits.  Immediately after the scrubbing absorb the grease with oil towels or newspaper.  Allow concrete to dry.  Then, wash with a solution of laundry detergent, 1 cup bleach and 1 gallon of cold water.  Repeat until stains are removed.
• Spread several thicknesses of newspaper over the area where quite a bit of oil has spilled.  Saturate the newspaper with water and press firmly against the floor.  Allow to dry thoroughly.  Remove,and the oil spots will be gone.
• To eliminate oil spots, sprinkle the area with sand or kitty litter.  They both will absorb the oil, and you can sweep it up.

Garden Tools:

• Quickly and easily remove rust by rubbing tools with a soap-filled steel wool pad dipped in kerosene or turpentine.  Rub briskly with a piece of wadded aluminum foil.

Household Odors:

• Put a few drops of wintergreen oil on a cotton ball and place in a glass container.  It will last for months.
• Toss dried orange and lemon rinds into your woodburning-fireplace for a spicy aroma.

Iron: 

• To remove mineral deposits from the inside of a stream iron, fill it with equal part of water and white vinegar.  Let it steam for several minutes, then disconnect and let set for 1 hour.  Empty and rinse out with clear water.
• Remove brown or burned-on spots by rubbing with a heated solution of vinegar and salt.
• Clean the outside of your iron with toothpaste or silver polish.

Jewelry:

• Clean with a soft cloth dabbed in toothpaste.

Vases with Small Openings:

• Dampen the inside of vase and add any toliet bowl cleaner.  Let stand for 10 minutes and stains will disapppear.

Laundry Tips

Ring around the Collar:
•Use a toothbrush to brush hair shampoo into soiled shirt collars before laundering.  Shampoo is made to dissolve body oils.
•Mark heavily with chalk.  The chalk will absorb the oils and once the oil is removed, the dirt will come off easily.  This method may require a few applications if the yellow line has been there for some time. 
•Apply a paste of vinegar and baking soda.  Rub in and wash as usual.  This method also removes dirt and mildew.

No More Lint:
•You will eliminate the lint problem by adding 1 cup white vinegar to the final rinse cycle.
•Put a yard of nylon netting into the dryer with wet clothes to act as a lint catcher.
•If the lint, under and around the filter of dryer seems damp, it means the outside vent is clogged.  You better clean it out before the machine breaks down.

The Final Rinse Cycle:
•To make sure clothes receive a thorough rinsing, add 1 cup white vinegar to the rinse cycle.  This will help dissolve the alkaline in soaps and detergents.  Plus, it will give you soft and sweet smelling clothing for just pennies.
•The vinegar is a must for hand washing. 
•A teaspoon of Epson salts to a gallon of rinse water will help keep most materials from fading or running.

Creme Rinse Your Sweaters:
•For the best results when hand washing sweaters, put a capful of creme hair rinse in the final rinse water.

Accidentally Washed Woolen Items:
•Soak in tepid water to which you have added a good hair shampoo.  Sometimes this will soften the wool fibers enough to allow reshaping. 

Machine Washing Delicate Garments:
•Drop your delicates into a pillowcase and fasten the loose end with a rubber band.  Place in washer and wash on a gentle cycle.

Remove Grape Juice or Red Wine:
•Sprinkle the spill immediately with salt.  Dunk into cold water and rub the stain out before washing.

Clean Dirty Work Clothes:

•Add 1/2 cup of household ammonia to the wash water.

Make Those White Socks White:
•Boil in water to which a slice of lemon has been added.

Faster Ironing:
•Place a strip of heavy duty aluminum foil over the entire length of the ironing board and cover with pad.  As you iron, heat will reflect through to the underside of the garment.
•Starch your ironing board cover.  This also helps the cover stay clean longer.

Blood:
•Cover area with meat tenderizer.  Apply cool water to make a paste.  Wait 15-30 minutes, sponge with cool water.

Chewing Gum:

•Place garment in plastic bag and put in freezer.  Scrape off frozen gum.
•Or, loosen gum by soaking in white vinegar or rubbing with egg white before laundering.

Candle Wax or Crayon:

•Place the stained area between clean paper towels or pieces of a brown paper bag and press with a warm iron.

Ballpoint Ink:

•Apply hair spray liberally to stain.   Rub with a clean dry cloth and the ink usually disappears. 
•Try rubbing alcohol on the spot before laundering.

Rust:

•Apply lemon juice and salt, and then place in the sun.
•Rust can also be removed from white washables by covering the stains with cream of tartar, then gathering up the ends of the article so that the powder stays on the spot.  Dip the entire spot into hot water for about 5 minutes.  Ordinary laundering will complete the job.

Mildew:
•Dry in the sun after moistening with lemon juice and salt.
•Treat with 1/2 cup Lysol.

Perspiration:

•Soak the garment in warm vinegar water.

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