I can't seem to keep my blogs straight! ;) Over on my Kitchen Crafts blog today I talk about two old newsletter reader hints that are fantastic. One is on how to easily make a homemade shower cleaner...the other is how to clean even burnt on messes from ceramic stovetops. I thought both were worthy of Happy Slob readers.

We have very hard water in these parts, which means that every time we use the dishwasher it seems to leave a filmy mess behind. This is particularly true when using the dishwasher to wash anything glass - drinking glasses, glass bowls, glass dinnerware, etc.





I have two tips to share with you on how to remove (or prevent) hard water build up from occuring on your dishes that are washed in the dishwasher:

1. Add a generous glug of vinegar (plain old white distilled vinegar works just fine) to the dishwasher cycle once the water is beginning to fill in the appliance. I've found that doing this every time I run the dishwasher makes for a huge improvement in removing the hard water stains and build up.




2. When you notice that certain dishes are getting very bad - almost etched looking, or entirely filmy in appearance - then it's time to (gasp!) get out your dishcloth and wash those dishes by hand. You'll only need to do this once in a while, but again - add a very generous amount of vinegar to the dishwashing water, along with a good squirt of liquid dish soap. The vinegar seems to nearly eat away at the worst of the hard water stains left behind. Let air dry, or dry with a clean lint free towel. (I love linen towels for drying dishes, or else flour sack towels which are nearly as good.)

If the dishes are in fact etched, there's nothing you can do to remove the etchings - since that's actually tiny little scratches imbedded in the glass. But, if you have hard water and find that getting your glasses sparkling clean is a real chore, then try the vinegar tricks listed above and I think you'll see a big difference.

Post a comment with YOUR fave vinegar cleaning tip, or any tips you just have a hankering to share with the rest of us Happy Slobs.

An Easy Way to Clean Eyeglasses

Okay, so how many of us wear glasses? Raise your hands up! (Raising my hand too...) Right, so I wear glasses and so I know the all too common problem of feeling like you're looking at the world through a very smudged pair of lenses. How do we all manage to get so much gunk smeared on our eyeglasses? That question remains an eternal mystery but I know one easy solution to get your classes beautifully clean again.

My favorite trick is to simply use a tiny drop of liquid dishwashing soap on the eyeglass lens, along with lots of cool water to make a soapy mixture. Use your clean fingers (that's what I always do!) or a clean, lint-free cloth to thoroughly wet and wipe down both of the lenses of your glasses. Rinse thoroughly with cool water and then dry with another clean lint-free cloth. Truly washing your glasses is much more effective than just trying to dry wipe them clean - which, if you're not careful, can actually scratch the glasses.

That's it! The view of your world should look sharper and cleaner. Guess what I'm off to do? You got it in one - clean my glasses!

Do you have a simple cleaning solution to share? Have you discovered a new way to clean something that needs cleaning everyday? Or do you need to tell us how YOU keep your glasses clean? Post a comment and we'll gladly read your words of wisdom.