Give the Kitchen Cupboards a Scrub - Cleaning the Kitchen

Want an easy, quick and inexpensive way to freshen up your kitchen, pronto? Give your kitchen cupboards a scrub! For most finishes, the following will work just great:
 * Pour a splash of white vinegar into a bucket, along with a squirt or two of your absolute favorite dish soap. Fill up with warm water.
* Use a scrubby sponge, or other favorite scrubber to give the kitchen cabinets a good cleaning. The vinegar will help to naturally scrub through the accumulated grease and gunk.
* Wipe down with a moistened cloth and let dry naturally.

Seriously -- this little step will freshen up and clean up your whole kitchen. And hey, don't be shy -- get the whole family involved and your kitchen will thank you.

P.S. If you don't have the time - or frankly, the inclination - to do the entire regiment of cupboards in one go...just put on your faithful timer for the amount of time you can afford, and then just accomplish the bigger task in little chunks over a week or so.

Clogged Showerhead Solution - Vinegar Once Again to the Rescue

Clogged Showerheads No More!

Is that morning shower not as powerful and refreshing as it once was? Clogged showerhead holes are probably the culprit, but it's an easy fix.

Learn how some vinegar and a little patience will ail that elderly showerhead.

Cleaning Windows: Sue's Homemade Window Cleaning Formula

Hello! Just got back from vacation on Saturday, and I've missed posting to all of you. So, to break the quiet spell, here's a homemade cleaning formula from a No Hassle Housecleaning reader named Sue that seems very appropos since we're all beginning to think of (gasp!) spring cleaning. And that means actually being able to SEE out our windows again after a winter of grime build-up.

Homemade Window Cleaner
Sue writes: "I don't know where I found this recipe but it works great."
All you need is a spray bottle, large enough to hold 3 cups of liquid.
you mix 1 cup. of non sudsy ammonia, 1 cup. of rubbing alcohol, and 1 cup. of tap water. Give it a shake and you are ready. grab some newspaper and go.

Thanks Sue! I've heard that in formulas like this one that you can also add a few drops of blue food coloring, to ensure that everyone in the family knows it's a cleaner. Safety first! For everyone else, here are some gentler alternatives (without ammonia) for squeaky clean windows.

Using Dawn Soap to Clean Windows
No Streak Homemade Glass Cleaner (This one has a strange mystery ingredient...)
10 Uses for Old Newspapers - Including Washing Windows
5 Surprising Cleaners - Including Club Soda for Cleaning Glass

Very Vinegar Cleaner
We can never forget our favorite little all-purpose cleaner, which is also a true powerhouse when it comes to cleaning windows. The Very Vinegar Cleaner is basically 1 part white vinegar in a clean spray bottle, topped up with 3 to 4 parts of distilled water or fresh tap water. A little squirt of Dawn dishwashing liquid would give it some extra degreasing power, as would some drops of lemon essential oil. This cleaner is an all-time favorite of mine, and it costs only cents per bottle. Which makes cheapo me a very happy cleaner indeed.

Armed and Ready for...Scrubbing
So, with a little 'clarity' on window washing (oh dear, I just couldn't help myself) you can arm yourself with knowledge, the tools for the job...and then face this task head on. As always -- don't go at it alone! Get family or friends to help whenever possible.

Fish Oil Follies: Removing a Tough Laundry Stain & Odors (Stain Removal)

I'm rather a huge fan of fish oil pills - I take two every single morning without fail. But, when those little gelatin capsules decide to do some damage, it can be a smelly mess that lingers. Read this email I received from Jennifer K a few days ago:

"Hello christina, my name is Jennifer and I have a question for you, I was doing laundry one day and of all days did not check his shirt pockets, so I did the wash and I found out I left a fish oil capsule in his pocket he didn’t take, now his shirts smell like the ocean, fishy, how can I get rid of this smell? I tried washing it in baking soda, but did not help he smell is still there… please help…"

Okay, Jen, here we go. Oil stains on clothing can in fact be some of the very toughest stains to remove. From your email, it sounds like you've actually managed to remove the stain but have the stinky fishy scent left as an everlasting reminder. (For any of you who have oil stains to contend with - corn starch can be very helpful when rubbed gently into the oil stain to pre-treat before tossing into the laundry. Or, cover the oil stain with a good amount of cornstarch and let it sit and soak up the oil before pre-treating with laundry detergent and washing as usual.)

Here are a couple of options to remove stinky fish smells from clothing:

1. Add two full cups of white vinegar to your load of wash. Vinegar is a heavy duty natural odor neutralizer and I think it might help to remove that nasty scent. If even that doesn't work -- try soaking in a small container of water with a few cups of white vinegar to neutralize the scent and then wash in the hottest possible water that is safe for the fabric.
2. Sit out in the sun - the clothing that is! (Although, you can certainly join the clothes if you want to.) There's a wonderfully natural and effective way to remove stinky odors - let the sun at them. Let the clothes sit out on a clothesline and the sun and fresh air may deodorize the clothes au naturel.

Jennifer, let us know how it goes, okay? The vinegar method should work -- and it should get the clothes looking pretty darn clean to boot.

Other Articles of Interest:
How to Remove Lipstick Stains

Dozens of Ways to Use Baking Soda Around the Home

Laundry Tips & Hints

Happy Slob's Housecleaning - Product Review - Dirt Devil Spot Scrubber (Mini Portable Carpet Cleaner)

Product Review of:

Dirt Devil Spot Scrubber - Mini Carpet Cleaner for Spots

I was really fed up with some nasty stains in our carpet (ahem...let's just say that one of our pet cats has a real affection for finding the most obvious spots to barf up her furballs!). No matter what I did, I couldn't budge those stains, and in fact seemed to be making them worse with every attempt to clean them! Whenever I looked at one of those stubborn stains, it seemed to grin and chuckle at me, or wave as if to remind me of its very presence. As if I could've forgotten it!

So...hubs and I decided that it was time to finally buy some sort of carpet cleaner. But, we live in a modest 2-bedroom apartment without much storage space at all. Even our closets are just sort of wanna-be's with not much room for anything other than the absolute essentials. (And don't get me STARTED about our linen closet...) Wow, I'm in a cranky mood today, huh?

Right - back onto the topic at hand: our lovely new portable carpet cleaner! It's tiny and meant for spot removal as opposed to large carpet cleaning jobs. Just what we were looking for! Here it is:

We had planned on buying the "Little Green" spot cleaner, but both stores hubs went to were out of stock, so he purchased this one instead. And I'm very glad that he did! Our little Dirt Devil Spot Scrubber (the exact model shown - I've read that the smaller hand vac type doesn't work nearly as well) works like a dream. We used it on an old tea stain (that one was entirely my fault - I was climbing into bed one day with a full cup of hot tea, and well, I ended up in the bed, but the tea didn't make it onto the nightstand. It splashed dramatically all over the carpet!) and a few old kitty-tummy-upset stains with much better than expected results.

On the oldest, most stubborn stains, I think it will take 2-3 runs of the machine to get the stain out entirely, but we were both impressed by how it slurped up the old messes. The dirty water container got muddy-looking very quickly! I was thrilled to see those old stains start to disappear before my eyes. And relieved to see the demise of my old, mocking enemies...

Good Points:

• Large tank size! We would only need to fill this and empty it occasionally. Considering it's just for spots - you could do a LOT of spot removal before the tank would need refilling.
• Worked great with just hot tap water, about a quarter cup of white vinegar and the tiniest drop (literally) of liquid laundry detergent. I think you could very easily get away without even adding the detergent, but I knew these stains were particularly tough ones.
• Powerful suction - you spray the solution on (in our case, vinegar and water and a drop of detergent - I didn't even bother with the freebie cleaner solution that came with the unit), scrub it with the brush and at the same time it sucks all the mess away. The suction was impressively powerful - better than I'd expected for this price.
• A great bargain! Ours was on sale for $59.99, but is on regularly for $69.99 at Amazon and other online vendors. I thought it was well worth it...

What I Would Change if I Could:

• Make the brush bigger - it's about 3 inches in length, and it would be nice to have a slightly larger brush to cover a larger area more quickly. It's not a serious flaw, though.

All in all, I really love this little gizmo. Now, when my beloved kitty has a stomach upset, I won't be in a tizzy to get the stain out, because this machine on fresh stains I think will be a true powerhouse. (And on old stains, it's proven itself already!)

6 Ways to Use Vinegar Around the House to Clean

Don't scoff - white vinegar is an amazing all-purpose cleaner! I've posted countless ways here and on the site that you can use vinegar as a cleaner. Here are some of my all-time favorite vinegar tips, hints, recipes & all around good vinegar advice for Happy Slob Housecleaners.

1. Vinegar as an All-Purpose Cleaning Spray - The Very Vinegar Spray is the one I rely on every day! Don't let the vinegar scare you...this is the best cleaning secret you can find, and it costs about 10 cents a bottle to make. Try it! Very Vinegar Spray Recipe
2. Freshen the dishwasher - Just a cup or so in an empty dishwasher will freshen and deodorize your dishwasher naturally. And the acidity will help scrub that dishwasher clean - from the inside out!
3. Remove pet odors and pet urine smells from carpet
4. Freshen up bread boxes Bread Box Refresher
5. A few extra vinegar cleaning tips from a reader: Vinegar Cleaning Tips from Roberta

And remember - to make a fun, natural foaming cleaner, just use some baking soda and vinegar mixed together in a bowl. Kids love cleaning with this foamy cleaner, and it's a lot milder than harsh chemical foam cleaners. Especially good for the toilet...which brings me to tip #6:

6. Clean the Toilet with Vinegar: Pour about a cup in the toilet, give it a good swish around with the toilet brush and close the lid and let sit. Sprinkle with baking soda and then scrub with the toilet brush, and flush the mess away. You should be left with a clean, sparkling toilet bowl!

Removing Cat Urine Odors from Carpets - Organic Cleaning Tips

Looky, looky! I just received this fantastic testimonial on using plain old water and vinegar to get out cat urine smells. And I own two cats, both of whom have had occasional 'oopsies'...so I know very well that particular TANG of cat urine. Ick.


Here's the original post on using water & vinegar to clean carpets: http://www.happyslob.com/carpetsolution.html
Here's the email:

Hi Christina,

I actually used the Steam Cleaning Tip of Hot Water and Vinegar and unbelievably it cleaned out a cat urine smell. (my cat was ill and had an accident).

I had tried the commercial solution and it smelled like flowery cat pee LOL. I used the vinegar and water solution in my machine for 3 days straight and even though the vinegar smelled a little ripe, the end result when it dried was no odor, and the carpet was much brighter overall.

Thanks for the tip!

Lynnette

Cleaning Q&A - How to Clean a Coffee Thermos

Cleaning Q&A
Today's Question: How to Clean a Coffee Thermos

I just received an email from George E that I wanted to share with all of you. He was asking a question that I thought many of you might want the answer to...

"Hi Christina,

Thank you for helping all of us to live a cleaner life while not costing us an arm or a leg.

I have a question regarding cleaning the white plastic parts of a glass coffee pot (lid) and a white plastic coffee thermos. I have looked on your web site as well as our own Arizona "Queen of Clean" but have not found any suggestions.

What suggestions do you have?

Thank you. keep up your very good work!

Warm regards,
George E."


Hi George,

First, thank you for such a nice email. I remember conversing via email with you before, and you're always a real gent. Now, on to your question -- how to clean those pesky (although entirely useful) Thermos containers!? So many of us rely on these to tote hot coffee or tea, or even hot soups and stews to work for our lunch. But, as you've noticed, they can be downright tricky to clean.

To find the best, and most helpful answer for you, George, I did a little research. I checked on the offical Thermos website, and found some of these tips that I think will come in very handy for you:

1. First of all, use the gentlest cleanser possible for your Thermos® products, especially those made of stainless steel. Harsh, abrasive cleaners and scrubbers can tarnish Food Jars and drink containers, and could even begin to change the flavor of stored foods after a while. A dishwashing detergent or gentle all-purpose cleanser or soap that is safe for dishes should be sufficient (i.e. Joy, Dawn). If you have to use an abrasive pad, make sure that it's made out of plastic so that it won't scrape the inside of the product, and scrub lightly.
2. Cleaning your Thermos® products will also be much easier if you clean after every use. If you've prepared a meal for a Food Jar, soak the jar for a few minutes before cleaning to remove any food residue that you may have difficulty removing with a washcloth. If you want to clean certain stains off of food containers, a soft toothbrush may do the trick; dip the brush in a little bit of detergent and gently scrub the rim and bottom of the cup to remove residue. Many people also use gentle baby's soap or hypo-allergenic laundry detergent along with or instead of dishwashing detergent to clean Thermos® products, because it preserves the shine of a Food Jar or mug, and can remove food easily.
3. Cleaning smudges or fingerprints from your stainless steel Thermos® products is easy as well, since most smudges will come out by using slightly damp paper towel or a sponge. For extremely stubborn stains, try soaking the Thermos® product in warm water with detergent for a little while longer, then rinse again with water and vinegar or water and phosphoric acid. This helps to remove stubborn food stains like grape juice, tomato, and coffee stains. Soaking Thermos® products with warm water and baking soda, or even ammonia in some cases will get rid of tough stains.

Some of the Happy Slob's Additional Cleaning Tips:

• The most stubborn part of cleaning a Thermos is, of course, getting a proper cleaning brush or sponge that can reach down to the bottom. I have found the perfect solution -- a wine decanter cleaner brush! Never heard of this? It does exactly what it's name implies -- cleans out wine decanters. It is a long, narrow cleaning sponge that is gentle to the delicate glass or crystal of wine decanters, therefore also making it perfect for your Thermos containers. You can find these to purchase online or at specialty wine shops, or even cooking shops. (We sell them at the store where I work, for instance.) I also happened to find some cleaning sponges/brushes especially for Thermos products! I'll post the pics to those too...

• Cleaning stainless steel is a snap with my favorite commercial cleaner - Barkeepers Friend. I like the liquid version best, but the powder is so finely milled that it also will never scratch the delicate surface of stainless steel. Once you try this stuff, you'll be just as hooked as I am. (All Clad, the posh cookware brand, also recommends it for their top end pots and pans...so that also gives you assurance that this stuff really works.)
• Cleaning stains is also easy -- just let some vinegar diluted with water (about half and half, more vinegar if it's a really tough stain) sit in the Thermos for about an hour or so. Then use the same wine decanter cleaning sponge/brush to scrub the stain away. :) Voila, clean Thermos -- ready to fill with your favorite hot drink!

Hope this helps, George, and everyone else who has ever faced this particular cleaning dilemma. Happy cleaning to you!

Christina

How to Clean Soap Scum from Tubs and Tiles with No Scrubbing

A very cool tip sent in by Happy Slob Housecleaner, Linda:

"I use baking soda and liquid fabric softener to remove soap scum from our showers and tubs. Dampen the rag, sprikle on the soda and then dip it into a small bowl of fabric softener. Scum comes right off no hard scrubbing needed!!"

If you guys would prefer a non-chemical type of tip, I would try this very same thing, only using pure white vinegar instead of the fabric softener. :) Might need to scrub a WEE little bit, but still a fantastic way to clean the tub. Thanks Linda, for the idea!

Would I Forget YOU? I'm Back!

Hey everyone,

I needed a bit of a break from the blogging scene, so I took off a bit of time to sort out what direction I want to go in with the blog and site, etc, etc, etc. But here I am, back and ready to (gently) nudge you in the right direction with your domestic duties. (Duties? oooh, we sort of hate that word, don't we?)

I'm working on a fresh newsletter for this week, so please keep your eyes peeled for that too.

For today, I just posted a favorite new toilet cleaning idea - and as we Happy slobs love - it is as EASY AS CAN HUMANLY BE! I posted it over at: The Easy way to clean inside your toilet - ALMOST Hands-Free!.

Enjoy! As much as a person CAN enjoy cleaning the toilet, that is...