I’M JUST CURIOUS: A little more cleaning

by Debbie Walker

Hi! For a few minutes let’s make believe you can’t get any of your cleaning products. Oh, my whatever will we do? If this really happened and all you had was kitchen supplies, your home would not be without hope. Think about all those years before we had Mr. Clean and the following generations of cleaners, “the best cleaner ever” can be replaced by vinegar, baking soda, peroxide, alcohol, etc.

I have not tried all these hints and would love it if you would let me know what your “go to’s” are. I remember Mom using some of the household products when I was a child. In fact, I remember her using ammonia and bleach together to strip wax off the old vinyl flooring. That didn’t work out very well, she was quite sick. You can check any one of these hints on the computer.

Streak free window cleaner: 1-1/2 cups water, 1-1/2 tablespoons white vinegar, 1-1/2 rubbing alcohol, three drops essential oil. Pour everything into a spray bottle.

Natural air freshener: You can put a drop of your favorite scent on a cold light bulb. When it is on and heats up, ta-da, air freshener! You could soak a cotton ball in vanilla and put in potted plants throughout your home. If you are into essential oils you can use them as well.

Lightening and whitening, naturally: Soak your whites in a bucket of hot water with lemon juice for a couple of hours then hang out to dry in sunlight.

Use pillowcase to clean ceiling fan: I will be trying this one this week. Use a pillowcase. Slip the pillowcase over the blade, then wipe the dust into the pillowcase. Hopefully this will make it relatively mess-free.

Toothpaste to clean silver: toothpaste, not gel. Rub it on, rinse and let it dry. I plan to try it out on some of my jewelry. I’ll let you know my results.

Remove sticky adhesives with a little oil: Put some olive oil on a cloth and rub the adhesive off.

Clean up for hardwater stains: For shower head, faucet, etc.: Use vinegar to lift stains right off. For extra tricky like shower head, if you can’t get it off just put vinegar in a baggy and seal around shower head. Next morning rinse it off.

Just for a little change:

Did you know you can use your crock pot for a humidifier? Wish I knew this before I bought my humidifier!

I read that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain. I haven’t tried this, but I hope it works.

Did you remember to get a bottle of 91 percent alcohol and a spray bottle this winter? I used it the last winter I was up there, and it worked like a charm on ice and snow, on windows and windshield. Spay on windshield, move around the car spraying windows, side and back windows. Get to your door again, your vision should be cleared.

I’m just curious about how many of these you remembered as your read through them. Happy cleaning! Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org.