Many of us spend too much money and too much time on household cleaning. Is it really necessary to have one product for the kitchen tiles and another for the bath? What about labour saving cooking tips? You’ll find all sorts of helpful household hints here in our alphabetical list.
- Clean your iron of lime scale– Pour equal amounts of vinegar and water into the water holder. Put on the steam setting and let it stand for 5 minutes. Cool and drain.
Iron plate– Heat equal parts vinegar and salt in a small pan. Rub solution on the cooled iron surface to remove dark or burned stains.
Use a paste of bicarbonate of soda & water to clean the bottom of your iron. - Laundry– Put about 1/4 cup of bicarbonate of soda in washing machine It helps soften and boosts cleaning power.Great in laundry to remove cigar/cigarette smells and stains
- Mold and mildew removers– Mix a solution of two teaspoons tea tree oil to two cups of water and keep in a spray bottle. Spray onto mold or mildew. Don’t rinse.
This solution will also remove musty smells from cloth items and clothes. Soak clothes for a few hours, then wash normally. What can’t be soaked can be sprayed and then aired for a few days until the fragrance of the tea tree oil subsides. On non-porous washable surfaces, try vinegar or a solution of borax and water. - Oven– Warm the oven, mix a cup of water with half a cup of cloudy ammonia in an oven-proof bowl, turn the oven off and place the bowl in it for 10 to 15 minutes, wipe the walls of the oven with a stiff brush and some bicarbonate of soda, wipe over with a damp cloth. The racks should be easy to clean with a scourer and some bicarbonate of soda after the cloudy ammonia treatment. After you have cleaned your oven, wipe it over with a solution of 1 heaped teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and 300mls of water. This will make the job easier next time.
Wipe oven with vinegar to prevent grease build up. - Plastic– Some bicarbonate of soda on a damp cloth removes dust from the plastic parts of electronic equipment.
- Plastic crockery and plates– Remove stain by rubbing with a paste of equal parts bicarbonate of soda and coarse salt.
- Plastic food containers– To remove odours, fill the containers with scrunched up balls of newspaper, and then place in the freezer for a few days, or soak in a solution of bicarbonate of soda and water, and then scrub with a damp cloth and bicarbonate of soda.
- Shower curtains– Bicarbonate of soda is excellent for cleaning shower curtains – in or out of the washing machine
- Silver– Clean with a solution made from one and a half teaspoons of salt and one and a half teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in one litre of water, bring to the boil and drop silver cutlery in, boil for 3 minutes and then polish with a soft cloth. If the silver is badly tarnished, add a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. This will react with the soda to lift the tarnish.
- Sinks & baths– Bicarbonate of soda cleans porcelain sinks and bath.
- Stainless Steel– Vinegar cleans stainless steel & Copper pots
- Stainless Steel– Use bicarbonate of soda as a pot scrubber. Make it into a paste and scrub stainless steel, iron or copper pots and bottoms with it
- Surfaces- Soapy water or a small amount of bicarbonate of soda.
Thermos flask- Soak thermos flasks with about 3 tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda and hot water. It takes out coffee and tea stains. Also sprinkle bicarbonate of soda into the dry thermos before putting the cover back on and storing it. It keeps it fresh. JUST remember to rinse out the bicarbonate of soda before you fill it next time - Wallpaper remover– You can use vinegar to remove wall paper. First remove top layer of wallpaper. Then spray vinegar on and let stand for a minute or two. Then pull backing away. Scrape excess glue off wall. Wipe remaining glue off with vinegar and rinse with water.
- Washing machine & dishwasher– Add vinegar to the soap container and run through a regular cycle to dissolve detergent residues.
Use vinegar in place of rinse aid. Fill powder holder with bicarbonate soda.
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