Hi!
This is your page - the one where your tips will appear. As I have said elsewhere
on the site, I surely don’t know every tip and hint about all aspects of cleaning.
That’s where you come in! Please use our form to send in your tip, which ideally
should have been tried and tested by you before submission!
We won’t publish your full name but we’ll certainly credit your effort and we will
not, of course, share your details with anyone at all.
If you have copper ornaments to clean, try rubbing the surface with a cut lemon.
Brings it up like new and cuts down on chemicals - smells great too! - Thanks to
Mrs. A, Annapolis, for this tip.
To keep butter from sliding around on a butter dish, heat the dish with hot water,
dry, then put the butter pat on the dish. It will melt just a little of the butter
which will go solid when put in the fridge - so doesn't slide around when you are
getting butter! - Thanks to Peter, Reading, for this tip.
Disclaimer - reader’s tips are accepted by us on a good faith basis and we cannot
accept any liability for loss or damage to property or the person resulting from
using these tips in any manner whatsoever.
To remove the smell of garlic, onions, or anything else, rub your hands with a stainless
steel spoon under cold running water (like you would with soap). Then you can wash
the smell off the spoon with soap and water. -- Thanks to Julia for this tip.
Scuff marks on vinyl - take a rubber sole shoe (tennis shoes) wipe across it and
it will come off. No joke, I have tried it, it works great!!! - Thanks to Brian,
Glasgow, for this tip.
Sinks - Once a month, pour one cup of baking soda, followed by one cup of white vinegar
down the drain. Wait an hour and flush with warm water. The combination fizzles away
most of the buildup. Works for shower, tub and kitchen sink drains as well. - Thanks
to Sue, Clapham, for this tip
Tea stains can be removed by dipping a sponge in white vinegar and applying to the
stain. Wash the garment per care label instructions. Don't throw the garment into
the dryer, as the heat will set any remaining stains. You can also soak the garment
in a solution of 3 cups of white vinegar to one cup of water. Place in a large glass
bowl and soak. Then, rub the garment to remove any lingering residue and rinse in
cold water. If the stain persists, rub with salt. Rinse, and launder as usual. -
Thanks to ‘anonymous’.
Brass hearth and fire sets that have been neglected require special treatment. They
can be rubbed with extra-fine steel wool (0000); however, this requires much time
and work. Very fine emery cloth will give quicker results, but the metal must be
rubbed in only one direction, do not use a circular motion. When clean, polish with
a brass polish. Some commercial polishes do not require rinsing, so follow label
directions. If this doesn't work, spray with black or brass colored paint in a pressurized
can. - Thanks to Mrs. F, Osbaldeston.
Here’s an old one that works well - if you have to clean silver forks, use a pipe
cleaner that has been dipped into silver polish to get in between the tines - works
great! - Thanks to Mrs. P, Southport.
When using spray cleaners, don’t forget to give them time to work! It’s tempting
to ‘spray on - wipe off’ but generally this is too quick - bactericidal cleaners
in particular need ‘dwell time’ on the surface to be cleaned in order to work properly.
- Thanks to E.M, Edinburgh.
To remove limescale, soak a paper towel in lemon juice then cover the area affected
by limescale with it for one hour before rinsing. Repeat if necessary. Do not use
on plated surfaces such as gold taps. - Thanks to Peter, Boise.
Gum - Freeze gum with ice cubes and chip off what you can with the blunt side of
a kitchen knife. You can also buy freezer sprays but ice work nearly as well and
it’s free! - Thanks to Moira, Atlanta.
Please keep your tips coming in, thanks!
I’ve always found that the best thing for cleaning the insides of a cooker are -
washing-up liquid, hot water, a scrubbing sponge and plenty of elbow-grease! - Thanks
To Mrs. D.W., London
To clean cove moulding (also called vinyl or rubber skirting board) - simply spray
on a wax stripper and, after a few minutes soaking to loosen the grime, scrub off
with a nylon brush then rinse and dry. - Thanks to ‘Anon’, SF.
To clean articles made of vinyl, try either: a little liquid detergent or washing
up liquid in warm water, or for mould and mildew a solution of 1 part white vinegar
to 2 parts water. - Thanks to Mrs. Carter, Co. Durham.
To clean zips on articles like suitcases, tents etc., first unzip the fastener then
remove any loose dirt from within the teeth of the zip with a small brush or old
toothbrush soaked in a little warm water to which has been added some washing up
liquid. Dry off then rub the zip teeth with an ordinary candle to lubricate them.
- Thanks to Geoff, Barnsley.
Q. - On your web page re floor polishers and scrubbers you mention removing polishing
pad and clean it. My question is how do you clean the pad after using it. is there
a chemical solution required or a specific pad cleaning procedure?
A - If using a water-based metallised emulsion polish -typically used on vinyl or
thermoplastic floors - the pads can be washed out easily in warm water and left to
drip dry. If using heavy dury stripping pads (black or ultra black) for wax polish
stripping (mainly on wooden floors) they will heve to be cleaned with a white spirit
solution in order to remove the wax build - up.
