Household tips and tricks! - Are you having trouble getting the wine stains out of your carpet? Do you clean your cookware with something extraordinary? Come share!

[Sparkling Yuzu]

I read a good article about how to use candles properly:

https://www.insider.com/right-way-to-burn-a-candle-2016-11

https://archive.ph/wip/DYfLl

 

[NoReturn]

You can use wine if you have it. I use white wine because it's easier to see the little corpses.

I also recommend one of these little glass traps, because they're pretty and you can hang them up off the counter.
View attachment 3238431
There's a hole in the underside of the bottle. A raised lip around that hole holds the bait/soap mixture in a moat of death.

See:

This is literally the only Pinterest pin that has ever helped me.

Got some fruit flies in your house? (I always seem to get some during the early summer when I open a window because I like bananas.) Put a squirt of dish soap and a splash of vinegar (apple cider vinegar preferred, but white works too) together in a ramekin or similar dish. Mix that shit up. Wait a few hours/overnight and you should have little to no more fruit flies.

Vinegar,
Vinegar > whatever bait they sell for fruit flies.

 

[FatalTater]

I used an old crochet hook to get a hair clog out of a drain before. It was traumatic for all concerned, but the drain was cleared.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

Fuck mops. Fuck them right up their non-existent noses. Without lube. Yes, I'm MOTI.

Did you know that the sponge mop heads can glue themselves to the floor if you leave them sitting on it to dry? At least mine glued itself to my floor and peeled right off my mop when I went to pick it up. Brand new head. I think I used it twice. Fuck!

I'm sick and tired of replacing mop heads, or worse, going to get a new head and finding out they must have discontinued them because you can't find them anywhere and God help you on Amazon - assuming you can remember what the model/name of your mop IS.

So I gave in and finally bought a cheap steam mop. It's highly rated at least. Hopefully it's as good as everyone says it is. I do like the idea of being able to only use water to clean my floor. I have cats, and they are so sensitive to chemicals.

Thanks for listening. I'm calmer now.

 

[Aunt Carol]

See:

Vinegar,
Vinegar > whatever bait they sell for fruit flies.

I was replying to that post. I just meant that if you get fruit flies now and then, it might be time to invest in a specialized trap for them.

1. if you get the kind of trap that can hang from a hook, now you don't have a shallow dish of soap and dead flies on the counter, waiting to be spilled
2. if your fruit flies are numerous or smart, you don't have to mess around with cutting up a soda bottle or making a paper cone, because it's molded in. Here's a clear wasp trap (same design but larger) to show the one-way cone:


3. I repeat, pretty colors:

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

Well fuck again. I did some Googling after my last post. You cannot use a steam mop on hardwood floors, even the varnished ones. You can, but you risk water getting down between the cracks where the varnish isn't and the wood warping, molding, or rotting. Pass.

You also can't use them on vinyl plank flooring, which is what I want throughout my house eventually. You can only use them on some linoleum! You can't use them on peel-and-stick linoleum tiles, which means I cannot use them in my kitchen.

Basically they are good on tile. What a laugh. I'll never have tile.

I found a commercial string mop handle, standard commercial string mop heads, and a Rubbermaid commercial bucket/wringer. It will cost twice as much all told (about a hundred bucks), but should last me a lifetime (the handle and bucket). I'm betting that I can throw the mop head in a lingerie bag and into the washing machine to clean it between uses too.

 

[TrainWreckSpotter]

Well fuck again. I did some Googling after my last post. You cannot use a steam mop on hardwood floors, even the varnished ones. You can, but you risk water getting down between the cracks where the varnish isn't and the wood warping, molding, or rotting. Pass.

You also can't use them on vinyl plank flooring, which is what I want throughout my house eventually. You can only use them on some linoleum! You can't use them on peel-and-stick linoleum tiles, which means I cannot use them in my kitchen.

Basically they are good on tile. What a laugh. I'll never have tile.

I found a commercial string mop handle, standard commercial string mop heads, and a Rubbermaid commercial bucket/wringer. It will cost twice as much all told (about a hundred bucks), but should last me a lifetime (the handle and bucket). I'm betting that I can throw the mop head in a lingerie bag and into the washing machine to clean it between uses too.

As long as you don't hold the steam mop in one place for too long, it should be fine. I have been using one for years, both on hardwood and linoleum (real linoleum, not vinyl) and it has been fine. I only use it on the hardwood a few times a year, though. The best feature of mine is that it's a canister model, and the attachments are especially great for cleaning the stove, under the rim of the toilet bowl, and around faucet handles.

 

[I fucking love Cocaine]

If you want your glass windows sparkling clean, instead of using a microfiber cloth try using a newspaper. Streaks be gone!

Might work best if the newspaper is black and white only, but color ones should be fine too.

Also another protip; don't wash the cloth you use for your windows in the washing machine.
Clean it yourself by hand in the sink either by just using water or a little bit of soap when needed.

The detergent in your washing machine soaks in your microfiber cloth, so it could cause streaks to appear on your windows even when your cloth looks clean.

Lastly, use clear ammonia in a spray applicator instead of Windex or similar products. It's cheaper and it's more efficient than those glass cleaning products you find in stores.

You can even use it to eliminate streaks from your TVs, phones and computers screens!

 

[Yeeted Teet]

If your home is poorly ventilated or you live in a climate/area where you can’t leave the windows open, buy a dehumidifier. It’ll help stop mould problems before they even start. I also use mine as an alternative to tumble drying clothes, tumble drying damages fabrics much more quickly than air drying so I hang the laundry on a clothes horse with the dehumidifier running next to it.

 

[NoReturn]

Take your toilet seat all the way off to clean it.
Also replace it once in a while, goddamn. Even just once a decade.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

This exists:




We use a lot of everything bagal seasoning. We buy the big containers and decant it into a smaller jar with a shake lid. The funnel we were using was just small enough that sometimes the garlic chunks would clog it.

This has a shallow funnel on the bottom so it can rest on the top of the jar and the 1 inch hole is small enough to fit in the jar with room to spare.

 

[Free the Pedos]

The active ingredient in Oxiclean is oxygen bleach, or sodium percarbonate. You can buy it for a fraction of the cost and when combines with hot water it gets stains out of anything. I use kitchen towels instead of paper towels and after a hot soak and hot wash with this stuff, they come out sparkling white.

 

[Ear]

I've been interested in oxygen bleach for a while (seen a lot of US people extolling its uses, and I have a lot of greying towels) but it's been hard to source in Europe. Not any more, apparently, Amazon has loads! A kilo bag is pretty cheap. Is there an ideal dilution ratio for a whitening soak? I don't want to accidentally make napalm or something.

 

[Asmobaby]

"SinkShroom" or other similar devices are a godsend for anyone who shares a shower with people who shed or shave profusely.

Basically "SinkShroom is a strainer that fits snug inside your bathroom sink/shower drain, effortlessly gathering each and every hair that tries to make its way down your vulnerable drain."

If you've ever had to share a shower with multiple roommates, trust me, this thing will save you hundreds on Drano in the long run.

 

[StrawberryDouche]

I found a commercial string mop handle, standard commercial string mop heads, and a Rubbermaid commercial bucket/wringer. It will cost twice as much all told (about a hundred bucks),

JFC, just get a Libman Wonder Mop. Ten bucks. They're easy to wring, work great, last a long time, and the heads are easy to replace.

 

[Aunt Carol]

"SinkShroom" or other similar devices are a godsend for anyone who shares a shower with people who shed or shave profusely.

Basically "SinkShroom is a strainer that fits snug inside your bathroom sink/shower drain, effortlessly gathering each and every hair that tries to make its way down your vulnerable drain."

If you've ever had to share a shower with multiple roommates, trust me, this thing will save you hundreds on Drano in the long run.

Strongly agree. Best hair catcher/strainer I've ever used.

Its big cousins are called TubShroom or ShowerShroom. The hollow design lets it still drain, even when it's getting hairy, so it'll work even if you're the only decent adult person cleaning the strainer. Not as gross to clean out, either.

 

[Asmobaby]

Strongly agree. Best hair catcher/strainer I've ever used.

Its big cousins are called TubShroom or ShowerShroom. The hollow design lets it still drain, even when it's getting hairy, so it'll work even if you're the only decent adult person cleaning the strainer. Not as gross to clean out, either.

Yes, thank you for mentioning those other ones! I used to live with these long-haired blonde girls who'd clog our shower every time they used it. I spent a fortune on Drano that year.

Fast forward to years later, I'm now sharing a bathroom with a transitioner who is shaving constantly. Like, all day, every day. Thank god we got that thing when we did, hair is the devil for a drain...!

 

[Aunt Carol]

Yes, thank you for mentioning those other ones! I used to live with these long-haired blonde girls who'd clog our shower every time they used it. I spent a fortune on Drano that year.

Fast forward to years later, I'm now sharing a bathroom with a transitioner who is shaving constantly. Like, all day, every day. Thank god we got that thing when we did, hair is the devil for a drain...!

Forget the Shopping Cart Theory; the true test of a human is in a shared shower drain. Anyone who can't grasp cause, effect, personal responsibility to society, and preventative maintenance is probably one of those philosophical zombies and should be loaded on a truck.

I grew up in a house of longhairs, but crunchy-style longhairs. We got inserviced on the hair catcher and the mini drain snake around the same age we got the "heads up: you're gonna menstruate" talk.

Tell your troon that a big part of womanhood is an expectation of daily domestic labor; no point in having seductively smooth legs if your living space is a mess.

 

[Asmobaby]

Tell your troon that a big part of womanhood is an expectation of daily domestic labor; no point in having seductively smooth legs if your living space is a mess.

I'll give my troon this. He was the one who purchased the ShowerShroom and he's the one who cleans it out daily. This is a man who "needs" to shave and he needs to do it a lot, y'know for his "womanhood" and such.

On the flipside, I'm a natural woman who has kept her hair short for years and doesn't really have to shave all that much, so...Y'know I appreciate that he at least cleans up his mess. Very few of my past roomies ever paid me that courtesy, women being the worst offenders. So score one point for the one "nice" tranny I know. I know most of them wouldn't be that considerate.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

If you're making a thick sauce or a bechamel and the bottom of the pan burns a bit, the easiest way to clean it is filling it water and using the whisk to remove it.
In general, the easiest way to clean a sauce pan and the whisk is to fill the pan with water and whisk it.

If you leave it to next day and it dries up, fill it up with water, leave the whisk in there, let it boil up. Whisk it away.