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!

[StrawberryDouche]

My part of the world flooded again.

Third time in three months.

The mould. The mould is growing on everything. There's even clumps of it on the polished wooden floors of the kitchen. My tablecloth has gone mouldy. There's mould on the side of the leatherette lounge. The toilet room walls are covered in mould. All the walls are covered in mould. I'm going to ask our landlord if there's some kind of treatment he can put on the walls to try and stop it from coming back, but I don't like the chances he'll say yes, because the stingy old bastard says no to everything.

Give me your best mould killing tips and tricks, I beg you.


* The one thing that could really help us, a humidifier, isn't practical in this house. It's an extremely old wooden house, none of the windows or doors seal properly, and the floors aren't sealed either.

Firstly, I can hear the vinegar evangelists at the gate. Don't listen to them. Look away!

Put some goddamn bleach in a spray bottle or one of these. Dilute it by half.

If you have this magic elixir in your part of the world, use this to cover it. BIN is also A+++.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

From the dirty world of being a mechanic, found out that Simple Green is a wonderful product on grease. Had some aluminum engine parts to clean up that would have been destroyed by my normal solvent of choice. Not sure how well it’d work on getting grease out of clothes, but that’s an experiment for another day


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My dad swore by Simple Green and Berryman's something or another for cleaning engine parts.

To get grease (engine oil) off hands nothing beats good old GoJo. Some people like Lava Soap, but it's rough and gritty because of the pumice in it. Gojo is a creame/gel and easy on your skin.

 

[Mr. Confederate Man]

My dad swore by Simple Green and Berryman's something or another for cleaning engine parts.

To get grease (engine oil) off hands nothing beats good old GoJo. Some people like Lava Soap, but it's rough and gritty because of the pumice in it. Gojo is a creame/gel and easy on your skin.

Berryman’s is for cleaning carburetors and it did okay the one time that I used it for that purpose. Can confirm that Gojo is good for cleaning hand too. Another good thing against grease is a product called Purple Power, but be careful with it as it corrosive and bad on the hands. Like cleaning with mineral spirits, wear neoprene gloves

Also, from my actual trade job, condenser cleaner for air conditioners is great for making anything aluminum look new again. Just, again, be careful with the stuff as it’s chemical burn city and prolonged exposure or years of applications will eat the surface of the metal away

 

[Sneaky khajiit]

From the dirty world of being a mechanic, found out that Simple Green is a wonderful product on grease. Had some aluminum engine parts to clean up that would have been destroyed by my normal solvent of choice. Not sure how well it’d work on getting grease out of clothes, but that’s an experiment for another day

I can definitely confirm the effectiveness of Simple Green for grease. It's sometimes used for industrial oil production-type process sanitation (and it's organic-friendly, if that is something that's important to you).

 

[skjora]

If you have a coffee grinder, run some uncooked rice grains through it every once in a while. Coffee beans have a lot of sticky oils in them which will stick to your grinder and eventually oxidize and go rancid, and the rice is excellent at cleaning that gunk up without affecting taste.

Get yourself some pure linen bedclothes. It's a somewhat stiff and wrinkly fabric, which means it'll lay loosely on your body with a decent layer of air in between. This keeps it from getting clammy in the summer, and warms you in the winter. Go with the cheapest available brand as long as it's pure linen. Wash without softener and let hang dry for optimal crispness, but do the opposite if you prefer softness.

Get a home carbonation machine if you live somewhere where it's cheap/easy to refill co2 tubes and tap water is drinkable. Having pure sparkling water always ready will make you drink more water, and you can also mix it with soda concentrates, cordials or any drink product meant to be diluted with water.

Sharpen your god damn kitchen knives.

Keep tortillas and bread for toasting in the freezer. Tends to get moldy quickly otherwise, and it's convenient to always have some available.

Take extra care with cleaning your bathroom when you're having company over. People tend to neglect it, and it's where guests tend to scrutinize the most.

Keep a *sturdy* bench or chair inside the door of your place. It's a great relief for guests with mobility issues (whether permanent or temporary) who have trouble taking their shoes on and off.

If you've issues with with accumulating dirty dishes, only have one of each dish, bowl, set of cutlery etc. easily available on the lower shelves and put the rest away.

If you have a yard or garden, get or improvise a bird bath which you fill with water in the summer and put out some "suet cakes" in the winter. It's pleasant to watch birds from your kitchen window.

 

[Rabid Weasels]

My air fryer basket had cooked-on grease that would not come out with any amount of scrubbing, rubbing alcohol, or any cleaners i had. It was like it polymerized or something. I used bbq grill cleaner (goo gone brand) and it worked great. Was careful to leave it on only a couple of minutes as i think it could maybe damage some surfaces.

 

[FatalTater]

MOSQUITO DUNKS!

ffs if you are in charge of any sort of outdoor water, look into getting mosquito dunks! They kill mosquito larvae! So important!

 

[Aunt Carol]

MOSQUITO DUNKS!

ffs if you are in charge of any sort of outdoor water, look into getting mosquito dunks! They kill mosquito larvae! So important!

I was worried about the intermittent standing water in the catchpots for my sump pumps, and not being appropriate for mosquito dunks because of the size and occasional dryness. Ended up buying mesh that's too small for mosquitos and putting it under/held on by the grate.

This is probably overkill but I hate mosquitos.

 

[TrainWreckSpotter]

This isn't a particularly impressive cleaning trick, but deep cleaning supplies are not complete without a toothbrush to get into those small cracks that a sponge or hand-held brush might not be able to.

These things. https://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Clean...P6RK/ref=dp_prsubs_3?pd_rd_i=B07Z7YP6RK&psc=1 They get into the tiniest of spots.

 

[PandaChai]

May be only tangentially related, but any good home remedies for soothing a chapped nose after a cold or allergies hit? Or how to prevent or minimise it when the nose drip attacks?

Is there a home remedies or wives tales thread?

 

[Aunt Carol]

May be only tangentially related, but any good home remedies for soothing a chapped nose after a cold or allergies hit? Or how to prevent or minimise it when the nose drip attacks?

Is there a home remedies or wives tales thread?

I like those old-fashioned Vitamin E sticks for a chapped nose. The stick form makes it easy and clean to put on throughout the day, and they're inexpensive enough to toss after you're done with the cold. Prevention works better than cure; much more pleasant to grease up your nose before it chaps.

(It's probably the carrier waxes doing the job more than the Vitamin E.)

 

[Shig O'nella]

May be only tangentially related, but any good home remedies for soothing a chapped nose after a cold or allergies hit? Or how to prevent or minimise it when the nose drip attacks?

Is there a home remedies or wives tales thread?

I use coconut oil, since that already goes on my beard. Works fine.

 

[Slav Power]

Whitening sport shoes.
Get some baking soda.
Mix it with water to make a paste.
Rub the paste into the dirty shoe.
Let it marinate for a bit.
Clean the baking soda off.
Done.

 

[A Cat in a Minefield]

I use an old fondue sticker to unclog my bathtub drain. It takes some doing for my long hairs to get out but it eventually comes.

Tweezers work great as well. I find it really disgusting. I hate it. I love my long hair but hate it too for that reason.

 

[General Disarray]

I love my pre cut perforated parchment paper for my air fryer.
It's fun to say, too.

Question: my shower drain is one of those pop-up push-down types to open/close the drain, and I can't use a shower shroom or dangly hair catcher. suggestions?

 

[snailslime]

I love my pre cut perforated parchment paper for my air fryer.
It's fun to say, too.

Question: my shower drain is one of those pop-up push-down types to open/close the drain, and I can't use a shower shroom or dangly hair catcher. suggestions?

is there a way to take the topper off? if not, i guess you should try something abrasive like drano.

 

[Aunt Carol]

I love my pre cut perforated parchment paper for my air fryer.
It's fun to say, too.

Question: my shower drain is one of those pop-up push-down types to open/close the drain, and I can't use a shower shroom or dangly hair catcher. suggestions?

This kind of thing? There are a ton of hair catchers with this toroid design. Main drawback is that if you have a houseguest, you have to brief them on the hot water controls and tell them that that isn't a rogue cock ring in the shower.


I had a pop-up drain for my bathtub a while ago and I ended up getting disgusted and just taking the drain closer part out. I forgot how but it wasn't difficult; it might have just unscrewed.

From personal experience, the OXO convex drain cover just kind of floats away...

 

[drfuzzyballs]

I'm moving soon so I'm doing a lot of cleaning that I've neglected over the last few years. I've found that buying a shop vac is well worth the money for cleaning carpets and making them good as new. Plus with all that extra suction power I can use it for other things too.


Any idea how to fix this?

 

[snailslime]

I'm moving soon so I'm doing a lot of cleaning that I've neglected over the last few years. I've found that buying a shop vac is well worth the money for cleaning carpets and making them good as new. Plus with all that extra suction power I can use it for other things too.


Any idea how to fix this?

tons of vinegar, baking soda, hot water and a sponge.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

I'm moving soon so I'm doing a lot of cleaning that I've neglected over the last few years. I've found that buying a shop vac is well worth the money for cleaning carpets and making them good as new. Plus with all that extra suction power I can use it for other things too.


Any idea how to fix this?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CKBB56K

Microfiber cloths and water. It'll take some elbow grease, but less than you think it will. These cloths scrubbed away a ton of baked on grease from Pam cooking spay on my stove in almost no time. My stove now looks better than it has in years (it's old and has always looked crappy).