Household Tips

If you host a huge gathering during the holidays, start making party food ahead of time and freeze it. Lots of goodies freeze well and cuts down on all the last minute stuff. Don’t apologize for serving ready made snacks and goodies from Costco or Sams. Most are delicious and the fun is being with family and friends and not just what you are eating!!! Be flexible and realize your grown children may have inlaw issues to work around. I have changed plans to accomodate sometimes, but not always depending on how much trouble it became for me.

Saturday morning as I was making yet another Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad to take to my unit Christmas Party I thought my idea my be worth sharing. When you have quite a few functions to take things to during the holidays, plan on taking the same thing to all of them. You can buy the ingredients for several at one time and putting it together becomes a no-brainer. I’ve taken this to three things in the last week.

Jello, holidays, parties

I am such a product whore. When I find one I love I have to tell everyone. I usually feel the need to convince you to try it. One of these products is Goo-gone. It will remove the stickest tape residue from price tags and glass, plastic, and other things. Cover with a drop or two and use an old terry cloth, rub away then use the clean part of the clothe to get rid of the goo. I have removed crayon, marker, tar, scuff marks, and some unknown stuff from fabrics (test a small area, but if it is going to get tossed otherwise, give it a shot. Excellent to remove the stickers and decals that end up on car glass or bumpers

Mildew and Mold that grow on shower curtains are alive. Vinyl or fabric curtains need to go into the washer with a cup of bleach and hot water along with some old towels that will do the scrubbing and buffing. It you have a colored or printed fabiric curtain use Oxi-clean instead of Clorox. While they are washing, give the shower or tub a good scrub down with the same to get rid of mold and mildew growing in there. Hang the curtain and allow it to dry in place.

mildew, mold, Cloroc, Oxi-clean

If you are like me you probably do not have a big jar of Barbasol on your vanity. Combs and brushes get pretty nasty and wiping them or rinsing them doesn’t do much good. You need to soak them in hot water with a grease cutting dish detergent to dissolve and release all the hair products from them. Rinse and let them air dry on a towel.

combs, brushes, hair products

Are you aware that doorknobs are one of the dirtest things in your house. Spray them and around them with all purpose cleaner, wait a couple of minutes, then wipe with a terry cloth rag. They will look better and the germs will be history.

doorknobs, all purpose cleaner

Having lived in the South for 53 years, I have been challenged with more than my share of red dirt & mud stains. This is one stain you do not want to use Oxiclean on. Why? Red dirt gets it pigment from iron ore. Oxidize that stain and it changes from dirt/mud to rust. Try using a fatty soap, I use Murphy’s Oil, rubbed into the stain and washing in cold water. I usually let the soap set overnight then throw in the washer

stain, Oxiclean, Murphy’s Oil

When anyone in the house has strep you need to replace their toothbrush after the first 24 hours of antibiotics. Strep can live a long time and can’t be “washed” off. Any other toothbrushes kept in the same area need to be replaced or you’ll end up spreading it all through the family. Go ahead and pick out new toothbrushes when you are waiting on the pharmacist.

Mirror and picture glass are best cleaned with Windex and a clean lint free cloth. Spray the cleaner on the cloth, not the mirror as it may seep to the back and oxidize the silver. Same goes for pictures because you might ruin your treasured pictures. After wiping clean, use a dry cloth and polish until streaks are gone and the glass sparkles!!

mirror, glass, Windex

Lint rollers are great cleaning tools. In addition to getting pet hair off furniture and clothing they are great for getting dust and cobwebs off textured ceilings and picking up bits of broken glass. I use one to get up the little line of dirt left when I sweep stuff
up and into the dust pan!

lint, dust, dirt

When cleaning the kitchen, fill a cup with water and microwave it for two minutes. When you get around to cleaning the microwave, the steam from the cup of water will have loosened things up and they wipe right off.

microwave oven, steam cleaning

Make your errands & “to do� list on the larger sticky notes- When you get ready to leave the house stick it on your dashboard. No more forgetting to pick up photos, stop at the shoe shop, drop off cleaning, putting gas in the car or getting a wedding present for cousin Betty Sue.

to do list, errands

Things you can do while talking on the phone. Load or unload the dishwasher. Fold and put away laundry, clean or dust something. File your nails and put a coat of quick dry hardener on them. Sew on a button. Clean out your purse. Wipe down your appliances.
Once you get used to multitasking the list is endless.

phone, multitasking