Except for certain cheeses, you wouldn’t sit around and gnaw on something full of mold, and you wouldn’t want your child to do so, either. That’s why parents were horrified to see photos online of familiar Sophie the Giraffe toys full of mold. Mold! [More]
cleaning
Is Tide Oxi Really The Super Cleaning Agent That The Blonde Property Brother Says It Is?
By 7.2.14
For me, “deep-cleaning the house” has a place on the same list where you’ll find “getting a root canal.” But sometimes you have to, even it it means pulling out five different cleaners to get the job done. Tide claims its new product can clean more than 225 household items. Sounds too good to be true, right? It might be or it might not be – it just depends on your belongings. [More]
How To Clean Sunscreen Stains From Your Summer Duds (Do It Now, Rather Than Next Year)
By 8.30.13
Let’s face it. Summer? It’s almost over. But if you want to wear those beach clothes next year instead of splashing out more cash on shorts, tanks and sundresses, it’s best to remove signs of this season’s beach fun from your clothing now instead of bemoaning the sunscreen stains next year. The fix? A little bit of glycerin and liquid dish soap. Who knew? [via RealSimple.com] [More]
Does Your Home Need A Window-Cleaning Robot? Good News!
By 1.10.13
As predicted, there isn’t a whole lot of exciting news out of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. As a person who looks forward to our future total dependence on robots, however, I was excited to see footage of the Ecovacs Winbot 7 in action. The Winbot is like a Roomba that sticks to windows, and supposedly zooms up and down them, cleaning all the way. [More]
My Dyson Vacuum Cleaned My Carpet, Then Shredded It
By 11.2.12
Consumer reactions to Dyson vacuum cleaners reminds me at times of reactions to Apple computers. (Remember that? When Apple only made computers?) Fans rave about the vacs, can’t imagine life without them, and claim they’re worth every penny. Detractors grouse about the prices and claim they’re equal to or even worse than similar but much cheaper competitors. R. is now a Dyson detractor, but only after buying one and having it break. Now he says that his carpet is wrecked and he has a useless $600 vacuum cleaner. [More]
5 Tips For Keeping Your Carpet Clean
By 2.7.12
You walk all over it, spill drinks on it and rub crumbs into it to make them disappear. Your carpet is bound to get dirty, but you can keep it looking fairly new if you make a regular effort to clean it up. [More]
Keeping Your Garage Floor Skidmark-Free
By 1.20.12
Your garage floor doesn’t have to be a Jackson Pollock painting of tire skids and stains made by grease, oil and other car fluids. You can keep things looking fresh by taking some steps both before and after things get ugly. While there aren’t a lot of practical reasons for keeping the surface clean, doing so is a helpful step before you sell or rent out your home. [More]
Harm Yourself With These 5 Dangerous But Useful Cleaning Products
By 7.12.11
Chlorine gas was used for chemical warfare during World War I. You can make it easily in your own home by accidentally combining chlorine and ammonia in a misguided effort to boost cleaning power. Aren’t you clever? [More]
Windex Now Has Refill Pouches You Mix Yourself
By 7.1.11
Windex today launched Windex Minis, which let you refill your bottle of Windex by pouring in a pouch of Windex liquid, adding water, and stirring. They’re cheaper and there’s less waste. The bigger question is whether Americans will even go for a refillable at all. [More]
Make Your Own Dishwashing Detergent At Home
By 4.21.11
The same ingredients you can use to make your own laundry detergent at home can be used to make your own dishwashing detergent, also at home. [More]
Make Your Own Laundry Detergent At Home
By 4.18.11
In just 30 minutes, you can have a five-gallon bucket of homemade laundry detergent that costs 50 cents less per load than store bought, says dollarstoremom. All you need is washing soda, grated bar soap, borax, boiling water, and large bucket. Get the recipe and ideas for adding scents and so forth on the blog. And yep, this mixture will even work on HE washers, according to the commenters. [More]
Scrub Glassware With Aluminum Foil
By 4.18.11
Don’t just toss out that perfectly lovely piece of aluminum foil. Save it, and use it to scrub your glassware, says Real Simple. A bit of dishwashing liquid and a small piece of foil can do the work of a steel-wool soap pad when getting stubborn stickies and food stains from glassware and oven racks. Plus it’s cheaper! [More]
55 Ways To Use A Lemon Besides Eating It
By 1.20.11
When life gives you lemons, clean your microwave. That’s one of the 55 different ways you can use a lemon that don’t involve a food recipe detailed over at Coupon Sherpa. I also like the idea of using it to fend off roaches and fleas. Just add the juice and rinds to a 1/2 gallon of water and wash your floors with it. The little buggers hate the smell of lemons! Who knew? [More]
Clean Your Dishwasher With Lemonade Kool-Aid
By 1.7.11
You can spend a lot on fancy cleaners to get the scum out of your dishwasher, or you can just pop in two 10-cent bags of lemonade Kool-Aid in the soap dispenser. [More]
34 Uses For Toothpaste Outside Of Your Mouth
By 11.18.10
Yes, toothpaste is important for keeping your teeth clean and whole, but it also has many interesting uses around the house. Our friends at Coupon Sherpa compiled a list of 35 users for the wondergel, some of which may not have occurred to you. [More]
Kick Off Spring Cleaning By Home-Detailing Your Car
By 3.28.10
Spring is actually here, and do you know what that means? Spring cleaning! Ugh. If you live in a wintery climate, take some time to clean up your vehicle and pretend that all that salt and gravel never happened. Our sister publication Consumer Reports shows you how. After all, who else thoroughly tests kinds of car wax? Exactly. [More]
When Buying Cleaning Supplies, Don't Pay For Water
By 1.30.10
In order to save money and the total number of heavy bottles you need to haul home from the store, try buying ultra-concentrated cleaning supplies and adding your own water at home. Reader M. discovered these products at Big Lots, and shares his secrets. [More]
Make Your Own Pretreater and Stain Remover
By 7.25.09
Using little more than leftover soap slivers, baking powder, and hydrogen peroxide, you can brew up a powerful potion to get that damn sauce stain off your brand new shirt. Inside, Tipnut’s easy recipes for pretreater and stain remover.
