DrDrewsmom

ditto whoever mentioned their Dyson. I love ours----I knew it would pick up dog hair, but was surprised at how much other dirt and dust it picks up every single time I use it

For those of you who have super-hard water, do you dilute the vinegar before trying to clean bathroom tiles or whatever? Or do you just use it undiluted?
We have horribly hard water and our glass shower doors never look good.

northeastmom

Update on Carbona. I tried it for the first time on ink stains. My H got a very nice black ink stain on a white collar shirt. I guess he put a pen in the shirt pocket without the top (not sure, I did not even ask). It looked hopeless, but I spent a few dollars to try this product. It says that it is for crayon and ink stains. I followed the directions on the bottle. Yes, it did remove ink onto a white rag that I had underneath the stain, but it did not even come close to removing it. The same pen left a streak, a few little ink dots, and a huge ink blotch. None of the various ink spots were removed. I threw out the shirt. I imagine that many people get good results, as I have seen this product on the strore shelves for many years for all kinds of stains, but it was not successful for this stain.

ellemenope

I had used the magic eraser before when helping a friend clean her house (she was moving). She had me use it on her walls and I wasn't impressed, because it shredded to bits in a short period of time.

But I re-tried it this week, based on comments from this thread, and I am hooked. There were some doors that get grimy at our house (fingerprints, etc.) and I was thinking of painting them. I used the magic eraser and I don't need to re-paint!

What is its secret? There are no cleaning chemicals involved...is it just some wonder material (brought to us by space aliens)???

Mudder's_Mudder

Yes. Get a pool service. [Well, you didn't specify cheap tips.... ]

Seriously. When we had a pool (started off with chlorine, converted to salt water, then went back to chlorine), we used a pool service off and on over the years. That was the cleanest (meaning blindingly sparkling, shimmering clean) the pool ever looked. I know they used a granular superchlorinator that worked longer and better than the liquid we used. The granular required more "babysitting," though. We did use a Polaris at all times, too, but there were always areas of the pool floor, and of course all of the walls, that the Polaris didn't reach that had to be brushed down periodically.

We had an awful time with airborne oak and pine pollen in the spring that turned the pool surface yellow. I don't know that there's any way to avoid that if it's a problem in your area. Our pool service twice a year used an effective liquid cleaner that's sold in pool stores for the coping. Don't remember the name, but it comes in a tube and IIRC is a blue gel.

One thing I did learn: a clean pool depends on (1) the proper balance of chemicals in the water at all times and (2) keeping organic debris, which degrades quickly, out. No getting around that. The water has to be tested every week with the full assay, not just pH and chlorine level. Make sure your filter material (ours was sand) is changed as often as recommended. It also helps, if the pool is used often (better for the water quality) and by lots of people, to have the swimmers at least rinse off before using the pool (I'm not kidding!). Some things depend on whether you have vinyl, gunite, tile, or heated water--advantages and disadvantages to each. We had extensive refurbishing done to ours over the years and picked up useful tips from pool contractors, pool stores, and even the neighbors. Good luck--and now you know why we will never own another house with a pool, LOL!


Back to cleaning tips...

For sterling silver jewelry (only silver; I don't do this with gemstones + silver): Add hot water and baking soda to a clean glass container lined with aluminum foil and big enough to hold the pieces of jewelry so they don't touch each other. Let soak a few minutes. When the tarnish is off, rinse the jewelry thoroughly in cool water, dry well, then polish with a clean, soft, lintfree cloth. Amazing.

Ellemenope: Nah. Just some wonder material brought to us by earthly chemists.

Signed,
Chemist's_Mudder

PA Mom

For laundry I swear by Fels Naptha. It comes in a bar (like soap) and you can rub it into practically any stain and it will remove it. One bar lasts several years and only costs about $2! I have used it on a variety of fabrics and many different stains, all with good results. My college daughter is has used it for her laundry as well.
I have found this much better than Carbona.

Bromfield

NEmom--it's almost impossible to remove ink from felt tip pens or permanent markers. I've had some luck removing ball-point pen ink stains with denatured alcohol. I've found that grease stains on clothes are easily removed by putting a drop of Goo-gone on the stain.

I'm a closet obsessive/compulsive/neat freak and bought a book a few years ago called Home Comforts. It's full of tips on cleaning and cleaning products, and often focuses on simple fixes like baking soda and vinegar.

Mudder's_Mudder

That's interesting. My mom used to use Fels Naptha, PA Mom. Though I've never used it myself, I bet I could recognize the odor to this day. I wonder, because of the name, if it isn't petroleum based as a lot of cleaning products are. Hmmm. I'll have to look that up....

rrah

One I've not seen mentioned on here, but a real favorite is a product called Tech. It seems to work on laundry and carpet stains better than anything I've used. I've removed mustard, red wine, grass, etc. with it. When the children were babies I used it on all those baby stains. I keep it in a spray bottle in the laundry room. The same company makes a product specifically for carpets called Final Solution (or something like that), but I've found the Tech product to be as effective. I can't find it where we live now, but I used to buy it at Ace Hardware. I order it online now. Menards (I think it's only in the midwest) carries wipes which I keep in the car.

I agree with the Works for toliets. We have hard water and get gross orange staining in the summer. The Works is the only thing I found that will remove it.

The other product I swear by is Bona X for our hardwood floors. I buy on the concentrate on ebay (again no local source) and just add water to the spray bottle.

I also like to use vinegar and water specifically with microfiber clothes for cleaning counters, sinks, showers, etc. I buy the clothes at Sam's club in the automotive section. They are much cheaper than purchasing individual cloths and it us saves us from using expensive paper towels.

With a septic system I too try to be avoid harsher products when possible.

jym626

When the cc servers are finished with their upgrade, I'll do some searching for previous discussions on this topic. There were lots of helpful suggestions, especially about removing pet stain/smells. We found Nature's Miracle to be the most successful for removing the stain/odor, and believe me, we tried 'em all!! Organic, non-organic, you name it, Nature's Miracles was the best. We bought it by the gallon!

My cousin swears by a stain remover called "Gonzo". She bought me a bottle when I was up North, but it is liquid and I couldn't bring it on my carry-on . Has anyone tried it?
I also like De-Solv-it for grease/adhesive removal. Another little trick-- if you are trying to take a pricetag off a package for a gift, heat up the pricetag with a hairdryer. The tag peels right off!!

Bromfield

Gonzo is a good stain remover; I use it. You can buy it on Amazon. I don't, however, think it works well with grease stains. Goo-gone is really the best that I've found.

mmaah

Anyone have a formula for a vinegar and water mix that doesn't leave the house smelling like you are making pickles? I've heard you can scent it but haven't been able to create anything that doesn't lead to wrinkled noses and complaints. (Hasn't kept me from using it--but I might get more enthusiastic help if they weren't put off by the scent...)

Kelowna

So what would be the best way to clean burned in stains on a gas stove?
I do not think that I am a messy cook, but I do cook a lot, almost daily and from scratch. I used to have a ceramic top and I loved it, because cleaning was so easy. But I wanted to have a gas stove, because it is so much more "cook friendly". How to clean the Beast?

mountains

Kelowna - Have you tried Dawn Power Dissolver?

bethievt

I have the same problem with my gas cooktop, Kelowna, especially with the burner I use for stir-frying. Really looks bad. I'm going to try some of the products suggested here. On the other hand, is it really worth it if we keep re-creating the mess day after day? I guess that's true of all cleaning--sometimes it seems so futile!

northeastmom

I don't know about burned in stains, but for my glass top stove grease (one fried egg and it looks like I have not cleaned it in a month), I use Spray Nine. It was not a recommended cleaner, but it works for me. I still use the recommended glass top protective solution, and cleaner as well. I use the Spray Nine to clean the splatter in my microwave as well. I am not sure where you can purchase it. My H has a business associate who sells it. He sent a couple of bottles to me.