Chester's Urine Odor Removal Tips

If you have ever had pets or have recently become a parent, then urine stains and urine odors are a new part of your life. Consider it one of the rights of passage to adulthood. These stains are going to happen, just make sure that you are well armed with knowledge to deal with them correctly! No matter how clean your home is, house guests will immediately smell pet urine odors! It is just one of those smells that cannot be ignored.

Removing Pet Urine Stains from Carpet

If Fido or Fluffy has an accident in the house, it is important to treat the stain as soon as possible.  You can remove pet urine stains from carpet by mixing one part of white vinegar with four parts clean water. Mix in a spray bottle and apply liberally to the stain. Cover the stain with dry paper towels or a folded towel and cover with a heavy object. Wait until it pulls all of the liquid out of the stain into the towels and repeat if the stain still exists. If the stain is still there, clean your carpet with our carpet cleaning tips! The pet stain is only part of the problem, removing the pet urine odor is going to be a whole different process. You will also need to treat the urine odor differently depending on if the perpetrator was a cat or a dog.

Dog Urine Odor Removal

Dog urine usually does not have too strong of an odor, if it does you dog is probably sick and should go see the vet. Needless to say dog urine doesn't smell nice so you will need to take some extra steps to remove the odor. The first thing you need to do is determine exactly where the stain is. A black light works great to find where the actual pet stain is located. Now that you know where the stain is, you need to treat the odor. For dog urine odor I like to use plain baking soda. After you have cleaned the stain using the above method and the area has dried you should sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda over the area and let it stand overnight. Vacuum the area thoroughly the next day. The baking soda should have removed all of the odor. If there is an odor left you can move on to the cat urine odor remover as it works on much smellier cat urine.

Cat Urine Odor Remover

Cat urine is one of the worst smells. Our cat has gotten ill several times where he could not control his bladder. Needless to say it took quite a bit of work to get that smell out of our carpets. We had a couch but decided to just get rid of it because we couldn't get the cat urine odor out of it.

So what makes cat urine smell so bad?  Several different types of substances are in cat urine.  The cat’s scent marker is made up of a unique chemical compound, called the spray, and uric acid.  This is what makes cat urine smell so bad.  Even after clean up the liquid and pigment portions of the urine, the crystals and salts from the uric acid remain, causing the odor.  The crystals are insoluble and will attach to anything they come into contact with.  Using most normal cleaners actually makes the smell worse because any type of liquid will reactivate them.  Even humidity in the air can bring out the smell.

To get rid of these crystals you need to use an enzyme cleaner.  Enzyme cleaners break down the crystals and bacteria left from the urine.  So unless you use and enzyme cleaner you are never going to be able to completely remove the cat urine odor.  Whatever you do never use ammonia on pet stains as it will react with the crystals and attract your pet to go there again.

To use an enzyme cleaner you will need to thoroughly soak the area with the cleaner and let it work it's magic.  It may take several days for the wetness to go away, but during that time the cleaner is breaking down the bacteria and crystals that are buried deep in your padding and carpet.  If the area still smells a second dosing has always gotten rid of the odors in our house.

Commercial Odor Removal Products

Enzyme cleaners take about three months to make on your own.  They sell several at you local pet store, but they can be pricey since they are relatively hard to make.  Enzyme cleaners are actually very environmentally friendly cleaners. Here are a few that we have tried:

• Zero Odor - is a non-toxic odor eliminator.  I have only seen it sold on-line and that is where we bought ours.  It is pretty pricey but does work.  It did not take us very long to use it up.  We have not bought any more because several of the other products are available locally.
• Urine Gone - This product was first pitched as a As Seen On TV product.  You can buy it at Target and Wal-Mart.  It works really well and comes with a battery powered black light which will help you find the stains, even the ones from last year.
• Nature's Miracle - We bought this at our local pet supply store.  The advantage to this cleaner is that you can buy it in bulk for a relatively cheap price.  If you have lots of old pet stains around the house, buy a gallon of this.  We use Nature's Miracle the most because it is readily available and priced well.  When buying it at the store check which enzyme formula you are buying.  They make several different formulas for specific jobs like blood stain removal or urine odor removal.
• Odoban - We used to use this a lot, but unfortunately they changed their formula by adding a scent to it that my wife and I really don't like.  It does work, and we would use this the most as it is by far the cheapest, but the new fragrance is not to our liking. You can buy it at most stores.  If you want to buy it in bulk they sell it at Sam's Club.

Removing Human Urine Stains from Bedding

It is going to happen if you have kids. It is just a fact of nature. You may find yourself getting mad, but instead just get informed on how to clean it up right! Hydrogen Peroxide mixed with a little water in a spray bottle is your first line of defense. Once you have lightly sprayed the area, let it dry and clean with a mixture of one part white vinegar, one part baking soda, and four parts water. Scrub the area with the mixture and allow to dry completely. You can speed up the entire process by placing clean paper towels on top of the stain after each treatment and weight down with a heavy object. This will help extract the liquids from the urine stain. Check out our other great clean tips for Hydrogen Peroxide!

Removing Human Urine Stains from Clothing

If you are using cloth diapers or just simply have an infant, you know that you are going to have to deal with urine stains at some point. Pre-treat the stain with a mixture of one part baking soda and three parts clean water. Work the mixture into the entire stained area. Next, soak the item for at least twenty minutes in a basin filled with water and a cup of vinegar. Once you have soaked the stain, wash the item as normal. Your urine stain and smell will be a thing of the past!  Be sure to read our laundry stain removal guide for solutions to all of your laundering needs.

Basic Homemade Cleaning Solutions

Homemade cleaning solutions are not only good for the environment they are also good for your wallet.  You can make them quickly and easily with items you can find in your pantry. Some of the most popular are baking soda, distilled white vinegar, olive oil, lemon oil, and a good squirt bottle always helps.

Vinegar Clean

The general all purpose cleaner is good for cleaning kitchen counter tops, bathroom countertops and anywhere you would need to clean daily with a mild cleanser. You can make a quick solution by mixing one part vinegar and one part water into a spray bottle.  You can also use this homemade cleaner on glass countertops and toilets. You should never use this on granite countertops or wood because vinegar is acidic and can damage those surfaces.

When doing the laundry, especially if you have hard water, adding 1/2 cup of vinegar during the rinse cycle will help soften your clothes and also will cut down on odors.  This will leave your cloths feeling soft and fluffy.

Baking Soda Clean

When cleaning the bathroom mix baking soda and water to form a paste. You can use this paste to scrub fixtures and tile. This works really well on tile and bathtub stains.  Baking soda is also good at cleaning the toilet, just sprinkle some into the toilet bowl and add a splash of vinegar. The vinegar and baking soda will react and starts to create carbon dioxide. This bubbling action is a great way to clean the toilet without having to get out your scrub brush.

Lemon Clean

Mixing two parts lemon juice and one part olive oil makes a great wood cleaner. Pour a small amount of the cleaning solution onto a rag and wipe down any finished wood you have in your house. This works exceptionally well on kitchen cabinets.

Making your own homemade cleaners is easy. Not only will you save the environment you also save a lot of money. No longer will you have to drive to the store  to buy more cleaner.  Next time you are starting a new cleaning project, think about using one of these homemade cleaning recipes.

Related Posts:

• White Vinegar, Eco Cleaning's Number One
• Baking Soda, Eco Cleaning's Number Two
• Homemade Wood Furniture Cleaner

Chester's Laundry Stain Removal Guide

If anyone tells you that they enjoy doing the laundry, you have to question their sanity. Laundry is just a fact of life, it has to be done. I don’t mind doing the laundry, but I do hate stains! Especially the set-in ones! Here are some of our best tips for removing laundry stains.

Table of Contents:

• Blood Stain Removal
• Coffee Stain Removal
• Deodorant Stains Removal
• Grass Stain Removal
• Homemade Laundry Detergent
• Ink Stain Removal
• Laundry Odor Removal
• Laundry Soap Residue Removal
• Red Wine Stain Removal
• Tough Laundry Stain Removal
• Share Your Tips

Blood Stain Removal

Hopefully you don’t have to use this great tip too often! The best way to remove blood stains, even dried-on blood stains is to make a paste out of meat tenderizer and water and apply to the stain. Let it stand for about an hour and rinse off with water. If the stain still exists, repeat and this time work the paste into the stain. Rinse off and launder as usual.

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Coffee Stain Removal

Coffee stains happen, luckily making your own coffee stain removal solution is easy. The first thing you should do with a coffee stain is rinse out as much of the stain with water as possible. The best way to do this is to turn the garment inside out and place it under a running faucet. Next mix 1 cup hot water with about 1 tsp of dish soap. Blot with a sponge and dry with a white terry cloth. If the stain is still there, try mixing 1 part distilled vinegar and 2 parts warm water. Again blot the area with a sponge and dry with a terry cloth towel. Do not rub, that will only spread the stain. Wash regularly and verify that the stain is completely removed before you dry it. You can repeat each of the coffee stain removal methods as needed. As always test for color fastness.

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Deodorant Stains Removal

Deodorant stains can ruin any dress or shirt. I have two different tricks for dealing with these stains, however, you must test each one first in a inconspicuous place to make sure that they do not cause the color to fade or damage the fabric. The first trick is to wipe the stain with white vinegar as a pre-treatment for the stain. Launder as usual and the stain should be gone. The second trick is to soak the deodorant stain with denatured alcohol. Once you have soaked the stain, wash with the highest temperature setting that you safely can use.

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Grass Stain Removal

Grass stains are horrible. If you can get to them before they completely set, then just use a pre-wash stain remover such as the Spray and Wash Stick. It will keep the stain from setting even if you pre-treat and ignore until your normal laundry day. However, if the grass stain has set completely, you have to take more drastic measures. Mix two parts of ammonia with one part vinegar. Work the mixture into the stain and then launder as usual.

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Homemade Laundry Detergent

Diane T. sent in her homemade laundry detergent:

Here’s a recipe for laundry detergent which makes no suds, leaves no residue, and leaves your clothes soft. I dry my clothes on a clothesline and since I started using this detergent, I rarely have to iron anything –the wrinkles seem to just fall out! This recipe makes almost 5 gallons at a cost of about $3.00. I use a cup of detergent per full load and get 55-60 loads of clothes from each batch of soap. Pretty cheap, yes? I make mine in a large recycled paint bucket with a lid and store it under the pantry counter. I keep a smaller container by the washing machine which I refill from the large bucket. I buy all the ingredients from my local Kroger grocery store or they can be purchased online, which would increase the cost. Since I have very hard water, I sometimes add ½ cup of baking soda to the wash load to soften the water. (This works great when washing dishes, too, both in the dishwasher and hand washing).

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP:

Ingredients:

• 1 very large container (5 gallon )
• 1 bar Fels Naptha Soap
• 1 ½ cups 20 Mule Team Borax
• 1 ½ cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

Directions:

• Put 12 cups (3 quarts) water in a large pan, bring to a boil.
• Grate the bar of soap into a bowl and pour into the boiling water. (I shave the bar of soap with a potato peeler.)
• Stir until dissolved.
• Add the Borax and Washing Soda, stir until dissolved.
• Put 8 cups (2 quarts) HOT water into a 5-gallon container.
• Add soap mixture and stir well
• Add 2 gallons ( 8 quarts) water, stir well.
• Let mixture sit for 24 hours and it will kind of jell, like Jello.
• Use a whisk or mixer (or paint blender) to make it smooth. This step is not absolutely necessary, but makes for a smoother soap.
• Add 1 cup per regular washer load of clothes.

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Ink Stain Removal

Ink is one of the hardest things to get out of clothing. Inks are made in many different ways, so it is hard for me to tell you what will work best for removing your ink stain since I don’t know what kind of ink it is. The strategy for ink stain removal is to use a solvent to remove the stain from the fabric. Not all ink can be removed but you will not know about your stain until you try. In the worst case the following solvents will at least lighten the stain.

When working with all of these solutions soak a clean terry cloth rag with the solvent and blot at the stain. Never rub an ink stain because you will only work it further into the fabric. If you get an ink stain, treat it immediately if possible to make ink stain removal easier once you get home. You can treat with waterless hand sanitizer or just plain water if that is all that is available.

Hairspray is the most common ink solvent, and it works fairly well. Be patient and keep spraying and blotting. It will take some time for the stain to come up. Sometimes I will let the hairspray soak for a few moments before I blot. Rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover (acetone), Lestoil, and turpentine all work well on removing ink stains. Some ink formulas may need the use of one or more of these solvents to remove the ink.

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Laundry Odor Removal

Teri V. sent in the following tip:

I have a teenage son with raging hormones and body odor! To help fight the odors in the laundry I use the bleach cup in my washing machine and fill it with isopropyl alcohol. The rubbing alcohol not only boosts the power of the detergents, it also removes all of the odors, even the tough ones.

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Laundry Soap Residue Removal

If you start to notice that your laundry is coming out of your washer with soap residue or your clothes seem to be getting stiffer the more you wash them, then you have a detergent build-up in your washer. Adding one cup of white vinegar to your laundry will help to break up that residue. I recommend adding vinegar about once a month to keep your washer clean. Just make sure to never add vinegar to any load of laundry that you are adding bleach to.

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Red Wine Stain Removal

We have all been there before. You are having a wonderful time at a party and turn around to talk to a friend when you accidentally bump into a glass full of red wine. You new dress is ruined. To get the red wine stain out mix 1 tsp of dish detergent and 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide into a bowl. Use a clean towel or sponge to dab the area. Start from the outside and dab your way around the stain slowly working toward the center of the stain as it is removed. Hydrogen peroxide can bleach your clothing so test before you begin.

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Tough Laundry Stain Removal

If a stain has been completely set-in and even if it has already gone through the dryer, Lestoil can still save the day. Work the Lestoil into the stain and launder as usual. Make sure that you never use Lestoil on any garments that are dry-clean only. Also, test in an area that will not be noticed to make sure that it does not fade or damage your clothing.

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Share Your Tips

Do you have a great laundry stain removal tip? Please add it to the comments or email it to us so that we can share it.  Together we can knock out even the toughest stains.

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Cleaning and Maintaining Bathroom Sinks

Besides your toilet, your bathroom sinks are usually the messiest place in your bathrooms. Toothpaste drips, hair clippings, and all of the rest of our daily routines can quickly turn a beautiful porcelain sink into a messy disaster. Here are some great tips to keep it looking and working great!

Bathroom Sinks are almost always the messiest place in your bathroom.

For quick cleanups of your bathroom sink, use a little hydrogen peroxide on a sponge and simply wipe up the entire surface. As we mentioned in our post Hydrogen Peroxide – Cleaning, Sanitizing Wonder, hydrogen peroxide is both a great cleaner and a wonderful sanitizer for your sink.

To deep clean the surface of your bathroom sink, Bar Keepers Friend can remove even the worst stains. Read our full review in Bar Keepers Friend is My Friend Too to learn more about how you can use Bar Keepers Friend to not only deep clean your sink, but also polish your faucet and other bathroom fixtures to a fantastic shine.

One of the biggest problems that I have at keeping my bathroom sink clean and spotless is the amount of daily products that I use in the bathroom. If the surface is completely covered, you are never going to be able to properly clean the sink. By finding the right bathroom storage ideas from our article, Bathroom Storage Ideas, you can keep only the bare essentials out in the open. I now have enough storage space to not have to keep my razor and other necessities out in the open.

If you sink gets clogged, pour baking soda down the drain followed by vinegar or lemon juice. The chemical reaction that is caused by the two combining can power its’ way through even the toughest stain, all without having to resort to dangerous, and expensive, drain cleaners. As we mentioned in our article, Cleaning the Kitchen Sink the Non-Smelly Way, lemon juice leaves the sink smelling great whereas the vinegar leaves a pretty strong smell!

How to Clean Grout Like The Pros

In your kitchen, bath, and just about anywhere else in your home, tile provides a very durable and stain resistant covering. Unfortunately, tiles are separated by grout, and grout is not nearly as stain resistant. Since grout is generally white, or at least a very light color, every stain shows up immediately. With our simple tricks, we can make cleaning grout a very simple task.

Some Tricks to Become the Best Grout Cleaner

If you have tile floors, the grout is definitely going to become stained at some point of time. Surface stains can be removed easily with sandpaper. Fold the sandpaper, and work the crease back and forth in the grout. If the grout is too soft for the sandpaper you can also use a normal pencil eraser. If the sandpaper or eraser doesn't do the job or the grout still remains discolored, you can create a solution of one part bleach and four parts of water. Saturate the grout with the solution and scrub with a small brush. A toothbrush is ideal; just throw it away when you’re done. Rinse well with clean water and let dry.

In your kitchen, your tile is constantly assaulted by food and spills of various natures. If you do not like using a lot of harsh chemicals around your kitchen, we have a great natural cleaner for you. Mix 1/2 cup of baking soda, 1/4 cup ammonia, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and about 6 cups of water in a spray bottle. This cleaner really gets under those dried-on food stains and leaves the grout looking like new. Spray on your grout liberally, and scrub with a soft bristled brush or a toothbrush.

If your tile is heavily stained around your kitchen or bathroom, work in a little Soft Scrub with Bleach with your finger. Let it work on the grout overnight. By morning, even the toughest stains will have disappeared. Rinse with warm water and dry with a clean towel or paper towel. No need to scrub the grout with a toothbrush any more!

As a quick cleaner, wipe down your grout with hydrogen peroxide. This keeps your grout white and kills off all of the bacteria that can be living in it.

Make sure that you do not ever mix any cleaning products made with bleach with any products made with ammonia! The two combine to form chlorine gas, which is extremely dangerous. Rinse away all cleaners thoroughly after you have used them.

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• Cleaning Grout in Your Kitchen
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Best Tricks to Clean Tile Floor

When you think about the easiest types of flooring to maintain, most people think of tile. Tile floors are extremely durable, easy to clean, and can resist most major stains. However, without some simple maintenance, even tile floors can lose their luster and can develop stains, usually starting in the grout. Grout is porous and sucks up liquids and materials easily and, thus, can grow all kinds of bacteria and mold. Luckily, there are some simple tricks that will help you to clean tile floor.

The single best trick to clean tile floor is to clean up all spills and messes immediately!

The first trick to keeping your tile floors clean and glossy is to clean up all spills and messes immediately. Letting spills site on the surface will only allow them to infiltrate the grout and dry, dulling the surface of the tile. Even water and mud tracked in on shoes should be cleaned up immediately. The particulates in the water carried in on your shoes can scuff the surface and the moisture can feed any bacteria in the grout.

Make sure that you seal your tile as soon as possible after the tile has been installed. If you did not install the tile yourself, you must have the tile thoroughly cleaned and sealed to guarantee its longevity. To clean the tile you can use a commercially available cleaner of you can make your own cleaner. To make your own natural cleaner, mix 1/2 cup of baking soda, 1/4 cup ammonia, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and about 6 cups of water in a spray bottle. Spray liberally over your tile floor and scrub with a dry Swiffer scrubber or a lightly damp sponge mop.

Once you have thoroughly cleaned your tile, let it completely dry. Seal the tile with the sealer recommended by the tile manufacturer. Follow all of the directions carefully; too much sealer will cause the tile to become cloudy.

If your tile floor becomes scaly, or yellowed with too many layers of wax, you are going to have to strip the floor. You can use commercially available strippers, just make sure to follow the instructions and wear protective clothing! A good homemade wax stripper can be made from 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of ammonia and a gallon of cool tap water. You may have to reapply the stripper if there are many different coats of wax. Once you have all of the wax up, clean the entire surface with clean tap water. Let it dry completely, and reseal with a new coat of wax.

Tile floors can last a lifetime, if you just do some routine maintenance! It is time consuming, but will make your floors look great and repel stains!

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• Keep Your Shower Tile Cleaner, Longer
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Cleaning Shoes and Boots of Winter Grime

We have been bombarded with winter storm after winter storm over the last few weeks. This has left my shoes and boots covered in a mixture of salt and winter grime. Not cleaning this grime off of your shoes is surely a crime, sorry....The mixture of salt and dirt will ruin your shoes more quickly and can leave your favorite leather and suede brittle, making them wear faster. Here are some tips to quickly keep your shoes in tip top shape.

• Leather Shoes and Boots - To clean leather shoes and boots use a mixture of 1/2 cup white vinegar and 1/2 cup warm water and a soft cloth to wipe away the dirt. Just moisten the soft cloth with the mixture and rub the dirt away. Be sure not to dry leather shoes with heat or leave near a radiator. The heat can make the leather brittle.
• Rubber Boots - You can clean dirt and scuff marks off rubber boots using baking soda and water mixed into a paste. Rinse with the vinegar and water mixture from above to remove all of the salt.
• Suede Shoes and Boots - Water will damage suede so use a kneadable eraser to gently remove any salt and dirt. You can buy a kneadable eraser at any art supply store.
• General Care of Suede and Leather - It is a good idea to spray leather and suede items with a water repellent at least once a year. I like to use ReviveX Water Repellent Spray.
  

Cleaning the Kitchen Sink The Non Smelly Way

A lot of readers have tried our tip Clearing Clogged Sinks The Easy Way to clean and deodorize their kitchen sinks. This works great but I have gotten a lot of emails commenting on the smell the vinegar leaves behind. You can get around this smell by using the more expensive lemon juice. The basic reaction takes place by mixing baking soda with an mild acid, so either white vinegar or lemon juice will do. Lemon juice will leave a nice citrus smell in your kitchen, adding the the clean feeling.

Make Your Own Powdered-Cleaner Dispenser

Certain wonderful cleaning products, like Borax and baking soda, do not come in easy to dispense containers. Recycle the shaker top canister parmesan cheese comes in as a dispenser for these products. It quick and easy, just make sure you re-label the shaker. Nobody wants Borax in their linguini.

Baking Soda, Eco-Cleaning's Number Two

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is another great eco-cleaner. What makes baking soda such a good cleaner is its alkalinity and ability to dissolve in water. This allows it to chemically react gently with many substances. These reactions are what remove odors and break down stains. It is also a mild abrasive so it has whitening power. Here are just a few of the many things you can clean with baking soda: appliances, bathtubs, carpets, drains, laundry, and many stains. Baking soda is good at deodorizing appliances, bathrooms, carpets, laundry, and shoes. You can also find many more uses in our baking soda category.

Freshen More Than Your Fridge With Baking Soda

Your fridge isn’t the only place in your home that can use a box of baking soda. Instead of hosing down your closet with a chemical air freshener, just place an open box of baking soda, or one with the breathe-through sides, on the back of the top shelf of any closet you want to freshen up. It will absorb odors just like it does in the fridge.

A Great Homemade Carpet Deodorizer

No matter how often you vacuum, your carpet will retain all of the smells that it has been saturated with. I have often resorted to carpet powders and deodorizers to make our home smell better. However, they always just seem to mask the smells with a stronger one. Because of my dissatisfaction with store-bought deodorizers, I have created my own homemade carpet deodorizer. It's cheaper in volume and can be custom scented!

To make your own homemade carpet deodorizer using natural ingredients, combine equal parts of corn starch and baking soda in a medium sized bowl. To give it a wonderful scent and to add a sanitizing agent, add about a dozen drops of lavender oil. You can add other essential oils as well to customize the scent. Mix well and place into a shaker container.  I use one of my left over containters from the store bought variety.  You can use any old shaker container or make your own by punching holes into a coffee can. If you use a coffee can make sure to keep the plastic cover to seal in the freshness. Once you have completed making your deodorizer and you are happy with the scent, sprinkle liberally on your carpets. Let it sit for about an hour. Have your entire family walk around in it to grind it in and then vacuum thoroughly. To add a level of pest control, add a cup of Borox to the mix!

When vacuuming, follow these tips to get the best results from your homemade carpet deodorizer.  First, throughly sweep the area before you sprinkle the deodorizer.  If you are using a bagged vacuum, be sure to use a fresh bag before sweeping up the mixture.  For a bagless vacuum, be sure to clean the filter.  You need to ensure that your vacuum has the most suction posible to remove all of the powder.  To help remove all of the deodorizer you can also be sure to go over the entire carpet twice, once in each direction.

Homemade Shoe Fresheners

No matter who you are, eventually your running/workout sneakers will begin to smell. To keep your sneakers, or for that matter any shoes, smelling fresher longer make some homemade shoe fresheners. Just cut the feet out of an old pair running socks and fill them with baking soda or kitty litter, both soak up odor and moisture. If odor alone is your problem, you can fill the socks up with dried lavender or any other nice smelling potpourri you fancy. Then just sew up the ends and you have foot shaped shoe deodorizers ready to go.

Why does my washing machine smell?

Kelly from New York asks:

Why does my washing machine smell?

There are lots of reasons your washing machine could smell. The most common odors are caused by standing water. This can happen when you overload the machine or from a clogged drain pipe. First, check and make sure the drain is working properly. Check all of the hoses and replace them if you can see any visible cracks. If everything checks out, set your washing machine to the largest cycle and set for hot water. Once the tub is half full of water add 2 cups white vinegar and 2 cups baking soda and let the empty load complete. It is normal if the mixture starts to bubble. If this doesn't remove or reduce the odor, the odor probably isn't coming from inside the machine. Let us know how it works.

Clean Spills and Stains As Soon As Possible

A very important tip is to always clean spills and stains as soon as possible to prevent the stain from setting. Always blot from the outside working your way into the middle in a spiral pattern. This will keep the spill from spreading. When spills occur on carpeting, be sure to get any liquid that may have worked its way into the padding. This is very important for urine, vomit, and milk because odors can be left behind if any moisture is left in the padding. To help prevent this be sure to blot the entire area using a large amount of pressure then rewet the area with warm water and the appropriate cleaner for the job. As a good measure, I try to wet and blot the area once or twice with clean water as a final cleaning step. You can finish by sprinkling baking soda on the area. Let the baking soda stand for several hours then vacuum. You can also try our homemade odor remover.

Keep Your Drains Running Clear

Here is a great homemade cleaner to prevent clogged drains. Make a mixture of 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of baking soda, and a 1/4 cup of cream of tartar in a jar. Seal the jar and shake until fully blended. Put 1/4 cup of the mixture down your drain and follow with 2 cups of boiling water. It will start to fizzle as it destroys the grease and grime buildup. I recommend doing this about once a month or anytime that your drain seems to be running slow. With regular maintenance, you should be able to avoid having to take more drastic measures.

What's in Oven and Drain Cleaners? - Lye

Most drain cleaners and oven cleaners contain Lye. Lye is made of either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Lye is extremely corrosive and will burn skin on contact. Lye can easily burn your eyes and ingestion results in extreme damage to the esophagus and digestive system or death. I remember years ago that one of the drain cleaner companies released an aerosol dispersed cleaner. I don't remember the exact name, but I do remember that a large number of people were severely burned by the product. What do you do to avoid lye, use our tips for cleaning your oven and for removing clogs and read labels to insure that you buy products that don't contain lye.

Cooler Cleaning

You had a great day trip, packed a great lunch and got home late. So late that you didn't bother to clean out the cooler. Now the cooler has a distinct smell. Not to worry, a mixture of one quart hot water, 1/4 cup white vinegar, and two tablespoons of baking soda will take care of it. Just scrub down every surface with a sponge, rinse with clean water, and let air dry. Now your cooler is ready for the next adventure!

Rid Your Pet Of Odors With A Dry Bath

Nobody likes the smell of wet dog. You can fight the wet dog smell and many other pet odor issues by giving your pet a dry bath. Sprinkle some baking soda over your pet and brush them until you have completely removed it. My cat likes to be vacuumed so I use it to speed the process along. In the winter I give more baths since an outdoor bath isn't possible.

Every Time I Change The Trash Bags...Yuck!

I have a number of small trash cans around my home. I always use bags or liners in them. I don't know why, but every week one or more of the bags leak. When I change the bag...look out! The smell is awful. A quick tip to reducing trash can odors and keeping small leaks from turning into nasty messes is to pour a little baking soda or borax into the bottom of the cans. Borax works best if you experience wet leaks, baking soda is great for bad odors.