Chester's Clean House: Bar Keepers Friend

Showing posts with label Bar Keepers Friend. Show all posts

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!

Chrome Polish

Chrome is one of those surfaces that cannot have any imperfections. Since chrome has a perfect mirror surface, any dirt or rust shows up immediately and ruins the entire look. Chrome has long been a standard for the automotive world, but it has also found its way into the home. Chrome accents have become commonplace on many household fixtures. Unfortunately, these fixtures usually exist around water, soap, toothpaste and other mess-makers. Luckily, we have a great chrome polish for you and a number of simple tricks to maintain the look of your chrome.

With a little elbow grease and a pinch of Nevr-Dull Metal Polish, you can bring even pitted, rusted chrome back to life. Nevr-Dull is available at most car parts shops and once you have tried it, you will find a thousand used for it. Nevr-Dull is perfect for cleaning and polishing brass, aluminum, steel and chrome. It removes even the worst tarnish and leaves behind only a light residue that, if you desire, can easily be wiped off with a microfiber clothe.

Bar Keepers Friend is also a great chrome polish. Use on a damp, clean cloth and work in circles to help buff up the chrome. Rinse well and dry to a perfect shine. Be sure to never use any abrasive cleaning pads. Chrome can be easily scratched.

Quick Tips for Keeping Chrome Fixtures Looking Great

An easy way to clean chrome fixtures is to wipe them down with a fabric softener sheet.
For really dirty fixtures try rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. You will be amazed at how well this can remove the nastiest spots.

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How to Maintain Your Garage Floor

We all want every part of our homes to be in the best shape possible. But, sometimes it is very easy to overlook certain places. Your garage floor is probably one of those places. You drive on it, park your cars on it, and ignoring it seems to work just fine. However, once the floor becomes damaged, you will be looking at a hefty bill to get it fixed properly. We have a few tricks to help you keep your garage floor in great shape and looking good for years to come.

The most important tip to maintaining your garage floor is to clean up all liquids immediately!

First of all, as with all porous surfaces, you must clean up all messes and spills as quickly as possible. In the winter this can be especially difficult with the snow and salt being brought in with your car every time you come home. But a simple tip to remove the excess water is to purchase a large rubber squeegee with a good, long handle. Squeegees are available now at all home supply stores. Simply store the squeegee by the door to your garage so that you can quickly grab it and strip the water off of your floor each time you come home. It only takes a few seconds and will keep the water from soaking into the surface. It will also keep your garage looking great.

If your vehicle is leaking oil or grease on your garage floor, use non-clumping cat little to absorb the liquid. Sprinkle the cat litter liberally over the spill, give it a little while to absorb the liquids, work in with a stiff broom, and sweep up. This will also remove old oil stains, it just may require multiple cleanings. Obviously, you are going to want to get your vehicle serviced as quickly as possible if you have an oil leak!

To deep clean your concrete garage floor, first sweep and vacuum up any debris that you can. Next, rinse off the entire surface with a high-pressure nozzle on your garden hose or with a pressure washer. Sprinkle Bartender’s Friend all over the surface. Scrub in with a stiff brush. Rinse thoroughly and allow to completely dry. This is best done on a warm, dry day!

Once you have completely cleaned the garage floor, seal your concrete floor with a commercially available concrete sealer or water repellent. You can also seal your entire garage floor with an epoxy sealer. Epoxy sealer is applied like paint, but will provide an exceptional seal and will protect your concrete for many years! Epoxy paint will also cover up any discolorations in your concrete. Most epoxy sealers are chemical resistant, but make sure to get one that does not make the surface too slippery! Some sealers can be mixed with certain sands to give the surface some grit and to give you safe footing.

There are also tons of mats and flooring systems that you can utilize in your garage to keep it looking great. If you plan on installing one of these floor coverings, make sure that you completely clean and seal the floor before you install them. If you fail to do this and simply use the cover to hide any problems, the problems will just get worse.

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Bar Keepers Friend is my Friend Too!

For removing rust stains in your bathroom, cleaning your countertops in your kitchen, and just about anywhere that you need a little muscle, Bar Keepers Friend is fantastic. Bar Keepers Friend is also good at polishing brass, copper, and chrome. Just use little on a damp, clean cloth. Never use with any abrasive scrubbers, because you can easily scratch the surface. Just rub, rinse, and wipe dry to prevent spots.