How to Use a Sewer Snake

Clogged drains can be a real nuisance. They only seem to get clogged when I am in a hurry and need to get my day going. I don’t understand how, but my sink works just fine at night when brushing my teeth and then is completely clogged in the morning when I am trying to shave and get to work! I used to just use our Natural Drain Cleaner to clear blocked drains, which was until I bought my own sewer snake!

Why Buy a Sewer Snake

A home sewer snake or auger only costs about $30. When you compare that to the cost of each bottle of drain cleaner, it doesn’t sound too bad. Also, a sewer snake is not going to be nearly as harsh of your pipes and it is infinitely better for the environment! The drain cleaner that you keep pouring down the drain has to go somewhere after all. The other benefit to owning your own sewer snake is that the clog is taken care of immediately. You don’t have to wait for the drain cleaner to dissolve the clog to get your drain running again.

How to Best Use Your Sewer Snake

Whenever you are cleaning a drain, wear gloves. Remove any drain stops or any other obstructions from your drain to provide ease of access and to help make it easier to remove any materials that need to be extracted. Fish the end of the snake into the drain until you feel pressure. Pull the snake back about an inch and slowly push into the blockage as you spin the snake. By constantly moving the snake into the clog, you can break up the clog into smaller parts which will be easier to remove and this method is also easier on your snake. I place a couple of paper towels around the drain before I begin. I use these to clean off the snake as I am working the clog. They also act to protect my countertop and keep my post-snaking cleanup to a minimum!

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• Keep Your Drains Running Clean

The Best Home Floor Polisher

We have tile in our kitchen and bathroom. It gets dirty, but we always try to keep up with our spills and messes. However, after a while it just looses its shine and starts to look dingy and dull. Without regular polishing, tile floors start to appear to be dirty even when they are completely clean. This is due to the minor abrasions in the surface and to the small amounts of polish that are left over on the surface. Once your floor has hit this point, there is only one thing that you can do. Strip off any remaining wax and polish your floors!

Without a floor polisher, be prepared to spend a lot of time on your knees!

Now, when commercial companies need to strip and polish their floors, they bring in the big guns. They use large orbital buffers that can throw a man across a room. I know, I have wrestled with these things before! For home applications, there are only two choices. Going completely manual, and getting on your hands and knees and slowly stripping and polishing the floor. Or, number two; get a home-size floor polisher. I had a chance to play around with two different home floor polishers and I have to say that if you have more than one room with tile floors, these are a must have!

 

The Gloss Boss Buffer

This is a compact floor buffer with two heads that is perfect for small areas. It is very lightweight and quite powerful for its size. The buffer heads can be covered with different pads and scrubbers and it comes with two microfiber pads. It also cost under $100, making it perfect for homes with only a few tile floors.

Koblenz P-2500 Floor Scrubber/Buffer

Koblenz makes a large number of commercial-grade floor polishers. So, naturally, I expected a lot out of their home model. This unit cost just under $200, but it does boost a more powerful motor. It also has two rotating scrubbing heads and comes with a couple of different scrubbing/polishing pads. However, the weight is significantly higher than the Gloss Boss. This floor polisher is perfect for the home with multiple, large rooms with tile floors.

Both of these home floor polishers have major pros and cons. If cost is your only concern, the Gloss Boss is perfect for you. If speed and power are required, the Koblenz is the right choice. Either way, both units really impressed me. If you have the chance to demo these models, I highly recommend it. Just make sure that you use the right polishing liquid for your floor type. Check with the manufacturers’ website to find the perfect fit.

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• Microfiber Mops
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• Floor Cleaning Week Recap

We Pick Our Best Homemade Cleaner

Over the last few years we have brought you many great ideas on how to make the best homemade cleaner for your toughest stains and cleaning tasks. Here is a summary of our most popular homemade cleaners.

Fan Favorites for The Best Homemade Cleaner

• Homemade Brass and Copper Cleaner - To clean all of your brass and copper, create a paste of vinegar and salt. Use a clean cloth and rub the mixture into the surface until the surface shines. Let it sit for a few minutes and apply the paste again with a clean cloth if necessary. Keep moving what area of the cloth you are using to avoid spreading the discoloration that you have removed. Wipe well with a fresh cloth to bring the metal to a clean shine. 
• Homemade Eyeglass Cleaner - We use a lot of eyeglass cleaner so I worked on making the Ultimate Homemade Eyeglass Cleaning Solution. It is very simple to make and works great. It is safe for most coatings and very inexpensive to make. Make a mixture of 3 parts rubbing alcohol and 1 part water. Add a few drops of mild liquid dish soap. Mix well and put into a spray bottle. Spray both sides of the lens and rub clean with a clean, soft cloth. I find that a good microfiber cloth works the best. Be careful to never use paper towels or else you can scratch your lenses. Rinsing the glasses under the faucet first to quickly wash away excess dirt will also aid in keeping scratches away. 
• Homemade All-Purpose Kitchen Cleaner - A great homemade all-purpose kitchen cleaner is very easy to make, just fill a spray bottle with half white vinegar, half clean water, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Just spray the surface and wipe down with your Super Scrubbing Cleaning Cloth. Remember to use the button when you get to those dried on food stains to wipe them away easily. This cleaner is fairly acidic and should not be used on granite, marble, natural stone, or wood. 
• Homemade Oven Cleaner - Mix 5 tablespoons of Baking Soda, 4 teaspoons of white vinegar, and a few drops of dish soap in a bowl to make a paste. Spread the paste onto the stains and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Wipe the area clean with a dry cloths or paper towel. I usually take a wet paper towel and give the inside a through wipe down at the end. 
• Homemade Tough Carpet Stain Remover - For tough carpet stains try mixing 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup baking soda, 8 drops of white vinegar, and a small amount of water to make a paste. Spread the paste onto the stain. You can just let it dry or you can work it into the carpet for really tough stains. After the paste has dried, brush with a stiff brush and vacuum. Don't brush too hard as not to damage the carpet. This is a very powerful carpet cleaner so be sure to test your carpet for color fastness. 
• Homemade Wood Furniture Cleaner - To create your own wood cleaner simply combine 1 teaspoon of light olive oil and 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Mix well in a plastic spray bottle. Spray on your wood furniture and work in with a microfiber cloth. This works as well or better than any commercial product that I have tested. When done, use our homemade polish to bring out the shine.

And the fan favorite best homemade cleaner is Homemade Tough Carpet Stain Remover! This homemade cleaner has received the most response from our viewers and, hopefully, has helped a lot of you get better cleaning results!

How to Care for Travertine Tile

Travertine is a sedimentary rock that has a wonderful uniform color and is very strong. Recently it has made a strong resurgence as a building material in modern homes, but it has been used for thousands of years. In fact, the Colosseum in Rome is comprised of mainly travertine. This durable stone is very similar to limestone or shale and is now commonly used as flooring or a wall-covering. If your home has travertine tile, there are a number of tips that your need to know to make it last and make it look beautiful.

Travertine tile will last forever, if you take care of it with these simple steps! 

 

Make sure that your travertine tile has been properly sealed by the installer. If you do not know if it was sealed, clean and seal the surface yourself.  This will ensure your travertine lasts for years. You can tell if your travertine tile has been sealed by the behavior of a drop of water on the surface. If the water beads up, your sealer is still good, if it does not bead it is probably time to reseal. Many different sealers exist that allow you to choose the level of gloss that you want. Just make sure that your sealer is for porous stone and that you follow all of the directions for its' use. If you are unhappy with the amount of shine that you get after your first sealing, a second coat of sealer will increase the gloss. If it's too glossy, just give it a few weeks of normal wear and tear to reduce the gloss!

Clean you travertine tile often with a dry mop often. This removes all of the grime that will act as an abrasive to the surface. Travertine is extremely strong, but will wear down over time as will any natural stone.  Travertine contains small deposits of materials that give it a unique look. These deposits sometimes break away from the tiles. These holes can be filled with stone epoxy before your next sealing, just make sure that you match the color before you fill in the holes. Stone epoxy is not easy to remove if you get the color wrong! 

Travertine tiles, even the best honed ones, are still porous. Without proper sealing, liquids will penetrate the surface. This is why travertine tile is not ideal for kitchens or bathrooms, unless you keep up with the sealing!

With a little routine maintenance, your travertine tile will look great and stand up to hundreds, if not thousands, of years of heavy traffic!

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• Homemade Slate Floor Cleaner
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The Sonic Scrubber – A Review

A while back, a new TV infomercial started showing off the amazing cleaning power of the Sonic Scrubber. No task was too much for this little dynamo! It powered through everything that was thrown at it. Is this the greatest cleaning product ever made? Well, not exactly. The Sonic Scrubber definitely has some wonderful uses, which I will explain later. But it also has a few limitations.

The Sonic Scrubber can truly power through really tough, really small stains.

What the Sonic Scrubber has gotten right. Although it does look like an oversized electronic toothbrush, the speed of the oscillations and the power of the motor turns this device from a tool for oral hygiene to a cleaning machine. The device is lightweight and powered by AA batteries. Surprisingly, the batteries actually last quite a long time, even when I used my rechargeable ones! The different scrubber heads insure the right size and scrubbing surface for the job, and the device can truly power through really tough, really small stains.

What is lacking and not mentioned in the commercials for the Sonic Scrubber is that you will never be able to clean large areas with this device. Unless you have a dozen Sonic Scrubbers and a dozen friends helping, you will never be able to clean an entire room. You must also be careful to let the device do the work. Do not try to use your own strength to help clean faster. The device is just not robust enough to be muscled around!

The Sonic Scrubber is great at the really tough spots. Let it do the work by just using minimal pressure. Use the speed of the scrubber to do the hard work. Using the right cleaner for the type of stain is also of vital importance. For tough, problematic stains, such as grout or around a soap dish, the Sonic Scrubber is fantastic. If you are trying to clean an entire tile bathroom, you had better not plan on doing anything else for quite a while! The Sonic Scrubber kit is available at Amazon and you may just find out that it is the perfect little scrubber for your needs!

Tips to Fight Spills and Splatters in the Kitchen

The kitchen in our house is the most used area.  With the high traffic comes a high amount of dirt and grime.  Here are some tips to help keep your kitchen sparkling.

Floors
Kitchen floors can attract all sorts of gunk; food spills and splatters can quickly become a sticky mess and don’t even get me started on the dog’s foot prints!  To fight these we keep a microfiber mop hidden behind the fridge.  When there is a spill or we just want to do a quick cleaning all we need to do is wet a microfiber cloth, attach it to the mop and go to town.  In less than 60 seconds we have a clean kitchen floor.

Microwave
Spills and splatters in the microwave can quickly become a hard mess to remove.  Try to clean them as soon as they happen to save yourself from later problems.  For those stuck on stains try microwaving a bowl of water or white vinegar for 60 seconds.  The steam they let off will loosen caked on splatters; just be careful, the water or vinegar will be hot.  We also use a little silicone scraper spatula wedge to help loosen the dried on food.

Counters
During the preparation of food there are always spills and splatters.  We keep a spray bottle of my homemade general purpose cleaner and a microfiber cloth out all of the time.  Just a quick sprits and wipe and I have a clean counter.

The Most Useful Kitchen Cleaning Aid – Silicone Scraper Spatula

There is one tool that we use every day in our kitchen that I don’t know how we lived without it.  It is a Silicone Scraper Spatula.  A what you ask?  This little tool works magic on the dishes, counters and so much more.  We use it to loosen caked on food from the counter or microwave, to get that burned on stuff off from the bottom of pots and pans, or to get the food off of plates before we put them into the dish washer.  You don’t have to limit it to the kitchen though.  Another great use is to remove that dried toothpaste that always finds its way around the kids bathroom sink.  Buy one today and let me know all the great uses you find for it.  I know you will find it as useful as I have.

Win a Total Kitchen Clean-Up

In spirit of spring cleaning season, Celebrity Home Keeping Expert Laura Dellutri has kicked off the Rescue My Kitchen Contest – a national hunt for America’s worst kitchen catastrophe. According to a national survey conducted by Summit Brands, nearly half of Americans use disposable dishware or order out to avoid the dreaded chore of cleaning the kitchen.

From now until May 1, applicants can log onto RescueMyKitchen to submit a photo and an essay OR a two minute video online explaining why they need an emergency-kitchen makeover. Nominees can also mail in their essay and photo or video, along with a fully completed entry form available at RescueMyKitchen. One lucky winner will spend a day with Laura and a professional cleaning crew, in their home for a total kitchen clean-up. They’ll also receive a full set of brand-new GE CleanSteel™ kitchen appliances and a year’s supply of cleaning products.

Using a Black Light to Find and Destroy Germs

Germs live all over our houses. Even after we clean they can still be there. A trick I use around the bathroom and kitchen is to use a black light to find the hidden and stubborn germs. Just dim the lights a little and wave a black light or UV light about 6 inches above the area you want to check. Many types of germs and organics will fluoresce or glow under the UV light of a black light. Once you see the glow you know where to clean more thoroughly. Black lights are also helpful in finding old dog and cat urine stains in carpeting. You can clean much better when you know where to real trouble spots are, just be warned that you will forever look at your bathroom in a new light!

Keep Plastic Container Stains At Bay

I usually pack leftovers for lunch. We have lots of plastic containers, but they are always getting stained. To help prevent these stains you can try a couple of things. Cooling the container and lid in cold water for a few minutes before filling works pretty good. It is also helpful if the food has cooled and you don't reheat the food in the container. If you have to reheat the food in the container try coating the inside with olive oil. Just put a little on a paper towel and spread it around before filling. There are several new products on the market that are not supposed to stain, but they are much more expensive than the disposable variety.

The Easiest Way to Defrost Your Freezer

If you’re not lucky enough to own on of those new anti-frost refrigerators, every now and then you will have to defrost your freezer. There are some spray products out there that claim to help speed up the melting process. They do help but you probably already have the same liquid in your home. It’s just plain old rubbing alcohol. Just fill a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol. Turn your refrigerator off and remove all the items from your freezer. Spray down the icy build-up, mopping up the water with a towel, and throwing the large chunks that break away into the sink. The rubbing alcohol is safe, will evaporate when its job is done and works so fast your frozen foods probably won’t even have time to thaw.

Reduce the Holiday Dinner Cleanup Blues

With the holiday season approaching, I can’t help but look forward to those huge family dinners that come with the season. Even with relatives bringing a dish or two, it’s always the host’s kitchen that winds up producing the lion’s share. The best way to keep thing humming along smoothly is to clean as you go. Before you even begin your prep work, fill the sink with a few inches of hot soapy water. Wash cutlery, sauce pans, cutting boards, anything that’s through with its current task. If you need any of those items later in your preparations, they will be clean and ready to go. Refresh the water and dish soap as necessary. When the meal is through, you won’t have an already devastated kitchen awaiting all the dinner dishes.

Black Stains On Aluminum Pots

If you get black stains on the inside of your aluminum pots after cooking, here is a great cleaning trick. Fill with clean water and a few tablespoons of cream of tarter. Bring the mixture to a boil for at least a few minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before draining. The black stain should be gone. Now just clean the pot as usual and it's ready for the next meal!

A Great Tip For Cleaning Oven Coils

If you have an older electric stove top, you probably have the coil burners. I find that the baked-on mess can be quite difficult to remove, until I stumbled on this little trick. Remove the coils (make sure that they are cool first!) and place them in a pan filled with warm water. Drop a few effervescent denture cleaning tablets into the water and let them go to town on the coils. After the tabs stop bubbling, remove the coils and the baked-on mess will come off with a simple sponge and water. Do not replace the coils until they completely dry! Effervescent denture tabs can be used to clean many different things. Try it yourself and let us know any fun cleaning uses that you have found for them.

Recycling Tips for the Kitchen

Your kitchen is the single greatest source of waste materials in your home. It is often very easy to overlook recycling and just throw stuff away to save time. However, these simple tips will help you stay on course. First, set up your kitchen with easy-to-use recycling bins. Make sure that the bins are the right size for the materials that they will hold. Label each bin and encourage the whole family to participate. Second, always rinse out any container that you are going to recycle. This will reduce any unpleasant smells and keep the insects away. Finally, buy a smaller general trash can for your kitchen. This will force everyone, including you, to remember to recycle.

Another Trick for Nasty Dish Sponges

I’m well aware that the sponge sitting on the side of the kitchen sink is a haven for bacteria. I tried to be good about thoroughly rinsing it out and cleaning it as I mentioned in our article Nasty Dish Sponges. Then, after dinner at a friend’s house, I was helping her load the dishwasher. After the last dish went it, she unceremoniously popped the sponge right onto the top rack of the dishwasher. I nearly slapped my own forehead.

Room Training for Large Breed Dogs

Large breed dogs are very susceptible to getting hip dysplasia, a degenerative condition of their hip joints. Keeping them in a confined space can accelerate this condition. Instead of crate training, try room training. Kitchens usually work best especially if they have a tile or laminate floor and can be sectioned off from the rest of the house with child gates or similar barricades.

Keep Your Wooden Cutting Board!

I have always preferred wooden cutting boards as opposed to plastic. Something about them just seemed so homey. I had heard that plastic board were safe because they’re dishwasher safe. But, still, I stuck with my wooden board and was just extra careful in my cleaning and use of it. Now, it’s come to light that wooden boards may be superior to plastic in the anti-bacteria department. Wood, if properly maintained, can be self healing. Smaller scratches can close up on their own. So, now I get to feel clever for standing by my wooden board. Wooden cutting boards should never be left soaking in water, and you should avoid full immersion into water if at all possible. Only use mild detergent and allow it to dry before putting it away. In addition to washing it, I like to disinfect it using undiluted white vinegar. I keep a spray bottle of it in the kitchen for lots of reasons. The acetic acid in the vinegar will kill salmonella, E coli and staph. If your cutting board starts to get a little smelling from chopping garlic or onions, just slice a lemon in half and drag it across the surface. Wooden cutting surfaces also need to be oiled once in a while to keep them from drying out or cracking. Only use food grade mineral oil. Do not use olive or vegetable oil. They will turn your board rancid. Rub a generous quantity of oil over the board and let it sit for an hour or so. Wipe any excess oil off with a clean cloth and wash it as usual. I oil my board every couple of months or whenever it’s looking dry. You can also oil wooden spoons in the same manner to prolong their life.

Clean Hard To Reach Places With Dental Floss

Many utensils can get gummed up with gunk that is in a hard to reach place. Try using dental floss to clean kitchen items like can openers and pizza slicers. The floss makes it easy to into the small spaces. Dental floss is also good at cleaning grills and burners. Just wrap the floss around each prong and drag it along the edges.

Clean Burned Pans with Coke!

If you get burn stains on a pot or pan, never fear. Soak the burn mark with good old Coke. Let is sit for a few hours. Scrub, and the burn marks will wipe right off! Kinda makes you think twice about drinking too much of it though!