What is your best peice of cleaning advice?

Question

I like having new ideas! I'll start w/ one of my own. I use Dawn dish soap to get out bad stains in my laundry..especially grease! Works like a charm!

Answer 1

Vinegar and baking soda.  I mist my shower every day with 50/50 mix of vinegar and water to keep mildew, mold and soap scum at bay.  I use vinegar in the rinse water of my laundry to set the dye on dark garments to keep them from fading and bleeding on to other garments and it acts like a fabric softener, too.  If you have hard water, just about 1/2 cup of baking soda added to the water in laundry softens the water and increases laundry detergent's cleaning power.  It also works great to clean scuff marks from shoes off of the the floor.  Vinegar is also a great window cleaner, too.  The uses for both vinegar and baking soda are so varied and many that they have become my 2 go to products before I use anything commerically prepared.

Answer 2

My best piece of advice is not a product but understanding the 4 components of "cleaning":  TACT  Every cleaning you do, from laundry to personal hygiene to dishes, floors, and driveways.  It's all the same.

T - Time - the longer time the cleaning happens the better it works.  Example: soaking a pan in water to remove burned on food.  Pre-soaking laundry.

A - Agitation.  In a washing machine, it's the agitator or tumbling action, could also be scrubbing, water jets, etc.

C - Chemicals.  Using the right chemical to remove the soil or neutralize the stain.  It could be relative to pH (acid or alkali), surfactants, oxidizers or reducers, water or hydrocarbon based, or something specific to a stain or material.

T - Temperature.  Most cases, higher temperatures are more effective at cleaning.  Exceptions are temperature might set certain types of stains that need to be cleaned cool.

The law of conservation says, when you reduce one of these, you have to increase one or more to get the same cleaning results.

Answer 3

Drat! That was my big one too!! LOL

Okay, You can add Cascade Dishwasher Liquid to the white laundry to make it brighter.

Also, using dryer sheets to dust will help repel future dust AND make your house smell yummy!

Answer 4

Scrubbing Bubbles.....use them on vinyl floors.  Spray it on, let it sit a few minutes and you will be amazed at how much cleaner you get your floors.

I tried this first on my kitchen floor years ago when I had nothing else handy to clean with.  Love it.