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TIPS AND TOOLS AND HOUSEHOLD HINTS

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Jar Opener
From Karen Howard

I use a small square of the new plastic/fabric combination drawer/shelf liner material as a jar opener. I also use a section on my barstools so that my son (in his slippery clothes) doesn't fall off.

Ant Problems
From Karen Howard

I have found success with a ring of liquid dish soap around pet food bowls. I also use a "Chinese" chalk a friend gave me.

Cleaning Tips

Quick suggestions and cleaning tips! Keep an old tooth brush around to do little cleaning jobs. (Sanitize the brush by pouring rubbing alcohol on it before putting it into your bag of cleaning tools.) It makes a marvelous brush for those hard to reach places.

Crayon Marks on Vinyl

Crayon marks on vinyl can be removed with silver polish. On wallpaper, try rubbing very gently with baking soda sprinkled on a damp cloth. On hard surfaces try rubbing lightly with dry soap-filled steel wool pad. Do not wet.

Window Cleaning

The best thing for window cleaning is ammonia and water. Use 2 tablespoons ammonia to 1 pint of water. Use as you would commercial spray.

Garlic on Hands

Take any stainless steel bowl, pan or other stainless steel kitchen gadget and rub your hands on it. It will take away the smell of garlic. .

Smelly Hands

And here's a tip from a reader concerning smelly hands. "I have found that washing your hands with toothpaste gets rid of the odor.

Ring Around the Collar

Dirty neck rings around shirt or blouse collars can be removed by putting shampoo on them. Rub the shampoo in like you were washing your hair. Shampoo is specifically made to remove body oils. A cheap bottle of shampoo kept by the washing machine is handy for all kinds of stains in clothing. Don't forget this trick when you are traveling.

Crayon Marks

"I hope you add this to your household hints page. With 2 children who love to color I've found this to be very useful. Use WD40(spray lubricant) to remove wax crayon from painted walls. Just spray it on and wipe it off. Dish soap easily removes all traces of the lubricant from the wall. Heavily colored areas should be done a few times or sprayed and left for a time."

Blood Stains

Blood stains in clothing need to be removed as soon as possible. Use cold water and wash out the stain. Hot water will set the blood and it will be difficult or impossible to get out.

"Hydrogen peroxide is the absolute best for removing blood stains. The fresher the easier of course, but even dried blood comes out with a little effort. The hydrogen peroxide seems to do no damage to any fabric I've tried it on."

Cleaning Concrete

Concrete with grease or oil on it can be cleaned by putting kitty litter on the grease stain. Let set to soak up the grease. Then sweep up. You can also put dry laundry detergent on the grease, wet down and let set. Then wash away.

Concrete that has black coloration from weather is usually molded. Spray bleach water on the concrete. Use about 1 parts bleach to 3 parts water. Brush in and let set. Then wash off.

Ink Stains

Ball point pen stains can be removed by using hair spray. Let the hair spray dry and wash. Table salt will absorb ink when it is spilled. Pour salt on the wet ink and continue to add salt until there is no more "wet ink". Then vacuum or wash. Other types of ink can be removed using rubbing alcohol. Here's a response to rubbing alcohol used to remove ink marks on leather car seats. "Rubbing alcohol did well. It did not remove the ink completely, but it did fade them to the point that you would have to look very closely to see the the marks."

Urine Odors

Urine odors on mattresses and mattress covers may be neutralized by dampening the spot and sprinkling borax over it. Rub the borax into the areas and let dry. Brush or vacuum to remove the dry borax. One brand of borax, 20 Mule Team Borax, is found in the laundry department of grocery stores. Pet urine and sour milk odors can be neutralized using the same process. There are also commercial products available at pet stores that do nicely on pet urine. The ones that I have used are "Nature's Miracle" and "Simple Solutions". Use as directed. The commercial products are more expensive than is borax.

Bicycle Grease

I did want to give you a tip for your page that I've discovered "the hard way". My husband is an avid bicyclist, and frequently gets black bicycle grease on his pants. I've discovered that regular dish soap, especially Dawn and Palmolive, take it out with very little "elbow grease". Using that discovery, I've used dish soap to take other oily/greasy stains out of other washables, including sun-tan oil, and chicken gravy. I hope this can save someone else's clothes, and their day!

Red Wine on Fabric

My suggestion for removing red wine is to put club soda on the stain as soon as possible after spilling the wine.

Here's an e-mail from Anne who has another solution.

"I didn't see this on your hints page, but it's very helpful by the way to remove red wine stains from fabric (table cloth, napkins, shirts, slacks, etc.) that are cotton or other natural fibers. I've never spilled on silk so I can't comment on that fabric.

Apply table salt to the wet stain immediately. Allow the salt to absorb the wine. The stain is then easily rinsed away with cool water. I have had to reapply the salt to the area for complete removal, but it generally works the first time. Salt also works on blood stains on cotton clothes.
Anne"

Scorch Marks

Scorch marks occur when your iron is too hot for your fabric, or when you leave the iron in one place on the fabric too long. If the scorch is not too bad, there are a couple of things you can do to try to get it out. Light scorch marks can be treated with 1 part water and 1 part hydrogen peroxide dabbed gently on the mark. Also you can try a borax solution (1/4 cup borax to 1 quart of water) on the scorch. And if the fabric permits, it can be soaked in a bleach solution. Be sure to rinse thoroughly and wash as usual after treatments. On the down side, if the scorch is heave and dark, there may be nothing you can do to remove it. You may, however, be able to "decorate" over it, depending on where it is on the garment. You may be able to add a pocket or add an embroidery decoration over the scorch.

Wax on Fabric

This answer should work on most fabrics.
Set your iron on the "warm" setting or the lowest setting. Let the iron get warm. Take a couple of sheets of paper towel and put them on the ironing board. Take the fabric with the wax stain, and place the stain over the paper towels. Place additional paper towels over the stain. Then press the iron on the spot. Do not move the iron back and forth, but just set it down, leave it for a moment, and lift it up. Check the paper towels to see if any wax has been absorbed. If some of the wax has been asborbed, move the paper towels to a clean spot and do the same thing again until the wax is removed. You are going to melt the wax and transfer it onto the paper towels. Be careful not to "iron the wax on the paper towels" back onto the fabric, if you have to repeat the wax transfer treatment.

Rust Stains

I use cast iron skillets for cooking and love them. However, if they are even the slightest bit damp after cleaning and are set on my white enamel finish kitchen range, a rust circle will appear. After one such incident I tried all the commercial cleaners I have from bleach to Comet to SOS Pads. Nothing worked. Then I tried the old standby, baking soda, and the rust disappeared. Here's what I did. I wet the surface, sprinkled on dry baking powder, took a wet cloth and scrubbed. That was all there was to rust removal. My husband even tried this on an old stove that had set outside for some period of time and had rust stains on it. It worked magic. It works well on all enamel finished from enamel pots and pans to bathtubs.

Here's an e-mail on "Rust stains on sinks, etc" from T.B.
"Use a cleanser that has Oxalic Acid as one of the ingredents - BarKeepers' Friend and Zud are the two brands I'm familiar with and both give good results. Be aware that both contain abrasive materials and will scour a polished surface. My method for polished surfaces is to dampen and sprinkle the cleanser on and just let it soak a while, then rinse. Reapply if necessary. Hydrolfouric Acid, as contained in Wink, will also dissolve rust stains, but use extreme caution. DO NOT GET THIS STUFF ON YOUR SKIN."

Grease Stains

I really liked your page and I have a little tip for you on those grease stains. When the stain is fresh, first pour powder like talcum powder on the grease, and let this set to absorb as much of the stain as possible. You can apply more as the power becomes saturated. Then pretreat with Dawn (liquid detergent) before washing. Grease Relief works well, too. It's a washing powder which will absorb more of the grease and will not harm any fabrics. Then wash as usual
Thanks for a great page. Rachel

Grease Stain on Wool Fabric

Here's what to do for grease spots on specificaly on wool fabric.

An e-mail came in with this question. "I am at work and I need to get a bacon grease stain out of my wool skirt. Signed - Heidi" Heidi e-mailed back saying that colleagues at work supplied her with this solution. "A friend at work gave me baby powder to put on the stain. The baby powder worked - I left it on the grease stains for over an hour and then brushed it off. I have heard the powder may leave a ring, but that was not the case for me."

Stainless Steel Sinks etc.

Stainless Steel Sinks and Bathroom Fixtures

Here's a couple of ideas for your sink. Rub stainless steel sinks with lighter fluid if rust marks appear. After the rust disappears, wipe with your regular kitchen cleaner. Spots on stainless steel can be also removed with white vinegar. Use a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol to remove water spots from stainless steel. And club soda will shine up stainless steel.

Two excellent fixture cleaners are: To save time and money while providing the best shine possible to bathroom fixtures, use an old cloth which has been dunked in kerosene. Kerosene removes scum quickly and the odor will only remain for awhile. Spray the fixtures liberally with Spray and Wash laundry soil and stain remover. Rub with a cloth for an excellent shine.

And lastly, try crumpling up a piece of aluminum foil and scouring your stainless steel sinks and fauctes. (Note: this will act as an abrasive so do not do it too often as it rubs off part of the metal.) Also, you can try commercial cleaning pads such as SOS or use very fine steel wool (400 or 600 grit).

Some stainless steel sinks have a nickle plating on them which makes them very shiny. If this surface is worn off, you may not be able to get the sink shiny again.

A friend of mine takes auto polish and puts it on her sink and fixtures after they have been polished. This helps keep the water spots off.

Do you have a tip or tool you want to share with your fellow neighbors? Send me an email and I will include it in this site.

In today's world, even household hints needs disclamiers. Therefore, it becomes necessary for me to say the following. There are hints only. You must be the one who decides that they are valid for use. They are my suggestions and only that

Thanks Heidi for your problem and then the solution.

please send an email with the following information:

Riverwalk Resident Name
Your Household Hints or Tips and Tools

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Riverwalk Newsletter is owned and maintained by Ivy Maxwell and is completely separate from the Board of Directors in that contents of this site may not be dictated by the Board but will work with the Board for specific Announcements and Events affecting Riverwalk. This site has been created as a "communication tool" for Riverwalk Residents only. Please do not publicize the site to anyone other than Riverwalk Residents. If you are interested in helping maintain this site, please send me an email.

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