How To Clean Vinyl Tile

If you have vinyl tile on your flooring, you need to be extra hard working to put enough effort to clean it regularly. This type of tiles tends to look dirty quite easily. Sure, there are many commercial cleaning products that you can buy in the market, but you also need to know how to clean your vinyl tile to effectively use these cleaning products. There is no hurt in trying several cleaning products and just go with what work best for you. Here are the basic things you need to do to clean vinyl tiles.

First off, use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of dust and dirt on your floor tiles. Make sure that you clean the grouts too.

Wash your vinyl floor tiles with water. If that does not leave your floors sparkly clean, you can mix a tablespoon of dish washing liquid unto a quart of water. Use this cleaning solution and with a rag or mop, wipe your tiles.

Next mix a tablespoon of ammonia product with water and use this solution to wash your vinyl floors. Leave it for a couple of minutes to allow the solution to loosen up the dirt on the tiles.

Make sure to rinse off the ammonia and water solution because it can leave unsightly residue.

If you are not satisfied with the result, your last resort is to use self cleaning cleanser that you can buy at your local DIY or home improvement store. Apply the cleaning product using a fresh, damp cloth. Unlike other home product, self cleaning cleansers do not leave any wax build up or residue.

Clean Your Furnance for Winter

Winter is right around the bend and you have to be well prepared for anything especially the icy temperature. The primary thing that you're going to have to stress about is making sure that the furnace is prepared properly so it can heat your home. Warming your residence is necessary especially when the temperatures falls beneath freezing. A flawed heating unit can result in a fire or other problems heating your household. Here are a several tips that you might to take into consideration so that you recognize your heater is ready to go. You won't have to worry about any concerns before winner begins.

How to Clean a Stainless Stovetop

If you want an elegant and classy kitchen, you ought to have a stainless stovetop. But being such a beauty, it can be dirty and messy when used regularly. To clean your stainless stovetop, there are a lot of cleaning products that you can buy in the market. Buying a commercial cleansing product basically depends on the stain you want to get rid of. As an alternative, there are household products that you can use to clean your stainless stovetop, which are cost effective and safer to use. 

Remove finger marks and smears on your stovetop. Get a paper towel and dab a few drops of olive oil. Do not use soap and water on stainless steel as it can leave watermarks. 

Remove heat marks. Use a wet paper towel and sprinkle some club soda. Clean the stove in a circular motion. The heat marks are actually from hot pans leaving mark and stains behind. 

Keep your stainless stove top shiny. Make a vinegar and water solution with equal parts of each. This will also get rid of deposits, dirt and stains. You can also make use of a kitchen spray cleaner for stubborn stain. 

Get rid of crusted and burnt on food. Use a non-metallic abrasive pad to scrub your stovetop. You can also use mild abrasive cleaner. Be careful in scrubbing and make sure you choose a gentle abrasive pad and cleaner to prevent your stainless stovetop from damage.

How To Clean A Shower Head

Why clean your shower head? Aside from being unsightly, a dirty shower can possibly lessen water pressure on your shower due the buildup of deposits it accumulates. This is why it is very important to clean your shower. Here’s a quick procedure on how:

To clean your shower efficiently, remove the showerhead. You can see that the shower needs cleaning if you observe white deposits in there. The deposits combined with hard water are more difficult to remove. 

Rinse the showerhead. You can soak it with water and rinse it. If you cannot remove the showerhead, then use a small chair to reach and clean your showerhead. 

Pour vinegar on a bowl and place the showerhead in it. You may also place the showerhead in a bowl and then pour vinegar. 

Allow the showerhead to sit on the vinegar for about an hour. 

Scrub to clean your showerhead using a small brush or a toothbrush. 

Rinse of the showerhead with water and you’re done!

If vinegar does not work on your showerhead when cleaning, you can make use of a disinfectant or a commercial cleaning solution. While you are at it, you can also make your shower head gleaming clean by cleaning the water stains on it with a fresh clean cloth dipped in a detergent water solution. Don’t forget to brush the seals and gaskets too.

If you can't remove the showerhead, fill a plastic bag with vinegar and fasten it over the head so it's submerged in vinegar.

How To Clean Baseboards

Baseboards are one thing that get neglected when cleaning your home. Even though baseboards aren't noticeable, it should be regularly cleaned too so your home can look spic and span from all corners. Cleaning baseboards can be tedious, so do prepare for a little elbow grease. If you are to clean your baseboards, make sure to watch out for dirt, stain, dust and other marks. 

Protect your hands with gloves when cleaning baseboards. 

Clean surface dust and dirt from your baseboard. You can do this using a vacuum cleaner and a vacuum hose. Make sure to vacuum the area where the floor meets the baseboard. 

Prepare your cleaning solution. You can buy commercial cleaners or you can create your own.

To make an organic, or homemade cleaning solution for your baseboards, mix 1 cup of white vinegar in two gallons of warm water in a bucket. Mix well. 

Using a sponge or cloth, dip your sponge or cloth in your vinegar-water solution. Wring it out. 

Wipe the baseboards thoroughly with your sponge or cloth. Try not to wet your sponge or cloth too much solution to prevent saturating the baseboard.  Wipe the solution off with a dry cloth as you go.

Allow the baseboards to naturally dry. 

If the water- vinegar solution doesn’t work on the dirt or stain in your baseboards, you can choose from hundreds of cleaning solution in the market that are more powerful to clean stain. Make sure that you keep children away from these commercial chemicals. With enough effort and time, you can have your home gleaming clean in no time.

How to Clean Painted Walls

Prepare the things you need including soft bristled brush, broom, clean cloth, mild dish detergent, sponge and towels

Get rid of dust by using a clean cloth to wipe the walls. To remove stubborn dirt and cobwebs, you can make use of a soft bristled brush. You can also make use of a broom to clean the top area of the wall all the way down. Tape the brush to an extendable light bulb changer tool to reach the tops of the walls.  

Prepare your cleaning solution by adding one teaspoon of mild liquid soap to a one gallon of warm water. 

Fill another bucket with cool water for later use. 

Line the bottom of the painted wall with rags so you will not have a messy floor once you start cleaning the wall with your water solution. 

With a sponge, apply your cleaning solution from the top down. Work in small areas or in sections. If you start at the bottom, the dirty water from cleaning the top of the wall runs down the wall leaving streaks in the clean part. 

After cleaning one section, rinse it with cool water from the second bucket then wipe clean with a fresh cloth. 

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Squeeze out excess water and continue working on section from top to bottom. 

Using a clean towel, dry the section you just cleaned. Wipe the wall in a downward motion starting from the top. After drying a section of the wall, go on with the next and repeat the procedure until you clean the entire painted wall. 

Replace towels once they get all soaked up. 

For grease and hard to remove stains, you can always buy commercial products for cleaning walls. Make sure that you do not use abrasive solutions on your wall as it can damage painted surfaces. Avoid scrubbing to protect your wall from accidental chipping. 

How to Clean Brass

Prepare your work area by laying newspapers under the brass object if it's too big to move.  Use  Take a long look at your brass and determine what makes it dirty. It can be because of dirt or simply because it’s tarnished. Tarnished brass can be cleaned with a basic soap solution. 

Wipe clean the brass surface using a few drops of cooking oil mixed with one teaspoon of liquid dishwashing soap to one quart of water. Use a wet, soft cloth or sponge to wipe it clean. 

You can stop at this step, if the brass returned to its old shine and luster. 

For stubborn dirt or tarnished brass, you need to get rid of the lacquer on brass to clean off the tarnish. To do this, you need to apply a paint/ varnish remover. Lacquer is used to coat brass to prevent it from oxidation. As it gets old it peels letting the brass underneath tarnish. 

To restore the brass’ luster, use brass polish to bring it back to its shine. Apply the polish in the direction of the brass grain using a soft, clean cloth. Get ready for some buffing till you achieve your preferred shine.

To protect your brass from oxidation, it is recommended that you re-lacquer your brass. Use a spray lacquer and coat the brass in thin coats. Apply several layers when needed.

Allow the lacquer to dry before lifting the brass or touching it.

If you want an alternative to expensive brass cleaner or polish, ketchup surprisingly works well in cleaning brass.  It is its vinegar and salt solution that does the magic.

How To Clean A Wood Table

Wood tables are favorites among homes and offices. They are very classic and elegant looking. Not only that, they are very functional and durable. But to keep the longevity of your wood table, you need to regularly clean and take care of it. To clean your wood tables, follow the procedures below:

Prepare what you need including bucket, dish soap, water, mineral spirits, rag or clean cloth and wax.

Fill your bucket with a galloon of warm water. 

Mix a few drops of dish washing soap to the water and mix. 

With a rag, dip on the soap water mixture and squeeze excess water. 

With the dampen rag, wipe your wood table. Make sure you cover all areas of the table including the corners, legs and sides of the table. Wipe the table dry with a clean cloth.

If your table has stains or built-up grime and dirt, apply some mineral spirit on your cotton rag and wipe your table with it. This is a good way of cleaning the stains and spots on your wood table. This will also prevent oil stains or residue. Wipe dry. 

Apply wood wax on your table using a fresh, dry cloth. You do not want to wax your table regularly to avoid build up of wax residue. You can use furniture or paste wax to clean wood tables. 

Wax your wood table back and forth using long strokes. Do this until you cover the entire table.

Allow the wax to dry. 

Buff the table with a fresh, dry cloth to restore luster and shine.

How to Clean Windows

Brush off dirt using a soft cloth or brush. Make sure you wipe clean window frames and tracks too.
Remove cobwebs using a small brush. 

Vacuum clean your windows the tracks and frame. For hard to remove stain dirt, Use a soft cloth wrapped around a screwdriver to push the dirt off the track.  Vacuum to remove what you've loosened with the screwdriver. your window glass. 

Get a bucket and fill it with warm water. Make a cleaning solution by adding one cup of white vinegar to a galloon of water.  The vinegar removes hard water marks and makes the glass sparkle. 

Dip your sponge in the cleaning solution then start rubbing sponge on any dirt on your window to get rid of any stain. 

Use a squeegee and apply the water and vinegar solution to the entire water starting at the top and working your way down. 

Remove any cleaning solution residue on your window by pressing the squeegee from the top area down and from left to right. 

Wipe with a clean cloth after cleaning your windows with a squeegee. 

Make sure to wipe the bottom edge of your windows using a fresh sponge. 

Dry window sills with a clean, dry cloth.

It will be a good idea to clean your windows during cloudy days. The sun usually dries up the cleaning solution quickly which can leave unsightly streaks on your windows.

How to Clean a Carpet

The key in cleaning a carpet is in the products you use. You can quickly keep that stain away with the appropriate cleaning solution. Research the product and choose the one best for your type of carpet. It is important to take note of the material your carpet is made from. There is no single perfect way to clean your carpet. A wool carpet should be cleaned differently from a cotton carpet. You cannot expose wool carpets to heat or the fibers will be ruined, much the same way as putting a wool sweater shrinks it. Cotton carpets are less sensitive so you can pretty much use any good commercial carpet cleaner.  Synthetic carpets are the most forgiving. .

Some general tips on how to clean your carpet:

Get your handy vacuum cleaner and clean your carpet at least once a week. Regular vacuuming extends the life of your carpet.

If you spill something on the carpet, blot it up before applying any cleaning solution. Doing so will make removing the stain much easier.

When using a cleaning solution, test it out first in a small corner of the carpet. Apply the solution with a white cloth, if you see that it takes the color from your carpet, don't use it. This simple test can help you avoid damaging your carpet.

Remember to read the instructions on your carpet cleaner product before you use it. It is recommended to use a cleaning solution with a pH level of 9-10.

Use carpet cleaner as recommended and do two cleaning passes and one slow dry pass working with small areas of your carpet one at a time.

With experience, practice and with the helpful tips above, you can clean your carpets like a pro!

How to Clean Ceramic Tile Floors

A good ceramic tile cleaner will do the trick if you want to clean your floor or counters.   But if you want to save on money, your household vinegar will do. Aside from the money you will save, it is very safe to use because it is organic. Vinegar is good for cleaning kitchen counters because it's nontoxic.  

Clear the area and remove any furniture.

Sweep the floor or use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of dirt and debris.

Get two buckets. Fill the first bucket with clean water. On the second bucket, mix a gallon of warm water with a quart of white vinegar.

Work in small areas one at a time starting from once corner of the room. Use a clean cotton cloth or a sponge and wipe your ceramic tiles clean. Rinse the sponge or cloth in the plain water and then redip in the vinegar water.

Get a handy brush or a toothbrush to get rid of dirt and clean grout lines. It is a good idea to use a gout sealer to avoid stubborn dirt from sitting in grout lines.

Using a fresh and dry clean cloth or sponge, wipe the vinegar solution you previously applied. This is a good technique to avoid water stains when cleaning ceramic tiles. Put two old bath towels on the floor.  Place one foot on each towel and skate over the floor dragging the towel to absorb any water.

Allow to dry.

To make sure you maintain the clean, good looks of your ceramic tiles, it is a good idea to place a doormat or a rug in front of your doors to minimize dirt and stain on your tiles.

How to remove nasty stains from carpets

Wax stain
Scrape the wax off as much as possible. Cover the stain with brown paper. With a warm iron, press on the stain making sure it is not too hot to burn the carpet. Iron the stain until the wax transfers from the carpet onto the brown paper.  Use fresh brown paper when necessary.  

Urine/ Feces/ Animal Stain
Blot the stain and apply the water-dish washing liquid solution as mentioned above using a wet cotton cloth. Blot the excess liquid up as much as possible. Apply a solution of one part household ammonia and one part water on the stain or use a solution of one part white vinegar and one part water.   Blot with paper towels.  Repeat as necessary.  

How to Remove a Coffee, tea or juice Stains From a Carpet

This seems to be THE question of all carpet owners. First thing to do is to ask yourself- what type of carpet stain do you want to get rid of? You should treat each carpet stain differently. A water stain can easily be cleaned than a paint stain. Hot water will remove some stains such as grease and set others such as blood. You should use a different technique in cleaning animal stains too. But whatever type of stain your carpet has, stick to this one tip- do not scrub your carpet!  It can do you more harm than good. Scrubbing pushes the stain into the carpet fibers.

Coffee/ Juice/ Tea stain
Blot the stain as soon as you see it. Use paper towels or a white cloth.  Push the towel into the stain, bring the cloth back up and then push it into the stain again. Sprinkle drops of tonic water or soda on the stain, blot dry with a paper towel. Put plain water on the stain then dry it again with a paper towel. Use your dish washing liquid and add it to water.  A good ratio is one teaspoon of liquid to one quart of water.  Put 3% hydrogen peroxide on the stain. cover with paper towels. Put a heavy weight on the towels. Let it sit for about four hours. Allow to dry for a day. Reapply if necessary.