0 How To Deep Clean And Get Rid of Bad Smells

There are many aerosols and other chemical-based products you can get at the store that will provide you with a strong and quite lovely smell. These, however, fail to effectively remove bad smells – they just add the good smell on top of the other. Usually, they do not last as long as the stink source and in a couple of hours or less you are back to the set off point, with less money of course. The solution to this problem, as usual, is quite simple and unexpected. What you really need to do in order to deep clean is to use good old baking soda. It is one of the revolutionary discoveries of humanity, although we do not credit it as such. Besides from cooking, you can use it for cleaning, washing and, of course, smell removal. Here are a few ways of using baking soda to deal with bad odours.

1. Bad smell in the fridge? No problem.

But a little bit of baking soda in an open box and leave it in the fridge overnight. It will neutralize the bad smells in your fridge.

2. No-smell cutting board.

Sprinkle baking soda over the cutting board, rub good using kitchen paper and rinse thoroughly. For better results, you might clean the cutting board with vinegar afterwards.

3. Get rid of the bad smell in the dustbin.

Put some baking soda on the bottom of the dustbin. This will prevent appearance of bad smells.

4. Sewer smell in the bathroom?

Quite often, especially in the summer time, there is a distinctive stink coming from the sewer in the bathroom or the sink. What you can do about it is put half a cup of baking soda down the sewer and run a thin stream of warm water.

5. Remove bad smells from the carpet.

Put baking soda over the carpet and let it stay overnight. This will absorb the bad smell. In the morning all you have to do is vacuum clean in order to remove the baking soda along with the odours.

6. Freshen the dresser.

Put a few little pouches of baking soda in the drawers. This will maintain the fresh smell in there.

7. Get rid of the smell in your car.

If your car smells like the last thing you ate, or spilled a drink on the floor, if you have had an animal in the car and you can tell it just from being in the car or whatever it is that makes your car smell bad, sprinkle around the car with baking soda. Wait for fifteen minutes and vacuum good.

8. Refresh the towels and the sheets.

Adding half a cup of baking soda to the rinsing water when washing the sheets or towels will refresh them. You can do the same with water which you have soaked a bunch of lavender in.

0 How To Clean The Cigarette Smell at Home

Since it is banned by law to smoke in public areas, the home for a smoker is the only safe place they can relax and light a cigarette. But how to deal with the inevitable smell that comes with the smoking?

Of course, the only truly working way is to simply quit smoking. However, if you do not wish to take such drastic measures, here are a few tricks to help you defeat and clean the tobacco smell at home.

You probably already know about using candles. The flame of the candle absorbs the smoke. If you are expecting smoking guests, and you do not want to be a bad host and make them go out to smoke, lighting candles is a good way to prevent the smell. It will also help creating a cosy atmosphere.

Another thing you can do is to put a few small cups of vinegar around the room you or your guests will be smoking in. If you do not like the smell of vinegar too much, you can substitute it with charcoal.

If you have a cat as a pet, you can be sure that its toilet will be your helper towards defeating the cigarette smell. Put a little bit of it in the ashtrays and it will absorb the bad odour.

If you are reading this post too late and you have carpets or furniture that have the cigarette smoke stuck to them and you cannot wash them, you can sprinkle them with baking soda and leave it on overnight. Vacuum in the morning and the smell should be gone.

For a pleasant aroma at your home, despite of the numerous smoking acts that occur daily, soak a few cotton tampons with vanilla extract and place them in different places around the smoking room. Vanilla naturally absorbs bad smells and leaves a pleasant aroma.

If you have warm weather outside it is always a good option to simply open a window. The breeze that will come will disperse the cigarette smoke and you will get some fresh air in the room – something that it always good to do even if you are not smoking in the room.

They are kind of rare to find but you can buy special ash tray fresheners. This is some sort of aromatic dust which you put in your ash tray and it absorbs the smell of cigarette burns while at the same time, due to the high temperature of the burning cigarette, releases pleasant smell. It is a pretty cool thing to put it when you have guests but not tell them that you have done it. They will start asking you questions how come your ashtray smells like vanilla.

0 Carpet Cleaning and Furniture Cleaning At Home

Once a year, or more times for some, everybody does a complete cleaning of their home. Washing the carpets and refreshing the covering of the soft furniture is a big part of that process to make you feel more comfortably in your place of living. The procedure, however, is not easy at all – it involves time, work, money and nerves.

For the carpets, you have to roll them, put them in the car, take them to the car wash, and after you have them power-washed the dirtiness can get even deeper between the fibers of the carpet. In the end of the day, it has zero effect and it’s not among the cheapest things to do. You can try to wash them at home yourself, but this usually results in you getting exhausted and the carpet is as dirty as it was before and that is if you are lucky. It takes days to dry the carpets, especially if you have Persian carpets, and it’s hard to put them back in their original place.

If you have money to spend, you can hire a cleaning company to send people at your home and clean the carpets as they are, but this service can be really pricy. And if you want to remove a stain from the soft furniture or clean the mattress the price goes even higher.

Some might ask what happens when you have carpet flooring which you cannot pick up and take somewhere to clean it yourself. You have to move everything out of the room and it is difficult to move around especially if you have a bigger room. Prices, as you may guess, are higher for cleaning this one.

Some cleaning companies offer a cost-efficient way to clean the carpets and soft furniture in your home. You can borrow their professional equipment, which is far cheaper than hiring their staff as well. You can get a professional vacuum for washing carpets and soft furniture covering and save money, while at the same time have fun cleaning your home in what feels like a brief moment. These vacuum cleaners work well on all coverings and types of carpets. They are professional, ergonomically designed and cost-efficient. You can use it to wash the scruffy chair coverings, the stains on the couch you have had for years, the mattresses, the carpets, the floorings and do that all by yourself.

Not one company, not one single person, other than yourself, will work the hardest they can to make sure your home is perfectly clean. And you can be sure about the results of your work, because of the high-quality equipment you use.

0 Some Helpful Cleaning Ideas Against Stains

Everybody hates having stains. They can appear anywhere- from the carpet to your brand new clothes. From the floor to any piece of your furniture. There are some traditional ways of cleaning stains without using any chemicals that can ruin some materials like silk for example. There are some cases when you are not home and you cannot just wash your clothes but you are in a place that you are so embarrassed from the stain on your shirt for example.

One of the easiest ways to get a stain is eating- when you’re at your place, or at the restaurant, and it doesn’t matter what you do that happens to everyone. The golden rule here is don’t let it dry before you remove it. For the different kinds of food you should use different tools but the stain should not get dry. If the spot is really dirty you should definitely use a chemical but first you can always try it from the inside part of the cloth so if it is too strong it doesn’t mess with the whole material. If you need to use bleach on a spot it’s always better to bleach the whole cloth because if the color get’s lighter nobody’s going to notice it. Do what you can to get rid of the stains but never ever mix the different chemicals or the bleach together- you may mess up your favorite shirt!

If you are out for a dinner and you mess up your clothes with the food clean it there but when you go home you should always wash the whole cloth again.

Not every kind of stain is one you can remove. That doesn’t mean that you can only throw those clothes. You can take a piece of cloth and seal it there – get creative…you can also cut that stain if it’s in a place you can cut- on a pair of jeans for example.

Don’t forget that some spots you can clean with traditional old methods but they work only if the stain is not washed and dried in the washing machine. For example if you have any kind of oil on your jeans you can fix it by putting salt on it but if you first wash it in the washing machine and then put salt on it you’ll never be able to take the stain off. When you wash your clothes you should always check their tags for any advices about the certain temperature for washing or drying or ironing.

And don’t forget you can never fix all of your clothes, but don’t feel sorry about that- it’s a good excuse for you to buy some new clothes and that’s going to make you feel better!

0 A Short Handbook of Cleaning Stains

There’s no home without an occasional stain. It could be on the sofa, on your curtains, your accessories, your table covers or the carpet. Stains can be caused by a variety of reasons but the most difficult ones are those which take a strong cleaning product to remove. Here are a few tips to help keeping your home neat and tidy.

Removing ketchup stains
Before you clean the actual stain, you should test this method on a part of the surface that is hidden or hard to see to make sure you will not damage the visible part. First, get as much of the ketchup as you can and rinse the surface. The water will dissolve the ketchup and the stain will go away easier. Then, put liquid detergent in some water and use it to clean the stained surface. For white surfaces you can use lemon juice or vinegar instead. After that, rinse the surface again and dry well.

Juice stains
Once again, you should test this method on a part of the surface that is hidden or hard to see to make sure you will not damage the visible part. Use a wet rag to soak up the juice as much as you can. If this doesn’t help instantly, use a little bit of club soda. Another thing you can use for juice stains is lemon juice and some salt. Put the lemon juice first then sprinkle the salt so it will soak up the juice from the stain. For color materials you can use a few table spoons of plain yoghurt and let it work for a few minutes. Then, use water and liquid detergent.

Grease stains
As you know already, you should test this method on a part of the surface that is hidden or hard to see to make sure you will not damage the visible part. Put what you want to clean in warm water with liquid detergent in it. The grease stains on velvet surfaces can be cleaned with the middle of warm bread. For silk and wool you can use chalk – sprinkle it on the surface and put a napkin under it. The grease will flow down on the napkin. For stains on cotton surfaces can be cleaned with ammonia soda. Stains from oil on dark surfaces can be cleaned using a rag dipped in gasoline. If you do not have a proper cleaning product in the moment you need it, sprinkle a little bit of salt on the stain. It will absorb the grease. Scrub well with a piece of bread, then wash with detergent and rinse.

These are a few of the most common stains you will have to deal with.

0 Basic Ways Of Carpet Cleaning

No matter what you do while at home you cannot avoid the usage of your carpet. It is always there when you come home, or when guests arrive. And it pretty much takes everything upon itself. All the dirtiness of the outside world, all the stains from dining, all the mess from cooking. It is one of the most used items in your home even if you do not notice it at times. Therefore, you must be very strict about cleaning your carpets regularly to make sure you are living in a healthy and cozy environment.

There are several basic methods of carpet cleaning:

Washing with detergent
This method requires hot water and specific chemical products for cleaning fabrics. It also takes time to wash and time to dry the carpet. Also, it might require that you repeat the procedure upon finishing if the result is not satisfying. In this method the carpet is first soaked in water. Then the detergent is added. It is scrubbed from both sides with a brush. Then you remove the foam and rinse until the detergent is gone. If there are stubborn stains you should concentrate on them.

Cleaning the carpet using foam
This method is a variation of the washing with detergent method. You start with soaking the carpet a little bit in water. Then you add the chemically active foam on the carpet and it is then left to dry. You do not have to rinse afterwards. When dry, use a vacuum to remove the chemical leftovers and the dirtiness from the carpet.

Steam cleaning
Cleaning the carpet with steam requires the use of equipment for spraying detergent under high pressure in the carpet and instantly sucking it out of it along with the stains and dirtiness. It is a comparatively fast method. The effectiveness of it, however, depends on the quality of the equipment used, the detergent used and the condition of the carpet itself.

Cleaning with absorbent
In this method the carpet is sprinkled with an active chemical in the form of powder. A special piece of equipment rubs the absorbent in the carpet and then vacuums it as well as the dirtiness and the stains.

If you are cleaning your carpets during the winter seasons make sure you do so in the early hours of the day so you can air the rooms well enough.

If you are cleaning your carpets during the summer season it is good to rinse your carpets after you cleaned them, regardless of the method chosen, to make sure that the cleaning chemicals are out of it. This is crucial if you have children who play and crawl on the carpets or if you have pets.

0 A Few Small Tricks for Cleaning the Bathroom

How to clean the humidity in the bathroom
No matter what you do, the bathroom will always be the wettest place at home. To deal with the humidity in it, the room has to have a window, a good ventilation system, or, the best option, both. It is recommended to use them after each time you take a shower or a bath so that the humidity does not stay in the bathroom or worse – get into the other rooms of your home. This will prevent appearance of mold.

How to clean the fugues in the bathroom
Before you get down to some heavy scrubbing, pour hot water over the bathroom floor. Let the layers of dirt and limestone soften under the warmth of the liquid for at least five minutes so that it will be easier for you when you get down to business. If you do not want to use strong cleaning products, you can go for the good old recipe of vinegar and water or baking soda.

How to get rid of the limestone
The worst thing you will have to deal in the bathroom is the limestone. Limestone appears quickly on the sink, the bathtub and pretty much on every surface in the bathroom that is in touch with water. For smaller surfaces you can use only kitchen paper and cider vinegar. Soak the paper in vinegar and put it on the faucet of the shower or the sink. Let it stay for an hour, then wipe off with a dry towel. The shower itself can be soaked in a basin or a bucket with vinegar in it. Let it soak in good for the whole night then just rinse it in the morning. For the bigger surfaces you can fill up a bottle with a spraying nozzle and spray all over the place. Let it work for a while before you rinse it off. Cider vinegar is great for that particular activity.

How to avoid the dimming of the bathroom mirror
Apply shaving foam on the glass surface and rinse with water. Dry it using a micro fiber towel. Next time you take a shower, the mirror will be hardly dimmed, if dimmed at all. The same effect could be achieved if you use soap instead of shaving foam. Just do it right before you get in the shower and rinse it off good. You can wash the mirror when you are done to prevent the soap stains that might appear when the bathroom is dry. This is a great thing to do if your husband likes to shave after he gets out of the shower.

0 Helpful Cleaning Ideas for the Bathroom

Here are some cleaning ideas for clean and neat bathroom. First of all, from centuries people grow flowers in their houses because they can make a room really cozy. But not many people put flowers in their bathrooms. The green makes people relax and taking a shower is the time of the day that you should really do that.  So why don’t you put some green flowers on a shelf or if your bathroom is too small for that you can just draw one, or just color a part of the wall in green.

Second, you should clean the bathroom every week with a cleaning rag and sprays. Don’t wait until you see that it’s dirty, if you clean it often – you’ll never spend an hour or two cleaning your bathroom. After you take a shower you can as well use a towel to dry the walls and the floors. If you have any carpets in the bathroom even if it’s a small one that doesn’t get wet you should wash it often because it’ll smell bad because of the humidity on it. You can also put more mirrors and pictures in the bathroom but in a way that the light from the lamps reflects it, put some candles and if you don’t want any other light but the one from the candles you’ll see twice as much candles as you have.

If you don’t have much space in the bathroom you should fold the towels and clean and fix everything. Use the drawers to put stuff in it, this way the bathroom will appear bigger that it actually is.

When you’re cleaning the bathroom you should always start from the showers. If they have any stains you can put the cleaning products and leave it just like that for a while, then clean it with a wet rag and warm water. People often forget that the curtain in there also needs to be washed and dried otherwise it starts to smell really bad. You should use water to clean the door from both sides if you don’t want any tracks from mold. When cleaning the toilet seat start from the inside. Put some bleach or some spray and start cleaning with the toilet brush. When it’s all good rinse it thoroughly with water. Than clean the outside parts the same way but instead of using the toilet brush use a cleaning rag. You should also not forget the back part of the toilet seat. And don’t forget- the more often you clean it, the cleaner it’ll be. The thing that you should clean last is the floor. It has so many microbes that you should use a strong spray for it. There are also a lot of hairs on the floor so what you can do is dry the floor with and towel that you have than sweep or vacuum the floor and at the end you can bleach and rinse it all.

0 Cleaning with Ammonia – Vol.2

Our article about cleaning with ammonia is continued today. Check it our for more ideas!

The doors of your fireplace
The dark layers from the inside of the glass of the door of your fireplace can be easily removed! All you need is the simple mixture of one table spoon of ammoniac, two table spoons of wine vinegar and one quarter of a gallon warm water. Pour the mixture in a spraying bottle and apply on the glass surface. Let it work for a few seconds and wipe off with an absorbing towel. Repeat, if necessary only this time leave the mixture on for a few minutes.

Clean up old silver
Using nothing more than an old toothbrush you can clean up dark zones on silver surface. Just put the brush in ammoniac and scrub really hard. After that wipe the silver object off and dry.

Clean up marks of foam in the bathroom
You know those nasty foam marks all over your bathroom walls? You can remove stains from grease and foam with a mixture of ammoniac and water. You can use in on your faucet and sink as well. Mix a table spoon of ammoniac with a gallon of water, hot if possible. Apply it on the dirty surfaces. Rinse good using warm water.
For the bathroom tiles use a sponge, dipped in a mixture of quarter of a cup of ammoniac and a gallon of water. This will remove the foam marks and will prevent the forming of mold.

Clean up blood stains, sweat marks, and urine from clothes
Apply ammoniac on the stained parts of the clothes. Let it work for a few minutes and wash it in the washer.
For non-greasy stains in the room you can use a mixture of ammoniac and dishwashing liquid. Pour the mixture in a spraying bottle and apply on the stained surface. Let it stay for a couple of minutes and rinse off with warm water.

Clean up carpets and furniture
For stains on your carpet or furniture apply a mixture of one cup of ammoniac and half a gallon of water. Apply with a sponge directly on the stained surface. Wait until completely dry and repeat if necessary.

Scrub the windows
For greasy stains and dirtiness on your windows use a mixture of three cups of water and a cup of ammoniac.

Keep your pets away from the dust bin
Last, but not least, you can use ammoniac to prevent your pets from going through your garbage. It is easy, especially for bigger animals, to take down small dust bins. Put a little bit of liquid ammoniac in a spraying bottle and apply on the outside of the bin. The smell will keep your pets away.

0 Cleaning With Ammonia – Vol.1

There are a lot of ways to clean around your house. You can follow the instructions of TV commercials and buy a different product for each surface and every item you have. Or you can go unconventional and use eco-friendly cleaners such as baking soda or vinegar. But one of the less known good cleaning products is ammonia. It is an ingredient in various products but not so popular by itself. Well, let me give you a hint about what you can do with it.

1. Remove the smell of paint
Freshly painted surfaces might have quite the unpleasant odor. To get rid of it put a few plates with ammonia in each painted room. If the smells is still there after a couple of days, put new liquid in the plates.

2. Crystal shine
Clean the surface of crystal objects with a mixture of few drops of ammonia and two cups of hot water. Scrub the surface good with a rag, dipped in the mixture or with a brush. Rinse and dry with a soft towel.

3. So long, moths!
To get rid of the moths in a room, clean the furniture with a mixture of half a cup of ammonia and an eight of gallon of water. Work the drawers good as well, then air them good to get rid of the smell.

4. Clean the oven
Clean the surface of the electric oven quick and easy with a little bit of ammonia. Turn the oven on to 65 degrees Celsius and turn it off. Put a half full cup of ammonia inside. On the bottom of the oven put a pot with boiling water. Close the door and let the liquids do their job overnight.  When you open it in the morning, take out the cup and the pot and leave the door open to air the oven. Use a towel to clean the surfaces with ammonia. Then clean with dishwashing liquid, dissolved in hot water. Wipe off with a clean towel and let it dry.

Do not use this method on gas ovens!

The grill from the oven could be cleaned by putting it in a basin with hot water and half a cup of ammonia in it. Let it stay for fifteen minutes and wipe it off with a towel.

Please, remember that ammonia is potentially harmful and you should use protection when working with it, such as gloves, masks and so on. This should not discourage you from using ammonia as it is already part of most of the products you are using.
All in all, ammonia is a trustworthy friend for every housewife. You can use it for various tasks and it will always deliver!