40 handy hints for cleaning every nook and cranny of your house

Have your walls been redecorated with some original crayon masterpieces? Don’t lose your cool. Just grab a rag, dip it in some baking soda and lightly scrub the marks. They will come off with a minimal amount of effort and give your young Picasso a fresh, new canvas.

The space between your fridge and the floor is a magnet for pet hair, dust, food crumbs and other small trinkets. And if gone too long without cleaning, it can attract ants and other pests. To make this cleaning task less difficult, use a hair trap cleaner (also called a drain cleaning zip tool), which sells at home improvement stores for under $5. This hair trap won’t leave scratches on the floor and can reach further than a vacuum cleaner attachment.

“I use my computer a lot in my workshop. Once, the magnetic charging port collected a bunch of metal filings. I tried blowing them out with compressed air, but that didn’t work, as the filings were small and the magnet wouldn’t let go of them. What finally did the trick was sticking a bit of poster putty in the port. The putty doesn’t clog the port and successfully removes anything that might interfere with the connection.” – Travis Larson

“I used to think dropping a loaded paintbrush on the carpet meant replacing the carpet until a former foreman told me this little tip. Pour some denatured alcohol (methylated spirits) onto a rag and scrub away the paint. Use a rag that is as close in colour to the carpet, as the alcohol can transfer some of the rag’s colour to the carpet.” – Tom Gerdowsky

Dirt and oils from your fingertips can build up on a computer keyboard. But did you know that you can remove marks from a keyboard using a simple eraser? A standard pink eraser such as the one shown in the photo works perfectly, you just need to use a bit of elbow grease. Use a corner of the eraser to press down onto each key and rub away the marks. Follow this advice on how to clean a computer in under five minutes.

To prevent rust and extend the life of a cast iron frying pan, it’s best not to use soap to clean it. Instead, use about a tablespoon of coarse salt to scrub the pan after a meal.

The salt breaks up bits of stuck food and residue on the frying pan. Then you can toss the dirty salt in the trash, rinse the pan with hot water and dry it with a clean towel. To further protect a cast iron frying pan, rub a few drops of vegetable oil over the entire cooking surface.

When you need to round up water on your garage or basement floor, assemble this simple squeegee. Slip a piece of foam pipe insulation over the tines of an ordinary garden rake to push the water to a drain or out the door. You can also try these super helpful ideas for pipe insulation, too!

Wonder how to get rid of annoying flies around your home? Wash a plastic beverage bottle and cut off the top. Stick the cut-off top upside down in the bottle’s bottom. Mark a line slightly below the bottle’s spout. This will serve as a “fill to” line. Fill with apple chunks, the riper the better, and 2 cups of white vinegar to deter bees from the trap. Place the cut-off top upside down in the bottle. Flies can easily get into the wide opening, but it’s difficult for them to get back out.

All you need is an old toothbrush and a little toothpaste to get your old sneakers looking like new! Non-gel white toothpaste works great for cleaning white-soled sneakers (coloured toothpaste may stain rather than clean sneakers). Apply toothpaste to an old toothbrush and then work the paste into the dirty spots. Leave the toothpaste on the shoes for about ten minutes, and then wipe it off with a damp towel. Repeat the process if necessary.

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Source: The Family Handyman