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Cleaning & Laundry : Home & Garden
How to Remove Scuff Marks From Plastic
Rubber or plastic rubbing against another item can leave scuff marks. Scuff marks are usually difficult to remove. Everyday cleaning chemicals will not remove the marks from plastic. Fortunately, there are a few tips and tricks that can remove all traces of scuff marks from plastic using simple hous
How Do Steam Irons Work?
Ironing TechnologyIroning is accomplished by heat, weight and pressure. Steam irons work by adding the element of water to the iron and the ability to release steam with a push button. A similar effect occurs when a garment is sprayed with a thin mist of water and then a hot iron is...
How to Clean Old Glass
Whether you've dug it out of your backyard or found a treasure at the flea market, antique glass can be both a collector's item and a charming way to decorate your home. Glass bottles of all types can be lovely accents and treasured keepsakes. But glass can show the effects of time and the elements.
DIY Silver Brush Plating
Silver-plated pieces often wear over time revealing the copper or brass metal underneath the plating. Normal electroplating involves dangerous chemicals, specifically cyanide, and is not suitable for home or small business purposes. Brush plating, however, bypasses these dangerous chemicals. While y
How to Make a Cleaner for My AC
A properly installed and maintained air conditioner should be able to keep your home at a consistent temperature on even the hottest of days. If you find the temperature inside your home is rising even when you turn the AC up to high, the problem could be as simple as dirty condenser coils. Clean th
How to Clean Solution for Mold
Mold is a fungus that requires moisture, oxygen and food to grow. Mold spores float in the air both inside and outside. Outside, mold is useful in breaking down organic matter, like leaves. Inside, as mold feeds on fabric, wallpaper and wood, it causes cosmetic damage and, if unchecked, structural d
How to Get a Plastic Smell Out of a Down Coat
Down is a wonderful natural insulator, but it can also acquire unpleasant odors. If you've tucked your down coat away in a plastic bin or it has acquired a strong plastic smell in some other way, you can remove the smell without damaging your coat. If your down coat is dirty, you can safely launder
Chelation Rust Removal
Rust chelation is the process of removing rust from nonferrous metals.There are many different chemicals that can remove rust. However, you can use a natural alternative such as molasses, to avoid the use of harsh rust-removing chemicals. Although molasses will take longer to remove rust, you have n
How to Remove Peanut Butter From the Jar Before Recycling
Recycling your peanut butter jar once you've eaten the contents is the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of the packaging. Both plastic and glass jars can be recycled, but you will need to clean them before recycling to remove any of the peanut butter residue that you couldn't retrieve wh
How to Do Exterior Waterproofing
Keeping up with yearly home maintenance is an essential part of being a homeowner. One of the leading causes of home damage is water and moisture. Old windows and doors are especially troublesome because they may have warped or distorted over the years, breaking the waterproof seal they once had. T
How to Clean While Protecting the Environment
Enjoy the scent and sheen of a freshly cleaned home without exposing your family or the environment to caustic chemicals. Turn to natural cleaners that are non-toxic, hypoallergenic, biodegradable, chlorine and phosphate free. While these cleaners may be gentle on the environment, they can be every
Outside Fly Repellent
Flies can be a real nuisance at outdoor events, buzzing around you and your guests and contaminating food. Fortunately there are many natural oils that repel flies, allowing you to keep them away without the need for harmful chemicals.
Natural Ways to Trap a Gopher
Gophers are stout little critters with an audacious tenacity. They are not easy to frighten, and chasing them with a broom will not evict them from your property. Trapping them and moving them to a new location is often the best way of dealing with a gopher problem, although it can be tricky. Gopher
Do Thermal Curtains Work?
Keeping your home comfortable is all about reducing the interaction between the home's inside temperature and that of outside influences such as air temperature and sunlight. Thermal, or "blackout," curtains are one of the older solutions for reducing thermal transfer, and remain as effective today
What Can You Put in the Refrigerator to Remove Odors?
While a number of odor-absorbing products effectively remove unpleasant smells from the refrigerator, adding those products without cleaning the refrigerator and throwing out the offending items won't help the stinky situation. Before tacking the smell, throw out all rotting or decaying food, wipe d
The Effects of Black & White Mold
Black and white mold are fungi that sprout from mold spores--dust seeds found in homes and buildings--and can grow and cause problems if the conditions are right (i.e. moisture, leaks and flooding). The key to preventing mold in buildings is to prevent excessive moisture, according to the...
The Best Ways to Mop Hardwood Floors
Mopping floors will help maintain the hardwood.mop head image by green308 from Fotolia.comCleaning your hardwood floors often will help them last longer by preventing stains and substances from soaking into the wood. This is especially important if you have pets or children. One of the...
How to Restore Soot-Embedded Limestone
Distinguished by its density and neutral shades, limestone is often used for fireplace facings in homes. Although limestone fireplaces are naturally beautiful, they inevitably accumulate soot from partially combusted carbon. Burning logs at low temperatures often causes soot buildup, which appears a