Category Archives: Cleaners

Autumn cleaning

Spring has well and truly gone but there will be many who did not get around to the annual spring clean, so we thought we would gather together our reader tips for a good autumn clean! True to form, the oily rag community has lots of ways to take the cost out of cleaning. To […]

Lorraine, Hamilton.

Here is a recipe for cleaning and softening fabric. I use a 2L clean milk bottle to which I add 1L white vinegar and 1L of boiled cold water. Mix together and let stand for a week.   Cindy from Matamata comments:  “The recipe entered by Lorraine of Hamilton to make white vinegar is incorrect […]

Karen, Palmerston North.

Here’s a tip to freshen up a smelly mattress (it works on carpets also). Mix a few drops of essential oil with one cup baking soda. Sprinkle on mattress and let it sit for 1 hour before vacuuming. Baking soda will absorb any dirt, moisture, odours, while the essential oil will leave things smelling fresh.

Carpet cleaner?

My home smells dirty and musty – the smell never goes away even when I eliminate rubbish bins, compost buckets etc. Yes, it could be damp or rot but there are no signs of this so I have concluded that it must be the carpets. Do fellow oily Do fellow oily raggers have any tips […]

Lorraine, Hamilton.

Oven cleaner: I haven’t tried this one but perhaps someone would like to. I once tried siting a dish of cloudy ammonia in the oven overnight but all it did was stink the kitchen out. Oven cleaner: 3 parts cloudy ammonia to 1 part water. Fill spray bottle. Preheat oven to warm then switch off. […]

Lorraine, Hamilton

To clean a microwave, take 1 tablespoon baking soda, half a cup of white vinegar, and a cup of water. Mix in a bowl and cook on high for 1 minute until just boiling. Remove the bowl and wipe the now moist interior of microwave with a damp cloth.

Gaynor

Re pots encrusted with burnt or hard caked food: I used to soak them over night in water until I discovered that covering the base of the pan with neat detergent, soon makes them easy to clean.

Removing shower mold?

Warren from Tauranga has sent out an SOS. “Does anyone have any suggestions to remove black mold from grey silicone in a tiled shower base that is constantly wet in winter.” If you can help with his moldy problem, please let us know and we will pass it on to Warren.

Burnt pots?

Two-minute Mum from Wellington has a problem. Things tend to get left on the stove for two minutes too long. The latest incident involved boiling milk and a stainless steel saucepan. The consequence is a pot with very stubborn burn marks. If you have suggestions for Two-minute Mum on ways to remove the stains she […]