When you need a good oven cleaner you don’t have to use harsh chemicals. I have learned that you can get great results by using every day kitchen items.
I recently needed to clean a convection microwave oven that was well overdue for a good scrub. It was given to me by a friend who had been too lazy to clean it (thanks Paul!). Anyway the inside of the oven had well and truly seen better days.
I wanted to get it clean but I didn’t want to use a store bought oven cleaner because they usually contain lots of nasty chemicals. I was sure that someone would have already come up with a quick and … [Read more...]

I don’t have to do trailer reversing very often but when I do the thing that really worries me is getting the trailer to go the right way! I have never been able to work out the link between the direction I am steering and the direction the trailer ultimately goes. It’s as if the trailer has a mind of its own! If you have ever reversed a trailer you know what I mean.
Once you have started to get the trailer turning and then you try to correct the movement that is usually when things start to go pear shaped. Even with a helper, if they are not experienced at reversing a trailer either, it … [Read more...]

While cleaning recently I came across a torch that I had forgotten about. It wouldn’t turn on so I unscrewed the end of the battery chamber and found a very badly corroded battery. It looked like it had corroded onto the inside of the torch. I tried to wiggle the battery out gently with a small screwdriver but it was stuck and wouldn’t move at all.
I was just about to give up and throw the torch away but decided to have a quick look online first to see if anyone had posted a solution to this problem. I was sure that I wouldn't be the first person to forget to take the batteries out of a … [Read more...]

Cleaning the windows in a house can be a daunting task, especially if you have many large windows. You can go through quite a bit of window cleaning spray as you clean off the dirt and grime and then buff the window to make it gleam.
Often cleaning the dirt off the windows is not as hard as trying to make sure there are no streak marks left when the window dries. Sometimes you have to wet down the window with cleaner and then polish it dry a couple of times to eliminate streaks. It can be frustrating if you think that you have cleaned the windows properly and then when you stand back and … [Read more...]

Personally I enjoy nothing better than going on a driving holiday in the spring time. But one of the pitfalls of a long road trip can be thousands of insects smashed into the front end of your car! If you drive at night, in the warmer months, when there are lots of bugs around then this seems to just increase the problem. Also the longer you leave the bugs stuck to the front of your car the harder it is to remove them!
After putting off cleaning the front of my car I was dreading how much time it would take to clean away the now hard and crusty bugs. I went searching online for some … [Read more...]

Something that has to be done every year is cleaning out the gutters. While I have leaf screening mesh on the main house, I still have to clear leaves and debris out of the gutters on the sheds.
I usually climb a ladder and do it by hand but I thought I’d have a look online to see if anyone has any time saving tips for this tedious task.
The first link gives handy information about equipment you might need as well as safety tips and handy hints
OakdaleLeader.com website: Gutter Cleaning Tips
I also found this next video that shows you how to make your own … [Read more...]

In an earlier post I covered how to clean the large areas of tiles and grout around a bath or shower (See Easily and Quickly Cleaning Bathroom Tiles and Grout) but the mixture used for that didn’t get rid of the soap scum properly from the surface of the actual bathtub.
The video link below shows how to use a vinegar/water solution combined with bi carb soda to tackle soap scum areas on the surface of a bath.
The method outlined in the video utilises the power of the reaction between the vinegar and the bi carb soda and ensures that it occurs as it is applied to the … [Read more...]

The metal tray of our Ute was starting to look pretty greasy and grimy with oily stains and patches here and there. I didn’t know if household detergent would be strong enough so I went looking online to see what might do the job to clean it.
After a few unsuccessful attempts looking for Ute tray cleaners I decided that I should try looking for ‘metal work-bench cleaners’.
Upon doing this I came across a short YouTube video titled ‘How to clean a metal work bench’ that suggested the use of WD-40 for cleaning a metal surface. Although this video seemed to be a parody … [Read more...]