Less Then Four Weeks Away (YIKES)

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  • #591342
    d a
    Member

    Any good cleaning tips? Recipes? Ideas?

    No one seems to be interested in Purim anymore so maybe move on to the next holy day (holiday)…

    #1009273
    d a
    Member

    To start myself off, here are some cleaning tips:

    Coffee Stains:

    To remove a coffee stain from fabric or a rug, try one of these methods:

    Dip a white cloth into a beaten egg yolk and rub the yolk into the stain. Then rinse with clear water.

    Work denatured alcohol into the stain, then rinse with water.

    Apply a solution of 1/2 teaspoon mild detergent in a pint of water. Blot with a white towel. If the stain remains, apply a 50-50 solution of water and white vinegar and blot.

    Cleaning Kitchen Countertops:

    Use a mild dishwashing liquid for plastic lamination and rinse well afterwards to prevent residue from getting on food.

    Cleaning Vinyl Floors:

    Mop with a mild detergent and wait awhile to allow it to penetrate the ground-in dirt.

    Cleaning Safety Tip:

    Don’t mix cleaning products like ammonia and bleach. They can be toxic.

    Cleaning with Automatic-Dishwasher Detergent:

    Automatic-dishwasher detergent works well on refrigerators, stoves, floors, walls and glass.

    Dissolve 1/4 cup in one gallon of very hot water.

    Wipe with a dry cloth afterward.

    Wear rubber gloves and test first to make sure that what you’re cleaning is colorfast.

    Glassware:

    Use the bartender’s method for speedy stemware washing. Holding the base, pump the glass vigorously in very hot sudsy water, then quickly put it in hot clear water (cooler water may shatter it) Dry upside down on a cotton towel.

    For extra-shiny, streakless glasses, add a little vinegar or borax to the final rinse water.

    If glasses have hard-water stains, rub them with a scouring pad dipped in vinegar.

    Never use hot water, harsh soaps, ammonia or washing soda on silver or gold-rimmed glasses.

    A well-lathered shaving brush cleans deeply etched or hobnailed glass especially well.

    If eggs have dried on your patterned glass tableware, rub off the residue with a slice of lemon.

    Storing Leftovers:

    When storing leftovers in the refrigerator, use old butter tubs and cottage cheese containers. When its time to clean out the refrigerator you can discard the entire container. You won’t have a spilled mess in the garbage can or a sink full of dirty dishes.

    To remove water spots on stainless steel, rub area with a clean, soft cloth dampened with white vinegar. Then wipe dry to avoid spots.

    Heel Marks:

    Use a pencil eraser on black heel marks.

    Dishwasher Soap Film:

    Run a cup of white vinegar through the entire dishwashing cycle in an empty dishwasher to remove all soap film.

    Refrigerator Odors:

    A little vanilla poured on a piece of cotton and placed in the refrigerator will eliminate odors.

    After cleaning the refrigerator add a dash of lemon extract to the rinse water for a fresh scent.

    Stuck on Food:

    For stuck on food on a casserole dish, try adding 2 tablespoons of baking soda and boiling water to cover the stuck on food. Let sit for a while. The dish will be much easier to clean.

    #1009274
    d a
    Member

    More tips to keep KIDS ROOMS clean:

    Removing Stickers:

    If you remove as much of the sticker as possible, you can remove the rest with a little Ben Gay ointment and a blow dryer set on the low heat setting. Also works on carpet.

    Other products that have been known to remove stickers include WD-40, Oops brand latex paint remover, De-Solve, fingernail polish remover, rubbing alcohol and even peanut butter!

    Cleaning Stuffed Animals:

    Put kids’ stuffed animals inside a pillow case, tie a knot in it and wash them in the washing machine.

    You can also freshen the animals by placing them in a paper sack with baking soda and shaking them up good.

    If the animal is stuffed with natural fibers it should not be immersed in water, but can be wiped off with a soapy cloth, followed by a clean wet cloth.

    Make sure the animal doesn’t have torn seams before you put it in the washing machine.

    Look for plastic parts before tossing a stuffed animal in the dryer.

    Make sure the animal doesn’t have a “sound box” or other mechanical parts before you put them in the washing machine and dryer.

    Helping Kids Stay Uncluttered:

    Put away half of your kids’ toys and switch them around every few months. They’ll have plenty to play with and their room will stay cleaner.

    Label boxes, baskets, milk crates, plastic tubs – anything they might store toys in – to teach them how to sort toys and keep them off the floor. Let the kids decorate the containers they use so they will be personal and fun.

    Set a short period of time each day or each week that kids have to straighten up their room. Make a game out of it with a timer and give rewards to all kids for jobs well done. It will become a good habit and they’ll have fun.

    Get the kids to go through their toys periodically and pick out some things that they don’t play with anymore. Pack them up and take them somewhere where there are kids who don’t have enough toys.

    Put bookshelves in every available place where the kids can stack their toys, books, etc. Anything to keep the floor clean.

    Teach kids good cleaning habits by being neat and tidy yourself. Hanging up clothes and putting things away after you use them sets a good example.

    Assign specific chores to kids and set a limit on when the chore has to be done.

    Put hooks and pegs on the backs of room door and on the insides of closet doors for quick hangups when the kids come in.

    Let the kids do some “adult” clean up jobs. Sometimes loading the dishwasher or helping mom clean up after a baking session is fun, especially for smaller children and it teaches good habits.

    Let kids listen to whatever they want to while they are cleaning. A little noise will be worth a clean room!

    Assign each child a towel and make sure they hang it up every day. This saves unnecessary washing.

    #1009275
    mybat
    Member

    Good tips da!

    #1009276
    d a
    Member

    if you like them, i can post more but i need other people to help me out!

    #1009277
    kollelboy123
    Member

    Keep kids out of the way when cleaning

    #1009278
    d a
    Member

    very good, it sounds like a Kollel line, kollelboy!

    #1009279
    mybat
    Member

    Let’s see…. Don’t go crazy with your pesach cleaning if you can’t handle it, just make sure that your house is chametz free.

    #1009280
    kollelboy123
    Member

    What is the problem kids can be annoying and messy

    #1009305
    kollelboy123
    Member

    whats going on, in preparation for pesach comes spring training, the yankees won opening day

    #1009306
    HIE
    Participant

    Wow!!! Unbelievable

    #1009307
    kollelboy123
    Member

    why is that unbelieveable the mets won yesterday

    #1009308

    For the sake of the other posters please keep your unrelated conversation to the Shmooze thread

    #1009309
    HIE
    Participant

    A new thread was opened up to shmooze let’s shmooze there

    #1009310
    kollelboy123
    Member

    ok see you there

    #1009311
    d a
    Member

    This is not a cleaning tip, nor is it only good for Pesach:

    When cutting an onion, to stop the burning and tears, try this, it really works:

    Place your cutting board on top of your FRONT burner on your stove.

    Turn on the BACK burner (behind the cutting board).

    And, cut your onion, on your cutting board.

    The fire will pull all those stinging stuff away from your eyes!

    #1009312
    mybat
    Member

    What if the cutting board is plastic? You’ll end up with onion and plastic soup!

    #1009313
    d a
    Member

    dont put the fire on too high…

    #1009314
    mybat
    Member

    Okay! 🙂 thanx for the tip!

    #1009315
    d a
    Member

    let me know if it works

    The CR is addicting (even without tea or hot chocolate!)

    #1009319
    haifagirl
    Participant

    And don’t use a plastic cutting board. Wood is healthier. (As is usually the case, G-d made products are better than man-made.)

    #1009320
    Be Happy
    Participant

    I buy Kosher L’pessach cake and cookies for the children. I don’t use them on Pesach but it sure gives me peace of mind for the weeks before Pesach. I know that it is quite pricey.

    #1009321
    haifagirl
    Participant

    Just remember – dust and dirt are not chometz! Don’t make yourself crazy.

    #1009322
    boredstiff
    Participant

    i happened to like claening the house for peasach,but why not let the kids help out by cleaning their rooms- it will only be easeir for you to just go over it and make sure there’s no chometz after they already cleaned it.

    #1009323
    smartcookie
    Member

    Dust is not chametz and kids are not the korban pesach…

    Please clean the CHAMETZ from your house instead of spring cleaning. You can spring clean in the summer instead of going off to the catskills.

    #1009324
    smartcookie
    Member

    And BTW if anyone has a baby outfit that has yellow stains because the babys pamper leaked through(!), rub the stain with some plain dishwashing liquid soap and wash in machine. Works wonders and is safe.

    #1009325
    Rochelle
    Member

    Best tip: Ask someone to change your password to the CR.

    #1009326
    tomim tihye
    Member

    What we’re (supposed to be) doing now is called B’DIKAS CHOMETZ, not cleaning.

    #1009327
    boredstiff
    Participant

    rochelle- great idea!!

    smart cookie- why does having the kids help clean for pesach make them into the korban pesach?!?

    #1009328
    smartcookie
    Member

    Boredstiff- it’s a very sad joke. Some mothers make their kids into a korban while cleaning because the kids are constantly yelled at and pressured.

    #1009329
    boredstiff
    Participant

    I understand the joke, but why should the whole job be on the mothers, let the kids help out- not necessarily children, but teenagers. why does pesach cleaning have to be a presure? start ealier if it will become a pressure in your house!

    I happened to think the ppl who start chanuka time are going a little overboard! pesach is only for 1 week, why make it 5 months!!

    #1009330
    smartcookie
    Member

    Those pple do pesach cleaning AND spring cleaning.

    If we would do strictly chametz cleaning it should take abt 2 wks.

    But if people don’t mind cleaning their house since chanuka, then I definitely don’t mind…(As long as they don’t ask me to help!)

    #1009331
    boredstiff
    Participant

    I dont know abt you, but if i dont spring clean my house now, it wont get done another time!

    I have a neighbor who does strictly chometz cleaning- and they start on the night of bedikas chometz!

    #1009332
    smartcookie
    Member

    True, I also do spring cleaning. But THAT cannot be done on the expense of the kids. I only do whatever I have time for. The rest is strictly pesach cleaning.

    #1009333
    boredstiff
    Participant

    true enough, but as a kid growing up, me and my siblings loved cleaning for pesach, and we didnt feel pressured at all. we made it fun- till today, whenever i hear certain cd’s they remind me of pesach!

    #1009334
    mybat
    Member

    Really boredstiff? Used to HATE pesach cleaning when I was single, now I don’t mind it at all. I just organize myself and do a little every day. Oh and NO food upstairs, so that really is the best way!

    #1009335
    smartcookie
    Member

    Boredstiff, ur very lucky. I also never minded cleaning as a girl but some pple have very bad erev pesach memories.

    #1009336
    oomis
    Participant

    I love PEsach and always look forward to it. I do NOT get crazy with the cleaning. I don’t throw chometz on my walls and ceiling, and I do not eat in my closets. I clean out the chometz, put away the cometzdig items in a locked closet and sell it, change over the kitchen, kasher the stove and oven, and am ready to cook at least two days before yom tov (and I know people who are ready a week early, which to me is excessive).

    I did not grow up that way, btw. My parents’ house was not ready until the morning of erev Pesach. But I find this much easier for myself.

    #1009337
    mybat
    Member

    Oomis, my pesach cleaning system is also very different than my mothers house,

    #1009338
    boredstiff
    Participant

    i like having the upstairs done before purim-but this yr it didnt happen.

    #1009339
    bored123
    Participant

    re: the tip for stopping onions burning your eyes – if you wear contact lenses the lenses protect your eyes and i usually don’t feel a thing if i’m wearing contacts while cutting onions.

    #1009340
    d a
    Member

    bored, it doesn’t always work. I wear contacts. Either way, you can still use my method.

    #1009341
    boredstiff
    Participant

    I dont know if this works but i heard that looking at water running while cutting onions prevent the tears- someone try, and let us know if it works!

    #1009342
    bozo
    Participant

    does anyone know an easy way to cover cabinet shelves and the sides without sitting for hours taping silver foil or shelving paper on? thanks!

    #1009343
    oomis
    Participant

    I am told that a) wearing goggles wjo;e cutting onions, helps, and b) holding an unlit (of course) match in the mouth sulfur end out, also helps, as it absorbs the fumes. The best tip I know is getting someone ELSE to cut my onions (but I don’t).

    #1009344
    oomis
    Participant

    ” wjo;e”

    that SHOULD have read “while”

    #1009345
    d a
    Member

    anybody tried cutting onions on their stovetop Thursday or Friday?

    #1009346
    justvisiting
    Member

    that’s so interesting about the contacts, cuz i wear contacts and i never had a problem with teary eyes and onions. i guess thats why!

    #1009347
    philosopher
    Member

    I’m no baala busta & hate cleaning and cooking, but if I’m not organized I’m a nervous wreck.

    Shopping and mending or giving in to seamstress is the first thing I do with some cleaning on the side.

    Next comes the cleaning until a week before Pesach- it doesn’t matter where I’m up to-I stop doing whatever I’m in the middle of and concentrate on the kitchen only until 3 days before Pesach were I cover the counters and get the kitchen ready for Pesach use. 2 days before Pesach I cook a whole day and try to make doubles of everything and freeze. I dont make anything that requires frying- i hate making stuff that takes ages to cook and minutes to eat.

    Then I have a full day and another half a day Erev Yom Tov to finish cleaning.

    #1009348
    Hde
    Member

    cleaning is hard work but cooking why do people over do it by cooking weeks and weeks before its only 8 days and you can cook on yom tov as well…

    making a list of all you have to do is very effective (good feeling to cross it off list and see how it shrinks) so you know wher e you are holding.

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