Bleach is a strong cleanser that, when used properly, can be a safe and effective option for sanitizing various objects and surfaces in your kitchen, in the laundry and around your house. “But it’s not an all-purpose cleaner,” says Nancy Boc, senior vice president of education at the American Cleaning Institute.
Here are five things you should never clean or do with bleach:
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I hosted a small party for my daughter’s birthday last weekend. After making sure the cake was baked and the decorations were hung on the wall, I felt pressed to deep clean. Not just pick up stuff, but dust baseboards and thoroughly mop the floors and shine the stainless appliances and wipe down every bathroom afresh. I didn’t want the parents dropping off their kids to think I was a slob.
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It seems straightforward, but laundry comes comes with a learning curve. If you’ve ever shrunk a top in the dryer or discovered detergent residue on your favorite jeans, you know what we mean. So, what’s the deal with laundry detergent stains? We consulted with Laura Goodman, a P&G fabric care scientist, to demystify your detergent woes.
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Most of my housekeeping habits come from my German mother. She is the queen of clean and the reason my home is mostly spick-and-span. (Although it will never be as tidy as hers, ever.) Still, I have to give credit where credit is due: My favorite trick for ridding rugs of dirt, dog hair, and whatever else ends up embedded in my treasured carpets comes from my dad (who is Irish and English, if that matters).
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Even if you ignore the pull to reevaluate your past year and make lofty promises to yourself for the year to come, you probably can’t help but feel a bit of a fresh-slate feeling with the recent turn of the calendar page.
You know what stays the same year after year, though? Your household chores. But they don’t have to.
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You know how weightlifters and gymnasts use chalk powder to keep their sweaty hands dry? The same principle carries over with all kinds of grease (dry shampoo, anyone?). Next time you find yourself with an oil splatter or greasy stain on your favorite top, trade in your stain stick and try pre-treating with a little chalk instead. Like baby powder, chalk is ultra-absorbent, making it a must-have to keep on hand for bacon grease splatters and lipstick marks alike.
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Being an adult means tackling things we’d rather not do, and that is especially true when it comes to certain household chores. According to a new survey compiled by the American Cleaning Institute, over half of Americans rank this task their most hated out of all of them—do you agree?
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Raise your hand if you have a household chore that you just love to do. Even if you hate cleaning, you probably have your hand in the air. There’s always something. I love, love, love using the Shop-Vac. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch it cut a swathe through dust and dirt, swooshing everything up into its roaring nozzle. I can Shop-Vac all day long, and I always claim the job when we’re doing a big project. I even picked one out as a Valentine’s Day present once. (I know.)
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If you don’t have the luxury of dishwasher in your home, you know how quickly dishes can pile up and wreak havoc on your kitchen. Even if you have a fail-proof system for conquering your your tower of plates and coffee mugs, hand washing your dishes eats up extra time and energy—and then there’s the mental gymnastics of wondering if, after all that effort, any of your dishes are actually clean.
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One extremely valuable feature of Amazon—one that takes some of the uncertainty out of buying many things sight-unseen—is the power of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of user reviews.
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