Bring back burnt pans with vinegar, heat, and elbow grease. Read the full tutorial here. Shine up your copper-bottomed pans with vinegar and salt. Read the full tutorial here. You could also mix 1/4 cup white vinegar with 1 teaspoon of salt, then pour that onto the bottoms of your pans. And you can learn more about why this works from this science experiment. Clean between your oven’s window glass with a wire hanger, a rubber band, and a cleaning wipe. Read more about how to do this here. Scrub away the stains in your “stainless” steel sink with a Magic Eraser. This blogger tested several different techniques, and concluded that a Magic Eraser is the way to go. (The pot cleaner scratched the sink). Whiten your stained porcelain sink with dishwasher detergent and a sponge. Then scrub out any lingering stains with Bar Keeper’s Friend or another soft cleanser. Get rid of greasy kitchen dust by rubbing it with mineral oil. Vegetable oil will also work.
But if you do use vegetable oil, make sure to wash off all of the oil with warm water and dish soap after you wipe up the dust. Read more about cleaning sticky dust here. De-grime your stove vent filters by dipping them in boiling water with baking soda. Make sure you do this in a pan without a nonstick coating, because the metal vents would scratch it off. Learn more about how to do this here. Rub stains off your glass bakeware with Castile soap, baking soda, and a toothbrush. Read the full step-by-step here. Clean the cooked-on food off of your stove by covering it with baking soda and damp cloths. There will still be some scrubbing involved, but this will make it easier. And don’t turn on your stove while it’s covered in cloth, okay? Read the full tutorial here. Wipe off your faucet’s hard water stains by soaking them in dish soap, vinegar, and lemon juice. To make it extra effective, you can soak paper towels in the cleaning solution and wrap them around the faucet for half an hour.
Get the full how-to here. Clean the inside of your coffee pot by running vinegar through the brew cycle. It’s pretty simple, but you can read the detailed tutorial here. Vinegar also works to clean and de-scale the inside of your Keurig. Learn how to do this here. Soak off all the grime on your outdoor grill with a cup of ammonia and a garbage bag. Handle the ammonia with care, though, because it is toxic. Read the full how-to here. While you’re at it, add a few tablespoons of ammonia to a plastic bag to make your stove grates shine again. Just let it soak for a few hours or overnight, and even the greasiest grime will wipe right off. Read more about it here. Clean your iron with a scrub made from baking soda and water. You’ll need just a little bit of water to get the thick consistency you want from the paste. Wash smelly towels in vinegar and hot water and then baking soda and hot water to make them smell fresh again. Read more about the process here.
If your clothes come out of your washer still smelly, clean your washer with vinegar and hot water. Using (what else?) lots of white vinegar and hot water. Read the tutorial here. Clean a mildewed plastic shower curtain liner by running it through your washing machine with a few towels. Turn yellow pillows white again with laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, and bleach. If you’re planning to try this out, definitely read the tutorial first. This same technique works for yellowed mattress pads, too. Make water-stained night stands and side tables look new again with salt and olive oil. You’ll need just a small amount of olive oil to add to your salt, because you want a thick paste that you can rub onto the stains. Finally get rid of those old mystery carpet stains with an iron and vinegar. Your iron will need a steam setting for this to work. Remove sweat and urine stains from your mattresses with a mixture of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap.
This would also work for bloodstains. Here’s how to make the formula. Soak up oil stains from leather chairs and couches with baby powder. This would also work for leather purses and wallets. You just have to let the powder sit on the stain for a few hours. Disguise scratches in wood floors by dyeing them with black tea. Learn how to do this right here. Wash the dust and dirt off your high walls with some all-purpose cleaner and a flat-head mop. Read this incredibly simple tutorial here. After cleaning your glass shower doors, rub on some RainX to keep hard water stains away longer. Read more about this here. Turn your bathroom fan on, then spray it with canned air to thoroughly clean between the small openings. Kill mold growing in the caulk in your tub by soaking cotton coil in bleach, then laying it over the mold. You can buy cotton coil here or at most beauty supply stores. Wipe away the grime in your tub’s anti-slip coating by soaking it in vinegar and dish soap for an hour.
Here are the proportions to use. Use a pumice stone to scrub off hard water and rust stains in your toilet. Sometimes normal toilet cleaner and your typical toilet brush just don’t cut it. Here’s the full tutorial, and you can buy a pumice stone with a handle here. Scrub away rust stains in your bathroom sink with cream of tartar and lemon juice. This would also work on toilet stains. See how to make this work here. Want awesome DIY tips in your inbox four times a week? Sign up for the BuzzFeed DIY newsletter!Does anyone know how to remove pet urine stains from rugs? My poodle has made his "mark" on my off white area rug by urinating on it and I am having trouble getting rid of the stain. There are several organic products on the market that completely remove stains and odors. Urine is an organic material and "like dissolves like" that's why inorganic chemicals and perfumes never remove the stains and odors. There are many organic products advertised and sold at Pet Stores;
but the most effective one is called Spot Shot and it's available at Home Depot. I had a rental property that had many large "pet urine stains". When I followed the directions and a little scrubbing, you'd never know it was the same carpet. Your reader should try using peroxide and a little water on a sponge this will get rid of the odor and the stain! I have found that using spray window cleaner (i.e. Windex) works wonders for removing all kinds of stains from my carpet. (I have 2 cats and a 20 month old son!) Just spray to soak the stain completely, then blot with paper towel. You may need to use several towels. You may want to test a small area in the corner or someplace less noticeable first. Cleaning Up After Bad Dog photo from Shutterstock In response to Cathy D. concerning pet urine, I have found a good product called Incredible which will take the stain and odor of urine out of carpet. It is about $5.00 for a good sized bottle and since you only use a little, it will last a long time.
If you can not find this product a good alternative is diluted white vinegar. Use about 1/4 cup of vinegar to a quart of water. You may have to blot the area several times with this mixture to get rid of the odor and stain. I've had good luck removing dog urine from carpeting with detergent and my trusty Shop Vacuum. I've tried commercial cleaners, and have had little luck. I mix a tablespoon of Tide in very hot water and pour it onto the stain, with the Shop Vacuum already running and in place on the stain. This keeps the liquid from saturating the carpet and works pretty much like the rental steam cleaners do. Vacuum as much of the moisture as possible out of the carpet and ventilate the room well to dry. (I've tried cheaper brands of detergent for this, and Tide definitely works best.) She can try vinegar - it should lift the odor and it should be able to lift the stain. She could also try a raw potato for other stains ... A friend told me to take a raw potato - cut in half and rub into the stain ... beats heavy detergents.
I've found that toothpaste (ordinary daily-use toothpaste) gets out some tough stains...I had a white hat once that had an oil stain on it and a little toothpaste and warm water (with an old toothbrush) and the hat's as white as it ever was. We've got one dog and two cats who share our house, as well as numerous "foster dogs" who stay until they find a home, as we do volunteer work for a rescue group. We've had lots of experience with just this sort of problem. For the reader with a "marked" area rug--This is probably a salvagable situation, since the rug is white and it is an area rug, two very important things. Most of the "carpet stain removers" on the market don't work well at all for pets. I've found that the best formulas for removing urine are as follows: If the stain is fresh: first, some sort of blotting--a towel, powder or absorbent applied immediately (Nature's Miracle makes a granular product that works unbelievably well for this purpose. Don't use flour or powder, as you will have a mess.
I've heard diatomaceous earth works well for this, but have not tried it.) Next, a 50:50 mixture of good old vinegar and water, doused on and blotted, blotted, blotted up. Also, depending on the size of the rug, a simple run under the faucet or hose with plenty of water usually works quite well. If the stain is not fresh, there are several options. Laundry detergent designed for baby diapers (Dreft) is good to wash out urine if the rug is washable; if not, apply an enzymatic cleaner as mentioned below, and keep the dog away for a week or two (can be done with foil). Finally, a last resort for us (due to the cost) is Simple Solution Carpet Shampoo (NOT liquid or concentrate Simple Solution). This will emulsify the stain and make it blottable, wipeable, or extractable, as mentioned below. It got green poop out of our rug, a gift from a foster dog. Simple Solution Carpet, Nature's Miracle, etc are all $$$ if you get them at the pet store. However, from RC Steele, a catalog company, they are quite reasonable (maybe 40% cheaper), especially when you consider the investment you have in your carpet.
If you are fortunate enough to have access to a small, extractor-type carpet cleaner, these work unbelievable wonders for pet stains. We have used all of the above formulas on our wall-to-wall carpet in the extractor and have had success removing diarrhea, urine, throw-up, etc. from off-white carpet. Most products on the market are excellent for dog urine, but not cat urine. Vinegar and water seems to work best, followed closely by Simple Solution Carpet Shampoo, and then Dreft mixed with water, for cats. Finally, rubber-backed rugs sometimes attract animals to pee on them. I don't know why this is, but have found it to be generally true. Try a mixture of white vinegar mixed with water (about 50/50) and swab a small area and see if that will help lift the stain (and the odor). Always do a test patch! I had a wonderful,well trained dog, that never soiled the floors, but unfortunately after 3 years, he suddenly developed epilepsy. This caused him to soil the floors often.