Main > Household > Cleaning
Mildew: Keep ahead of mildew so it doesn't become a problem. Every six months spray your bathroom ceiling with a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water. Peroxide is a safe bleach and won't harm the environment or your lungs. Find larger quantities of peroxide at beauty or medical supply stores. Spray the mixture on and leave it. No need to rinse or scrub. If you currently have mildew, follow the above directions. Wait two hours and respray. Then wait 24 hours and spray a third time if necessary.
[guest]
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Main > Household > Power-saving
Hot drinks for one: If you are usually boiling a kettle only for one person, then get a really small kettle. It is wasteful to boil the extra water unnecessarily. Another solution is to fill a vacuum flask with boiling water and use that for your hot drinks throughout the day.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Carpets
Cat Vomit: Let it dry before attempting to clean. Then use carpet cleaner or soap & water.
sdw (11)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish
It's better not to release ornamental fish into native fishes' habitats, or keep wild fish in aquariums.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish
Water: freshwater fish won't cope with the chlorine in treated town-water.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish > Feeding
Feed the fish what they can eat in a few minutes, no more. Do this no more than twice a day. They are healthier thinner than fat.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish > Adding fish
Snails eat organic matter including dead fish, fish excrement, and algae. Also, they breed quickly, have all kinds of interesting shapes and colours, and can be very tiny.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish > Plants
Anchor rooted plants to a stone, and cover roots with fine clean gravel.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish
Gravel: lay a few centimetres of gravel on the aquarium floor, to provide more surface and grip for algae to grow on, which fish can graze on.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish
Vacations: better to feed fish a little regularly than a big amount rarely. So on vacations of up to a week, use a 'holiday' food-block that breaks down slowly. For longer holidays, use a mechanical feeder (including a patient, informed friend).
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish > Adding fish
Ground-feeders: You needn't feed daily the ground-feeders, like Corydoras (catfish). A stable aquarium environment with 'biological filters' (bacteria), plants, algae, and driftwood, will have sufficient food to keep them busy.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish
Use a microscope to examine the rinsed sediment of your aquarium. Compare it to a sample of rinsed mud from a healthy river. You may be surprised.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Toilets
Brown stains that are hard to remove may be iron oxide (rust), either from the water itself, or your fittings. This can be removed using rust remover solution (ask your hardware store).
[guest]
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Toilets
Pumice stone: Be very careful if you use a pumice stone. If you remove the shiny enamel you will make the problem even worse. Scratched or scored porcelain will become stained even faster. As a last resort, using a pumice stone might work right in the very bottom of the toilet, below the the water level. If you use a pumice stone, make sure to keep it wet to reduce the scratching.
[guest]
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Toilets
Avoidance of stains in the first place is the best solution. Frequent cleaning keeps the surface shiny and smooth, which naturally prevents build-up of dirt.
[guest]
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Main > Household > Cleaning
Sleeping bags: Pretreat spots and stains on the bag cover with liquid detergent. Wash down-filled sleeping bags in cool water with mild detergent. Wash polyester-filled sleeping bags in warm water with an all-purpose detergent. If your sleeping bag can be machine-dried, tumble it with a clean, dry tennis ball to prevent matting and a clean, dry bath towel to absorb excess moisture. If you line-dry the sleeping bag, unzip it before drying.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Cleaning
Blankets: Vacuum blankets occasionally to remove dust and lint. Air blankets on a clothesline periodically to freshen them. Before you wash a blanket, mend or replace bindings and treat spots and stains. Electric blankets should always be washed, not dry-cleaned, since cleaning solvents can damage the wiring. Mothproofing is harmful to the wiring, too.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Furniture
King size: If you share a bed with someone else, only a King-size bed will give each person as much space as a person who sleeps in a single bed.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Furniture
Hard bed: Don't think that a very firm bed is better for your back because it will keep your back straighter. It just means that you will be turning over more often to prevent loss of circulation.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Manchester > Bed ware
Thread count: The higher the thread count ("tc") of sheets and covers, the better the quality of the material. The softer they will be, and the more durable. The thread count of "standard" cotton or muslin is around 150. Good sheets have a thread count of at least 180. Sheets that have a thread count of 200 or better are called "percale". The most expensive sheets have a thread count of 1000 or more, but some high thread count materials are actually composed of a much lower number of 4-ply yarns, and so a 1000 tc sheet may really be only 250, and may be of even lesser quality than 180 tc material due to the use of poorer materials. Sheets that use plys are generally using short, low-quality fibres.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Manchester > Towels
Linen towels are more expensive but are more moisture absorbent, and dry faster than the more common terri-towels, which can become a little mouldy due to their slower drying.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Bedding
Cycle your sheets: If you have more than one set of sheets, and cycle them, your sheets will last longer, as this will allow time for the fibres to recover while the sheets are not in use.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Bedding
Washing sheets: Use a minimum of chemicals. Do not dry-clean. Wash with mild detergent and luke warm water. Do not use fragrances or softeners. Front-loading washing machines do less damage to the fabric than top-loaders with agitators. Line drying does less damage to fabrics than tumble-drying. Line drying in the sun will fade colours more than line drying in the shade. If you do tumble dry, don't dry the sheets till they're bone dry and hot, since this will damage the fibres.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Clothes
Tumble drying: If you tumble dry clothes till they are bone dry and hot, you will damage the fibres of the fabric.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Household > Manchester > Bed ware
Cotton content: The higher the cotton content of your sheets, the softer they will be. "Egyptian cotton" is generally regarded as the best for bedding linen, but you can also find low quality Egyptian cotton. Sheets that are 100% cotton will be softest but will also be the most wrinkly after they have been dried.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Manchester > Bed ware
Silk sheets can keep you warm in cold weather, whereas cotton can keep you cool.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Manchester > Bed ware
Touch and feel is really the best way to judge a sheet. Buying online or via a catalog means that you are effectively buying blind.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Power-saving
A mains power meter, which is not very expensive, can plug into a wall socket and tell you how much power your appliances are using — even when they are turned off. Once you know which appliances are draining the most power you will be better informed about whether to switch them off at the wall, or upgrade them.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Power-saving > Appliances
CRT monitors and televisions use less power if you turn down the brightness.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Power-saving > Space heating
Wearing a bulky parka indoors might make you look and feel like a Michelin man, but you'll be warmer and wealthier. If it bothers you merely to look fat, then you need new friends.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Power-saving > Space heating
An old-fashioned way of heating your bedroom is to sleep in a four-poster bed with heavy curtains and ceiling material, or in a large enclosed box.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Power-saving > Space heating
If your lifestyle is sedentary, your body heat will be lower from slower blood circulation. Consider using a ceiled cubicle, to heat you more efficiently. Also, move about more often.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Clothes
Smelly clothes: In order to remove that biological smell from a robe, sleep clothes, or anything else that might have been worn enough before being washed that the wash does not remove the smell, dampen the entire object with an enzyme cleaner intended to remove pet stains and odor.
ElizabethI (6)
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Main > Household > Cleaning
Blood: Prevent blood from staining by first rinsing with cool water (or rinsing and blotting if on carpet or furniture) to remove the majority of the blood, then remove the remainder with hydrogen peroxide.
Be aware that hydrogen peroxide, especially in sunlight, can fade material, so this is not recommended for black material (which doesn't show blood stains anyway) and if this must be done on carpet or something that must stay in the sunlight, , dry well with a towel and leave covered with a plate or bowl until nightfall, then remove the plate/bowl to allow further drying.
ElizabethI (6)
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Main > Household > Power-saving > Appliances
In hot climates, use ceiling fans instead of an air conditioner. Or if you have to use air conditioning, have it in just in the room where you spend most of your time, instead of a central air conditioner which cools the entire building.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Power-saving > Appliances
Split System Airconditioners with Inverters: Although an installed pair of these units will set you back quite a deal of money, they have many advantages. Used with roof insulation, you can run them on the most economical setting and still have effective cooling and heating (otherwise you pay a lot more on your quarterly electricity bill). Also, for summer, you save on cold water (when you buy spring water), ceiling fan power usage, greater fridge usage, more lukewarm showers to cool down and more washing machine usage due to sweaty clothes. Also you don't have to get out of the house (i.e. drive and spend money outside the house) so much because its cooler inside than out. In winter you eat less and have less hot showers because the heating prevents your core temperature from dropping.
The benefit of inverters is that they are quiet enough to have in units without disturbing neighbouring tennants, and their power usage is far less than standard spilt systems.
Look on eBay for licenced split system installers and you can save huge amounts on installation.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Recycling & wastes
Spare plastic bags:- Use plastic bags as bin-liners.
- Scrunch them up and use them as padding in packaging.
- Use them as 'doggy doo bags' when out walking your dog.
- Use them when travelling to separate wet or dirty clothes from dry or clean clothes.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Recycling & wastes
Paper:- Discarded A4-sized paper can be cut and stapled together to make notepads.
- Old envelopes you receive in the mail can be used a second time by placing a new address label over the last address. Old envelopes can also be used for scribbling down shopping lists, to-do lists, and notes.
- To fill in a rainy day, get a paper recycling kit and get the kids to rip up old used paper to make recycled paper.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Recycling & wastes
Seedling containers: the following waste items can be modified and used for planting seedlings:- Egg cartons
- Tetra-pak cartons
- Plastic bottles
- Plastic containers for cherry tomatoes
- Old boots and shoes
- Plastic containers for takeaways
- The cardboard centres from toilet rolls
- Plastic icecream containers.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Cleaning > Clothes
Yellow armpits on clothes: Quit using deodorant with aluminum. Not only does deodorant with aluminum mix with some people's body chemistry in such a way to cause yellow armpits on their clothes, but the aluminum may seep into your skin and contribute to Alzheimers.
As for those stains that are already there, they are not coming out.
ElizabethI (6)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish > Feeding
Save money by getting one type of food for both ground-feeding and top-feeding fish. The former will happily eat fallen flakes from the surface, but top-feeding fish are less ready to forage into crevices for pellets
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish
Quarantine: If adding new fish to an established colony of fish, quarantine the new ones in a small, clean, spare tank to watch for disease.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish
Breeding: Some fish eat their eggs. Use a breeding tank, then remove the adults.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish > Plants
Choose living plants to provide food and oxygen for the fish.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Pets > Fish > Feeding
Feeding: have a regular daily time to feed the fish.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Household > Maintenance & repair > Furniture
General care:- Keep furniture out of direct sunlight.
- Place furniture away from heating and air conditioning vents.
- Blot up spills immediately.
- Use coasters, placemats and tablecloths to protect furniture during use.
- Rotate accessories on your furniture periodically.
- Dust your furniture regularly and polish every 4-6 months.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Maintenance & repair > Furniture
Color rings left on tables by cups and glasses can sometimes be removed by roughing slightly with an abrasive pad or paper and then rubbing with cigarette ashes mixed with cooking oil.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Furniture
Mattresses: - The greater the number of coils, the better the mattress.
- For the bed to be "right", it should yield enough for you to sink into it slightly, but not too much.
- A mattress should be an innerspring at least nine inches thick. Don't buy budget when you're buying a mattress. A good mattress will last you 10 to 15 years and will end up costing only pennies a night even at the high-end prices.
- Rotating every few weeks will help to keep from making a body indent in the mattress. Rotate the box spring base as well from time to time.
- If your mattress smells of mould, or is sagging too much, you probably need a new mattress
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Maintenance & repair > Furniture
Make furniture polish by mixing lemon oil with 3 parts olive oil.
thesource (378)
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Main > Household > Cleaning
Keep water bottles fresh: In order to eliminate or prevent that swampy taste in reused water bottles, sanitize them by spraying white vinegar on the opening and swishing some white vinegar all around the inside of the bottle. Leave it to sit with the lid on, then rinse.
ElizabethI (6)
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