Cleaning hints

[madisonbtb]

Originally Posted by redforever

Geez, what are you doing? you must be letting things boil over and letting them bake on. First and foremost, if something does spill over, clean it immediately before it does bake on.

I have an induction unit, glass ceramic top, does not work the same way as radiant cooktops with ceramic tops though. Anyhow, I RARELY ever have to use anything other than a hot wet dishcloth that is sudsy with soap but if you do want a cleaner, this is what came with mine. In the year that I have had my cooktop, I have only used it twice, and both times, a wee little drop that I gently rubbed with a cloth to remove the spot that I could not remove with normal cleaning.

It is called simply Glass Cook Top Cleaner by Weiman, it is supposed to be the original cooktop cleaner, in a white plastic bottle, about the size of the Jet Dry stuff for dishwashers.

Anyhow, with any cooktop unit, foresight is easier to take care of than hindsight. Wipe spills, splashes and splatters immediately with warm or hot cloth that is sudsy, helps cut the grease and grime. By sudsy, I mean normal dish detergent that you would use to handwash dishes, like Joy, Palmolive, whatever.

I always do this to clean my current or past cooktops. First , warm sudsy dishcloth, not wrung out good, quite a bit of water in it. Let soak a minute or two. Now rinse the dishcloth out and wring dry, wipe off sudsy stuff. Repeat if necessary. Now to finish off for a nice shine, rinse that dishcloth thoroughly in hot water to remove all soap, wring out as much water as you can and wipe the cleaned cooktop down, once or twice, depending on how much grease or grime was previously on there.

Here is the easiest hint to stop things like pasta, potatoes etc from boiling over. Add a teaspoon of butter or oil to the water. Butter works better, but oil is not bad. And once things come to a boil, turn them down immediately. Most things only require top heat to bring to a boil, then you can turn down the heat and cook at some other desired setting.

http://www.drillspot.com/products/30...ok-Top-Cleaner

martha?

j/k -- this have all been great suggestions. i will give them my wife-approved seal.
i will tell you -- besides duct tape, magic erasers, vinegar and listerine are the best products ever invented. vinager and newspaper works better than any store bought stuff (w/ the exception of invisible window which actually works amazingly well). a bowl of vinager in your car overnight will also remove any odors in it (just don't spill it). vinegar, a little baking soda and a smidge of dish liquid removed burnt items on pans if you put them on the burner for a couple of minutes. listerine works great for removing product buildup on hair. i'm sure i could come up with a ton more if you so desire. my family is to listerine as big fat greek wedding was to windex. my dad would strip floors with it, clean linoleum, showers, wash his hair with it.

[redforever]

Some other products that I swear by, but dont have to use all that often. I really do not use much cleaner at all, have only the very basics, but keep a few special things for special jobs.

GONZO, for stain removal, also a product under this same name to not only remove pet stains but their odor as well. I had guests over around 3 years ago, and one of the gentlemen spilled a full glass of red wine and at that time we still had carpet. It was all over the chair he was sitting on which is covered in cloth, and the remainder went on himself and the carpet, the majority ending up on the carpet, which was a medium green in color. Anyhow, I first just went with a dry towel to absorb as much of the wine on the surface and then followed the directions on Gonzo for the rest. It worked like a charm, seriously, I thought I would have to get in rug cleaners, but no, it all came out with Gonzo.

I also like a product called Goo be Gone. It gets rid of the glue left by labels that they put on say glasses you buy, cookware, that kind of thing. With a lot of those darned price labels, the top paper and some of the glue comes off but the rest of that tacky glue remains. I just put on a few drops of Goo be Gone and rub with a paper towel and it is gone.

Gonzo and Goo be Gone are both available at Linens n Things.

And I like a product called Kleen Air which I buy at Reliable Parts in Calgary. My son was cooking once and the heat was too high and a lot of smoke went down my downdraft and I could smell it every time I used it. So I was told to buy this product, I soaked an old washcloth with it, put it in a plastic bag so it would not drip all over but left the top of the bag open, and then suspended bag and cloth in my downdraft unit and ran it an hour or two and the odor was completely gone. Quite often I do the same thing in the cabinet under my kitchen sink, but let the bag with the cloth and solution just sit there, and it keeps things nice and fresh.

https://www.gonzocorp.com/homeprod.htm (first item down the right side)

http://www.boscovs.com/StoreFrontWeb...0&type=Product

http://www.drugstore.com/products/pr..._stain_remover

http://buyitnow64.stores.yahoo.net/suklde.html

[redforever]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Man I caught hell for spilling my famous spaghetti sauce on the cooktop and trying to clean it with a wet dish rag last night. How dare I!

Well, kudos to you for at least addressing the situation!!! But me suspects that your wife was not a happy camper because you used the dish cloth and now it is all stained, right?

Anyhow gentlemen, women have like more than one kind of cleaning rag, yeah, the dishcloth is not one rag cleans all)))

Here is what I do and I tell my family this. In an emergency, just use whatever is immediately on hand and do the cleaning, dishcloth, paper towels, whatever if in an emergency. Otherwise, I have a plastic bucket under my kitchen sink and in it I keep old washcloths, hand towels etc. They are clean of course, just no longer suitable for bathing etc. And those are the cloths that are used for other cleaning jobs. And it does not matter if these types of cloths get stains on them. And once you have used the cloth to do the cleaning, we now walk to the laundry room and deposit said dirty cleaning cloth in the washing machine. So like gentlemen, we do not use the dishcloth to wipe muck off the floors. Like it is not too kosher to use a cloth that has just cleaned the floors to now clean our cooking surfaces, got it?

Anyhow, works in my house and remember, if mom or wife is happy, everyone is happy!!!

[HelloHockeyFans]

I clean often and because of this, usually ends up taking me less than 30 minutes to do the washroom and kitchen. Do it once a week, clean up spills immediately when they happen and wipe everything down once a day and it makes the actual chore of cleaning simple and easy without excessive scrubbing, etc.

Also, for toilet cleaning, I use this plastic rod thingy with disposable pads. I think it's made by Lysol? Any how, you put the pad in, snap the clamp over it and clean the inside of your bowl. Perfect for people like me who absolutely will not let my hands get near any toilet bowl.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by ken0042

For scuff marks and stuff, get a Mr Clean Magic Eraser. When I moved into my house the old people had left the walls in bad shape. My sister told me to buy some erasers, saying "if they showed on TV how well it really works, nobody would buy them because nobody would believe them." Wow, was she right.

i have permanent streaks on a couple walls now because those things worked TOO well, ended up taking some paint off. be careful where you use them

[Barnes]

If you spill white wine, use red wine to clean it up.

If you have greasy hands from working on your car, use powder dish detrergent to get them clean. And for god's sake, don't use the good towels.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Barnes

If you spill white wine, use red wine to clean it up.

If you have greasy hands from working on your car, use powder dish detrergent to get them clean. And for god's sake, don't use the good towels.

Somebody has been taking lessons, haven't they))

[Bill Bumface]

So for someone that leaves there shower a little long between cleanings, are there any products that are actually "scrub free" (not like Scrub Free... it's a workout getting it clean with that stuff).

[Flashpoint]

I have a maid.

Life's too short for cleaning.

[Shawnski]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Be aware that those Magic Erasers have formaldehyde in them.

No, no they do not.

Another urban legend.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by Shawnski

No, no they do not.

Another urban legend.

Thanks for that Shawnski. That's excellent news because those suckers really work.

[The Bug]

Leave the cleaning to Harvey Keitel.

[Mccree]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

I have a maid.

Life's too short for cleaning.

So true. We use a maid too.

Tennis balls work well to remove scuff marks off floors

[redforever]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

So for someone that leaves there shower a little long between cleanings, are there any products that are actually "scrub free" (not like Scrub Free... it's a workout getting it clean with that stuff).

There sure is and it is called TILEX. I use it religiously. Now it sounds like your shower might be just a tad dirty? So clean thoroughly first, rinse well, wipe down and let it dry well. Here is what else I would do before you start using your shower again. Get some kind of silicone sealant, stuff that you can use on granite countertops, marble countertops etc. Give it a liberal coating. Let it sit around 10 minutes and then wipe down thoroughly and let dry overnight. Now you have a protective sealant that will help repel future gunk.

So now that your shower is spic and span, you can bathe normally. As soon as you get out of the shower, spray it down with Tilex. Voila, that is all there is to it. Tilex is the only product I have found that you spray on when wet and that is it. Most other products, you have to spray on, leave for a bit and then rinse down, but not with Tilex. It is as simple as can be, spray down when wet, that is it.

It comes in a pump spray container and you can get refills too. I think the refill bottles are around 2 L capacity. It is available at most grocery stores, at least that is where I buy mine.

http://www.tilex.com/

The one for showers is the farthest to the right, in the clear bottle.

[Biff]

I have only two "amazing cleaning power" products.

For Stainless steel cookware (especially higher end stuff like All-Clad), the recommended Barkeeper's Friend works really really well. It's a "safe" abrasive powder that has, apparently, enough grit to clean but not so much that it hurts the pans.

For carpet spills and stains, ZEP makes an aerosol carpet cleaner that, literally, eats stains immediately. It's actually freaky to use. Identify a spot, spray with ZEP, spot vanishes instantly.

These are the only two cleaning activities I'll actually deliberately make time to use.

[Shawnski]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Thanks for that Shawnski. That's excellent news because those suckers really work.

Quite welcome Ford.

[Ironhorse]

Like all parents, eventually there comes a time when your 1 year old discovers a blue ballpoint pen and goes "Van Gogh" on your light tan coloured, microfibre couch.

We were able to totally clean it up with spritz (non-aerosol) hairspray and some light rubbing, followed with a damp cloth.

[Azure]

Use vinegar and detergent 50/50 mix to clean the bathroom.

You'll have everything shining like chrome on a nice day.

[Dr GonZo]

Originally Posted by The Bug

Leave the cleaning to Harvey Keitel.

"Pretty please... with sugar on top. Clean the f-ing car."

I love the newspaper mirror hint. I go mental with all the fluffiness when trying to dry them off. I love clean mirrors, they're so, crystal clear, like looking into a new room.

[red sky]

Anyone try one of these automatic shower cleaning sprays? Any opinions on these:

http://www.amazon.com/Scrubbing-Bubb.../dp/B000FGE24O