This REALLY works

[ronnie_suburban]

When I am chopping Jalapeno peppers or any other kind of hot pepper I hold on to the pepper with my hand encased in a ziploc bag.  That way I never get any of the seeds or pepper juice on my skin (and later in my eyes).

I do the same thing when I'm handling chicken. I flip the bird around with the baggies. Slip my hand out of the bag when handling salt shakers, turning on oven etc. Works for me.

And Pariah, what’s that old joke? If blood stains are your problem, you’ve got more problems than laundry.

Lots of good tips here.

--therese

I flip the bird often too...not usually when I'm making chicken however

=R=

[denise_jer]

swiffer.

i've been meaning to get one of these things. for my wife.

It sounds sick, but I love them. I also love my Dyson vacuum, though, so I could be just nuts.

But I did call them. They do not make refills for the Swiffer Dusters at this time, but thanked me for my interest. Uh-huh...

[russ parsons]

2-gallon ziplocks rock. i use them to brine whole 8-pound pork shoulders. and to stuff with undies, socks, t-shirts, turtlenecks, etc., when packing.

[sparrowgrass]

I bought a Hoover Floor-Mate--kinda like a carpet shampooer/vacuum, but for vinyl and wood floors.

Little known but true fact - if you ever hope to refinish your hardwod flors every so many years by just buffing out the top surface and having a new topcoat put on... you should never clean them with anythign other than plain water or at most, some water with a few drops of liquid dishwashing detegergent in the bucket. Most cleaners will leave waxy residues in the interstices of the poly finish and recoating after a simple buff-out will result in orange peeling of the new finish. Murphy's Oil Sopa is the absolute worst offender (this is according to the guy who installed and finished my hardwod flors and he's been inthe business for many years). If you inherited hardwods in the house when you moved in, it's safe to assume that you'll need to sand in order to refinish. If you have new floors installed or existing oens refinished - heed the above. It's relatively cheap and easy to get a recoat every 5 - 7 years rather than a complete sanding.

Not a problem in my house. The floors are painted pine, original to the house--which makes them 132 years old . If I ever wanted to have wood colored floors, I would have to lay a new floor on top of the pine.

[Raynickben]

When I am chopping Jalapeno peppers or any other kind of hot pepper I hold on to the pepper with my hand encased in a ziploc bag.  That way I never get any of the seeds or pepper juice on my skin (and later in my eyes).

I do the same thing when I'm handling chicken. I flip the bird around with the baggies. Slip my hand out of the bag when handling salt shakers, turning on oven etc. Works for me.

And Pariah, what’s that old joke? If blood stains are your problem, you’ve got more problems than laundry.

Lots of good tips here.

--therese

I never thought about using the baggies for chicken! Excellent idea. I usually am washing my hands 8 or 9 times after touching chicken but needing to open the pantry, etc. Thanks!

[lamb]

Those new Mr. Clean eraser things really work.

I just received a free sample of it in the mail. I haven't had the chance to read the instructions yet. Should I assume that after "erasing" that you still need to wipe down/rinse the area that got "erased"?

Used these things recently and OH.MY.GOD.

They work!!!!

Several hallway walls were in pretty bad shape - voila - like new again!

No need to wipe down anything afterwards. Proctor & Gamble has a winner with these things.

My husband and kids thought I got a little out of hand. I did their sneakers too (while they were standing in the kitchen in them ).

[Anna N]

...Used these things recently and OH.MY.GOD.

They work!!!!

Several hallway walls were in pretty bad shape - voila - like new again!

No need to wipe down anything afterwards. Proctor & Gamble has a winner with these things.

My husband and kids thought I got a little out of hand. I did their sneakers too (while they were standing in the kitchen in them ).

They really are amazing. I may have to buy stock in this company! I have taken off stains on the white plastic of appliances (coffee maker, food processor, etc.) that I thought were permanent. I have cleaned aluminum and brightened up stainless with them...... who knows where it will end.

[Basilgirl]

swiffer.

i've been meaning to get one of these things.  for my wife. 

But I did call them. They do not make refills for the Swiffer Dusters at this time, but thanked me for my interest. Uh-huh...

Swiffer duster refills are on my shopping list. You mean you have to buy the whole shebang all over again?!

Other than that, they really do work. They almost make dusting fun.

[denise_jer]

Yep. But if they didn't work so well, I probably wouldn't bother. I buy multiple boxes when they are on sale. Maybe if enough of us complain!

[fifi]

I ordered some of the Orkas silicone gloves for my nephew since he is often handling big pieces of meat in hot places. They were back ordered and they just arrived today. I got a message on my cell phone... "These are the greatest kitchen condoms I have ever seen!"

[chezlamere]

i buy flats of skinless boneless chicken breasts and freeze them in sandwich ziplocks individually. I haven't seen those eraser things yet, but toothpaste works on crayon on walls and marking pens, and on too many things to mention. I usually just use a bread knife between the rim of the jar lip and the top of the jar. Just stick it in between and bend your wrist, and viola it pops the seal.

I wear white t-shirts to work and usually have to throw them out after a couple months because of underarm stains, drives me crazy does any one have a trick for this. I've tried everything It's amazing how many things i've slopped on them and always manage to get the stains out except the yellow under the arm, and don't tell me not to throw them in the dryer, because I hang to dry

[Random Alias]

Glisten

Really will clean your dishwasher. When we moved into our first house the dishwasher was covered with a nice even coat of brown nastiness --I guess deposits from the water. Tried everything on it, but only success was lots of elbow grease. Unfortunately dishwashers have lots of nooks and crannies that you just can't scrub, so even after hours of work it still pretty much looked like crap.

Month of two later noticed this product, bought it, put it in the dishwasher and ran it, clean as new. Lived in that house for 2.5 years, dishwasher never got grimy again after that single cleaning.

[fifi]

I wear white t-shirts to work and usually have to throw them out after a couple months because of underarm stains, drives me crazy does any one have a trick for this. I've tried everything It's amazing how many things i've slopped on them and always manage to get the stains out except the yellow under the arm, and don't tell me not to throw them in the dryer, because I hang to dry

My sister uses hydrogen peroxide on my nephew's under shirts. Seems to work. It is a lot cheaper than Oxyclean.

[MichaelB]

I wear white t-shirts to work and usually have to throw them out after a couple months because of underarm stains, drives me crazy does any one have a trick for this. I've tried everything It's amazing how many things i've slopped on them and always manage to get the stains out except the yellow under the arm, and don't tell me not to throw them in the dryer, because I hang to dry

Mine have never been so clean since my wife started soaking them for 12 hours before washing in a mixture of Oxiclean and Biz. I used to get rid of them before I wore them out. Last week, I had to retire three that were worn completely out!

[Callipygos]

I wear white t-shirts to work and usually have to throw them out after a couple months because of underarm stains, drives me crazy does any one have a trick for this. I've tried everything It's amazing how many things i've slopped on them and always manage to get the stains out except the yellow under the arm, and don't tell me not to throw them in the dryer, because I hang to dry.

Soaking them for a half-hour or so in really hot water spiked with white vinegar and a shot of Tide with Bleach.

Okay, yeah, so the fact that the Tide is in there is probably due to my obtaining this info from Tide's web site, but the vinegar aspect was independantly verified on a site about how to restore vintage clothing.

And speaking of bleach -- I hit upon a radical, but effective, solution for accidentally mixing bright colors with whites in your laundry. Once I was given the task of laundring all the costumes for a show I was working on, and accidentally put a bright red sock in with all the white costume pieces (apron, shirts, socks, handkerchiefs....) and turned the costumes a lovely fuschia color. I spent a panicked half-hour in the bathroom with a tub of boiling water and a jug of Clorox -- and fixed it all!

I'd consulted with the costume designer before, during, and after all of this, and we came to the conclusion that this probably wouldn't work on very delicate clothing pieces, but for fairly sturdy shirts and socks, it works well.

Edited January 7, 2004 by Callipygos (log)

[bleachboy]

I wear white t-shirts to work and usually have to throw them out after a couple months because of underarm stains, drives me crazy does any one have a trick for this. I've tried everything It's amazing how many things i've slopped on them and always manage to get the stains out except the yellow under the arm, and don't tell me not to throw them in the dryer, because I hang to dry

I soak mine in a bucket of full-strength white vinegar for several hours then wash 'em with bleach. Always works for me. Gets out ring-around-the-collar too.

[GG Mora]

Re: Mr. Clean erasers....

Used these things recently and OH.MY.GOD.

They work!!!!

Several hallway walls were in pretty bad shape - voila - like new again!

Hmmmm...do they work on kids' cave paintings? Seems my husband's kids all have the crayon gene & a mother that thought coloring on the ceiling was healthy. We could, of course, just paint.

Here's my helpful hint: next time something's cooked/burned onto a pot or pan, try scraping with a wooden spoon instead of any scrubber or metal utensil. I discovered this serendipitously when trying to gently remove a candymaking accident from a tin-lined copper pot. Now I go for the wooden spoon before anything else. It's a really nice way to treat Le Creuset.

Edited January 7, 2004 by GG Mora (log)

[lamb]

Re: Mr. Clean erasers....

Used these things recently and OH.MY.GOD.

They work!!!!

Several hallway walls were in pretty bad shape - voila - like new again!

Hmmmm...do they work on kids' cave paintings? Seems my husband's kids all have the crayon gene & a mother that thought coloring on the ceiling was healthy. We could, of course, just paint.

According to the package, crayon removal is their specialty!

My kids are teenagers and are past that crayon stage, but still have not gotten over touching walls as they pass stage.

I can't recommend these pads enough. I'm thinking of trying them next on the couch that my cat calls his bed. Will let you know how that goes.

[KarenS]

As a pastry person who chooses to wash her own jackets (the commercial laundry soap irritates my skin). I must say Tide with Bleach is the detergent of choice. It gets out chocolate, raspberry, strawberry, red wine etc... My assistant uses it too! (and we just recently discovered that). I also like those new clorox pens for cleaning tile grout, and the occasional "spot" on a white shirt. If you have louvered windows (lots in Hawaii). The new windex sheets are great, just wipe and no spraying.

[Kim WB]

I bought a Hoover Floor-Mate--kinda like a carpet shampooer/vacuum, but for vinyl and wood floors.

Little known but true fact - if you ever hope to refinish your hardwod flors every so many years by just buffing out the top surface and having a new topcoat put on... you should never clean them with anythign other than plain water or at most, some water with a few drops of liquid dishwashing detegergent in the bucket. Most cleaners will leave waxy residues in the interstices of the poly finish and recoating after a simple buff-out will result in orange peeling of the new finish. Murphy's Oil Sopa is the absolute worst offender (this is according to the guy who installed and finished my hardwod flors and he's been inthe business for many years). If you inherited hardwods in the house when you moved in, it's safe to assume that you'll need to sand in order to refinish. If you have new floors installed or existing oens refinished - heed the above. It's relatively cheap and easy to get a recoat every 5 - 7 years rather than a complete sanding.

interesting thread..note to readers: this applies to REAl hardwood floors...most likely if you live in newer construction its simulated or sealed wood, so any task specific product will work. And don't forget Murphy's oil soup for the real pine and walnut floors( circa 1960-85 east coast, pre 1980 central region...I don't know west coast or southern stats) ..I'm a real estate agent and work with cleaning companies to get homes ready for sale...Murphy's can really make a difference!

Swiffers are great..2 teen boys, its the only thing that makes my baths not turn into Grand Central... I did the cheerio training in the toilet, but aiming continues to be a problem.

Press and Seal is great, on clean dishes. I had a mishap on a bowl of duck broth...the floor still has a certain slickness from it!

Ziplocs rule in any capacity...I have my medicine chest filed with them, labeled "cold and sinus", Pain relief, tooth/mouth. cuts/scrapes and antibiotic ointments, bandaids and bandages, Eye/ear/misc..and " heartburn/indigestion. My kids are responsible enough ( and old enough) to self medicate, but even to an experienced person, a medicine chest can be overwhelming. Plus, I can mark on the bags when I last did a purge...I use ziplocs for spices too...I only believe in having a small frequently used spice rack...the rest are sealed, dated and in a big 5 gallon rubbermaid container in the pantry. ?Rubbermaid and ziploc..perfect together.

I like the Saran disposable cutting sheets..for chix, hens, poultry. I plop one on top of a wood cutting board, and don't need to worry about contamination...I don't like plastic boards. Easy clean up, too.

I also like my reynolds easy sheets..little baked potatoe sized wraps, single dispensed...I like to make the kids breakfast sands, and most days I can do it a la minute...but if not, I like to make a sand and wrap it,, ready for the bus stop.

And, I dont' use them at home becasue I have a differnt system for wood in the house...but my car has a wood'like dash, and I use those Pledge orange dust sheets to clean off the dust tha accumulates. I need an extremely clean car bcause of business, and this might be over the top, but for those that want a dust free car, it works.

Also, my big cooking hint is bottled Ceaser dressing, with really good fresh grated cheese...um....no one knows the difference!

wait...replace your boudoir bulbs with pink ones..OH SORRY...different set of suggestions!

[chezcherie]

Murphy's oil soup

hee hee--care to post a recipe?

[Kim WB]

ok. e gullet spellink queen..Murphy's Oil Soap. SoA p.

Recipe for dirty floors:

Go to nearest super Food Mart. Buy Murphy's. Add to bucket, have very hot water and clean mop. Mop. rinse. mop again. Voila.

Edited January 8, 2004 by Kim WB (log)

[fifi]

I just saw this on TV so it must be time for bed.

The Egg-Stractor!

I can't find the thread on the late night TV ads but I just had to share this one. Does anyone know if it really works?

[Anna N]

I just saw this on TV so it must be time for bed.

The Egg-Stractor!

I can't find the thread on the late night TV ads but I just had to share this one. Does anyone know if it really works?

Pretty hysterical but I got a bigger laugh out of their recipe for hard-boiled eggs. How much do you reckon a "breeze" of salt might be?

[fifi]

I totally missed the recipes. On the ad, "if you call right now" they will include this klutzy egg slicer "A $10 VALUE!". A $10 egg slicer??? I'll bet it really works.