Easy Cleaning Secrets

SHARING FROM "A TASTE OF HOME MAGAZINE"

To Clean Windows:
Inexpensively, take a small handful of cornstarch to 3 to 4 quarts of water. Wash the windows with this solution and dry with a paper towel. Works great! I cleans and dries them faster than anything else.

Here's a way to save money on cleaning supplies: Use a wet sponge with baking soda to scrub your kitchen sink, bathroom and even your tile floors. You get a nice shine!

To clean mini blinds or slats of shutters, use a clean paintbrush. It's a lot cheaper than buying expensive blind cleaning tools!

To clean bathroom drains of hair and kitchen drains of grease, pour 1 cup of baking soda into drain, then i cup of vinegar. When it starts to foam, flush the drain with hot water.

When washing windows pour a little vinegar into the pail of warm water. The glass will clean brighter and you won't have streaks.

To rid a room of tobacco odor, put a pint of hot water in a bowl and add 3 tablespoons of ammonia. Leave the bowl in the closed room overnight. The air out the room in the morning.

Use baking soda to polish the chrome fixtures in your bathroom. Put a small amount on a wet cloth, rub the fixtures and dry with a soft cloth. They'll look like new.

To wash shower curtains, fill your washer with warm water and add two large bath towels, 1/2 cup detergent and 1/2 cup baking soda. Run through an entire wash cycle. On the rinse cycle, add 1 cup vinegar.

Do Not spin-dry or wash out the vinegar. Hang curtains immediately. Wrinkles will disappear once the curtains are dry. Note: this won't work without the bath towels!

To remove a soil or grease spot from a nylon or wool rug, just apply cornstarch to the soiled area, rub with a nylon vegetable brush and sweep up with a vacuum.

Salt is great for removing fruit and wine stains from your tablecloth and napkins. Cover the stain immediately with salt; let stand a short time. Wash in cool water.

You can remove stains from the inside of your dishwasher inexpensively and without scrubbing if you use this hint. Just fill the soap dispenser with dry orange flavored breakfast drink mix and run the empty dishwasher through a cycle. The dishwasher will sparkle!

One of the oldest ideas for removing rust stains - and one that still works best - is to moisten the stain with lemon juice, cover it with salt and dry in the sun. Then wash as usual.

An uncorked bottle of lemon juice is an effective bathroom deodorizer. The lemon juice doesn't give off any odor of its own, and is a pleasant alternative to sweet-smelling commercial air fresheners.

To get onion aroma off your hands, simply wet them and gently rub in salt. Then rinse and wash with your usual soap - the smell will be gone.

I use an inexpensive paintbrush sprayed with furniture polish to dust model cars, picture frames and hard-to-get-at nooks and crannies.

Are You A Mom? What Do You Buy?

Are you a mom? What do you spend your money on? The big impact on the consumer market, is the buying power of moms, and this cannot be denied. Keep reading and see if we get it right, there is something you might learn about the way mothers are buying.

Moms with Young Children

When you have children the buying habits change. Even though moms secretly love to shop and get the cute clothing and gadgets for their babies, most of the buying is necessary. In fact, according to an Online Behavior and Demographics survey by Jupiter Media Metrix, over 40 percent of moms will buy items online that are on sale. These same items probably wouldn’t have been purchased in the store.

Adding children to the mix becomes a whole new arena of buying to think about. New moms are buying diapers, bottles, breast pumps and onesies, instead of buying fashionable shoes and clothing (which you can still squeeze in if you are a savvy shopper). Fashion has come to the small and sweet-smelling and moms are all for it. Why shouldn’t your baby be the best dressed on the playground in Old Navy and OshKosh B’Gosh?

Moms with babies and young children are new to the scene, they are curious to find out about new products before buying them. They get recommendations from other moms, or veteran moms, online or off line that influencing the buying power of moms with babies and young children.

Moms with Older Kids

This is where the buying habits gets interesting. Ten years ago the one thing moms knew that technology cost quite a bit of money and they made sure their money was well spent. They didn’t know how to shop for an iPod, a PDA or an Xbox.

Now the moms of older children are leaning the lingo. The moms are becoming knowledgeable about iPods, gaming systems, netbooks and other gadgets, they are shopping and purchasing now. Moms have found that using technology is just as fun as purchasing it for their kids.

Baby Boomer Moms

Life has come full circle for these moms. They are now taking care of aging parents. New issues take precedence in their life such as senior healthcare, coping with illness, reverse mortgages, assisted living and managing more than one household.

No more diaper or bicycle buying for these moms. They are now searching for specialized items to fit the needs of their parents while adjusting to life as empty nesters. Moms 45 and over are downsizing their homes and shopping for items related to their favorite hobbies, buying vacationing packages.

The buying habits of moms change and grow as their responsibilities do the same. If you a mom in any of these phases, we have tried to present an accurate picture of you. For young moms, you now know what is ahead of you.