Spring Cleaning product PICS?! - soaps, laundry, cleaners, etc.

[Living the Simple Life]

Ammonia and hot water are awesome cleaners. I just recently updated my kitchen (grandmother's house.....40 years since it was done.....scary). We pulled up the glued down foam back carpeting which was actually pulling up the carpet and leaving the foam behind. We used an big ice scraper (like you would use on the driveway) to scrape up most of the foam...and lots of areas of mystery spills..... There was basically all the glue left behind. I mopped small sections of the floor with hot, hot water with a good amount of ammonia dumped in. Let it set about 5 minutes and we were able to scrape the glue gunk right off. Once we were done, I mopped once more to get any residual glue. The original linoleum looked so good I almost regretted having bought the new flooring...I could have just waxed it and used it for another 40 years!

 

[hqueen13]

Wow, Simple Life, that is AWESOME! I guess because of the smell it is not a commonly used cleaner anymore. I've read a few things on making mixes that cut down on the smell, which could be really useful. I'm glad to add it to my list of supplies if it handles the grim a little bit better than vinegar in some cases.
I really also need to get in the habit of wearing gloves when I clean...

 

[ChickenPotPie]

Ammonia Attacks greese [converts greese to soap] Vinegar helps remove waterspots caused by minerals in your water. Vinegar and baking sode destroy each other but does fizz

Ahha... going to have to use Ammonia. Must remember to get some this weekend. A good soaking of the stove grates is much needed! They're so disgusting I didn't realize how disgusting they were until I started looking at them.

If vinegar and baking soda destroy each other but fizz, how does that help unclog my drains? I don't know what it does, but it does work to free up a drain. I put baking soda in it, pour vinegar in, and then as soon as it starts to settle, plug the drain to force it downward. It always helps open it up. Could it be the fact that the bubbles expand that opens the drain?

I soaked our stove top drip pans in water and herb vinegar for a while then scrubbed them with baking soda - they came out cleaner than other times I've cleaned them. The vinegar worked will on the greasy stove top, too.

 

[Marianne]

There was some post somewhere about putting the ammonia in a pan, then into the COLD oven along with all the grates, leaving it overnight. The next day wash all the racks and grates, most of the crud will come off.

I also remember that some will put racks and grates into a black trash bag, set it someplace safe and add a pan or dish of ammonia. Seal the bag, leave overnight, etc.

I can not abide the smell of ammonia. I don't want it in my house, certainly not in my oven. I'm kind of funny that way. I'd rather have the dirty grates and racks.

 

[Living the Simple Life]

There was some post somewhere about putting the ammonia in a pan, then into the COLD oven along with all the grates, leaving it overnight. The next day wash all the racks and grates, most of the crud will come off.

I also remember that some will put racks and grates into a black trash bag, set it someplace safe and add a pan or dish of ammonia. Seal the bag, leave overnight, etc.

I can not abide the smell of ammonia. I don't want it in my house, certainly not in my oven. I'm kind of funny that way. I'd rather have the dirty grates and racks.

Put your grates into a heavy black bag with some hot water mixed with Tide. Set it out in the sun and let it cook in the sun all afternoon. Most of the crud will just rinse right off.

 

[Marianne]

 

[hqueen13]

Well, I did it outside, and the ammonia was supposed to be "lemon" and it wasn't as bad as the old ammonia I remember as a kid for sure. Outside it was tolerable, and had the interesting side effect of catching flies.
I ended up soaking the grates for almost 24 hours. I did the first run, and was scrubbing them, and then we decided to go out to eat for dinner, and so then I emptied the pan and refilled it with fresh water and more ammonia and let it sit overnight to the next afternoon. It helped a lot, and most everything was able to scrub off fairly easily. Some parts were still pretty caked on. It had been years (I suspect...) since I last cleaned them, so they were pretty bad. It was the sort of thing that I didn't completely realize that they weren't supposed to be black...
They came out pretty good, now I only have to stay on top of it...
Now about that oven......

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

The rosemary/mint cleaner sounds wonderful! Thanks for posting that.

I was just reading that rosemary aroma actually helps us think better!

I want to try the citrus vinegar, too. Nice!

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

Moolie, how do you grate the bar soap? I've tried grating the pink Zote soap, which I love the smell of, but it is an odd consistency, even when melted.

 

[ChickenPotPie]

Quite by accident, I created a wonderful stain removal gel! I was lazily cleaning out my crockpot after making a test batch of soap. I put some water in the crock and forgot about it. Two days later......it was perfectly gelled. What kind of soap was I trying to clean up? Eucalyptus Mint w/lavender infusion - all three ingredients are known for their cleaning power.

I poured the Eucalyptus Mint Lavender stain remover into an old shampoo bottle.


Here is the soap I was cleaning up -


Daffodils, I don't know about Moolie but I use a regular cheese grater, mix it with dry ingredients, and pulse that mix in a blender 1 scant cup at a time to make very concentrated laundry powder for my front loading HE washing machine. It gets the soap shavings much finer consistency like the other ingredients. See?