50+ Lifestyles

Baking Soda

The name implies it is for baking, but it can do so much more.

• Mix some baking soda with some vegetable oil to make a paste that can bring new life back to furniture. This paste along with some elbow grease will remove water marks from table tops, scuff marks on wood floors, slight scratches on dressers.

• Keep your shower clean and fresh with baking soda. On a wet cloth sprinkle some baking soda and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Mix well on the cloth to create a lather. Then scrub the shower walls. Rinse. For shower floors sprinkle the baking soda on floor, then squirt the dishwashing soap on the floor. Scrub with the cloth then rinse.

• Keep the drains free flowing and smelling fresh. Run hot water through the drain then put 1/2 a cup of baking soda in drain. Let sit for 15 minutes, then flush with hot water.

• Baking soda can also be used as a laundry booster. Add about 1/2 a cup of baking soda with your detergent (and you can use less detergent)

• Clean your glass coffee carafes with a tablespoon or two of baking soda put in the bottom of the carafe and then add some ice chips or crushed ice. Swirl around the carafe. The ice acts as an abrasive. You’ll be surprised at how the melting ice/baking soda combo will turn an amber color as it cleans the pot. Rinse thoroughly.

• Baking soda can neutralize the unpleasant smell in garbage and trash cans. As waste accumulates, sprinkle the soda between the layers to control the smells.

• Deoderize your freezer. Remove the top from a small box of baking soda. Place in your freezer to absorb the odors. Replace about every three months.

White Distilled Vinegar

Are you overwhelmed in the cleaning aisle at the grocery store? So many choices of various cleaners – and at really high prices. Plain white vinegar will do just about everything these other cleaners claim to do.

• Wipe down the inside of your refrigerator with a dampened cloth of cleaning solution of equal parts of water and vinegar.

• Spray kitchen counters with the solution then wipe with a warm wet rag. HOWEVER, DO NOT USE ON GRANITE OR MARBLE COUNTERTOPS.

• Cutting boards can be cleaned with straight vinegar, then rinsed.

• To clean the splattered spills in your microwave simply place a solution of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar in a glass bowl. Place in microwave and heat for two or three minutes or until it boils. Then easily wipe away the messy build up inside of microwave.

• To clean your showerhead from the build-up of calcium simply fill a plastic bag with vinegar and secure it to the showerhead with a rubber band or twist ties. Make sure there is enough vinegar to submerge the bottom of the showerhead. Leave on overnight. Remove the following day just before showering.

• To clean your bathroom floor (or kitchen or entrance tile floors) with water solution. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to a gallon of warm water.

• Vinegar can also be a laundry booster. To keep colors from fading, use about 1/2 the amount of recommended detergent and add 1/2 cup vinegar.

• Vinegar can also replace fabric softener. Just add a cup of vinegar to the final rinse.

• If the smell of the vinegar bothers your nostrils, simply add a couple drops of essential oils. Peppermint or lemon are favorites but you can use a floral or spice oil if you want.

Rubbing Alcohol

Do you use those disinfectant wipes on all of your hard surfaces? Replace them with a solution of rubbing alcohol and water. So much cheaper and more effective.

• Mix 2/3 rubbing alcohol with 1/3 water in a glass jar. I use an empty olive jar. Using a paper towel, apply solution to the towel, then wipe the counter, cabinet front, door handles, light switches and such. Anywhere you want disinfected. Let dry. The alcohol odor will soon go away.

Mule Team Borax

There are multiple uses for this wonder product. Just read the list on the back of the box.

• Use as an ant-killer. Make a solution of 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar and 1/3 cup borax. Heat water and sugar in microwave until sugar is completely dissolved, then stir in borax. Soak a cotton ball in mixture and place where you see ants. Like the window sills or baseboards. This works wonders. I think even better than the Terro containers. This is a very sticky concoction, so maybe place cotton balls on a saucer or container that you can easily wash.