Thank You Haley

While packing and unpacking all of my belongings I came across a book that I had stored away for four years. It’s called “Haley’s Cleaning Hints.” Since my life has been consumed by cleaning up after our move two weeks ago, I’m especially interested in what it has to say. Some of the hints are so useful and practical, others are really bizarre!

Enjoy!

My top ten list of interesting lessons from “Haley’s Cleaning Hints”

10. I’m not sure why, but spaghetti sauce seems to find its way on my clothing only on the days where I’m wearing bright white tops. But, did you know that spaghetti stains can be removed using shaving cream! Not just sauce, but shaving cream can also be used to remove stains caused by blood, chocolate and coffee. Unfortunately the book claims that it only works on carpets… if you’re gutsy enough try it on your clothes (and let me know if it works before I give it a try!)

9. I hate panty hose! But, I look at them in a new light now that I’ve learned that they can be used to buff hardwood floors. So now you don’t have to throw them away when you get a run…just keep them in the linen closet and pull them out when you want to get rid of the smudges on the floor.

8. Here’s an interesting, but perhaps time consuming trick. If you want to get rid of the fingerprints on your stainless steel appliances you can use baby oil! Just remember to rinse it off afterwards with some club soda.

7. For some reason I don’t have a microwave. It’s not that I’m against them, we simply just don’t have one. BUT, if we did, I think I would definitely try this. If you want to get rid of the odour that builds up in your microwave you can place a bowl of water with 3 or 4 slices of lemon inside. Cook it on high for 30 seconds and the microwave will apparently smell like new.

6. Here’s one of those bizarre tricks I was telling you about. Apparently it’s common for people to leave their bread bags near their toasters, and for the bag to accidentally melt onto the toaster from the heat (Is this really that common?) Well, if you’re one of those unfortunate ones with melted bag on your toaster, you can remove it with a little nail polish remover! I’d love to know how Haley’s cleaning team figured that one out.

5. If you like keeping your bread in a bread box (in which case tip #6 probably won’t apply to you), then you can keep your bread fresh longer by placing a box of chalk in the bread box! The chalk keeps the air drier so I it absorbs the moisture that would cause your bread to go moldly faster.

4. Every time I walk through the baking isle in any home store I resolve to throw out all of my baking sheets and start all over. I want mine to look nice and clean like the ones in the store! Well, if I had known this trick, I guess I could have avoided this problem. So, to remove caked on foods on your baking sheets you can soak it in hot water and a denture tablet. . I’m thoroughly entertained by this tip!

3. Warning, you may never think of coke in the same way again. But, if you have stubborn  toilet rings and you can’t seem to get rid of them, pour a can of cola into the toilet. Let it sit over night and brush it well the next day. Wonder what it’s doing to my insides if it can be used to clean my toilet!

2. Ever had people over and watched them place their cups right on your wooden table? What do to? Do you embarrass them and hand them a coaster. That could get awkward. Do you ignore it? Sure, but then you’re left with water rings all over your table. No more embarrassing moments with guests. After they leave, you can apply mayonnaise all over the water mark and leave it on overnight. In the morning wipe it off with a soft cloth and you’ll never know it was there.

1. Ever think about the thousands of dustmites that eventually make their way into your bedding? According to Haley you can put your bedding in a garbage bag and leave it in the freezer for an hour. Apparently that will kill off the dustmites.

Or, you can follow Dina’s Cleaning tips and just put it in the washing machine.

Hope you found this helpful!! Happy Friday!

Haley’s Cleaning Hints (Graham and Rosemary Haley)