Hot Housekeeping How-Tos « Housekeeping

How To: 10 Ways to Whiten Clothes Without Using Any Bleach

Whites are the hardest color to keep looking bright and new after just a few months' time. Your sweat and oils quickly become stains, and colors from other clothes will eventually bleed into the fabric, discoloring your bright whites into something merely whitish. But before you reach for the bleach, the ultimate chemical cleaner, try some a few of these safer, less-toxic DIY solutions out instead.

How To: Remove A Very Tight Lid

How to... Remove A Very Tight Lid? Use Items You Have Around The House! Step 1Want to remove a very tight lid? Do you have a weak grip or arthritic pain in your hands? Have you already tried tapping the lid with a spoon? Thumping the bottom of the jar with the palm of your hand, and it still won‘t come off? An easy, quick way to remove a very tight lid is to put on rubber gloves! Yes. Ordinary household rubber gloves. Hold the jar in one hand, then use the other hand to twist the lid off. Thi...

How To: Unlock A Privacy Door Handle

When owning a home one type of lever set you may have in your home is a privacy lever. In a privacy lever set, the main feature is that the door can only be locked from the inside. Sometimes a kid might get locked in or someone may accidentally lock the door behind them. It's really easy to unlock it in an emergency.

How To: Start a cozy fire with lava rocks soaked in oil

In this tutorial, we learn how to start a cozy fire with lava rocks soaked in oil. First, grab your lava rocks and place them in a tin can, then fill it up with oil. Now, throw some wood into your fireplace while these are soaking. Use an old pair of metal tongs to take the rocks out of the can, then place them in the fireplace as well. After this, throw a match in with the rocks and wood and then close the fireplace. Let the rocks burn for about 5 minutes the you can take them out and you wi...

How To: Unclutter your CD & DVD collection

With the CDs and DVDs you want to do less purging and more organizing. A good way to unclutter your DVDs is to dedicate a bookshelf to your collection. Put the adult movies on top and alphabetize them so that they are up away from the kids reach. Put the movies for the family and kids down lower so that they can get to their movies and watch them. For the CDs a binder will hold a lot of them and allow you to get rid of all the hard plastic cases. You can put hundreds in just one binder. A gre...

How To: Separate Two Glasses That Are Stuck Together

Learn how to separate two glasses that are stuck together with this Howcast video tutorial. You nested two glasses when you put them away — and now they're stuck! Gently pry them apart with this system.

How To: Tie a slip knot in a plastic grocery bag

Have you ever wondered how to tie a slip knot on your grocery bags? When we go to the grocery store, the clerks always tie the bags in a carrying knot. With this easy to follow video, tying these knots is made easy. Knots always seem perplexing, but now they are easy to do. This is a must watch video for anyone who goes shopping.

How To: Make a Homemade Cat Repellent - Home Remedies for Repelling Cats

Are you searching for a homemade cat repellent solution? This article will cover natural indoor and outdoor deterrents for every scenario where cats are causing trouble. The first part will cover home remedies for training cats to stay away from furniture and other restricted areas inside your house. The second part will cover outdoor repellents for keeping cats away from your garden, plants and yard. Step 1: Indoor Repellents for Training Cats

How To: Remove Almost Any Stain Using Alcohol

There are countless methods and cleaners aimed at eliminating stubborn stains from everything to clothing, carpet, and furniture. But completely removing every last trace of a stain doesn't require an arsenal of chemical cleaners and repeated cycles in the washing machine. Most stains can disappear in a matter of minutes with a dose of alcohol.

How To: Make Your Own Febreze (And Save Up to 97% Per Bottle)

If you're a Febreze fanatic, you're well aware that the "odor eliminator" can be pretty pricey, and that's reason enough to stop buying it.

How To: The Secret to Washing Your "Dry Clean" Clothes—Without Going to the Dry Cleaner

Unless your work clothes require dry cleaning, you probably only go to the cleaner a few times a year. And for those few items in your closet for which you do, you have to then find the time and extra budget to make a trip all the way to the cleaners and back again. In the end, it can be quite the hassle.

How To: Change the Light Bulb on a Whirlpool Microwave Range

This video will show you how to change the range light bulb on a Whirlpool microwave. Model MH1160XSB-3

How To: Fix stretched sweater cuffs with REAL SIMPLE

Learn how to fix stretched sweater cuffs with the folks from Martha Stewart's REAL SIMPLE. Don't give up on that sweater with the loose, stretched-out cuffs?just follow these simple tricks to tighten the material, and you'll be ready to put that pullover back into rotation in a snap. These tips will help you fix those old, stretched out sweater cuffs.

How To: Add Essential Oil to Toilet Paper to Eliminate Bathroom Odors

With fragrance-filled sprays, scented candles, diffuser sticks, and other air-freshening products, the scent lasts just a few minutes and doesn't always mask what you were hoping to cover up. When it comes to the bathroom, scented toilet paper might sound like a terrible (and silly) idea, but it's best at eliminating stinky smells over a long period of time.

How To: Keep Denim Jeans Clean & Smell-Free Without Ever Washing Them at All

Even if you decode the laundry symbols on the tags of your clothes and follow them perfectly, using the washing machine tends to change their shape and fade colors over time. And whether you spent $20 or $200 on them, there's nothing worse than having your favorite pair of jeans ruined.

How To: Laundry Symbols Deciphered! Here's What the Care Labels on Your Clothes Really Say

Frankly, I never cared about the care labels on my clothing. They supposedly held some secret key to keeping clothes clean and bright, but who wants to look at little icons and a bunch of fine print for every single garment they wash?

How To: Make your own vacuum space bags for extra storage

Have you seen commercials on TV for vacuum sealed storage bags? They can be expensive, but you can replicate this space age technology in your own home! All you need is a water bottle, some trash bags, a box cutter... and a vacuum!

How To: Unlock A Door In Case Of An Emergency

Materials Needed! Video: Undo a door's chain lock from outside with string, yarn or shoelaces.

How To: Remove ink stains from cloth using hand sanitizer

If you have little kids, then you probably know that they LOVE drawing and doodling. But it's when that love of doodling extends beyond the preschool classroom and paper to your walls, furniture, and clothes that things go a bit awry.

How To: Create makeshift laundry detergent from a bar of soap and boiling water

If you need to save your money for bills, then this laundry tip will help keep the costs of laundry to a minimum. It's a really simple and cheap tip if you happen to be out of laundry detergent during a load. Simply grab a bar of soap and cut a third of it off. Then place it in a pot of boiling water and let dissolve for about ten minutes. When it's done, transfer it to a large bowl and stir for about thirty seconds. Then it's ready! Makeshift laundry detergent!

How To: Get permanent marker stains out of your carpet

To follow along with this video, you will need a few supplies: a spray bottle filled with lukewarm water, a couple of clean white blotting towels, and a product called Legacy of Clean. To remove the stain you begin by applying a few drops of Legacy of Clean onto the stain. Use the blotting cloth to agitate the product into the carpet fibers by rubbing it a bit. Then find a new clean spot on the towel, place it over the stain and apply pressure from your fist to blot the stain. You will see th...

How To: Remove ink stains from fabric

Learn how to remove ink stains from fabric. Getting ink out of fabric is a tricky business, often best handled by a dry cleaner. If you want to try it yourself, though, here's what to do.

How To: Fold a dress shirt with Martha Stewart's REAL SIMPLE

Sure, we all know how to fold t-shirts by now with all of those t-shirt folding videos on the internet. But do you know how to fold a dress shirt? If you want your closet to be as neat as a store display, watch this video to learn how to fold a dress shirt with the folks from Martha Stewart's REAL SIMPLE. Folding your dress shirts instead of hanging them won't just free up precious inches of closet space, it'll help cut down on wrinkles (and dreaded ironing time). Follow these simple steps fo...

How To: Pack boxes for a move

There’s an art to packing boxes without breaking your good china—or breaking your back. You Will Need

How To: Polish church appointments, like a chalice and candle

Watch this video tutorial from the Polish Guy to see how to polish church appointments, like a chalice and candle. In this demonstration we use a Church Polish & Cleaning Kit that includes Simichrome and Flitz to polish a brass chalice and candle stick. The tutorial includes detailed work instructions and best practices.

How To: Remove gum from clothing with nail polish remover

Gum is one of the worst things that could happen to your clothes. This tutorial will show you how to get rid of it. Remove gum from clothing with nail polish remover.

How To: Remove scratches on an LCD or CD with an egg

Make the magic remover cloth shown in this how-to video which will remove all the scratches on your favorite CDs, your LCD display or just remove some scratches on plastic. You'll need egg whites of and a microfiber cloth. Don't throw away anymore CDs, DVDs, or lose important files. The trick in this video tutorial will rescue scratched CDs so you can still keep using them.

How To: 10 Reasons Why Your Freezer Is Perfect for Doing Laundry

Your freezer is no one-trick pony. While it does excel at keeping your food fresh for as long as possible, it has a few secret talents it doesn't want you to know about. Like making soda slushies and pyro-friendly smoke mix, as well as reviving dead hard drives. Even better—it can help you do laundry.

How To: Use Olive Oil for Things Other Than Cooking

Everyone knows how fantastic olive oil is as a salad dressing. But did you know that this healthy and superbly tasting oil pressed from full-grown olives can be used in so many other ways than flavouring those greens? I will tell you 20 other uses and benefits that can be done with olive oil.

How To: No Iron, No Problem! A Stupid-Easy Way to Get Rid of Wrinkles

We've all done it—you're rushing out the door when all of a sudden you notice your shirt is embarrassingly wrinkled. Sure you could break out the ironing table, wait about 100 years for your iron to heat up, then carefully go over every last inch of fabric. But you're lazy, terrible at ironing, or, if you're like me, both. So don't work harder, work smarter!

The Duvet Burrito: How to Put a Duvet Cover on Your Comforter the Easy Way

Making the bed is a challenging task, but trying to put a duvet cover over top your comforter is a challenge on a whole different level.

How To: 5 Apartment Improvements You Can Do in an Hour

Presented by Apartments.com When looking for a new apartment, it's hard not to notice the improvements (on large and small scale) needed prior to moving in. While your landlord may be taking care of new carpeting, cleaning the central air vents, and fresh paint on the walls, there may be some additional improvements on your list that you can take care of on your own. Here are five quick improvements you can check off your list before the big move.

How To: Fold Your Fitted Sheets Nice and Neat

Folding fitted sheets seems nearly impossible, but with a neat trick it's just as easy as folding a blanket.

How To: Use Dryer Sheets to Clean Soap Scum Off Shower Doors

How often do you fight with your shower doors? Maybe not literally (although my elbow has smacked the hard glass many times), but when it's time to clean the bathroom, getting a few weeks' worth of soap scum and grime off the shiny, clear surface becomes an insurmountable task. Whether you use a special cleaner and squeegee or a carefully selected wipe, chances are you still battle the streaks and grit left behind. Although it might not make sense to steal cleaning supplies from the laundry r...

How To: Protect Your Home from Mice for the Winter

Brought to you by Tomcat. Falling snow, warm fireplace, delicious hot cocoa, quiet reading time, mouse. Quick quiz - which one is not like the other? Nothing can ruin a perfectly cozy afternoon in your home like a pest on the loose. With dropping temperatures, you may have some unwelcome residents, like mice, looking for shelter from the cold.