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How To: Wash & clean your hardwood floors

The best way to clean a hardwood floor is to make sure that you don't use excessive moisture. For the actual process, you should just get a dry mop. You should try to make sure that your hardwood floor never gets wet at all. In the event that someone steps on your floor with their muddy shoes, damp mopping is the way to go about dealing with that. Even if it looks messy, it is better not to douse the floor; the moisture seeps between the cracks in the boards and gets underneath it, doing dama...

How To: Clean your hardwood floors

AskAuntPattie is providing you with some how-to tips when it comes to cleaning your hardwood floors. Use a microfiber pad to dry dust on your floor. There are all different sizes of pads for your needs. You should clean the floor as often as you like. You can test your floor with a mineral smear. Yellow residue is wax finish. Clean smears are polyurethane. If you have a wax floor you should use a base wax. For a polyurethane floor use a type of floor wax from a good company. Go to a place tha...

How To: Prevent fruit flies from entering a compost pail

Using simple materials in most any home, this video provides a novel solution to fruit flies in your compost pail. Composting is a great idea, but if you are not careful, the fruit flies will start to take over and you'll wish you had never started. But this simple idea will keep you composting without the bugs! Starting with a large container from something like a peanut butter jar, you can cut out a large hole and secure a scouring pad to the underside of the lid. Then, place the lid on the...

How To: Pressure or power wash home siding with Lowe's

Back again with another in their great informational series for do it yourselves at home, Lowe's presents this video hosted by Mike Kraft demonstrating how to pressure wash your home's exterior siding. Mike describes in detail the tools, supplies, and steps you will need to take to remove dirt, mildew and mold from your home's exterior. Experienced do it yourselves and beginners alike will appreciate the detail and tips provided in this video, as well as some useful safety tips on using your ...

How To: Clean and flush gutters

Cleaning gutters is really not that hard. Get out your ladder and position it so that you can reach the gutters. Start by removing all the big stuff such as twigs and bigger sticks that have gotten into the gutter. These bigger items can be removed with your hands. What is left can be pretty yucky? There is a mud like substance that is made up of water, decomposing leaves, newer leaves, and smaller sticks that you won't want to touch. So use a scoop made out of a mild container that is cut in...

How To: Remove melted candle wax using heat or cold

This video explains two different ways to remove wax from candles left on furniture. Both heat and cold are used to accomplish the removal of wax. Heat generally from a hair dryer will provide enough heat to remelt the wax without damaging wood furniture. Ice or even a pack of frozen vegetables is suggested when using the cold method since it makes the wax brittle and easy to remove. These are two great ways to remove wax from wooden furniture without damaging the furniture itself.

How To: Make homemade cleaning wipes

Learn how to make your own homemade cleaning wipes and save money with this video tutorial. You will need a roll of paper, 2-3 cups of you favorite cleaner, and a storage container with a lid, a cutting board, and a knife. Cut the paper towel role in half using only one half now. Put the half paper towel roll in the container and soak with the cleaner. Remove the cardboard from the center of the roll and the cleaning wipes will be pulled out from the center of the roll.

How To: Scent your home

This video chronicles various ways to scent your home. First of all, you can use scented candles. However, if you do not wish to constantly burn your candles and would like to avoid the risk of fire, you can use a candle warmer to just warm your candle, which also is effective in spreading the scent. Oil warmers may also be used to heat up scented oils that will fill up and scent your room. Using the many different techniques outlined in this video, you should be sure to create a nice, pleasa...

How To: Wash windows the easy way

Ron Hazelton shows you an easy an effective way to wash windows. In a warm bucket of water you add one tablespoon of dishwashing solution, a scrubber with sleeve is used to apply the solution to the window, and dried with a professional quality squeegee. Each step is shown and explained in full detail to ensure the best possible completed outcome. After watching this video and walking yourself through the steps a few times you can wash a good sized window in about a minute.

How To: Organize your messy closet

A disorganized closet can slow down your mornings. Clean out your dirty storage space with the help of this instructional video. Follow along with such tips as tossing out unused clothing, and establishing a systematic wardrobe catalog.

How To: Get rid of the smell of garlic on your hands

When you are using garlic or cooking with it, getting the smell of garlic off your hands can be really tricky. Washing your hands will not to the job by itself. The next time you are using garlic and want to get rid of that smell, wash your hands thoroughly with both soap and water, and then rub them against the stainless steel faucet because the metal with neutralize the odor from your hands and get rid of the smell.

How To: Clean your room

Do you win the prize for messiest room in America? That's a difficult contest, but how about messiest room in your house? It’s time to clean your room, so do a good job in the shortest amount of time and get your parents off your back.

How To: Make a homemade fly trap

Do you have a problem with flies and you're not sure how to get rid of them? In this video, learn how to make a homemade fly trap to get rid of those pesky insects with wings! If you have too many flies buzzing around your house, here's a quick way to make an inexpensive fly trap.

How To: Line-dry your clothes

Looking for a way to save on your energy bills at home? How about line drying your clothes? According to the Energy Information Agency, clothes dryers account for 5.8 percent of home electricity usage. Line-dry your washed clothes and linens to keep them from wearing out, and save money on your energy bill at the same time.

How To: Use ThermaPure to get rid of bed bugs

Bed bugs come out and suck your blood in the middle of the night. ThermaPure can get rid of bed bugs in a safe manner. ThermaPure uses probes to heat up the areas of the house such as the bedding, carpets, and wall voids, to a temperature that will kill the bed bugs. The ThermaPure heater is programmable which allows for a precise duration and electrical current needed to rid your house of bed bugs. ThermaPure is a green technology and will not harm you in the process of ridding your home of ...

How To: Protect your luggage from bed bugs

Bed Bug control for luggage is the best way to protect your luggage from infestation. What you will do is, open your luggage and any zippers you may have on your luggage and spray it down the best you can. You will want to spray the seams and any closed area inside and outside you luggage. You should also spray down your handle and wheels (if available). Bed bug control will keep the germs from different hotels or any where you travel, so that it doesn’t follow you back home.

How To: Kill bed bugs with bug hunting dogs & heat

It's looking like heat is the safest and greenest way to deal with a bug problem. The KTLA Morning News (Los Angeles) did a series of segments on this new development with host of the Discovery Channel's Verminators Show, Mike Masterson. ThermaPure is being demonstrated, as are some bed bug sniffing dogs that Masterson's company, Isotech, uses.

How To: Prepare before treating your home for bed bugs

1. Prepare transparent plastic bags and boxes for disposal of paper, equipment, decorations and all the things that are stored on or in your furniture. (They should be transparent to enable you to see which items are in it because you will be living out of these boxes and bags for the next couple of weeks.)

How to Kill bed bugs: Bed bugs in cars

Having a bed bug infection in your car is extremely rare. However, if you suspect bed bugs in your automobile, check all of the cracks and crevices for any bed bug evidence. However, even if you don't find anything that doesn't rule out that they are there. What you can do is take your car to get fumigated. Other than that, the only thing that will absolutely kill the bugs is to let your car get very hot on a sunny, summer day.

How To: Use solar heat to kill bed bugs

Learn to use solar heat to kill bedbugs with this video! 1. Take a dark plastic bag or a vacuum bag. 2. Make sure it is intact. Don't use bags with holes! 3. Place a piece of clothing or bedding in it. Don't over fill the bag! 4. Close the bag. 5. Make sure that it is firmly closed and has no openings. 6. Place the bag on a hot surface under the direct summer sun, preferably on a concrete surface which was already heated by the sun (terrace or a balcony), but you can also put it in a car. 7. ...

How to Kill bed bugs: Bed bugs vs. bat bugs

There are a few differences between bed bugs and bat bugs. The first thing you want to do if you have a infestation is to have the bugs professionally identified because bed bugs and bat bugs look a lot a like. However, there are a few more things that can tell you which type of bug you have. For example, bat bugs like to infest your upper walls, ceiling junctions, and ceilings. Also, these bugs don't bite as much as a bed bug. The treatment for bed and bat bugs can be similar except for one ...

How To: Clean dirty old coins

Meta Cafe offers fast and easy tips on how to clean filthy and old coins. All you need is: baking powder, a small, empty bowl, and a glass of water. Start by putting some baking powder into the small bowl. Next put some of your filthy, old coins into the small bowl, laying them on top of the baking powder. Then layer the remaining baking powder over the coins in the small bowl. Finally, pour the water into the bowl and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Remove the coins and dry them using a paper ...

How To: Remove ink stains

Ink stains are a very common stain that people get from an accidental pen mark on the clothing or when an ink pen bursts in a pocket or a purse. Start by putting a little cloth in between the ink stain and another part of the clothing. Get some glycerin and dab some of it on the stain using a cotton swab. Gently rub the glycerin on the stain. Rub it around a little bit and then let it set. Next take some gentle laundry detergent and pour a little bit into a bowl with some water in it. Stir th...

How To: Remove microwave odor

Many foods that you cook in the microwave create a very strong odor. That odor can last for a period of several hours or days. To remove the odor take a bowl and wet a paper towel and fold it in half and then in half again and put the towel in the bowl. Put the bowl in the microwave and heat the bowl and paper towel for one minute. Heating it will create steam and the paper towel will absorb the odor.

How To: Hang a picture with no holes

You use a bike rack that extends from floor to ceiling. Pick where you want to put your picture and place the bike rack there. Adjust the bike rack so that it is at the level you want the picture. Then take a clamp light and clamp it to the pole of the bike rack. If the light slips on the pole, you can wrap some duct tape on the pole to create a surface that the light will stay on. Point the light toward where the back of the picture is going to be. If the picture you want to hang does not ha...

How To: Remove rust

Rust can form anywhere and happens on all types of metal objects, no matter how old they are. You can get rust quickly if something metallic gets into contact with water. If some of your beloved tools have gotten rusty, check out this tutorial and learn how to remove some of that dredded reddish layer. This video will show you how to remove the rust naturally, without caustic chemicals and keep your home healthy and earth-friendly while remaining rust-free!