Housekeeping Features

How To: Protect yourself & your mattress from bed bugs

In this video, we learn how to protect yourself and your mattress from bed bugs. These bugs live in your bed and hide anywhere in your home and even hotels. To see if you have them, you will see blood stains on your mattress and look on your skin for any bites you may have. If you suspect you have them, you should call a professional to help take care of the problem. Check the edges and corners of your bed to see if you have been infested with bed bugs, and look at the label as well. Be caref...

How To: Organize your jewelry drawer

Over time, jewelry drawers can become cluttered and messy, making it difficult to get things out piece by piece. So in this tutorial, you'll find out how to organize your jewelry drawer making life easier for you throughout the day. So check it out, good luck and enjoy!

How To: Get rid of mice

If you see a mouse in your house, don’t kid yourself—his entire extended family has moved in with him. Reclaim your home, once and for all. Check out this Howcast video tutorial on how to get rid of mice.

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: Use natural products to clean your home without toxins

We all want to spic and span our kitchen countertops, our tile floors, and our bathrooms. But for the most part we can bet you've been unwittingly using storebought detergent cleaners or bleach. While these cleaners are in fact excellent at removing grime and buffing your dirty floors to a Midas touch perfection, they also come filled to the brim with known cancer-causing agents, synthetic chemicals, and other gnarly, hard to pronounce crap.

How To: Do your laundry

Doing laundry can seem simple, but washing clothes correctly can save money and wear and tear on clothing. Learn to wash different types of clothes, including men's, women's, ties, darks, silks and more, from a professional cleaner in this free laundry video series.

How To: Fold pajama tops

In this how to video, the Beverly Hills Organizer, Linda Koopersmith demonstrates how to fold a pajama or PJ's top for neat and compact storage. The storage of your clothes makes a huge difference in the appearance and longevity of your garments. Watch this organizing tutorial and you will be properly folding and storing your pajama tops in no time.

How To: Clean and sanitize the kitchen

Looking to give your kitchen a good cleaning this spring? Don't go out and spend a ton of money on sanitizing sprays and cleaning equipment. Cleaning and sanitizing your kitchen is easy, effective, and inexpensive, because everything you need is likely in your kitchen!

How To: Use skirt hangers

In this two part how to video, the Beverly Hills Organizer, Linda Koopersmith demonstrates how to use skirt hangers for neat and compact storage. The way you store your clothes makes a huge difference in the appearance and longevity of your garments. Watch this organizing tutorial and you will be properly hanging and storing your skirts in no time.

How To: Clean with Alka-Seltzer

Dirty House? Clean it up with Alka-Seltzer! Who knew the same product that has provided indegestion relief and humorous explosions for millions of people world wide could be used to do some of your most basic household chores. Alka-seltzer can get rid of lots of stains, in toilets, sinks, pots, pans, and lots of other household surfaces, without using elbow grease. Watch this video housekeeping tutorial and learn how to clean with Alka-Seltzer.

How To: Load the dishwasher properly

A dishwasher makes clean up much easier, especially if you load it properly. Putting each item in correctly will help the water and suds do the dirty work for you. Make sure to scrape off all food before loading your dirty dishes. These housekeeping tips will help you properly load your dishwasher.

How To: Install gutter guards for less mess

In this tutorial, we learn how to install a gutter guard. First, clean out your gutters of any rocks or leaves that may be inside of them. Next, gran the gutter guard and place it between your roof and the gutter. Gutter guard is a mesh type of metal that is flexible and easy to use. Now, take your gutter guard and place it on a long and thin piece of wood so it gets to be the same shape as the wood. Now, take the gutter guard and place it into your gutter. This is a great way to keep your gu...

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: Iron a men's button up shirt

This Home and Garden video tutorial shows how to iron a men's button up shirt. This video will show you how to iron a cotton shirt. Switch on your iron and set it to the hottest setting or cotton setting. Place the shirt on an ironing board and start with the collar. Iron both sides of the collar. Now get on to the sleeves; first iron both sides of the calf and then the whole sleeve. Repeat the other sleeve. Then iron the front of the shirt; pull the fabric slightly to even out the creases, i...

How To: Properly clean a toilet

A bathroom is only as clean as its toilet. Keep yours disinfected and smelling fresh by following these easy tips. You will need a pair of rubber gloves, cleaning sponge, toilet bowl brush, powder or liquid toilet cleaner and a disinfectant spray. Be sure you have good ventilation when working with household cleaners.

How To: Kill bed bugs in the workplace

Bed bugs appearing in the office space is becoming more and more common. Often, someone brings a bed bug to the office on their clothes, and the bed bug roams away from the garment. These don't normally turn into reproducing infestation.

How To: Organize your kitchen pantry

Is your kitchen pantry cluttered and disorganized? Do you have spices and boxed foods that are decades old? It's time to clean house. Insightful Nana shows you ways to organize your cluttered kitchen pantry with the help of a professional organizer from Harmony Within. Use the stack organizing method to get your pantry lookng together and organized.

How To: Use d-CON Bait Paste Pouches to kill mice

d-CON is here to help identify and remedy rodent problems in your kitchen. Watch this video tutorial on how to use d-CON Bait Paste Pouches to kill mice in the kitchen. Signs of a mouse in the kitchen include droppings, footprints, gnawing, rubmarks, unusual pet activities, strange sounds, and burrows or nests.

How To: Iron a shirt quickly and easily

Ironing a shirt is simple and easy when you follow the suggestions outlined by Matt McGuire in this tutorial. You will need an iron, wrinkled shirt, and ironing board. Lay one end of the shirt on the board. Take the iron rubbing it from side to side, pressing out the wrinkles. It is a good idea to fill your iron with water prior to heating it up. This allows you to steam your clothes making it even easier to get a clean press. When done ironing this section, lay the other portion of the shirt...

How To: Organize a closet with a shelves and compartments

You can organize your closet with simple drawers and shelves or racks that you purchase at a discount store such as Target. Outside of your closet you can have drawer space (use transparent drawers) by labeling your own drawers with large labels that you have written the contents of the drawer on and placed this at the front where it will be visible. The drawers can be divided into short sleeved sweater tops, long sleeved sweater tops, tanks, vests, short sleeved tees, long sleeved regular to...

How To: Kill a cockroach kindly

In this tutorial, we learn how to kill a cockroach kindly. If you currently use insecticides to kill bugs and insects in your home, rethink it! These fumes can be toxic to your health and the health of your family. To help avoid getting cockroaches, make sure you dust and sweep often, throw away food around the house, and keep it clean! If you do have these bugs, you can first pour some beer in a glass, then put bread in the glass along with some petroleum jelly. Next, you will set this on yo...

How To: Remove the garlic smell from your hands

Removing the garlic smell from your hands can be a very difficult thing to do. Sometimes you just can't stand the smell. Maybe you have a date and don't want to stink, but just can't get that smell out of your skin. There is a way to neutralize the odor so that you can get on with your life. After you get done cooking with either garlic or onions or any other stinky food, run your hands under some warm water. Then get some coffee grounds and mash them up and get them wet. Once the grounds are...