What Shoud I Wear On My Feet When Indoors?

The best thing to wear on your feet in the house is white cotton socks. Shoes are abrasive on the carpet and track minute amounts of oils on the carpet (like tar and asphalt), which then attract dirt.

Bare feet also have oils from skin and soap, which attract dirt. So socks or special indoor-only slippers are best. Cotton is great because dirt sticks to cotton easier than it sticks to synthetic carpet fibers.

By wearing cotton socks, you actually pick up some of the dirt that would otherwise end up on the carpet. I suggest white socks, because some socks or slippers have dyes that rub off and stick to the carpet and can stain the carpet permanently.

Sunlight Is A Natural Deodorizer For Your Home

Often people open all the doors and windows to 'air out the house.' The flush of fresh air is healthful and refreshing, but much of the benefit comes from the fact that more sunlight is brought in, which works as a natural deodorizer by chemically neutralizing many odor sources.

The sunlight also kills many germs and spores that lurk in the home. On the bad side, the same force in sunlight also faded textiles and degrades or discolors many furnishings.

How Do I Get Rid Of Indentations In The Carpet

We recently moved into a 3 year-old house. The carpet is in great shape, except for one thing: There are indentations in the carpeting where the previous owners had their furniture. How do we remove them? Will cleaning the carpet help?
Signed, Mrs. Dent

Deep furniture indentations are a combination of compression of the carpet pad (which is most likely irreversible), stretching of the carpet backing (which can sometimes be improved), and distortion of the face fibers.
Cleaning alone, will not remove the dents. It may help improve the carpet and backing, but will do very little for the carpet pad. Over time, the pad may slowly return to it’s original shape, but that rarely happens - especially if the pad is of lower quality.
You can try a couple of things:
1. Place a damp, white towel over the dents and set a steam iron over the towel. Remove it after 1 minute, then fluff the carpet fibers up and allow to dry.

2. Try the ice cube trick: Put an ice cube on each dent and let it sit over night. I have never tried this, but I’ve heard that it works in some cases. Don’t ask me why.

If none of the above works and the indentations are really bugging you, as a last resort you could have the carpet pulled back and have new pieces of carpet pad inserted where the compressed pad is.

How To Mix Homemade Cleaning Solutions

Ammonia, diluted with 3 parts water in an empty spray bottle can be used to clean windows, appliances and countertops. Full strength it can remove wax build-up from the kitchen floor.

An excellent way to scour copper and brass is 1/2 cup vinegar mixed with 1 tablespoon salt.

Full strength pine oil is great for deodorizing garbage cans, and scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom floor.

Removing Carpet Depressions Left By Furniture Legs

Moisten the area with hot water. Cover it with a damp, white, disposable towel. Press
a hot, steaming iron to the towel for up to 90 seconds, being sure to check the carpet underneath for signs of damage such as scorching.

This will soften the backing of the carpet and after removing the iron you can work the backing up so that it is flush with the rest of the carpet. This will not work on all carpet types.

Removing Spots That Keep Coming Back

When you clean the spot off, use a detergent that does not leave a residue, such as liquid diswashing soap. Be sure to rinse the cleaning agents out once the spot has been removed, by repeatedly blotting with a fresh towel and clean water (soap residues could be the problem, because they will attract dirt and make a spot reappear).

Lastly, place several folded white towels on top of the spot and as much weight as you can, say several large books. Leave them overnight. This will cause the spot to wick into towels and draw it off the carpet.

If the spot ever comes back again, repeat process, but this time pack the carpet with talcum powder or baking soda and salt before placing the towels over the spot. These powders will also pull the residues out of the carpet and absorb them as the carpet dries.

23 Uses Of Vinegar From HouseHold Chores To Cat Repellant

In today’s high-tech world, it’s nice to know that there are many “low-tech,” in expensive and environmentally safe solutions to everyday problems.

Vinegar, for all of it’s simplicity, is an amazing product. Here are just a few of the many uses for vinegar:

When waxing a floor after scrubbing with a floor stripper, use 1 cup of vinegar to the rinse water. It neutralizes the chemicals and makes wax or floor finishes adhere better.

For an inexpensive cleaning solution to replace those expensive PERGO flooring cleaners: (From a PERGO dealer) Pour 32 ounces of white vinegar, 32 ounces of rubbing alcohol, 64 ounces of water and 6 drops of dishwashing liquid into a 1-gallon plastic jug, shake to mix, then pour contents into a spray bottle. You now have the equivalent of the more expensive Pergo floor cleaner. Just spray and mop, then go back over the floors with a dry towel to remove any excess moisture. Also works great on tile floors!

As a wall cleaner: Mix 1 gallon of water, 1 cup of ammonia, 1/2-cup vinegar, and 1/4 cup of baking soda into a bucket of water. STIR TO MIX THOROUGHLY. Wash the walls from the bottom up. Otherwise, you may get drips on the non-cleaned surfaces that are very difficult, if not impossible to remove.

As a nontoxic bug spray: Keep 100% vinegar in a spray bottle and use instead of pesticides, anywhere inside or outside. Why spray toxic pest killers inside your home, where your family and pets are exposed to it, when you can use a natural remedy?

To repel ants, spray vinegar around door and window frames, under appliances, and along other known ant trails.


To kill grass on walks and driveways: Pour full strength vinegar on unwanted grasses.

To kill weeds in the garden, spray full strength on the tops of weeds. Reapply on any new growth.

To keep car windows frost-free: Coat the windows the night before with a solution of three parts vinegar to one part water.

Soak new propane lantern wicks in vinegar for several hours. Let dry before using. They will burn longer and brighter.

As a cat repellant: Sprinkle vinegar on an area to discourage cats from walking, sleeping or scratching or...

To freshen vegetables: Soak wilted vegetables in a quart of cold water and a tablespoon of vinegar.

To scale fish more easily: Rub with vinegar 5 minutes before scaling.