Learn from me add clean out the gutters to your list of semi-annual maintenance.

Why?

Unless you have one of those clog free gutter systems like they advertise on the radio. all. the. time.  Gutters collect leaves and twigs. These leaves, twigs, and ahem, saplings prevent the the flow of water. When the water doesn’t flow down the spout, it can pool which will rot wooden gutters, rust metal ones, or eventually cause the gutters to pull from the roof. During a heavy downpour clogged gutters overflow instead of diverting the water from the home. This increases the possibility of damage to the foundation, or excess moisture or flooding (aka really excessive moisture) in the basement or crawlspace. High humidity can be a welcome mat for some pests as well as the ever obnoxious mold and mildew problems that may develop.

Gutters are not for gardening.

If you have access to a pressure washer the chore goes quickly. Use the fan setting and do not spray the roof or in your eyes. Seriously, it’ll hurt, in fact, wear protective eye wear.

Tell the kids to play elsewhere, this gets messy. Really messy.

It’s important not to spray water under your shingles as the high pressure may damage or loosen shingles and then you’ll be out the time and money you could have saved by attempting this relatively simple chore yourself. If you don’t have a pressure washer, it will take a little longer but it can still be done.

Make sure you have a sturdy pair of work gloves and scoop all the crud out by hand. Tedious? Yes. Effective? You bet.

Be careful as most gutters are attached with sharp screws. The gloves are mandatory.

Once the debris has been cleared from the trough, use a garden hose to ensure water flows down the spout. Most spouts have a bend within reach of the top. With your gloves on, pull out any debris that may be blocking the flow.

If all the reachable debris has been removed and water is still not flowing freely, feed a snake* up from the bottom. This handy tool will allow you to pull out almost any clog.

*Not a live snake, a plumber’s auger, these come in handy and I highly recommend all home owners have one in their tool box.*

Check to ensure all the the downspouts are properly diverted away from the house and you’re all done until next time.

Good luck.

An old roommate of mine borrowed a dresser from me and used it while we lived together. After she gave it back the drawers had a musty smell that I couldn’t get rid of. If I put any clothes in the drawers they come out smelling funky and musty too. What should I do??

Signed,
Funky in Fults

Heather Says:

Would you mind opening a window? Thanks. Now that the air has cleared a little, let’s get down to fixing your little problem and get your social life back on track.

Mold and mildew love nothing more than damp and still environments. Pull all of the drawers out of the dresser and give them a good wipe down with denatured alcohol. Typically you can find denatured alcohol at hardware stores, but I have seen it at WalMart in the past. Thanks to the meth dealers the quantity you can buy is limited and I wouldn’t purchase Sudafed on the same shopping trip. (Have I ever mentioned how much I hate people who make me feel like a criminal?)Wipe all the interior surfaces with the alcohol to kill any mold or mildew spores. If your drawers are painted a mild bleach solution may do the trick.

If you don’t live in a swamp, like me, set the drawers and dresser outside in the sun for a few hours to dry thoroughly. Otherwise leave it disassembled in a dry room (not the basement) for a few days.

Give it a good sniff. Still funky?

Pick up cedar chips, the same kind used for pet bedding. Fill the drawers partway and shut them tightly. Again, give it a few days.

If your friend raised a powerful stink, you may have to resort to drastic measures. Yes, I’m afraid it’s time to break out the sandpaper and lightly sand all of the interior surfaces. After sanding, apply a thin coat of varnish to all of the sanded surfaces to seal in any remaining odor.

If you need help getting the funk out of your pants, we’ve talked about that before.

Send your domestic quandries to helpme@home-ec101.com

My daughter spilled finger nail polish remover on her dresser.  What can I do to repair it?  Thanks.

Signed,

Acetone ACK!
Heather says:

There are a few options to make the best of the situation.

First, we have the disguise it and pretend it didn’t happen approach. With this method, you clean up any remaining acetone and find a knick knack or doily to place over the damaged area. Obviously, this solution is limited, besides who really wants a lot of doilies lying around, right?

A more costly approach is to call the manufacturer and ask if they offer repair services. Even if they don’t, they may be able to provide the color of the stain and the type of the finish and the type which will aid in repairing the piece yourself.

If the dresser is old, time, sunlight, humidity all take a toll on furniture, changing the coloration over time. This makes a perfect match unlikely, but it can be disguised. If the damaged area is small, there are pens available that stain dents and dings to hide the bare wood. For larger areas, sand and use a matching stain, followed by the appropriate finish to match the rest of the piece. Follow the stain and finish manufacturer’s recommendations for the best results.

You mentioned that this was your daughter’s dresser. If she is a child and the finish was badly damaged, consider stripping and refinishing the entire piece, either with a new color of stain or as a painted piece.

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Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

Sincerely,
Messy Meltdown

Ivy says:

Oh, man.  That’s seriously terrible. The good news is, we can most likely help you clean it up.

You need to get a bag of ice and a window scraper with a razor blade in it, like this:

Put the ice on the plastic area for several minutes. Ice makes the plastic brittle and easier to scrape off. Then get your window scraper and gently scrape the plastic off. If you have an outdoor fire pit, you can take the racks out there and burn the plastic off. I’m not going to lie and say this is going to be an easy process, because it’s not. The problem is being gentle enough not to damage the bottom plate of your oven, but scraping hard enough to get the plastic off. It’s going to take patience, but I have faith in you, you can do it!

Just be careful, you don’t want to hurt yourself or put scrapes on the bottom plate of your oven. There’s a chance you still may end up having to buy a new bottom plate, but that’s certainly better than having to buy a whole new oven, huh?

Good luck!

My dishwasher just isn’t doing as great a job anymore. I haven’t changed anything: same soap, I scrape the plates, I still use a rinsing agent. What could be going on?

Signed,

My Dishwasher is a Dud

Heather says:

Did you know your dishwasher requires regular maintenance to provide consistently clean dishes?

• Check the trap for food particles. If food scraps have crusted onto the trap, remove it, soak it, and scrub it. Make it a point to regularly check and clean the trap.
• Examine the spray arm. Are the holes clogged with mineral deposits? Soak the arm in diluted vinegar and use a pipe cleaner aka chenille stem to clean out any gunk.
• Take a good look at the racks, are they clean or has the paint worn off in places? You can purchase dishwasher repair kits that contain vinyl paint and those tips that always seem to pop off the prongs.
• Occasionally, once a month or so, run the dishwasher through a full cycle with 2 cups of vinegar. Start the dishwasher, wait until it has filled, and add the vinegar.

Alternately you can run a cycle with citric acid or lemonade kool-aid packets, the kind that does not already contain sugar

• Finally be sure your hot water heater is set to the temperature recommended by the dishwasher manufacturer. If you have lost your manual try Googling the model; many manufacturers now have manuals available online.

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

It seems every time we take something apart for storage, we manage to lose any screws that go with the items. How do you manage not to lose the screws?

Signed,

Not all who wander are lost, but my screws are gone forever

Ivy says:

Screws are wily little buggers and will get up and leave whenever possible, I’m convinced.I think they are going somewhere with the socks that keep vanishing from my wash. You have to corral those suckers whenever you take things apart.

I take them and put them in a plastic ziplock bag and tape the bag to the item that needs screws. My pal Ginger tells me she uses the jewelry sized bags, which probably works even better, but I don’t own any jewelry, or jewelry sized bags, so I just work with what I’ve got.

Heather told me you can do the same thing with manuals for appliances. I think that’s a nifty trick. I generally file mine in a filing cabinet, but if I wasn’t such a lover of filing, I would definitely tape manuals to the backs of my appliances.

And remember, when you’re screwing things, it’s righty tighty, lefty loosey!

This is embarassing, but I can never remember which way to tighten a bolt.

~A nut with more than a few loose screws

Heather says:

Don’t be ashamed.  If you have never been shown, how could you know?  There is a simple rhyme to keep things straight:

Lefty loosey, righty tighty. 

Whether using a screw driver or wrench, you will always turn the handle toward your left hand, counter-clockwise, to loosen a screw or bolt.  To tighten, simple turn toward your right hand in the clockwise direction.

Those of you who have ever remodeled your home can totally relate to the title of this post. It’s living life on the edge of sanity, a strange half-life where you have entire useless rooms that you have to keep the kids out of and attempt to find time to work on the rooms.

The worst remodeling is one that affects your kitchen. Even if you are the sort of person who eats take-out for every meal (and believe me, yo, if I could afford to, I would be that sort of person), having the kitchen be out of commission is  still the worst. When I was a kid my parents remodeled our kitchen and we ate out for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two solid weeks. By the time it was all over, I was actually looking forward to some of Mystery Lady X’s burnt offerings.

Today, we put down laminate flooring in our living room, dining area, and hall. It’s nearly finished, but I don’t think we are going to be able to work on the floor tomorrow, so it appears that we are going to have two more days of the disruption. Normally, our kitchen would not be affected, but all the furniture from the dining area had to go into the kitchen, as the other areas of the house were filled with living room furniture.

So, what do you do, how to deal with this? First of all, this is a good time to pull out some crock pot recipes. I also have this fab steamer, which is super handy for steaming rice and chicken at the same time. Clean-up is a snap, and  you don’t have to deal with the oven at all.

Take the kids out of the house if at all possible to get work finished when they are not underfoot. While Mr. Ivy worked on the floors,  I took Nate shopping and to the playground. Nate had a far better day than he would have if I had stayed behind to help.

Recruit friends to help whenever possible. Mr. Ivy has friends who work for beer and burgers. The price is absolutely right! Don’t work your friends to death, though, and remember, the day will come when they need help from you as well. Be sure to reciprocate.

The biggest thing is to keep your humor about the situation. I know, this is sometimes easier said than done, but find the amusing moments in the situation, like when Nate let the cats out of the room they had been shut into, and they came dashing out only to find they couldn’t get any traction on the new wood flooring!

Nate wanted to have his picture taken to prove he was a good helper. I obliged. 

Have you any idea how to get the smell of smoke and sweat out of car upholstery without making the entire vehicle reek of Febreze? Too much Febreze gives me a massive headache, although I’d almost prefer that over the reek of man sweat in my new (to me) car.

~Longing to be Smokeless in Smyrna

Heather Says:

Something tells me you’re a newly converted non-smoker, congratulations! Three things will help rid your car of its stank. The best part is none of these methods will be covering up the problem with a chemical odor.

1) Shampoo the carpet and upholstery. You can typically rent a RugDoctor type machine from most supermarkets and hardware stores. I would do this on a day where it’s unlikely to rain. The windows should be left down for at least a few hours to allow the carpets to dry and avoid any potential for a mildew.

2) Place a bowl of vinegar in the car over night. Vinegar is great at removing problem odors, although I might recommend driving with the windows cracked so you don’t arrive at work smelling like you’ve been dyeing Easter eggs.

3 ) Leave the windows down as often as possible. Fresh air is will help dissipate any lingering odors.

Enjoy your new (to you) car!

(photo credit clarita)