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Home Ec 101

Skills for everyday living.

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Living Area

How to Remove Musty / Mildew Odor from Furniture

November 1, 2010 By Heather Solos 3 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

eliminate mildew odor in table

Hi Heather,
I recently retrieved a table from my garage that was stored for about a year and it smells like there could be a mold or mildew issue. How do I clean the table to remove any traces and the odor of mold and mildew?… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Furniture, Living Area, Reader Questions

How to Care for a Leather Couch

October 21, 2010 By Heather Solos 5 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

how to care for leather furniture

Dear Home Ec 101,
What is the best way to care for a leather couch?  I have seen several leather conditioners advertised, but do these leave a waxy finish?  I have had my leather couch and love seat for four years, and they have held up well, but a few scratches are starting to show up. … Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Frugal Living, Furniture, Living Area, Living Room, Spills and Stains

Ceiling Fan Cleaning 101

January 26, 2009 By Badbadivy 17 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

how to clean the ceiling fan

Dear Home Ec 101,
How do you clean ceiling fans? I’m especially wanting to know how you manage to clean them without dust bunnies falling down onto the furniture.
Signed,
A fan of fans

how to clean the ceiling fan

retrochick.JPGIvy says:

I suppose, theoretically, if you cleaned your ceiling fans constantly that there’d never be any little bits of dust falling off when you clean them.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Cleaning 101, Family Room, Living Area

Now’s The Time To Wash Your Windows

January 21, 2009 By Badbadivy 9 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

when to wash your windows

retrochick.JPGIvy says:

My mom always said there’s something very spiritual about washing your windows. Her theory on this is that the windows are the eyes of your home and by washing the windows, you’re opening up those eyes to let the sun shine in.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Cleaning 101, Living Area, Windows

Removing Cigarette Smoke Odor From Couches

December 9, 2008 By Badbadivy 8 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Removing Cigarette Odors from Couches

Dear Home Ec 101,
I recently purchased a sofa and loveseat from a lovely couple who listed the furniture on a popular online auction site.  The set appeared to be in great shape, and I got the furniture for what appeared to be a bargain. … Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Living Area, Odor

Removing Poop Stains from Carpeting: Potty Training Accidents

November 17, 2008 By Badbadivy 7 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

how to clean stains out of carpet

Dear Home Ec 101,
My two year old has started potty training.  She’s very good at taking off her clothes and getting naked, not so good yet at actually making it to the potty on time.  So, I was wondering if you had any brilliant tips for cleaning toddler poop out of carpet? … Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Body Fluids, Carpet, Living Area, Spills and Stains

Wall Dusting 101

April 11, 2008 By Badbadivy As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

how to dust walls

Our fabulous commenter Bramble asked:

How exactly does one dust the wall? Do you dust the entire wall with a dust cloth? Do you wash it?

how to dust walls

Ivy says:

This, of course, varies depending on how big your walls are and how dirty your walls are.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Cleaning 101, Dust, Living Area, Walls

Spring Cleaning: Living Room / Great Room / Family Room

April 10, 2008 By Badbadivy 12 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

spring cleaning the family room

Ivy says:

This has been a hard one for me to write, because I have a small house. My living room or family room or great room or whatever you want to call it is also my office, sewing room, dining room, etc, etc, etc.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Cleaning 101, Living Area, Seasonal Cleaning

Laminate Lament

March 31, 2008 By Badbadivy 16 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

how to clean laminate flooring

Dear Home-Ec 101,
Hi! I hope you lovely gals can help me…

My husband and I are remodeling a house, and we installed laminate, faux wood floors. We probably did it backwards, because since installing the floors, we’ve had plumbers and tilers in…and now the floors are filthy!… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Flooring, Kitchen, Living Area

Inky upholstery, oh noes!

February 14, 2008 By Badbadivy 8 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

how to remove ink

Dear Home Ec 101,
Hello! My three year old son decided it would be fun to draw on our car upholstery with black pen. In the past I have been able to use hairspray on crayon with wonderful success (couch and table cloth), but I have never attempted it on pen.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Family Room, Furniture, Living Area, Spills and Stains

The Great New Year Clean-up: Books

January 2, 2008 By Badbadivy 21 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

retrochick.JPGIvy says:

If you’re anything like me (and hey, you might not be, I’m strange), you have too many books. Go on, admit it, you have more books than you really need. Go through them. Keep the ones you want to read over and over, and keep the ones you plan on reading in the next 3 months, keep the reference books you might really refer to and get rid of everything else.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Clutter Control, Living Area

Kitchen Grease: Not for Your Loveseat

November 14, 2007 By Heather Solos 2 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Hello ladies!
I’ve asked my mom, I’ve asked my friends, and I don’t know why I didn’t ask you two first.

Here’s the skinny: we bought our first new furniture early last year; a couch and a recliner.  My husband works in a kitchen, so he comes home sweaty and covered with kitchen grease and steam and all that good stuff (Ivy, you know what I’m talking about). … Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Family Room, Furniture, Living Area, Spills and Stains

Dusty blinds

August 28, 2007 By Heather Solos Leave a Comment As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Dear Home Ec 101:
I have several faux wood white blinds that I have stored in the garage. I want to use these now and they have -needless to say- their share of spider webs, dust and other weird things on them.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Dust, Living Area, Whole House

Magic Markings

August 9, 2007 By Heather Solos 1 Comment As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

how to remove marker from paint

Dear Household Goddesses,
My nearly 2 year old daughter is many things. She is a clever, fearless, climbing artist who uses the world as her canvas. As hard as we try to keep any and all writing instruments away from her,  she seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to finding stray pens or bits of crayon.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Living Area, Reader Questions, Spills and Stains, Walls

Mini-blinds are my nemesis.

May 28, 2007 By Badbadivy 1 Comment As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

how to clean mini blinds

Dear Home-Ec101,
I live in an apartment and my mini-blinds are covered with the funk of thousands of tenants. Can you please tell me the best way to clean these?
Signed,
Dusty Shades

how to clean mini blinds

retrochick.JPG Ivy says:

I hate mini-blinds.  My cats break the ends off of them because they MUST sit in the window and they need plenty of space for that window-sitting.… Keep reading...

Filed Under: All, Clean It Tagged With: Blinds, Dust, Living Area, Whole House

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