Keeping glass clean is important to the image of your home or office which is why window cleaning London services have become so popular. But what happens if the glass, on your windows or anywhere else in your home or office gets scratched? No amount of cleaning the glass will help. Glass is hard, but it does get scratched surprisingly easily. If the scratch is deep enough for your fingernail to be inserted into it, it usually means that nothing can be done about it. However, for scratches that are less deep, it may be possible to either remove or reduce them.
Removing scratches from glass requires the use of chemicals and motorized equipment, so please ensure you take all safety precautions.
You will need Jeweler’s Rouge (cerium oxide), an electric buffer with a polishing pad, household liquid ammonia, a spray bottle, rubber gloves, safety goggles, a dust mask and lint free paper towels or cloth.
* Apply a small amount of the Jeweler’s Rouge to the polishing pad- lamb’s wool pads are considered the best for this purpose.
* Put on your goggles and dust mask. Turn on the buffer and set it to not more than medium speed. Place the pad on the scratched area. While a small amount of pressure should be applied, be careful not to press too hard. The scratch may have weakened the glass and pressing too hard may cause it to crack. Hold the pad over the scratch for about a minute or so.
* If the scratch is in a spot where the buffer will not reach, you can rub the pad on the glass by hand, but be warned this is a slow and tiring process.
* Fill the spray bottle with ammonia and water in the ratio of 1 part of ammonia to 4 parts of water. Remember that even household ammonia can be dangerous and always wear gloves, goggles and the mask when working with it, even in a diluted state.
* Spray the ammonia and water solution on to the area that has been buffed and wipe it off with a lint free piece of cloth or a paper towel.
* If the scratch is still visible, repeat the process again.
* If after three attempts to remove the scratch it is still present, that means that it is too deep to remove and you should stop trying. Any further buffing of the area may weaken to glass to the point it may break later, on even a light touch.
Although removing of scratch is not part of standard window cleaning services, the agency you use should be able to tell you where you can get all the equipment you need, in case you donÕt have it.
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“Snow has closed the X Highway,” droned the radio announcer. “Several drivers have been trapped. The road may not be able to be cleared for another hour.”
Have you ever wondered how you’d be able to cope if you had to wait in your car for any length of time waiting for the mechanics, the cops or the civil defence crew to turn up? What items should you carry in your car to cope with emergencies big and small? And those little emergencies include very little things indeed.
Let’s start with the basics. We’ll assume you carry your cellphone everywhere and that it is charged up – you don’t keep this in the glovebox or boot. Things can go wrong with your car, with punctures being the most common. You should always make sure that your car has a jack and a spare tyre – don’t buy a car without one, and make sure you know how to use it. If you’ve had to change a tyre thanks to a puncture, make sure that you get the old one repaired and pumped up again so you don’t have the nightmare situation of confidently taking a flat tyre off only to find that the spare is also flat. Other items for getting your car going again, if it breaks down or similar, are a towing rope and jumper leads. These tuck down nicely into any car, even a tiny little city runabout.
What about for you? A first aid kit is high on the list of must-haves inside your car. This isn’t just in case you crash – other things can happen, such as bee-stings, paper cuts and grazes, so it’s good to have the means to deal with this on hand. A blanket is another handy thing to carry. This can be used to keep an accident victim warm in case of shock. You may think it won’t happen to you because you’re a careful driver, but you never know when you’re going to come across some elderly person around town who has collapsed and you’re the first (or only) person on the scene.
Now come the creature comforts for not-so-big emergencies:
Sunglasses: Glare makes driving uncomfortable, so keep a spare pair in your glovebox in case you leave your favourites behind and get caught out.
Eatables: You may have to wait in the car for a while or be diabetic. Chocolate doesn’t keep all that well in the glovebox – it can melt, but peppermints, nuts and raisins, or crackers all make good, storable nibbles. Chewing gum is another handy way of keeping relaxed while driving on long journeys. Drinks are a bit trickier. While keeping hydrated on water is a good idea on a long drive, it’s not a good idea to store water long-term in a car, as it can get a bit unsafe. Take a fresh bottle of water with you when you go – it can come in handy for topping up radiators as well as yourself.
Serviettes, tissues or paper napkins: Paper napkins can be used for first aid, cleaning sunglasses, window cleaning, wiping windscreens, checking the oil, wiping fingers and scribbling notes. They can also be used as a substitute for loo paper if you find a public loo that’s out of paper.
Maps: Have two, a local street map and a nationwide map.
Pens and pencils: You never know when you may have to jot down phone number, licence plates or the name of a great shop you’ve just spotted.
Reading material: If you’re stuck for ages waiting for the breakdown crew or whoever, this prevents boredom. If you are likely to have children in the car, provide for them as well.
Music: Another must for long car journeys and for filling in dull waits.
Warm and/or waterproof clothing: If the weather turns appalling or you have to wait with your engine (and heater) off in cold weather, you will appreciate having a warm pullover on hand. And if you have to change a tyre in pouring rain, a raincoat is a lifesaver.
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The Hygiene Hypothesis is adhered to by many medical professionals as a way of explaining the high incidence of immune/allergy related ailments in the hyper-clean Western world. In brief, the Hygiene Hypothesis is as follows. Children these days in the developed, urban world have fewer older siblings (to bring home germs from the outside world), have less contact with animals and the outdoors than they did in the past or in rural areas, and live in a home that is kept scrupulously and meticulously germ-free with the help of modern disinfectants. Their immune systems are not exposed to many bacteria and as a result, they tend to over-react to otherwise innocuous substances, causing asthma, allergies and eczema (whether this is because the cells involved in immune response are “spoiling for a fight” and take it out on the nearest handy target, or whether the cells are more like nervous new recruits taking fright at shadows is a matter for debate).
According to proponents of the Hygiene Hypothesis, the best way to avoid the likelihood of these immune related disorders is to cut down on the amount of disinfectant used in the home, and to allow children to play in the dirt every now and then, and to play with animals (some go so far as suggesting that even Type 1 diabetes may be attributable to the Hygiene Hypothesis, but this is debateable – children can, unfortunately, get Type 1 diabetes even if they have plenty of exposure to animals and the outdoors, etc.).
This is yet another reason why we should switch to using natural home cleaning products. Natural cleaning products are all you need to remove dirt and the worst of the germs. Removing the majority of the germs is still very important for a household with young children, as infantile diarrhoea is extremely debilitating and can be dangerous, and meningitis is definitely dangerous. So don’t let the Hygiene Hypothesis turn you into a slob. But the hospital-grade disinfectants you find in some proprietary cleaners are simply over the top. They’re not necessary to maintain a healthy home. You do not live in a hospital where sick people – both those with reduced immune function and those with bacterial diseases – are confined, and you do not have to perform major surgery.
Common sense is still required and some things should be kept as germ-free as possible. Anything used for food preparation or storage should be cleaned properly and thoroughly. Hands should be washed before eating or handling food, and after using the toilet, doing a dirty job or playing with animals. Tea towels and dishcloths should be changed regularly. And extra care should be taken in households that have small children, elderly people or invalids.
If you need a natural cleaner that is more heavy duty than just soap, baking soda and water (soap is a mild disinfectant, incidentally), try one or more of the following:
Vinegar: vinegar kills bacteria, which is why it is used for bottling and for pickling. The more concentrated it is, the more bacteria it can kill.
Salt: salt also kills bacteria and is used to preserve food.
Mix it into a paste that is abrasive as well as disinfectant (you can use salt as a substitute for toothpaste, but make sure you rinse well and have a big drink of water afterwards if you try cleaning your teeth with salt).
Essential oils: Essential oils of thyme, oregano, lavender and/or pine are stronger disinfectant and anti-bacterials than some hospital-grade disinfectants. However, you won’t be using them concentrated in large quantities unless you have more money than you know what to do with. Add up to 20 drops to any other natural cleaning product for a bit of antiseptic boost.
Boiling water: Immersion in boiling water for 10 minutes kills all bacteria. Keep this for items that can handle the higher temperatures, such as metal, oven-proof glassware, china and cloth made of cotton/linen without any elastic. Don’t be a juggins and try to get the things out of the boiling water with your hands – use tongs and allow the items to dry thoroughly.
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Cold, wet evenings are perfect for getting out old-fashioned storybooks and reading aloud to children – or to older family members. And if you read older children’s books, it’s amazing the little tips that you can pick up about house cleaning using old-fashioned methods. And that applies to stories about old-fashioned households that did have a maid to clean for them, etc. (e.g. Little Women and the rest of that series) and to stories about households that had to rough it a bit more (Little House on the Prairie).
So what can you learn from these books about keeping everything tidy and shipshape?
* A clean, dry attic is perfectly OK for storing vegetables such as pumpkins, red peppers, onions and marrows – good news for those of us today who like to grow vegetables but don’t have masses of space in the refrigerator. Make sure that the area you plan to store these veggies in is dry and free from mould. Any mould spores lingering on the skin of the plants should be killed by a quick wipe-down with neat white vinegar before thorough drying.
* You don’t have to use mineral oil for greasing machinery –animal fat (the sort you shouldn’t eat for the good of your heart) will do. After all, Pa in Little House in the Big Woods used to use bear grease to lubricate his traps. Save clean fat from meat and use it for greasing bike chains and the like. It will go rancid and smell peculiar, so you have been warned. But those looking for a natural alternative to mineral oil should take note. If you want to clean off oil and fat from fabric, animal fats can be removed by a jolly good scrubbing with soap and a soak in water as hot as the fabric can handle, followed by washing as normal. Mineral oil can be removed in the same way, but if the oil stain is particularly tough, using eucalyptus oil or glycerine will help.
* Contrary to popular belief, you can save the job of washing the dishes for once a day in one big hit if you have to wash them by hand. Do this job when the children are home from school and all adults are home from work (if possible) so you have as many hands as possible to do the drying. Doing the dishes together can be a great opportunity for talking and “quality time” as a family.
* Children are never too young to learn the basics about domestic cleaning. Even preschoolers can dry dishes and put them away, help to make beds and pick up dirty clothes for washing. The earlier they start, the better.
* Grate a carrot and steep it in water or milk to make a natural food colouring – unlike the dubious artificial ones, this natural colouring has some additional nutrients.
* Unvarnished wood surfaces can be cleaned with ordinary soap and water – and a whole lot of elbow grease! This was standard for kitchen tables and it is easy to do with wooden chopping boards. Use boiling water to sterilize chopping boards.
* Hair does not need a lot of “product” to get it shiny and glossy. For straight hair, brushing with a natural boar’s bristle brush is all that’s needed. To clean a bristle brush, pull as much hair and fluff out as possible. Then soak the bristles in a solution of warm water and baking soda before carefully drying it. If the brush has been used by someone with head lice, kill these by pouring boiling water over the bristles.
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Most people do take the trouble of sweeping down their driveways every couple of days and perhaps even having the driveway cleaning added to the contract of their domestic cleaning agency. The problem is that the brick and concrete that driveways are usually made of tend to absorb stains, especially the oil and radiator fluid stain that drip from cars. If these stains are not cleaned up immediately, they can get ingrained and become very difficult if not impossible to remove. Here are some steps you can take to deal with driveway stains as soon as you notice them.
If the oil stain is fresh and it has not yet begun to seep into the brick or concrete, quickly put some kitty litter or saw /cement dust on top of the stain. If possible put a heavy wooden board on top to press down. If it’s windy, place a cover on top. After two days sweep away the powder and hopefully, the stain will be gone. However, if it is an old stain that has become ingrained, there are still some things you can try to remove the stain. Use whichever of the following is most convenient for you.
* Apply liquid laundry detergent straight from the bottle to the stain and allow it to remain there for 20 to 30 minutes. Now scrub it off with a hard wet brush or broom. Rinse the area with a garden hose and let it dry. If the stain has only partially gone, repeat the process.
* Make a thick paste of 1 part sodium citrate, 6 parts glycerin and 6 parts water and add a small quantity of fuller’s earth to it. Spread it on the stained area and let it stand for a week, adding a new layer of paste each day. Cover the area if the weather is damp or rainy. After 7 days hose it down and brush away any residue.
* Scrub the stain with a solvent like benzene. Have a fire extinguisher nearby and be careful of sparks as the solver is highly inflammable.
* Make a thick paste of dry dishwasher detergent and water and use this to cover the stain. Allow it to stand for about an hour and then rinse it off with boiling water while scrubbing the surface.
* If none of these home made solutions work, try a commercial grease stain remover available from most auto supply stores.
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Bars of soap always look so attractive when they’re new – pleasantly scented fat ovals or rectangles (or other shapes!) just begging to be turned into lather. But after a few weeks, they look decidedly grotty – thin little slivers that get stuck to the soap dish, smell of nothing and fall to bits almost as soon as you look at them. All most of us can think about is throwing them away as soon as possible and replacing them with a nice new bar of soap. However, some of us might try to keep using these mingy little bits to wash our hands as long as possible.
But you don’t need to do either. Don’t keep trying to get a good lather out of those sleazy little slivers, but don’t throw them away, either. Keep them – otherwise you’ll end up throwing out a lot of soap that you don’t have to, adding this to the water system and costing you.
The first thing you can do with old soap scraps is to break them up – which won’t take long. When you have quite a few scraps collected, melt them in the microwave until liquid, stir them together and pour them into a mould to make a whole new bar of soap. You can add colouring (normal food colouring will do) or scent or oatmeal into this mixture if you like.
However, that can be a bit too fiddly for most of us. A better and more versatile use for soap scraps is to turn them into liquid goo. Slip the soap scraps into a string bag (the sort you get around oranges or onions) and put this into a container of water. This will need to be stored out of sight, as it can look a bit grey and grim at times. Don’t tie the bag closed – you will always have more soap scraps to put in. The water will dissolve the soap into a greyish white jelly or liquid that has quite a few uses around the home and garden.
What can you use the soap goo for?
1. Decant it into a pump-top bottle and add a little colouring and/or scent, then use it as liquid soap. You can leave out the scent and the colour if you prefer.
2. Mix the goo with water and spray it over roses to get rid of aphids. This is an effective organic spray (well, mostly organic, anyway). Make sure that you don’t use water that is too hot for your spray – this will kill the plants as well as the aphids.
3. Use it for handwashing smalls or woollens– it’s much gentler than regular laundry powder for the garment in question and for your hands.
4. Use it as shampoo. Surprisingly, it’s not as harsh as you might expect – it’s very mild, in fact – and it cleans hair very efficiently. It stings if you get it into your eyes, though, as it hasn’t had any this-and-that added to treat the sting. It is a bit too runny to pour into your hand in the normal way, so you will need to apply it directly to wet hair. You can add scent – essential oils are lovely – to improve this. Follow with a vinegar rinse, especially if your water is hard or chlorinated.
5. You can use it around your domestic cleaning duties. For washing the floor for example pour the goo into a bucket and add some hot water.
6. The goo can be used as a general purpose house cleaning product for nearly any purpose (not for glass) in a soft water area. In chlorinated or hard water, soap goo can leave a white scum as it reacts with the minerals in the water.
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Garden pests are a fact of life, no matter where you live (OK, you might not have any garden pests if you were living in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, but then you wouldn’t have a garden. Hang on – even if you did have a garden, you’d have all the birds that ever flew, swam or waddled raiding the green leaves). And if they get half a chance, they’ll devour everything in sight in your garden, or at least leave all your fruit and vegetables full of holes and grot.
Pesticides do work – there’s no doubt about that. And as an absolute desperation measure in a badly infested garden, they are moderately safe to use – as long as (a) you take the proper precautions, namely gloves and a breathing mask, while spraying it; (b) you don’t have any children or animals that are likely to get into the toxins; (c) you don’t touch your fruit and vegetables for at least a week if not more so the poison has gone (and then you should still wash the fruit); (d) the plants aren’t flowering. It’s a lot simpler and safer to avoid having artificial poisons in your garden, isn’t it?
One of the real disadvantages of using large amounts of chemicals to control garden problems is that you not only kill off the organism or micro-organism that is doing the damage, but you also kill off the micro-organisms that would help fight against that particular pest or disease, leaving the plant more vulnerable… so you have to keep spraying. One gardening writer commented that roses that were vetted and treated with umpteen different sprays were always getting problems with black spot, thus requiring more spray, whereas roses that had just been “neglected” were glossy with health and had next to no problems – nature had sorted things out for itself.
Some of the organic pest control methods involve natural toxins. This includes use of plant-based toxins such as derris dust and pyrethrum. While these aren’t particularly harmful to humans, you should still take precautions and you shouldn’t swallow the stuff if you can help it, and remember that these kill bees.
Another plant-based poison spray for controlling pests can be made at home by boiling up rhubarb leaves and/or cigarette butts. Don’t use your cooking saucepans for this and don’t inhale the steam as much as possible. Strain and put this mixture into a spray dispenser and squirt it all over the plants under attack. It will smell vile and you should leave the fruit and vegetables alone for the proper withholding period of about a week, but it won’t hurt the micro-organisms in the soil.
A far safer spray to keep aphids and caterpillars off your cabbages and tomatoes can be made from garlic and hot chillis. You will need about a cup of crushed garlic and about three fresh hot chillies. Boil them up together, strain off the liquid and use this to spray plants once it has cooled down. This mixture will not hurt you if you swallow a bit – the reverse, in fact. You could even save some of the liquid and use it as stock for a stew or soup – a rather strong stock with a bit of zing. If you use it on roses, they will smell a bit garlicky for a while, but aphids hate the garlic and chilli mixture. If you use it on fruit, you will probably want to leave them for a few days before harvesting and eating the fruit, not because the spray will poison you, but because the taste won’t work well with the fruit. On vegetables, however, you can eat them whenever you like.
A less edible but less pungent home-made spray that works well on aphids is the warm soapy water. It also has many advantages in using it as a home cleaner. Simply stir some soap into warm water until the water goes grey, then toss it over wherever you want to control aphids. If you wash clothes by hand, you can toss the washing water (clothes removed!) over the roses to control aphids as a way of getting rid of garden pests and getting the most use out of your water as possible.
On more robust plants, a high pressure jet of water can knock the pests off completely. This won’t kill the pests, but it will remove them from your plants, so they may go off and find a happier hunting ground. A powerful water pistol should do the trick.
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Living naturally is all about creating an environment low in toxins that is beneficial to all living organisms – plants, animals and micro-organisms. However, there are some living organisms that nobody in their right mind really wants to have thriving and multiplying in their home because of the damage they do, the mess they create and the unwanted micro-organisms (namely harmful bacteria and viruses) they bring into your home. Mice, rats, ants, flies, mosquitoes and other creepy crawly vermin are definitely not wanted in the home.
For many people, the gut reaction to finding pests in the house is to start throwing poison around. However, this has its own hazards, the chief one being that it isn’t just the unwanted little brute that gets poisoned – so do you, your family and your pets. So how do you deal with vermin in an environmentally conscious way that doesn’t involve making peace and deciding to live in harmony with all the creatures that choose to share your home with you (the PC way of describing living in squalor in a rat-infested dump).
Mice: The best methods for dealing with these are very, very old and very natural. The first method is the deadfall (spring-loaded) trap that kills mice quickly and humanely. Forget the cartoons of baiting these with cheese: bread crusts, peanut butter and chocolate (if you can bear to part with chocolate for use in a mousetrap) are more attractive to mice. Put the traps where you have seen mouse droppings or other signs of mousey damage and check them daily – mice that have been dead a while aren’t pleasant. Dead mice go into the compost heap. To prevent people getting fingers or toes in the trap, put up a sign on the cupboard door or above the trap warning people. Mice can’t read!
The second method is to introduce a biological control on mice into the home, commonly known as a cat. Even if your cat is a hopeless mouser, even the smell of cat puts many mice off. A good mouser is an efficient means of rodent control – there’s a story about a commercial cropping farm being audited by the health inspectors and being asked about steps in place to control rodents. The farmer said they had an “automatic self-propelled rodent control system”. Right on cue, the cat walks through the office and the health inspector cracks up laughing as the penny drops – and ticks the box.
Rats: Not all cats are up to dealing with rats, although a good proportion are. Super-sized spring-loaded traps for killing rats are also available, but they are pretty nerve-wracking things. If a mouse-trap springs shut on your toe or finger, all you get is a nasty bruise. If a rat trap springs shut on your appendages, you break bones. Purchase or borrow a dog, preferably a terrier of some description, if rats are a real problem. Don’t forget that you are a biological control for rats and that a whack with a poker or a cricket bat kills rats humanely and efficiently. If you’re not up to cornering and killing a rat yourself, wheedle a knight in shining armour or a closet caveman into doing it. Watch you don’t get bitten – cornered rats fight like… cornered rats. Even if you don’t manage to kill the rat, they are clever enough to realize that you and your home is a dangerous place to be and they will go elsewhere. A serious infestation of rats may call for the local pest control person and some poison, as rats are very nasty disease carriers, even if they don’t carry plague these days; are at least as intelligent as dogs; can climb and swim; eat anything, including meat (yes, the horror stories about swarms of starving rats eating humans are based on truth); and they can chew through wood, wire and plastic. However, domesticated rats make nice pets, as they can be housetrained and taught to do tricks– one enthusiast “taught” her pet rats to clean the kitchen bench for her after she’d finished preparing food.
Ants: These are more of a nuisance than carriers of disease. If they’re in your garden, leave them alone. They will aerate the soil and are part of the cycle of breaking down organic material. If they get into your house, follow the ant trail back to their nest. Pour a kettle full of boiling water down their hole if you really have to kill them. Alternatively, simply deter them with strong smelling herbs and spices – cinnamon, basil, bayleaves, peppermint and essential oil of tea-tree are all possibilities. Put some in strategic locations where they are getting into your house. One thing to bear in mind is that ants are only really a nuisance if they get into your kitchen. If they are crawling into other rooms and removing the stray crumbs that have got onto your floor, they are more of a help than a pest. Not leaving crumbs around and doing a domestic cleaning London on a regular basis will get rid of them.
Moths: Real camphor rather than stinky synthetic mothballs are the best bet. Essential oils are other options, with good choices being cedarwood and cinnamon. An old-fashioned pomander made from an orange stuck with cloves, dried and hung up by a ribbon also works. In Shirley Conran’s Superwoman, it is claimed that moths don’t like perfume. A bunch of bayleaves or dried lavender also helps deter moths. Keeping vulnerable natural fibres in a cedarwood wardrobe also works.
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It’s not so much of a secret these days. Quite a few women – married and single – have battery operated adult toys stashed in the bedside drawer. You know – sex toys, vibrators, dildos, whatever you want to call them. What was once considered dirty, obscene and shocking is now quite clean and decent – they’re even sold on the party plan.
Well, they’re not considered morally/ethically dirty. But they do get physically dirty. And with something that is used so intimately, it’s important to make sure that it’s kept clean. If you don’t, the result will be a nasty case of candida at best. It is not acceptable to ask your domestic cleaner to clean it for you, so you need to have a basic idea how to clean it.
First of all, some basic hygiene rules for their use. While one of the oldest references to dildos appeared in an old Greek play and involved a group of women cheerfully lending one round their circle of friends (and enemies), this is a very bad idea. Buy your friend(s) one or two, but don’t lend them around. The second rule is the same one that applies to thermometers – if you use it inside one place, don’t then use it inside another place without a very thorough clean-up first (do I really have to explain it more graphically?).
Vibrators should be cleaned after every use if they are used internally. If they are used externally, they do not need to be cleaned as frequently.
When you clean your vibrator, be careful about immersing it in water. Some dildos are waterproof and can be washed (and even used) underwater, but the majority are not – if the catalogue (or shop assistant) doesn’t describe one as being waterproof, it isn’t. Things that aren’t operated by electricity (e.g. ben wa balls) may be washed in warm soapy water, and so can the waterproof vibrators. Just wash them like you would wash your dishes – wash scrub well, then rinse off the soap before drying. But make sure that the battery compartment is properly closed to prevent any water getting in.
If your vibrator is not waterproof, then you will need to wipe it clean. Baby wipes, in this writer’s experience, do not tend to be enough for proper cleaning, as they don’t have much of a disinfectant action, being designed for sensitive and tender skin. A wet flannel with soap works better, but remember to wash the soap off with a second flannel or sponge, as soap can also trigger candida by upsetting the internal flora. Better still for cleaning vibrators and the like is strong alcohol – surgical spirit is good, but vodka or some other strong (more than 75% proof) spirits will do perfectly well. Simply apply a generous amount of alcohol to a soft cloth and rub the vibrator well. This will clean off any residue, and kill any stray bacteria. Best of all, it will also evaporate quickly, making it easier to dry. Alcohol has one small disadvantage, however: if your vibrator has a shiny coating on it, the alcohol will eventually fade and wear this away.
No matter how you clean your vibrator, be very careful not to let any moisture get into the electrics. Even in waterproof gadgets, if the batteries or wires get wet, it will either rust or short out – and both of these will wreck your vibrator. To be on the safe side, dry it thoroughly before storing it.
Another care tip: if you have any vibrators of the type that involve a vibrating device attached by a cord or wire to the battery compartment, be careful not to put any stress on the cord by pulling, stretching or bending. This will cause the wires to break, and I, for one, do not particularly fancy the idea of taking one down to the electrician to fix. Take care with storage of these things – they’re best kept in a little bag by themselves where they can’t tangle around other things.
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Chandeliers add glamour and grace to a room because of their innate beauty and intricate design. The greater the intricacy of the design, the greater the beauty and the more a chandelier adds to the dŽcor of a room. But that is where the problem lies. The more intricate and eye catching it is, the more dirt and grime on it will be noticed. Cleaning a chandelier can be one of the most difficult aspects of house cleaning, but there are some short cuts you can take to make the job much easier. Please note that what is suggested here will not take the place of disassembling a chandelier and cleaning it piece by piece, but is enough to remove surface dirt and keep it looking clean and nice.
There are two quick ways of cleaning a chandelier – the wet and dry methods.
The fasts way is the wet method. For this you will need a step ladder, plastic sandwich bags, rubber bands, a tarpaulin, and chandelier cleaner or any other cleaning spray which will drip dry without leaving any marks.
Here’s how to go about it.
* Make sure the chandelier is off and the bulbs are cool
* Spread the tarpaulin on the floor below the chandelier so that it will catch any liquid that drips off
* Set up the ladder so that it is stable and you can reach the chandelier easily
* Climb up the ladder and fit a sandwich bag over each bulb, using a rubber band to tightly secure the bags below each bulb
* Spray the complete chandelier with the cleaning spray. Use it liberally to cover every surface
* Wait till the cleaning fluid stop dripping and carefully gather up the tarp, making sure nothing spills on the floor
* You’re done.
If you don’t have or don’t want to use a cleaning spray, you can do a dry clean. For this you will need glass cleaner and a few soft microfiber cloths.
* As in the wet cleaning, place the tarp to catch any dirt that may fall from the chandelier, make sure it is off and the bulbs are cool and set up the ladder.
* Start working from the top of the chandelier and move down.
* Spray the glass cleaner on one of the cloths and wipe a piece of glass.
* Use another piece of cloth to wipe the dirt off and polish the glass.
* Change the cloths as they become dirty
Whichever way you go about it, you will have a clean chandelier in far less time that you thought possible so you can then relax or go on to some other aspect of house cleaning.
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