Tweet“It rains all the time in England, doesn’t it? Our climate’s notoriously damp. Surely we don’t need to worry about water! It’s not like we live in Australia!” Familiar words if you start bringing up the topic of saving water. However, because of the need for clean, treated water and the population levels in Britain’s cities, water is indeed shorter than you would think and conserving water is necessary.
So what do you do?
Have short showers rather than hot baths for a daily wash – or even just give your face and hair a quick freshen up in the basin. This uses much less water than a bath. If you’re really keen, you can put a bucket in the shower to catch water while you’re waiting for the water to heat up. You can then use the water for whatever you fancy – watering the plants, cooking (providing the bucket was clean to start with)… However, you probably want a long hot bath every once in a while (maybe once a week) for relaxation and distressing purposes. In this case, consider trying one of the following to save water:
1: Share the bath with someone else who wants to relax and de-stress (yes – obviously, you’ll have to be on intimate terms with the person in question. This isn’t quite so practical if you want to have a bit of time out on your own in the bath to do spa-type things like put on a face mask or if you want to soak with a cheap paperback).
2: Leave the water in the bath. If the bath is in the same room as the lavatory, then use the bathwater to flush the loo – just keep a bucket handy. Alternatively, if you have a bathroom upstairs, put a hosepipe into the bath through the window and siphon the water out and down into the garden.
3: Don’t fill the bath right to the top. You can relax perfectly well with enough water to cover you, and you’ll avoid splashing all over the place.
4: Invest in a sauna – an expensive and luxurious option, but it does use less water and allows you to have a really good deep cleansing session spa-style.
Put a brick in the toilet tank, or else one of the proper “hippos” to reduce the amount of water that comes out when you flush the loo. The modern toilets that have a half flush for less substantial waste use much less water than the old type that just has a one-size-fits-all flush.
Several of these methods involve saving water by catching water in a bucket and using it to flush the loo. If you are trying these methods, you don’t need to tip the water into the tank of the toilet from a bucket. It is possible to get a loo to flush by dumping water into the toilet bowl directly. Raise the lid and invert the bucket quickly into the bowl. If your aim is good, semi-throw the water into the bowl as well as tipping it in. It’s the force that pushes the waste around the S-bend and down into the sewers. Pour the water from a reasonable height and don’t pussy-foot around letting the water trickle in slowly – this won’t work and could overflow.
This is one of the more unpleasant ways of saving water, but when it comes to flushing the toilet, you could follow the old Australian dictum: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.” I’ll stick with the half-flush option and using the bucket.
Other places you can catch water in a bucket for flushing loos is the waste water pipe from the washing machine. While you’d need oodles of buckets to catch every bit of waste water that comes out of the machine as well as being very strong and fast (hmmm… that’s an idea for a workout session), even if you catch only a few buckets, you can save a bit of water. Soapy water is fit only for flushing loos, but first rinse water can go on the garden or can be used for washing cars, and second rinse water can be poured back into them machine and used for washing another load. Some washing machines have a sud-saver option that saves rinse water for using in the next wash load.
If you are boiling vegetables, use less water. This helps the water get to the boil more quickly – there’s less water to heat. Also consider putting a steamer above another saucepan double-boiler style to cook two menu items for one amount of water. Don’t forget other low-water methods such as microwaving, poaching, frying, baking and roasting.
Catch rainwater with a tank, tub or big bucket under the down-pipe. Water that has gurgled through the gutters and pattered onto your roof is probably not the best to use for cooking and drinking – you’ve probably had birds perching on the roof – but it is fine for flushing loos, watering the garden, window cleaning or general house cleaning .
TweetHow the household sprays can trigger asthma: The household sprays comprise of spray cleaners and air fresheners. These materials often use strong ingredients. The strong ingredients may cause asthma in some adults. It is rather the most common source of asthma attack. Recent studies show that the chances of an asthma attack increase by 30% to 50 % with the use of household sprays.
The sprays such as window cleaning sprays, furniture sprays and air fresheners spread small particles in the air. These are inhaled very easily. Some of the ingredients in the sprays cause irritation. These ingredients are responsible for infections inside the lungs and the respiratory pipe can constricts due to this. This leaves the patient short of breath. Some patients may feel chest pain, throat irritation, coughing and wheezing.
If the patient is suffering from asthma, then a household spray can easily trigger the asthma attack. The small particles enter ones lungs and respiratory system which cause basic symptoms of asthma. The patient starts feeling short of breath, as his respiratory system start contracting. Coughing may start due to irritation in the throat and lungs.
Substitutes to the household cleaning sprays: The household sprays comprise of a wide range of materials. These are inclusive of hair sprays, air fresheners, spray cleaners and plant sprays. These sprays may contain chemicals that are harmful to the asthma patient. One can avoid these harmful sprays by using substitutes instead of these sprays. Some of the hardwood cleaners such as Easy Off can trigger an asthma attack instantly as it contains higher levels of ammonia. Instead of spray hardwood cleaners, use liquid cleaners. Studies have shown that liquid cleaners have no effect on the respiratory system.
Using eco friendly domestic cleaning products is another option. There are several manufacturers which produce organic cleaners. These do not contain harmful and strong chemicals. These are available in the form of fluids or dry powders. The powders are added in water to make think pastes or solutions. Such solutions are safer than spray cleaners.
Make use of bleaches as much possible. However the bleach should be chosen according to the furniture type. Some of the strong bleaches can harm the wooden furniture when used for cleaning. For cleaning the floor and other things, solutions such as Bacterial Wipes can be used. This solution is a good disinfectant and less harmful.
The best cleaning solution for any kind of stain is water and vinegar. The solution is mild and does not contain any fragrance. This solution can be used on any kind of surface, except the tops of quartz counters. For cleaning a wooden shelf, one can use a damp cloth and static dusters for dusting. Both these things avoid the spread of dust in the air. Dry baking soda can remove stains very effectively.
The easiest way to clean a glass surface is to spray water. Wipe the wet surface with paper instead of cloth. This procedure cleans the surface effectively.
Substitutes for air fresheners: This is a little tricky. However one can use cinnamon oil for scenting. It can be heated to spread the fragrance in the room. Similarly use different types of oils and heat them for fragrance. These work better rather than room fresheners which can trigger respiratory problems.
TweetIf you are reading this article, it is highly likely that you own a computer (otherwise, you are reading this at an internet cafe, a library or something similar). We’ve all got them, but how do you keep them clean? After all, everything that you own or use will need cleaning at some stage or other.
A computer comes in different parts. If you’re using a standard desktop, you will have a CPU, a monitor and a keyboard (I’m not counting all the peripherals like printers and mice, although you probably have these as well.
Dusting is the first port of call for cleaning all parts of a computer. Dust getting into the system can cause computer malfunctions and crashes and even, in rare cases, fires. Keep your whole workspace dusted regularly. A damp rag works well, as does an old-fashioned feather duster. They say that ostrich feathers make better feather dusters for computers, as these are lower in static than chicken (or turkey) feather dusters or the nylon “feather” dusters. Don’t try to dust or vacuum inside your CPU – a regular vacuum cleaner’s nozzle is too wide and can damage circuitry. Some hardware technicians have a special small vacuum for doing this job – leave it to them! Dust the keyboard, the monitor and the CPU. And your desk! In this respect, make sure that the carpets in your office are vacuumed frequently, as this will reduce the overall amount of dust in your office environment.
The screen of the monitor will need cleaning from time to time. It’s amazing how much grime gets onto these screens – fly dirt, general dust and even finger marks (and, in the case of the old joke about how you can tell if a (insert nationality/hair colour to be picked on here) has been using your computer, correction fluid on the screen). Most monitors can be cleaned like you would clean any other glass surface, although using a spray-on product isn’t wise, as the spray can get onto and into the keyboard and other bits of hardware very easily. Apply the house cleaning fluid (or dilute vinegar) to a soft cloth or paper towel, then dry with a lint free cloth or crushed newspaper. My preference, however, is to use a microfibre cloth that has been designed for lenses, CDs and screens.
Keyboards seldom need much more than just the regular dusting to keep them working. However, it pays to know what to do if you spill coffee (or another drink) on your keyboard. Because no matter what good intentions we started out with, we all end up having coffee while working (or playing) on the computer. If you have a spill, act immediately. Unplug the keyboard and run it under the cold tap to rinse off any sticky residue. Never use hot or even warm water. After you have done this, let as much water as possible drain out of the keyboard. Then put the keyboard somewhere warm (e.g. in the sun or in a hot water cupboard) to dry, but avoid getting it too hot, such as in front of a radiator or fire. Wait until it has dried before using it again.
Computer mice are prone to not working correctly if they get dirty. Dust inside the mechanism can play havoc with a mouse’s function. The easiest way of dealing with this is “mouth to mouse resuscitation”, as I have heard this process described. Simply blow on the ball part of the mouse. This usually manages to get rid of any gunk. If you have an infra-red mouse mechanism, check from time to time that the lens is clean and dust-free. Blowing off the dust can work quite well, but if you can see stickier residue, use a cotton bud dampened with meths or white spirit (or vodka or even vinegar), or else a microfibre cloth to clean the lens.
Tweet* Having problems picking up leaves, twigs and other garden rubbish while cleaning the garden? Two semicircles or squares of flat metal held in the hands are ideal for picking up this sort of thing, and do an excellent job. Cut them out with tin snips from something that is due to go down to the recycling centre, or even take them off the side of something old and broken that’s about to go to the tip (e.g. a broken heater).
* Heavy furniture can often leave deep indentations on carpets. So can lighter pieces standing on castors or other narrow things that are in contact with the floor. To get these indentations out, get a steam iron and set it on high. Do NOT iron the carpet directly, but use the “steam shot” function (most steam irons have these) and shoot the indentation with the steam. It should spring up again with all this steam. Alternatively, get your carpets professionally cleaned with a steam cleaning machine – this is one reason why your carpets feel so nice after a heavy-duty steam clean: the fibres have all plumped out and sprung up again.
* If your bath is really filthy (e.g. because you’ve just moved into a place where the previous occupant left hurriedly and didn’t do a proper tidying job before moving out), you can take a lot of the hard work out by filling the bath with warm (not hot) water and dissolving biological washing powder in the water. Let it stand overnight, then drain in the morning (use rubber gloves to remove the plug). Rinse out any residue. Most of the grub should have gone. If it hasn’t, help it on its way with a little baking soda.
* Silver can be cleaned with a paste of flour, baking soda and vinegar. Apply this paste to the silver and leave it to stand overnight. Rinse off with boiling water. Great for the inside of silver teapots.
* If you have problems with pantyhose wrapping themselves around the washing line in a high wind, drop a marble down each leg – the weight in the toe will stop them flying all around the place.
* A paste of salt and water can be used to clean the inside of porcelain cups that have had one cup of tea too many, leaving a stain on the inside.
* White chalk removes grease stains from wallpaper – just “scribble” over the mark and the chalk will absorb the oils. Good for kitchens where grease is likely to spatter everywhere.
* Cold black tea – the ordinary sort – can be mixed with glycerine in the proportion of 1 T glycerine to 1 pint of tea to make a natural window cleaner.
* If you’re camping or picnicking and find that you’ve forgotten the dishwashing detergent, a frying pan can be cleaned using a very basic form of soap. Don’t tip out any grease, but add a handful of ashes to the pan. This will make a rudimentary soap that will clean out easily. If you’re on or near the beach, then gently scouring everything with sand followed by rinsing in water will do the trick.
TweetMost new parents become all too aware of their baby’s health and how vulnerable a little immune system is. The automatic reaction from most people is to try sterilising and boiling everything in sight in case a germ dares to attack their offspring. Children’s toys are cleaned thoroughly by dry cleaning. Surfaces are doused in vast amounts of cleaning product to ensure that every germ lingering in the kitchen is dead. High chairs are swabbed with more products. And to deal with the inevitable pong from nappies, out come the air fresheners.
And if a new parent hasn’t hired one before, the arrival of a new baby often is a good excuse to hire a professional house cleaner. The need to protect babies from germs combined with the exhaustion of caring for a new baby is often the motivation.
But just wait a minute. If you get too obsessed with germs, you could actually be doing more harm than good. Most of those commercial cleaning products are poisonous – that’s why they kill germs. And once your baby gets mobile, he or she will put their hands on everything and put everything in their mouths, which means they’re getting this stuff into their systems. And let’s not even start on the hazards of having those cleaning products in the house – they all have to be stored out of reach in a high cupboard rather than being kept under the kitchen sink – the most common place to store cleaning chemicals.
If these chemicals get into their systems, it can cause developmental damage to the organs and various other systems. And even if small children don’t ingest the product you’ve used for cleaning the floor or cleaning the bathroom, an over-clean house can also be a problem, as it can lead to auto-immune problems. If a developing immune system doesn’t get a few bacteria to practice on, then it starts reacting to non-threats, leading to asthma and eczema and similar problems.
So what does a concerned parent to do in order to keep their home safe for their new baby?
* Use natural cleaning products. They are less toxic than commercial cleaning products. Older children can use these products or even make them without any hassles.
* If you have to use a commercial cleaning product, then rinse after using them. Store it up high where smalls can’t get it.
* Don’t bother drycleaning soft toys. Drycleaning fluids are really nasty, and your little one will breathe them all in. If you have to clean a soft toy, do it by hand or just pop the toy in the machine – most modern soft toys can handle a trip through the tub.
* If you need to clean your carpets, book a steam cleaning or hire a professional carpet cleaner that uses chemical carpet shampoos. Regular vacuuming of carpets and sweeping of hard floors will get rid of the worst of the grub that might cause a problem for your child.
* Strengthen your child’s immune system. This is best done by a healthy diet. Breastfeeding is great for this and also means less cleaning work – no sterilising, measuring or scooping to be done, and breasts can’t be dropped onto the floor by accident mid-feed.
* Don’t panic. A happy, healthy child is reasonably resilient. As my sister-in-law said, you spend the first few months sterilising and boiling everything in sight, then as soon as they’re mobile, they’re in the garden eating slugs and coming to no harm.
But you can still hire that professional cleaner – busy new parents need all the help they can get.
TweetHousehold cleaning products contain antibacterial ingredients which are widely available and used by a lot of people. Such products are also quite popular. A possible benefit of using the antibacterial product for home hygiene must be weighed against theoretical risk for antibiotic or antiseptic resistance. Studies and research surveys have been conducted too, to view the benefits of the household cleaning products to the household people using it on a frequent basis.
Surveys conducted on the product usage: There is an advantage of such community based studies as it has an opportunity to track down infections, if any in the household. It was found that, even though such antibacterial cleaning and hand washing products are being used frequently in the United States, a lot of people spread skin bacteria by using products having non-antibacterial soap. Dirty hands are the primary source which spread numerous viruses; one can avoid such bacteria by regularly using the antibacterial ingredients.
The primary concern of such studies was to measure the public health effect rather than determining the causative agents and surveys were conducted about the access of infections symptomatically. This was done because specific symptoms measured the load of household illness.
Findings of such surveys done: The findings, however conclude that some of the infections can be caused by either not using the antibacterial products or by using too much of such products and not washing the hands properly after using the same. Further, the spread of diseases like gastrointestinal infections or any skin infection can be due to hereditary factors as well where household members have lower immunities and resistance to disease.
This survey conducted even suggests that the care providers and the manufacturers should educate the consumers on the appropriate use and limitations of any household antibacterial products. There is also an additional research which is indicated to understand the possible health benefits connected with the increased use of household cleaning products, irrespective of whether such products contain antibacterial ingredients or not.
Interventions: The household people are recommended to use antibacterial products for laundry, hand washing and for general house cleaning. All such products are available at the counter.
Usage of the antibacterial product: Over the past few years, there has been a majority of household cleaning products which advertise antibacterial qualities and the demand for this has increased. However, too much usage of such products is not recommended and improper usage of the product can cause the surviving bacteria to change and become super germs to avoid the antibacterial ingredients. Such germs are antibiotic resistant. If a person wants to use antibacterial products, he should ensure that he uses them for the proper duration in order to prevent their adverse effects.
One can even reduce indoor air pollution. Ones home may become an energy efficient domain which can reduce the use of certain resources like coal or oil. And, the reduction of fresh air in the house can cause the indoor air to be more polluted with toxic chemicals and fumes.
TweetDespite the drive towards paperless offices, the fact remains that most are still full of paper files and books. While the files usually have a defined life after which they may be thrown away, books are things that are kept. But they are also susceptible to decay and damage and need to be looked after. You never know when you will need some information that is only in a book and not on your hard drive. While your domestic cleaning company will clean the bookshelves as part of their cleaning service, cleaning old and valuable books is something you should do yourself.
There are two steps to cleaning books.
Cleaning the Outside
Wipe the surface with clean paper or a soft dry cloth to remove any dust. Do not allow any dampness or chemicals to touch the paper as it may damage it irreparably. If the book has a glossy cover you can use a little window cleaning spray that is applied to a soft cloth that is then used to wipe the cover. Never spray the cleaner directly on to the cover. If the cover or the pages get damp, place the book in the sun to dry do not place it near a fire or use a hair dryer – these could damage the paper.
For leather bound books, place a little petroleum jelly to a soft cloth and apply it to the leather. Then use a dry soft cloth to rub it to a shine. Do not use any cleaning sprays or polishes on leather bound books not only could they damage this delicate leather, the spray or polish, if it gets on the pages, can damage the paper.
Cleaning the Inside
Use a piece of dry white bread to clean the edges of the pages. Keep the book closed and wipe around the sides of the pages with the bread which will absorb the dirt. You can also use a vacuum cleaner to suck the dirt out of the books. Be careful when doing this with old and fragile books as the suction force could tear the old paper or damage brittle covers. Do not use any sprays of liquids on the paper. If there are marks or stains on the pages, you can try either:
* Using a white vinyl eraser to rub at the stains Ð always rub from the inside to the out, being careful not to tear the paper.
* If it is a grease or oil stain, place a paper towel on the stain and close the book. Lay it flat with a weight on top of it. Leave it for a few days and then remove the paper towel which should have absorbed the grease.
TweetIt’s a pity that few of us have the space to grow enough lavender to make our own essential oil for use around the home for domestic cleaning purposes, among a myriad of others. However, most of us have enough space – even if all we have room for is a pot on a balcony – to grow our own lavender as a supply of fresh scented flowers and dried flowers to use as moth repellents. You can put lavender in the cleaning liquid when doing the regular kitchen cleaning or the floor cleaning.
Don’t just grab the first lavender you see at the garden shop. French lavender is decorative and is pretty popular (i.e. popular because it’s pretty) but doesn’t have much scent to it. English lavender (Lavandula augustifolia or L. latifolia; a hybrid of the two called L. x intermedia is also available) is the type you want. You can take your pick as to the exact colour the blooms will be when they come out. You can get flowers in shades ranging from white to pale blue-purple (classic lavender colour) through to purple and pink.
Lavender also grows from cuttings, so if you have a friend who has a lovely patch of lavender, you can ask for a cutting or two. Lavender also grows from seed, but this can be a bit of a gamble, as lavenders hybridize with each other readily and come up with offspring that are nothing like the parent plant you took the seeds from. Always ask first before taking cuttings or seeds; we don’t all have the chutzpah of one middle-aged lady who will remain nameless who was an expert at nipping off seed-heads from strangers’ gardens within easy reach of the footpath.
Lavender likes the sun – the more, the better. While lavender is mostly pest-free, it is prone to fungus if you plant it in damp, shady areas. It likes well draining soils and doesn’t mind stones (rather like good wine grapes). Taller varieties of lavender can be planted as a hedge (try L. augustifolia “Vera”, which has nice silvery leaves and gets to about 90 cm high). Lavenders repel insects – except for bees and butterflies, which love the flowers – so it makes a good perennial for companion planting near the vegetable garden. One delightful suggestion for planting lavender this writer has come across was to plant lavender near your washing line where the sheets can flap against it, picking up some of the scent as they dry outside.
Lavender prefers an alkaline soil. An acid soil can be corrected with ash or lime.
Plant lavender in autumn for best results. If you’re planting a hedge, put the plants about 30cm apart – you don’t need to crowd them. One of the bonuses of a lavender hedge is that it doesn’t lose its leaves over winter. You can’t really call it an evergreen, but you could call it an “ever-silver” or an “ever-grey”.
Lavender hedges should be pruned after flowering (never before, for obvious reasons – you miss out on the flowers). Dry the prunings and use them for kindling or on a barbecue – they will release the scent as they burn.
