Clean Slate

What good is a tidy home when the cleaners you use are polluting the environment? Here are some ways to reduce harmful and toxic cleaning.

• Do as much as you can with baking soda and water, which are safer, effective cleaners for your tub and shower.
• Pop a mildewed shower curtain into the washing machine after presoaking heavily mildewed areas in a bucket filled with 1/4 cup bleach per gallon of water (make sure it's safe for the fabric first). The solution can then be used on other bathroom surfaces. Hang the washed curtain back up in your bathroom to dry. Ventilate well when working with bleach.
• Vacuum floors or dust-mop them with a microfiber dust mop; don't sweep them. Microfiber mops trap and hold fine dust and grime better than your broom does.
• Use a lambswool duster to remove cobwebs and dust from ceiling fixtures, exposed beams and corners.
• Freshen your fridge with baking soda. When thinned with water to a grainy consistency, it's the perfect weapon for attacking chilled-on food, grime and fridge dunk. Rub on with a white nylon sponge, let set a minute or two and rinse clean with damp paper towels.

Large Appliance Maintenance...

May be easier than you think.

Many of us take large appliances - dishwashers, refrigerators and washing machines - for granted. They fade into the background as they perform essential daily tasks. But when they break, their repair can quickly become the household priority! It's a good thing that some basic maintenance can save us a lot of headaches down the road.

With any major appliance, the key is keeping it clean. Those coils on the bottom and back of the fridge, when coated in grime and dust, retard the machine's ability to transfer heat. Sweep or vacuum around the coils to keep them clean.

Make sure the plastic coating on dishwasher racks hasn't chipped away. If it has, the underlying metal can rust, damaging the rack and leaving rust on plates and particles in the water discharge line. If you find rust, sand the area before applying a new layer of material or sealant. Also, mineral deposits can build up in your dishwasher's sprayer. Soaking it for a few hours in white vinegar will loosen the deposits and allow the mechanism to be cleaned.

You should make sure appliance seals and gaskets - the ones that keep the fridge and dishwasher doors shut tightly - aren't hardened or twisted. Replace them if they're worn. Test your fridge's seal by waving your hand slowly around the edges to feel for cool air escaping.

Check to see if the hoses connected to your washing machine are in good condition (not frayed, worn or kinked) and replace if necessary (turn off the water first). Experts recommend using steel-mesh hoses which last longer than regular ones.

In the end, the major appliances in your home will work smoother and longer with a bit of preventive maintenance, saving you precious time - just as they were designed to do in the first place.