Fall Housecleaning Hacks

With the advent of fall comes – what else? – fall cleaning. It’s the time to wash and put away the summer clothes, bring down the boxes of fall clothes, and deep clean the house. So in the spirit of fall cleaning, here are a few household “hacks” that I’ve picked up over the years.

Easy Steaming

The worst part of bringing out next season’s clothes is ironing out the deep creases that come from being packed in a box for months. But why iron when you can steam? Most people are familiar with the trick of steaming wrinkles out of clothes by hanging them in the bathroom and running a hot shower. But there’s an even easier way to steam out wrinkles – in the dryer! Any clothes except those made from the most delicate fabric can be “pressed” in the dryer by tossing them in with a damp towel for 10 minutes or so. Take each item out, give it a good shake, smooth it out with your hands, hang it up, and voila! It looks like you just walked out of the dry cleaners. And you can steam a bunch of clothes at the same time; just add another damp towel or two.

Let It Soak

I always make sure that last season’s clothes are super-clean and stain-free before I pack them away. OxyClean is great for spot stains, but what about those yellowed undershirts and stinky socks that need an all-over deep clean? My mom taught me to keep a bucket of water with a few handfuls of Axiom or Biz pre-soak next to the washing machine. Items that need a little boost get thrown into the bucket as soon as they’re taken off, where they can happily soak for several days until the next load of wash is ready. Then just dump the whole bucket, water and all, into the washer, add the rest of the laundry and a regular amount of detergent, and you’re good to go.

An Old Toothbrush: The Miracle Tool

Being a frugal Yankee, my mom saved everything. But she used it all, too. One of her most-used and best-loved re-uses was an old toothbrush. You can use a toothbrush to clean anything from grout, to your fingernails, to those hard-to-reach corners of windowpanes, to sink and tub drains, to the gunk under the setting of your diamond ring, to the dust in the little nooks of your tchotchkes. And the older, more flared, and more broken-down it is, the better it works.

Newspaper in Tupperware

As the weather cools, I tend to cook more comfort food, and in larger batches, so it’s time to break out the Tupperware. You know that weird musty smell that unused Tupperware always seems to have, no matter how carefully you scrub and dry it before you put it away? Toss a piece or two of crumpled up newspaper inside when you stick it up on that high shelf and it’ll smell freshly-washed even months later. And if you have a crock pot that sits around unused during the summer months, this trick works for it, too.

Window Polish

Another great use for newspaper? Use it to dry glass surfaces like windows, mirrors, and glass tables after you wash them. Something in the chemicals leaves the glass sparkling and streak-free, and with none of the bits of lint stuck in the corner like you always get with paper towels. Get your newspaper fix online and don’t have any papers handy? Use a coffee filter instead.

Baking Soda Magic

Freshen up your carpets by sprinkling them with baking soda and letting it sit for a few minutes before you vacuum. It absorbs old, lingering odors and the little bit that stays in the carpet will continue to freshen things up during those closed-in months of cool weather.

Lemony Fresh

In the summer months, I use a lot more fresh vegetables and fruits, and therefore I get a lot more use of my cutting boards. So when fall rolls around, I try to give them an extra-good scrub before tucking them away. Try cutting a lemon in half and using it to scrub the board before you put it away. The acid and roughness help to disinfect, deodorize, and even remove stains from both wood and plastic cutting boards.

Hose It Off

Before the weather gets too cold and you turn off the outside hose for the season, take your Venetian blinds outside and hose them off. The force of the water will knock the dust off, no scrubbing required. If your kitchen blinds have a coat of grease that doesn’t want to come off, give them a few squirts with Windex or Fantastik and let the grease dissolve for a few minutes before spraying them off.

Any other fall cleaning cheats you love to use?

My Favorite Life Hacks

The expression “life hacks” is one I discovered while browsing the internet. For those unfamiliar with the term, a life hack is some kind of shortcut or technique that simplifies life. There are all kinds of lists all over the internet of good life hacks, but I thought I’d put together a compilation of a few that I find to be the most useful, the most interesting, or the most cool.

Proper use of a bobby pin

Most women who put bobby pins in their hair put them in at the orientation in the photo above: straight side down, wavy side up. WRONG!!! Putting a bobby pin in your hair with the flat side up will not only hold your hair more firmly, but it will be easier to slide into place, it will lie smoothly (and less noticeably) against your head, and that little sticky-uppy part at the end won’t poke out of your ‘do (and since your head is curved, it won't poke YOU either).

Banish static cling from clothes

Got a skirt, dress, or blouse made of a lightweight material that is always full of static cling? Don’t reach for that bottle of Static Guard, reach for a safety pin instead. Pin a small safety pin into the seam allowance and it will disperse that nasty static. You may need one on each side of the garment.

And from hair

Got static in your hair, not your clothes? Smooth it down with a used dryer sheet. Not only will it be less flyaway, it’ll smell fresh and clean!

Know which water glass and bread plate are yours

Don’t you just hate it when you’re at a wedding reception or a large business dinner and the place settings are all mashed together so it’s not clear which water glass and which bread plate are yours? Here’s all you have to do: put your hands in your lap and make the “OK” sign with each of them. Look at your left hand: It’s also in the shape of a lower-case letter “b,” right? That’s because your bread plate is on your left. Now look at your right hand: It’s a lower-case “d,” because your drink is the one on your right. Now you just have to be sure to claim them before the guests on either side of you who don’t know this trick do.

Iced coffee in the Keurig

I love iced coffee, but when you have a Keurig, it just doesn’t make sense to brew a single cup and wait for it to chill. But if you brew it over ice, it gets watered down. Here’s the simple solution: make a cup or two of your favorite blend, pour it into an ice cube tray, and freeze. The next time you want an iced coffee, brew it over the coffee cubes instead of plain ice. Don’t forget to put the sugar in first so it dissolves while the coffee is still hot!

Sugar in your iced coffee

Speaking of dissolving sugar in your coffee, don’t you hate it when you get takeout iced coffee and there’s all that sugary sludge at the bottom that just won’t dissolve no matter how hard you stir? Just ask them to pour a splash of hot coffee in your cup after adding the sugar but before adding the iced coffee. I learned this trick from the scariest-looking, most tattooed and pierced, and absolutely most wonderful Dunkin Donuts employee I ever met. Wherever you are today, my friend, THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!

Sneeze manipulation

Got an annoyingly ticklish nose but that sneeze just won’t come? Look at a bright light. It’s called the photic reflex and it’s present in about one-third of us. So it might not work, but it couldn’t hurt.

On the flip side, feel a sneeze coming that you really need to stifle? Press hard on the bridge of your nose with your finger, or push your tongue up against the front part of your hard palate right behind your front teeth. Both techniques seem to calm an impending sneeze.

Clearing your throat without clearing your throat

What if that tickle isn’t in your nose, but in your throat? I had some vocal issues a number of years ago and learned that clearing your throat is TERRIBLE for your vocal cords. So how to get rid of that tickle without an annoying – and unhealthy – “hem hem”? Drop your chin down to your chest, turn your head slightly to the side, and swallow. The motion will soothe the irritated nerves and even help clear that annoying phlegm.

Dry mouth

About to make a speech and suddenly realize your mouth is full of sawdust? Vocal audition and you ran out of water five minutes ago? Ready to play your fancy brass fanfare and you haven’t got enough spit to drown a flea? Bite your tongue! No, really. Bite your tongue gently and it will stimulate the flow of saliva. And keep in mind that if you bite the sides instead of the tip you’re less likely to hurt yourself.

Elegant cocktail garnishes

To make an elegant cocktail garnish of lemon or lime, cut off both ends, slice across the peel from end to end, and carefully cut off the entire peel so you have a roughly rectangular shape. Scrape off as much of the white pith as you can, then re-roll the peel tightly and put a rubber band around it to keep it rolled. Put in a Ziploc baggie and freeze. When thoroughly frozen, remove the rubber band and slice into ¼-inch wide discs, then keep frozen until ready to use. Drop a frozen disc into a drink and it will add flavor, keep the drink cool, and slowly uncoil as it thaws. Plus you still have the rest of the lemon or lime for juice!

Pizza cutters are for more than just pizza

Whenever I go out to breakfast with my kids, by the time I finish cutting up their pancakes or waffles for them, my own breakfast is cold. But that never happens at home, because at home I use a pizza cutter to zip through even a tall stack of pancakes in seconds. A pizza cutter is also handy for trimming crusts off bread or sandwiches, cutting toast into points or fingers, slicing up peppers or mushrooms, and even slicing brownies or bar cookies – just pop the whole thing out of the pan onto a cutting board and slice away!

I hope you find some of these hacks to be useful, interesting, or at least cool. And please share your own favorite life hacks in the comments!