how to clean a pot

I tried to cook some spun sugar last night to garnish a dessert I was serving to a friend. The entire endeavor was fraught with disappointment: I didn't have much sugar in the house, the sugar was dead hard, I burned the sugar, and then I worried about cleaning the burnt sugar out of the pot.

The truth is, there's no reason to fret about cleaning up burnt sugar. It may feel like concrete, but it will effortlessly dissolve in hot water.

Simply immerse the affected objects, and half an hour later they'll wash up like a dream.

To see a Facebook photo album of this tip, click here.

how to clean the outside of a refrigerator

Do you want to clean green?

I got a digital camera for Christmas, and have been going nuts creating photo essays on Facebook with it ever since. I'm including the written instructions below for cleaning the outside of a fridge, but to see the entire photo album (I recommend it), click here. (You don't need to be a Facebook member to view the album.)*

I like stuff on my fridge - even though I'm a professional organizer, and I always tell clients who are staging their homes for resale that an uncluttered fridge is more appealing to buyers. In my defense, sometimes I just don't remember to do things unless I stick them to my fridge. And I have a niece and nephew whom I love (and who make lots of drawings for me)... and I wanted to display all my Christmas cards this year...

It was the Christmas cards that inspired me to clean my fridge. I wanted to take them down, and I figured while I was at it, I might as well do the whole thing.

The first step is to take everything OFF the fridge - including things on top (in my case, a wooden dish rack and a basket of brushes and scrubbies for dishwashing). While you're at it, organize what you've taken off so that you can put things away immediately.

These are the supplies you'll need to clean the outside of the fridge:

-baking soda (in a shaker can)
-vinegar (in a spray bottle)
-TSP (trisodium phosphate, which you can buy in crystal form at hardware or paint stores)

You may also want a bucket of warm water or a spray bottle of water, and you'll need some clean rags and possibly some brushes or toothbrushes for the nooks and crannies.

Start at the top of the fridge, wiping down all the outer surfaces. If there's a lot of dust on top, wipe it off with a dry rag first to get the worst of the dust, and then wipe again with a damp rag.

If there's a lot of greasy grime up there, mix up a TSP solution according to the directions on the carton. TSP is fantastic for greasy grime - it will wipe right off.

NOTE: When using TSP, be sure to wear gloves. It is a mild skin irritant, especially at high concentrations. And don't breathe in the dust from the crystals.

(The reason I use TSP is that it does a better job than most conventional cleaners like Fantasic and Mr. Clean, without the nasty scents and fumes.)

If there are scuff marks on the fridge, they should come off with a scrubbing of baking soda. Spray well with vinegar afterwards, to remove any powdery residue.

NOTE: If you use vinegar and you're going to put photographs or important papers back on the fridge after cleaning it, be sure to rinse well with plain water after using the vinegar, so that you don't get acid damage on the photos or papers.

The fridge handles will likely be grimy - especially if they are textured like mine. A TSP solution will again easily clean up any greasy grime. (This is where a toothbrush might also come in handy.)

If you have chrome handles (or a stainless steel fridge), TSP can clean off most of the greasy fingerprints or smudges. Just spray well with vinegar afterwards, and wipe dry with a clean rag to make the chrome or steel shine.

I decided not to clutter up my fridge with photos, papers and cards after cleaning it. Who knows how long that will last, though...

*Instructions for viewing the album on Facebook: Click on the first photograph to read the description of that photo. To proceed to the next photo in the series, simply click on the current photo, or click on "Next" in top right corner of the page.

lime scale in pots, kettles and coffee makers

Do you want to clean green?
This post discusses a problem I've just been dealing with as I've washed my supper dishes.

I boil a lot of water - for tea, hard-boiled eggs, pasta - and as a result my pots and kettle are often left with a white-ish residue. This residue is lime scale, or calcium. It is especially prevalent in areas with hard tap water. (Hard water is water with a high mineral content.)

What's the problem?
Lime scale looks kind of yucky, but it won't actually hurt the pots, or harm you if you cook food in the pots. However, after an extended period of time lime scale can build up, so you might want to regularly remove any calcium deposits.

Old school:
The toxic way to remove lime scale is to use a product like CLR, which creates a chemical reaction that dissolves the calcium. It works, but it's not exactly food-grade - and CLR is corrosive and gives off hazardous fumes.

The greener way:
One inexpensive liquid that you can easily find on your grocery store shelves will quickly remove all lime scale - and that ingredient is vinegar. I buy vinegar in large jugs, and use it for a number of cleaning tasks.

To remove lime scale in pots or kettles, simply fill the pot or kettle with vinegar until all the affected areas are covered. Let the pot or kettle sit for a couple of hours, and the lime scale should be dissolved.

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I've heard that you can remove lime scale from the inside of your coffee maker by running vinegar through the machine. If anybody has experience with this, please feel free to comment!

Preventive maintenance:
You can reduce lime scale by soaking your items regularly with vinegar.

Special circumstances:
I use my slow-cooker a lot - especially to cook dried beans - and I've often noticed a calcium build-up on the inside of my crock. As soon as I empty the hot crock of its cooked contents, I immediately fill the crock with hot water, a squirt of eco-friendly dish detergent, and about a cup of vinegar. I let it soak for a couple of hours (or overnight), and when I go to wash the crock, all the lime scale is gone.

The worst I've ever seen:
I once did some house-sitting for a couple who lived in a small community where the tap water was drawn from a well. I have never seen such hard water before or since. You couldn't wipe a countertop with a damp cloth without the water leaving behind a white residue when it dried. I got into the habit of carrying around a spray bottle of vinegar to prevent the deposits. The homeowners eventually purchased a water softener to deal with their hard water problem.

kitchen floors

A reader recently* e-mailed me with a question. Here's what she asked:

This will likely sound like a lame-o question but I thought I'd ask all the same:

What is the most effective method for cleaning kitchen/bathroom floors?

It seems like a simple enough endeavour (and maybe I'm just thinking it out too much) but the idea of using a mop that incrementally just pushes/sloshes ever increasingly dirty water around the floor, doesn't seem very "clean" to me.

Any tips?

Okay. First: There are no "lame-o" questions. Unless I'm asking them. I ask a lot of lame-o questions, myself. But in this case - not lame.

And yes, I have some tips. Thank you for asking. (Besides - my kitchen floor happened to need cleaning this morning - perfect opportunity to take some photos at 7:00 a.m.)

Second: You are entirely correct. Pushing around a bunch of increasingly dirty water with a mop is not exactly "clean." I remember once reading some household tips from Marlene Dietrich, and her view on floors was that the only way to truly clean a floor was by hand. I tend to concur.

(Just as an aside: MD was apparently a bit OCD about cleaning. Her daughter, Maria Riva, in her memoir of her mother, frequently mentioned MD's habit of carrying around cleaning products with her whenever she travelled, and fastidiously disinfecting every hotel bathroom attached to every room she stayed in.)

Here are my eco-friendlier tips for cleaning kitchen (and bathroom) floors.

Sweep or vacuum the floor first. This is to remove any crumbs, pet hair, dirt, food, toe jam, etc. Vacuuming was my preferred way to get junk off of floors when I cleaned for other people, but honestly I don't like the noise, myself. Plus I'm kind of going "unplugged" with my cleaning these days. Just be aware that sweeping/dry mopping often takes longer, and can be more frustrating if you have lots of pet hair flying around. Just saying.

Sometimes I wish I was a Quaker. Like, in the 19th century. They had pegs on the walls where they could hang their wooden chairs while they swept. When I'm sweeping a kitchen floor, I either move all the chairs to another room, or turn them upside down on the table, if they'll fit. While the chairs are upside down, I usually take the opportunity to remove any pet hair/dust from the felt pads I tend to put on the bottoms of all my chair legs.



My smaller cat, Guy, enjoying the jungle gym created by the upside down chairs. Also: Supervising my cleaning.



These are the things you will need to clean a kitchen or bathroom floor. (The types of surfaces that this post applies to include vinyl, tile, sealed cork and terrazzo. For wood, laminate and stone floors, some of these techniques could potentially damage the floor. Proceed at your own risk. I'll deal with those kinds of floors in another post, BTW. Sometime.)

A) A bucket. Mine is stainless steel, from Lee Valley. (Actually, it's a compost pail. But I use it as a cleaning bucket.)

B) Vinegar. Any kind of vinegar will do, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend balsamic, because that's kind of yucky. Also: Expensive. I usually buy white Heinz vinegar in 4L (4 quart) bottles, to use for cleaning. More on vinegar, below.

C) Rags. I prefer terry cloth rags, because they hold more liquid.

D) Rubber gloves. These are actually optional, but if you do a lot of cleaning, or at least a lot of cleaning ALL AT ONCE, your hands will get all chapped from being wet and dry and wet and dry. Just saying.

E) Knee pads. Because, dude - if you're going to wash a floor on your hands and knees...



My knee pads. I bought mine at a local hardware store. You can also find them at lumber or home improvement stores, I think. Being made of some kind of foam, they are not so eco-friendly. But they are waterproof, which is useful for washing floors on your hands and knees. Plus they last a long time.



Okay, here's the vinegar I use. You'll notice that it's pickling vinegar. The difference between picking vinegar and regular vinegar is that the former is a little more concentrated - 7% acetic acid vs. the 5% acetic acid in regular white vinegar. You can also buy 10% acetic vinegar in the eco-friendly cleaning supply section of major grocery stores and health food stores, but in that case you need to be VERY CAREFUL with the vinegar. Like, always wear gloves, and don't splash it on your skin. Which is a total drag. Buying 7% just means that it will last longer, because you'll need less than if you used the regular kind. That's all.



Add some vinegar (about 1/2 cup) to your bucket.



Fill the bucket about 1/4 full of hot water. I like hot water for washing floors because A) it's not quite so bone-chilling on the hands, and B) it dries faster. I do realize hot water is not so eco-friendly because of the energy taken to heat it up, okay? Enough said.



Example of what 1/4 full looks like.



The bucket of vinegar-water and some clean, dry rags, ready to wash the swept floor.



I almost didn't take pictures of the process, because A) I was actually washing my floor, and didn't want to stop and take my gloves off to use the camera, and B) I thought people could figure out how to wash a floor by hand... but then I kind of experienced some doubt about the latter, so: Immerse a clean rag in the bucket of vinegar-water, wring it out, and wipe a section of floor with the damp rag. I usually do an area about four feet wide by two or three feet deep with each "wring" of the cloth.



I should probably add: I use vinegar because it is a mild disinfectant (it's used for pickling because it kills some germs, and therefore preserves food), and it's safe enough to use with pets and children around. My cats will not leave me alone when I wash a floor. I would never dream of using anything stronger than vinegar with them around.



I like to wipe my floor dry as I go - basically because of the cats, who will just walk across a wet floor like it was nothing... and then get wet kitty paw prints all over everything else they walk on. Also: My apartment is really humid right now, and wet stuff takes a long time to dry. If you dry the floor as you go, you can walk across it almost immediately after you're done. Just use some clean, dry rags, and change the rags often as they get wet.

(Below is a snapshot of the above scene, about two seconds later - providing compelling proof that cats WILL walk on wet floors. At least, mine will.)



Repeat the dip-wring-wipe and dry steps until you've finished the entire floor. Yes, it will take a while if you have a really large floor. I've done whole houses like this, and it can also be really tiring. But I actually find it harder on my body to use a mop to wash an entire house, believe it or not.



Above is my bucket, after I've finished the floor. I should probably add that if your floor is REALLY dirty, you can change the water in the bucket part-way through the job. As many times as you want to or need to.



My floor - all clean and dry. Hard to see in this photo, but my floor is not a perfect, shining surface. I live in a building that's about 80 years old, and the floors have seen a lot of wear and tear. I NEVER use floor wax - it only attracts dirt, and adds another chore to your life. My floor may not have a glossy sheen, but it has a soft glow, and reminds me of the lives that have been lived in this place, long before I came along.

*Okay, a confession. The e-mail was received in October 2009. Yes, I realize the date on this post is June 14, 2007. I am apparently a time-travelling blogger, alright? Cool, eh?

Actually, I saved a draft for a post on kitchen floors on this date, and didn't actually publish the post until October 2009. My bad. But anyhow - it doesn't matter as far as the content is concerned, just wanted to explain why the photos were of my new apartment (with cats), and not the apartment I was living in in 2007.

rags

Do you want to clean green?
In previous posts (here and here) I've mentioned how much I love my cleaning rags. I switched to rags from cellulose sponges (which are made from wood pulp, and therefore natural and biodegradable, but manufactured) when I realized how difficult it was to keep sponges sanitary - after using them to clean toilets, for example. I didn't want to risk cross-contaminating different surfaces within a client's home, or between clients' homes.

What do you use for your own cleaning? Be aware that some sponges are made from petrochemicals. Kitchen sponges especially are a breeding ground for microbes. Paper towels are more hygienic, but their one-time use makes them wasteful. (If you must use paper towels, buy the highest recycled-content ones you can find. In Canada, Loblaw's President's Choice Green paper towels are made from 100% post-consumer waste.)

Rags are a great way to recycle old clothing and household linens. The best rags for cleaning (with a few exceptions) are made from 100% cotton or linen. Old sheets (especially flannel ones) and old t-shirts make great dusting cloths, and old terry towels are my choice for general cleaning. I find used towels at yard and rummage sales, for anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar apiece. (In a pinch, you can also buy new fabric rags at hardware or home improvement stores, but they're usually very poor quality, and fall apart after a few washings. Not to mention the fact that they're brand new, and usually covered with fabric finishes that make the rags less absorbent.)

I cut towels into pieces the approximate size of a facecloth, and finish the edges with a wide zigzag stitch on my sewing machine so that the rags don't fray in the laundry. If you don't finish the edges, the rags won't last as long. (It's not as crucial to finish the edges on non-terry rags).

Old t-shirts are a great substitute for microfibre cloths, as long as they're 100% cotton. And old linen tablecloths with holes or stains make great dishtowels if cut to the appropriate size and hemmed.

The more worn the original fabric is, the better rags you'll have. If the fabric has been washed often enough, the finishes will have been washed out, and the fibres will have softened and become more absorbent. When a thick terry rag gets too thin for general cleaning, I use it for more specialized purposes - attaching it to the bottom of my Swiffer drymop, or using it for finer cleaning jobs or quick hand-drying.

I go through a lot of rags each time I clean. When I had my cleaning business, I could easily use 30 terrycloth rags at a single client's home. I keep a basket of them in my kitchen for everything from dishwashing to wiping counters to lifting pans out of the oven; once they're dirty or wet, I hang them to dry on a wooden drying rack and store them in a large pail until I have enough rags to make a full load of laundry. (That's my pail full of rags in the photo at the beginning of this post.)

I wash windows or mirrors by wetting a clean rag, wringing it out, and wiping it across the entire glass surface. I then use a dry rag to wipe off the water, replacing the rag whenever it gets too wet.

In bathrooms I start by cleaning the mirror, then take the wet rag and clean the rest of the fixtures, either ending with the toilet, or doing the toilet separately at the beginning with other rags. More clean rags are used for wiping the fixtures dry and polishing the faucets. I finish by throwing another clean, wet rag in a bucket of water to wash the floor, and if I want a clean shine I also dry the floor with more clean rags.

As I mentioned in another post, you shouldn't use fabric softener (liquid, or dryer sheets) when laundering rags. It will leave a waxy residue on the rags that will cause smears when you're dusting or cleaning glass. To wash my rags I just use hot water and a quarter-cup of washing soda with a tablespoon of TSP crystals. If you can let the rags soak in the washing water before agitating, even better. A half-cup of vinegar is added to the rinse water. If you've got the space, hang your rags to dry. One of my favorite memories is the smell of line-dried rags in the summer. Otherwise dry them under the normal setting in the dryer.