House Hold Tips

Thank you CI and R, your suggestions give me a great start. Its been a week since we moved into our new home so your quick reply really helps.

Aaraam

Any suggestions on how to store onions and potatoes? I read that onions and potatoes shouldn't be stored nearby each other. do u keep it inside the kitchen cabinets or outside? how to organize them neatly? for me it looks messy. also how do u store rice?

Kz

Hi i dont use much of onions, wat i generally do is i cut them and put them in a ziploc bag and store them in the fridge.... well i guess lots of my friends.. just bake or cook potato and freeze them....
well i hope i helped u
thanks
Kritica

Kritica, Potatoes when freezed doesn't taste good. but i am looking for a way to store them outside,after we buy them from the shop. thanks
Kz

How to clean shower curtains (plastic one) & the grout between each tile in the bathroom shower wall ?

Dear friends,
somebody pls. give me the method of cleaning the blinds and also cleaning the vinyle flooring .What type of soaps has to be used to maintain them .thanks .
ammu

Dear friends,
I need help,how to clean the blinds and clean the vinyle flooring? what kind of liquids can we use?
thanks
ammu

hI,
fOR THE mold between the tiles, you can use clorox bleach pen. Just put it the place that is black. If u dont have pen, u can spray the clorox bleach itself in the place. Then wait for 30 min . It wll be gone..no scrubbing necessary

For the shower curtain, I always buy a new one as soon as it becomes black.
So any suggestion is welcome.

Anandi

I read somewhere online that this can be washed in hot water in regular washer. Place enough towels in the washer and wash the curtain with these towels.

Other alternative was to wash it with white towels' load to which you've put bleach and pour a cup of vinegar to the fabric softener cup in the washer.

I haven't tried it yet. Please post the results if you try.

CI.

I forgot to mention that do not put the curtain to dryer. Just hang it back in its place to dry it.

Here are the links where I read this information.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2022_clean-plastic-vinyl.html

http://coco.essortment.com/howtocleanas_pwq.htm

http://www.mrscleannw.com/tips/shower-curtain.html

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf629412.tip.html

Thanks Anandi & CI for the responses.

Can anybody explain how to make the 'maa kolam' -- I tried with some maida paste & an old cloth to make Krishna's baby feet [for Janmashtami y'day] but it didn't come well at all. Either too thick & messy or watered down where we can hardly see the feet .
Please give exact method to make this kind of kolam, Thanks !

Hi yamuna
The easiest way of preparing "maa kolam" is to use rice flour.I made a thick paste of arisi maavu with water and used it.
Or if you are quite orthodox you can soak rice in water for about 1 hour and grind the same into a smooth paste.

Regards
Sowmya

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ammu

Dear friends,
somebody pls. give me the method of cleaning the blinds and also cleaning the vinyle flooring .What type of soaps has to be used to maintain them .thanks .
ammu

---

Check this out.
http://ask.yahoo.com/20020430.html

CI.

Hi Sowmya
What should be the consistescy of the rice flour. I did the same on friday and tried to put with hand -but didnt come atall.
Do you use a paper towel or cloth??
Also, can I get some basic designs of maa kolam somewhere??
I would love to put the designs, but have no idea!!

Anandi: Try

www.i-kolam.com

There is no specific ratio. If it is very thick like idly batter, then u cant put as you want. So, it is like bajji batter(little thin) and if it is too watery, then, the color will be light.

I always use paper towel if you dont have any small thin cloth( or small painting brush will also do)which we use in India to put kolams. But, for the kaavi(border line), have a small thin cloth which will also come out neatly.

And for occasions, we always put this 4 lines square box as our traditional one; instead of line, you can put with curves and then in all four sides, put 4 more curves as a triangle from both sides for each sides or you can even put bended lines like a semi circle after putting the squares; and at the corners, decorate like spirals or small flower whichever u want. Like this, u can proceed.....

Any tips on removing turmeric stain from carpet? This is an emergency!!!!!!
I remember that there was an older thread on stains, but am not able to locate it.

Thanks,
Aaraam

Hi raj,
The site i-kolam does not have designs for "maa kolam" I think. If you can find any site, please let me know.

R,
Can you send me 1 or 2 designs(by paint) or anything. I am really desperate to try those designs!!:)

Anandi

Aaram,
Try applying a thick paste of baking soda (made with water) and leave it for half an hour or so. Then, scrub it well with a brush and wipe it clean. Then try spraying some carpet cleaner and follow the instructions of that product. You should be able to remove the stains.

That is the only solution since you cannot use bleach on carpet unless the carpet is white (which I doubt it).

CI.

R,
yennaku maa kolam anupungo.. please
kritica_22@yahoo.com

Thanks CI for the quick response, will try this asap.
Its about a day since the stain occurred, will it still work ? Would leaving the baking soda paste on longer help?

Aaraam.

R,
can you send the kolams to my id too -nandumom@yahoo.com

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aaraam

Thanks CI for the quick response, will try this asap.
Its about a day since the stain occurred, will it still work ? Would leaving the baking soda paste on longer help?

Aaraam.

---

WOrks even if the stain is a couple of days older. I have tried it on other surfaces, but not carpet. Try it and do let us know if it worked on carpet too. Since it works on cloth, it should work on carpet too.

CI.

Hi,

Can anyone let me know how to clean a very greasy ,dirty stove top?... we r moving in to an acco which hasan extremely dirty kitchen but we had to settle for it due to some compelling reasons... I've to clean it before I move it...Pls help...

Dev,
Get a can of oven cleaner. Spray the whole stove top/range and get out of the house for half an hour or so. Then scrub it with a brush. It will be clean. Make sure there are no kids around. It is not good around kids and pregnant woman.

You might want to clean it with water and soap later on to get the offensive smell of oven cleaner out. I would leave the kitchen window open for atleast a day if I use this.


Hope this helps.

CI.

Hi CI,

Thanks a lot for the tip...I too was thinking of the same...The stove hob is on an aluminium base & the stove base seems to be of some brown material which I'm not able to make out... the brown area is ok,the burner is very dirty & the aluminim area is also very dirty... As of now,the kitchen is so dirty that I feel sick even to step into it... :cry: Hopefully,the owner will clean it up before handing over to us...But even then I guess we'll have a lot of cleaning to be done to bring it to my liking...

Also,any ideas to clean greasy kitchen tiles,wooden worktops & to make the stainless steel sink shiney?...

Dev,
To clean the greasy tiles, you can use the clorox bleach. Refer to the label for the amount of dilution to cut the grease. Mop it with that. It not only cuts grease also gets rid of lot of foul odor. Ofcourse, your kitchen will have a faint smell of bleach for couple of days, but it is not bad at all.

To clean the countertops, what I do is take a sponge which is not corrosive, and use the dish washing liquid to clean it up. It works great. You will have to wipe off with a wet wash cloth couple of times get the soap out.

I clean my sink also using dish washing liquid. But I use scrotch brite scrubbing pad so that it gets a polish. I have never tried (necessity did not come) products like CLR or kaboom. They say it is pretty good. Try it out if you like and if you can get it in your place.


CI.

Hi CI,

Thanks for all those timely tips... I managed to clean the stove & sink today...Now it looks pretty good... I'm planning to spray silver colour paint on the aluminium area of the stove top where the knob is placed to make it look better...I used magic clean to clean the stove & it worked like real magic...it took away all the grease in just 15 mins...Just sprayed it & left it for 15 mins & then wiped it with a sponge...
Next is cleaning the wooden countertop & tiles... Will be probably hiring a maid to get those done...Will get clorex bleach to clean the tiles...:)

Hi friends,

Can somebody tell me how to

1.clean the scratch marks in Stainless steel appliances
2.Scratch marks in harwood floors

Hi friends,

How to remove mild oil stains(a couple of) at the back wall of the stove or at the wooden cabinets?

Thanks.

R,
If the stains are not very old, you can get rid of them by wiping with dish washing liquid. (Use a soft sponge not scrotch brite or anything corrosive)Wipe dry with a paper towel.

If the stains are old, easiest way is to use magic eraser (Mr.White). If you have patience and time to try out, you can try applying a paste of washing soda or baking soda and after some time, scrape it off and wipe with wet paper towel.

Magic eraser works like a charm.

CI.

thanks, CI.. will try & let you know..

Hi R,
I read somewhere which I recalled now that you can use shaving cream to get rid of the oil stains. Don't know if it works on walls. But it works on wooden cabinets. Try it if you want. Apply the shaving cream and take a sponge or brush and wet the sponge and move it on the cream so that it creates the lather. Wipe it clean with wash cloth or wet paper towel.


CI.

Hi Everybody !
Can anybody give me idea regarding putting covers for sofa ?I have a kid at home.So i have to put the sofa cover.But it doesn't look neat at all and i have to make it look good every time somebody sits.i even tried surefit slip covers.Thanks in advance.
Regards foodlover.

Hi foodlover,

If you know sewing, then buy clothes for the cover and stitch; me, took the measurement, bought some clothes from India(2 pairs) and got it stitched from the tailors and put them on for our sofas.

Here, I also searched for covers, but did not get any. Even, if you want to wash one set of covers, can put the other one on.

Thanks, CI..will try that idea too..

You can buy sofa covers from stores like walmart, bed bath beyond etc.
Of course, if you know sewing as R mentioned, it works out cheaper too.


You can download the free patterns for sewing from internet.



CI.

CI, a long time back, tried for sofa covers in walmart and other shops. But, none of them carries sofa covers(individual cushion covers), instead, they all have sofa throw!!

R,
I meant sofa throws itself. If anyone is interested in making covers for cushions, it is very easy to sew. If anyone doesn't know sewing, they can wrap the cushion with the fabric and fasten at the back using velcro or concealed safety pins. (So that the kid doesn't find it and play with it).

CI.

Can any one pls tell me how to do Sankatahara Chaturthi Pooja . I am from Madras. So is there a different way to do that pooja.
I am not asking abt vinayaka chaturthi but sankatahara chaturthi.
you can also post link.
Thanks in advance
GV