Here are a few last minute tips to have your home looking tip top in no time.

Kathy Zengolewicz

If you don’t have a cleaning supply caddy, then invest in one. Keep all of your supplies together and include an all purpose cleaner, a glass cleaner, a dust cloth and a roll of paper towels.

To keep things smelling fresh, make sure to take out the trash often and wipe out your wastebaskets with a damp cloth. Sprinkle some baking soda over your carpets, let it sit for about 15 minutes and vacuum it up. Use a potpourri pot or, if you don’t have one, an old stove pot. Fill it with water and evergreen or pine tree scents and let it simmer. You house will smell great in no time.

Use a large laundry basket and do a quick check of clutter throughout the house. If you don’t have time to putt everything back into it’s own space, just stash the container in a closet and worry about it later.

Last, but not least, always wear rubber gloves to protect you hands. When you finish with your last minute clean up just take off your gloves and your manicure is in tact.

These tips should help you to get things in shape just in time to enjoy the holidays.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

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Kathy Zengolewicz

The first process calls for a mixture of baking soda, water and dish detergent. Fill a spray bottle with water, spray the entire oven and sprinkle with plenty of baking soda. Let this sit over night and then use a sponge with hot water and a little bit of dish detergent to scrub the inside of the oven. Rinse with cool water.

Another home made method is on the same lines as the first. Spray the inside of the oven with water and take a cup of baking soda and 1/3 cup of table salt, mix them together and sprinkle them in the water. Let this sit over night. The next morning, scrub the inside of the oven with hot soapy water and rinse.

You can clean your oven racks by soaking them, if they’re not too grimy, in hot soapy water and then scrub them clean with a paste made from baking soda and water.

Here is a handy recipe for  a homemade cleanser, a softscrub. Mix ½ cup of baking soda and ½ cup of liquid dish detergent (any kind will work, choose what’s on sale). Gradually add 1/8 to ¼ cup of vinegar until you get the consistency you like. Vinegar is an abrasive and works very well on grimy surfaces.

I hope that you can use some of these tips to help with cleaning your oven.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Kathy Zengolewicz

For instance, Animal shelters very often need used blankets, towels and sheets. They use these items to create a soft sleeping surface or for cleaning up messes and for bathing the strays they help.

Women’s shelters can always use women’s and children’s attire, toys, books, etc. If you have it to spare, why not buy some disposable diapers and donate them, too.

I hate to throw away books or magazines. I take the older magazines and give them to the receptionist is my doctor’s office. They appreciate the reading material for their patients.  When I finish reading a few books I have my husband take them into his work and give them to whoever wants them.

Half way houses can always use men’s attire, especially winter coats in the cold weather.  Any power tools that you no longer use can be given to groups like Habitat for Humanity.

If you come across some old food containers you can use them for organizing your sewing materials like buttons, pins, needles and cloth scraps.

These are just a couple of ideas. I’m sure you can find many more uses for old household items that you are no longer using. Donating these items help others and you get organized and rid of clutter at the same time, so it’s a win win situation.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Kathy Zengolewicz

Here in Philly we got 23.2 inches. Looks like we’ll have a white Christmas after all. All of this snow is not going to melt in the next couple of days, so let’s deal with it. The first thing to keep in mind is, if you are not in the best of health, do not take a shovel in hand. Find, and pay, a neighborhood kid to clean off your sidewalk and front steps.

Even if you are in good shape, and can do the shoveling yourself, pace yourself. Shoveling snow is a strenuous activity, so take it slow. If you have a snow blower, you are the lucky one. We don’t own one and I can’t see buying one now. We may not get any more snow the rest of the year, and anyway our property isn’t very big.

Try to shovel as little as possible, maybe just a two foot walkway. Getting to the pavement under all of that snow is a big job, so do a little bit of shoveling and take a break, even if you are not tired. Once you have created a pathway, throw some salt on the area and let that do the rest of the work.

You need to make your property safe for pedestrians, but follow common sense rules and keep safe yourself.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Kathy Zengolewicz

It has also been used as a repellent for fleas. After removing the fleas from your pet with a fine toothed comb, you should drop any fleas that you removed into a solution of Dawn and warm water. It is also recommended that you wash the animal’s bedding in the dishwashing liquid and warm water to keep the fleas away. When you think about it, it’s probably safer to use Dawn than a flea and tick spray.

Dawn has been mentioned on a few websites as an ant repellant. Spray your countertops in the kitchen and bath with a solution of Dawn and water and the ants don’t like it. Spraying the solution directly on the ants will kill them.

Shampoo builds up on your hair from constant use and using dawn, once a month, the same way that you would a shampoo will strip any buildup from your hair without damaging your hair.

When you get an oil based stain on your clothes, such as lipstick, butter, motor oil or cooking oil, use Dawn to pre-treat the stain before laundering. Apply the liquid to the stain and scrub with a small brush or toothbrush until the oil is removed and then launder as usual.

I have some more ideas involving the use of Dawn, but I’ll save that for another day.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

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Kathy Zengolewicz

Anyway, I have come across a few things that seem to take the stains out and I thought I would share them with you. Please let me know through the comments section if you have a better way to remove the stains.

For stubborn stains I tried soaking some paper towels in distilled white vinegar and letting them sit over night on the stains. You may need to do it a couple of times, but it does work. You can also mix ¼ cup of salt with ¼ cup of baking soda and a little bit of warm water to make a paste. Spread the paste on the stain, scrub with a damp sponge and rinse thoroughly.

For the rust stains, I sprayed them with lemon juice and a sprinkle of baking soda, then scrubbed with an old toothbrush that I use for cleaning. To prevent stains and rust on you tub, try giving your tub a coat of wax, the kind you use for a fiberglass boat. The wax will give the tub a great shine, protect the surface and prevent any more deep penetrating stains.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Kathy Zengolewicz

I know that the kitchen should remain practical, but there are a few things you can do to make it look as decorated as the rest of the house.

Start by putting up a cheap pair of curtains. They don’t have to have a Christmasy design, you can use a pair of plain white cafe curtains and add a red or green valance. Use some holiday knick knacks, from the dollar store, to line your window sill. Instead of using the window cling ons, this year I found some gel type window decorations and they look great and add just the right amount of color.

Put some greenery, live or fake, around on you kitchen table or countertops. Pick up a poinsettia plant or two and put that on a counter or table for a festive touch. A small live Christmas tree, the plant type, with a small red bow around the base looks great and doesn’t take up a lot of room.

These are just a few ideas for you to help make your surroundings pretty, but won’t put a strain on your wallet. If you find that these tips are a little too much, then opt for placing a few red bows, in strategic places, throughout the kitchen. You may even have a few ideas yourself, if so then go for it.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

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The walls will need to be clean and dry and, most importantly, oil free. The first thing you will need to do is lightly sand any imperfections that you see, but make sure that there is no lead paint on the wall. You don’t want to sand a wall and release any dust filled lead into your home.

Make any repairs necessary. Check to make sure there are no small cracks or missing plaster. Small holes and cracks can be easily filled in with a spackling compound that you can find at Home Depot or Lowes. It’s relatively inexpensive.

After you make any repairs that are needed, wipe the walls down with a clean, damp cloth to remove any debris. Let the walls dry thoroughly before starting your painting project. Paint will not adhere to dirty or oily walls, so make sure that they are clean.

Prepare your room by using a painter tape such as 3M blue tape. Tape all areas that you don’t want the paint to touch like the baseboards, window trim, etc. Remove all electrical outlet and light switch covers for a neater job. Cover all furniture and carpeting with a drop cloth or plastic to protect it.

Preparing the walls, furniture and carpeting can be a tiresome task, but it will make for a nicer, cleaner look when you finish painting.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Kathy Zengolewicz

Professional carpet installers like to get in and out of your house as quickly as they can. Installing a new carpet is a process better left for the professional, but removing the carpet isn’t quite as hard.

You will need to have a utility knife, a hammer and crowbar, a flathead screwdriver, sturdy scissors and a heavy pair of gloves. The first thing you will need to do is move all of the furniture to another room, someplace where it can stay for a few days.

The nail strips that hold the carpet in place are usually nailed into the floor, so you will need to use the flathead screwdriver and a hammer to pry up the strips. If the screwdriver doesn’t work, then you’ll need to use a crowbar.

Make sure you use gloves when handling these strips, since they have tiny tack in them and are very sharp. Use a screwdriver to help you lift the carpet and padding, starting at a corner. Rip the carpet up in large pieces. There may be a few spots where it sticks, you’ll need to use a utility knife to slice these spots.

Be sure to roll the strips of carpet and padding and tie them up for easy clean up. When you finish, all that should be left on the floor are a few tack that can be removed with a small pair of pliers.

This is one way to save money and do it yourself.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Kathy Zengolewicz

Most times the vinyl will pull off in a clean strip, but thin vinyl will rip, in that case try to pull off as much as possible before it tears. Continue to pull the thin vinyl off until the only thing left on the wall is the backing paper and glue. The backing paper is porous and will soak up the wallpaper stripper for an easy removal.

When you mix the wallpaper stripper, use warm or hot water in a regular compression sprayer. Put the water in first and then the stripper to prevent the mixture from foaming. Cover your floors with a drop cloth to protect them from the spray. Wallpaper stripper has been know to damage certain floors, so take the appropriate steps and be cautious.

Work with small, 3 or 4 foot sections, soaking the paper with the spray from the floor to the sealing. For heavily papered walls you may need to spray a second or third time. When you get all of the paper removed, you’ll need to go over the entire area with a clean rag and warm water to remove the excess paste that will be on the wall.

Once you have your walls cleaned, you can wash the baseboards and floor and you’ll be ready to repaper or paint.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

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