-- Baby Boomers -- Family -
-- Green -- Home and Auto --
-- In Critical Condition -- Lifestyle --
-- Just Starting Out -- Money --
|
Cleaning Used Appliances |
|
-- Baby Boomers -- Family - -- Green -- Home and Auto -- -- In Critical Condition -- Lifestyle -- -- Just Starting Out -- Money -- |
|
|
share your thoughts about frugal living at TDS Community Subscribe to Our Money Saving Newsletter Also In This Week's Issue Best time to shop -- fall bargains Time to reassess your homeowners policy 10 biggest bank failures so far Extra payments cut mortgage by 12 years More Stories About: |
Really Clean After finding great deals on used appliances (most recently, $5 for both a new blender and coffee machine), I was wondering how to clean and sanitize them? Clean with Vinegar For the coffee maker, simply run a couple of pots of white vinegar through the maker. This will eliminate any off odors or taste when you brew your coffee. If there are stains in the carafe, a small amount of bleach with hot water allowed to sit in the pot will remove the stains and sanitize the pot. Make sure to rinse well. Also run 3 to 4 pots of clear clean water through the maker after cleaning with white vinegar. For the blender, you can place a small capful of bleach in the pot and fill approximately 1/2 way full with water, and whirl away! Make sure to rinse and wash as usual. A damp dishcloth and plain dishwashing liquid can be used to clean the outside of both appliances, just as if you'd purchased them new. Put Your Dishwasher to Work My mother is a thrift store/rummage sale shopper too. If you have a dishwasher, you could wash some parts in there (coffee pot and blender cup). Many dishwasher detergents have either ammonia or bleach in them, and with the high hot water temperature, it will wash and sanitize your dishes. The other parts that can't be put in a dishwasher (i.e. blender motor, and coffee machine) sanitize it in one teaspoon of bleach per 1 quart of water. This sanitation direction is from Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson. This is a great book! It is a huge book with 882 pages. It is quite extensive on all aspects of homemaking. Make a 10% Bleach Solution Use a 10% bleach solution to sanitize appliances, countertops, bathrooms, etc. I worked in medical research labs for years and this is what is always on hand to clean up bacterial and fungal spills. 1/4 cup of bleach This will store indefinitely in a plastic bottle. Just don't pour bleach into a coffee maker. Sanitize with Denture Tablets My mom taught us years ago that denture tablets can thoroughly clean out and sanitize any coffee maker, coffee urn, vases, appliances, etc. If it can tear the plaque off of dentures and leave them sanitized enough to put back in your mouth, I think it can do the same for small appliances. Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips @stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers! If you liked this article sign up for our free eNewsletter Surviving Tough Times Do it today and we'll give you our ebook featuring over 200 ways to save on groceries (a $19.95 value). Follow The Dollar Stretcher on Twitter. |
Copyright 1996 - 2009 "The Dollar Stretcher, Inc.". All rights reserved unless specifically noted.
Write to the Dollar Stretcher at:
Dollar Stretcher
PO Box 14160
Bradenton
FL 34280-4160
941-761-7805 voice
941-761-8301 fax
"The Dollar Stretcher, Inc." does not assume responsibility for advice given. All advice should be weighed against your own abilities and circumstances and applied accordingly. It is up to the reader to determine if advice is safe and suitable for their own situation.
|
|
|
|
 Subscribe to our email alerts |
