My Story: Easy Clean

I cleaned military family quarters for over 20 years as a part-time job while our kids were small. My husband was a career Air Force man and we moved often so this allowed me to have a job at each new base we were stationed at. Here are a couple of tips I learned over the years:

1. After thoroughly cleaning ceramic shower and tub walls, you can wipe the tiles down with a small squeegee until dry if you're in a hurry or let them air dry while you clean something else. After they are dry, get your bottle of spray on turtle type car wax, spray the tiles with it, spread it around, let glaze over, and then use a clean terry cloth to wipe until they shine. The water and soap will bead up because of the wax for at least three months. This saves a lot of time and elbow grease if you do this right after you move in to a home with clean tile walls.
   
   
2. I use wintergreen rubbing alcohol to clean glass windows and mirrors. You can buy it at most dollar stores in the cosmetic aisle. Mix it four parts water to one part wintergreen alcohol. It cuts grease, dirt, and bird droppings very well and also leaves a nice fragrance in the rooms when you're done cleaning the windows. This also does a nice job as a quick touch up on bathroom sinks and commode lids. I use it on glass shower doors as well. You can use Rain X in a spray bottle on your glass shower doors to repel water for several weeks and keep them free of soap scum.
   
   
3. In a large plastic trash bag (clear ones work well), place your stove racks, burner grids and grid liners, grill tops and broiler pans, spray the top and bottom of each item with your favorite oven cleaner and close the bag tightly. Leave this for several hours while you clean something else. You can leave overnight if really dirty. They will be so easy to clean you will wonder why you didn't think of this yourself. Most of the crud is easily rinsed off, and if it needs a second coat, then the second one will rinse right off with warm water and a dishrag.
   
   
4. Endust furniture spray sprayed on your new mini-blinds or freshly cleaned older ones will keep the dust from sticking and make them easy to clean the next time. I also use furniture spray on hardwood floors to provide a quick and easy shine and clean up after wiping up any spills. This also works great on most laminates as well. It's a lot cheaper than the fancy cleaners sold for this purpose.

"My Story" is a regular feature of The Dollar Stretcher. If you have a story that could help save time or money, please send it by mailto:MyStory@stretcher.com

If you enjoyed this article you might also want to check out:

• Miscellaneous Cleaning Tips and Ideas
  
• Cleaning Tips
  
• Ten Helpful Kitchen Cleaning Tips
  
• Convenient Floor Cleaners

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