Pewter is a tin-based alloy, now made with mostly tin plus small amounts of other metals for extra strength, including copper, antimony, and bismuth - but never the dangerous lead as in days gone by.
"This is a surefire way to spread germs in such a small space. Closing the lid also mutes the loud flush and leaves the lavatory looking tidier for the next passenger."
'Never ever use these three things in a hotel room,' she warned in a video. Her first tip was to avoid using the 'wall-mounted refillable containers with soap and shampoo' now commonly found in hotel bathrooms.
"What surprised me is we are still seeing so many visits to emergency departments associated with very common household cleaning products," Lara McKenzie, Ph.D., stated, emphasizing the ongoing issue despite safety advancements.
One of the most effective ways to clean your home is to work from top to bottom. This ensures that whatever dirt or dust is lurking above falls down first, so you're not forced to redo any of the hard work you've already done below.
Mold loves warm and wet conditions, making your dishwasher a playground for spores - especially around the filter where there tends to also be a buildup of food residue.
Most water filter pitchers are made of BPA-free plastic. But as new research shows that bottled-water drinkers ingest tens of thousands of excess microplastic particles, wellness lovers have begun to look askance at water filters that are themselves made of plastic.
Engineered stone, or quartz, is a man-made material made with high concentrations of silica that is commonly used to make kitchen countertops in the U.S. And it's making the workers who cut this material sick.
About 8 million Americans use CPAP machines every night for sleep apnea. Dealing with the electronics, plastic tubing, and silicone masks from these devices has created a major waste problem. In most places, CPAP machines are considered electronic waste, so throwing them in the trash is usually illegal. The compressor inside has circuit boards with lead, mercury, and cadmium, which can pollute soil and water if not handled properly.
If you were a child of the '70s or '80s, you may remember the bubbling sound of hydrogen peroxide fizzing on an open wound. Back then, it was the go-to for parents who were looking to disinfect the cuts and scrapes that their kids would come home with. Since then, science has shown that it's actually not all that great for a wound, but there's no need to throw out that bottle if you do find one.
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. It's crucial to clean your kitchen counters daily to remove crumbs, spills, and germs. This will protect your countertop material from stains and scratches and keep your food preparation area sanitized and safe. However, before you just blindly choose the most popular all-purpose kitchen cleaner, consider your countertop material. Some countertops are easily damaged by certain chemicals or cleaning products like Windex.
All of the grease, oil, baked-on food residues, and other debris can also be a fire hazard. When you use your oven, this debris could be releasing dangerous, and even toxic, smoke and fumes into your home. Dirty ovens even reduce the overall lifespan of your appliance, and can lower its efficiency and damage heating components.
When it's dreary outside, I usually hunker down and do household chores - running the dishwasher, catching up on laundry, maybe even taking a long shower and shaving my legs. These days, though, I take the opposite approach: I never do chores that require water use when it's raining outside. That's because I recently learned that my city, Milwaukee, has a shared sewer system - which means rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater collect in the same pipes.
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. The average microwave should last around seven to 10 years, assuming that you look after it well. But during this time, you might notice patches of rust appear inside or on the outer casing of the appliance. If the rest of the microwave is in good working order, you might be wondering if these rust spots are reason to throw it out.
The best way to overcome travel accidents is to always be prepared. That includes packing just a little soap before you go. "Bring concentrated liquid detergent in a small travel bottle-it's easier to rinse out than powder," O'Connor said. " Dr. Bronner's or Woolite works well for hand washing. You can skip fabric softener. This just adds rinse cycles you don't need."
The grout on my bathroom floor tile haunts me. It's one of those projects I never really have the time or the initiative to tackle, but I hate how dirty it's become. It's beyond the maintenance stage and in need of a really good cleaning. Luckily, I discovered a DIY grout cleaner using common household products that worked wonders in my bathroom.
I'll be honest: Washing my actual pillows (not just the cases) used to be one of those chores I knew I should be doing, but rarely actually did. As long as my pillows were tucked inside clean pillowcases, I convinced myself they were fine. But that all changed after I came across this article on Apartment Therapy where three popular pillow-washing methods were put to the test.
Stainless steel is known for its shiny look and incredible durability, which makes it a great choice in your kitchen, whether we're talking stainless steel appliances or cookware. But when cleaning cooking residue and grease from pans or polishing off your stainless-steel fridge, it's important you don't reach for the paper towels since they can leave scratches and leftover fibers on the surface of the material.
It's likely that you've encountered recycled glass countertops without realizing it. They're far from the hippie-style broken-glass mosaic art of yesteryear, instead presenting as sleek, highly polished, professional slabs with intriguing bits of confetti-style color trapped inside. That's the recovered glass bits set into a binding material such as resin, cement, or concrete, and then smoothly polished so that the composite surface feels like stone.
The microwave is a must-have modern convenience, but it takes some basic know-how to use it regularly without causing any safety risks. Chiefly, you want to be clear on what items should never go into the microwave, like metal, so you don't even chance starting a fire. Other materials that fall into this camp may seem obvious, like Styrofoam; but did you know that paper towels can pose their own set of issues? Well, certain types of paper towels, to be precise - so make sure you're aware of what those types are.