#scouring-powder

#scouring-powder

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.

"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.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a new ENERGY STAR certified dishwasher saves more than 8,000 gallons of water per year compared to hand-washing - and uses less than half the energy.

The results? They picked out 26 cleaning solutions, calling them their favorites. From tried-and-true staples to brand-new discoveries, see below for our top picks.

Washing machine rubber door seals are one of the biggest hidden breeding grounds for mould in the home. They trap moisture, detergent residue and fabric fibres during and after washes, creating the perfect warm, damp environment for mould and bacteria to thrive.

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.

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.

Kids and clean cars don't mix. Between snack crumbs, stray toys, and sticky fingerprints, your backseat can feel like a disaster zone. No matter how often you tidy up, the mess always returns. So how to keep the car clean? But a messy car doesn't have to be your reality! With simple systems and quick clean-up habits, you can keep things under control. The key is working with the chaos instead of against it -because kids will always make a mess.

When you lack the good fortune of having an in-unit washer and dryer like I do, you have to be extra judicious about how many times you wear clothes before tossing them in the hamper. Laundry piles up quickly, after all, and I refuse to go to the laundromat more often than necessary. The only issue with re-wearing clothing items is that they wrinkle - fast - and they don't always smell daisy-fresh, if you catch my drift.

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.

Treated with an innovative antibacterial agent, the Odor Resist Sponge claims to keep odor-causing bacteria at bay for up to three weeks. It's also easier to clean than your standard sponge; clingy foods like cheese and eggs rinse effortlessly off its surface, so nothing gets lodged inside. Together, the easy-clean design and antibacterial treatment disrupt the grime-to-odor pipeline, so your sponge stays fresh (and stink-free) for longer.

When I was growing up, shampoo options were limited, and Johnson's Baby Shampoo was a household staple. It lathered well, smelled clean, and was gentle enough to use every day. At some point, my mom realized that same gentleness made it effective on clothes, too. She believed in the product so completely that I never questioned it - and eventually, I adopted the same habit in my own home.

But once food has carbonized and bonded to metal, the issue is mechanical, and you need something to physically break the residue apart. Eggshells are mostly composed of calcium carbonate, the same mineral found in chalk and limestone - you've probably encountered it in your toothpaste, too. When crushed into a powder, these shells become a mild abrasive, which can gently sand down the grime.

Whether you're whipping up a labor-intensive meal or are working from home at a stand-up desk, these cushioned floor mats are about to make your legs and back so much happier. They're made with memory foam and supportive padding to help ease pressure on your joints as you stand. They're also waterproof to stand up to spills and splashes, and come in a variety of colors and sizes to suit your space.

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.

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.