Heather says: Thursdays mean clean bathrooms here on Home-Ec 101. Don’t believe me? Please check out the printable weekly chore chart or look at the ever-popular sticky note right there –>. What if you’re a Home-Ec n00b? Don’t be ashamed. We all start somewhere, and not everyone’s parental units taught them essential life skills like … Read more
If you’re overwhelmed by the process of cleaning your home, quit worrying about finding the best option. Stop trying to learn everything and start doing something. We all know that in a perfect world we’d make our own ecologically sound cleaners—not all homemade cleaners are, you know—always reach for a rag to clean, and never … Read more
Dear Home Ec 10, My living room desperately needs to be painted and I’ve rounded up a few friends willing to help sell their time for beer and pizza. I really want to do this right, is it true that I have to wash the walls before I paint? Signed, Short-Cut Shelby Heather says: Look at it … Read more
Dear Home-Ec 101, I came across your blog via Stumbleupon… I thought you would be the right person to ask this question… In a lot of homemade cleaning products people use vinegar as a component. I get only the synthetic vinegar here in India. I do get apple cider vinegar but its far too expensive … Read more
Heather says: I received a concerning email, yesterday, that made me realize it was time to send this post out again as a reminder. This is the first in our series on household chemicals. Over the past few years, I have gotten the impression that many people are using chlorine bleach in an unsafe manner. Chlorine … Read more
Dear Home Ec 101, Can one substitute vinegar -lots of it- for the bleach when cleaning and disinfecting? I can’t be around bleach, it triggers SEVERE migraines. Signed, Pickled in Pickens Heather says: There are certain times where I am reluctant to give a hard answer. In our litigious climate, I’m sure you can understand my … Read more
Heather says: Welcome to the another installment of the series on Common Household Chemicals. I think I was a kid when Billy Mays first showed up on my radar. He pitched Oxyclean late into the night and I’d sit there fascinated watching the red swirl away and magically disappear. Oxyclean is just a brand name for … Read more
Dear Home-Ec 101, What is the best way to clean a mattress? Dec 2008 I splurged and upgraded from a queen bed to a fabulously huge king size bedset. I’m wondering what is the best way to clean the mattress? I have a small “spot” cleaner by Hoover (I think) – and I use that to … Read more
Bran says: This is a public service announcement from Home Ec 101. Let me ask you a quick question: When was the last time you washed your can opener?* Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m the dude who, when cooking in your kitchen, scrubs the can opener before I use it. And nearly every … Read more
Dear Home Ec 101, I have a 9 month old baby girl and as she is becoming more mobile, it is becoming a lot more important to me to keep things really clean. She loves crawling into the bathroom and playing with those little plastic screw covers at the base of the toilet and as … Read more