Hi Home-Ec 101, I admit, I am a terrible housekeeper, but I am trying to improve, and I long for a house I can be proud of. We have lived in our 1957 Cape Cod home for 8 years. It probably came with a certain amount of wear and tear, but our 3 kids, 2 … Read more
The living room, or family room, often becomes a catch all place. At my house it’s where we love to crash, watch a movie, have a snack, play with toys/games, and more. I’ll confess that we let the dog on the couch in there too. A lot of use of the room means a lot … Read more
Dear Home Ec 101, How do you clean ceiling fans? I’m especially wanting to know how you manage to clean them without dust bunnies falling down onto the furniture. Signed, A fan of fans Ivy says: I suppose, theoretically, if you cleaned your ceiling fans constantly that there’d never be any little bits of dust … Read more
Dear Home Ec 101, Hello! My three year old son decided it would be fun to draw on our car upholstery with black pen. In the past I have been able to use hairspray on crayon with wonderful success (couch and table cloth), but I have never attempted it on pen. Any tips or am I … Read more
Hello ladies! I’ve asked my mom, I’ve asked my friends, and I don’t know why I didn’t ask you two first. Here’s the skinny: we bought our first new furniture early last year; a couch and a recliner. My husband works in a kitchen, so he comes home sweaty and covered with kitchen grease and … Read more
Please help me, ladies! We’ve been in our new townhouse for about eight months. We have neutral-colored wall-to-wall style carpet in our living room. There are a couple of stains from who knows what – beer spillage, chocolate drool from a friend’s happy baby, etc. I spot-treated them (the stains, not the babies) and sometimes … Read more
Dear Home Ec 101: Any helpful hints on cleaning wood floors? I can get them clean and I can get them shiny, but not at the same time without doing two rounds. First with water/vinegar, then going over it with Orange Glo wood floor cleaner. But who has time for that? And another thing about … Read more