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Cleaning fine washables for picture perfect portraits
Holiday portraits, with family members dressed in their best, are cherished momentos. Whether it's a once-in-lifetime event or a yearly tradition for your family, looking good is the goal.
Portrait-worthy Fabrics
Clothes that are clean and sparkling are the perfect complement to those smiling faces. To make sure your garments are portrait worthy, the American Cleaning Institute…
Family life runs more smoothly when there is a shared responsibility for the housework. Whether it's a simple effort like putting dirty clothes in the hamper or a major job like washing the kitchen floor, almost every family member can contribute in some way that fits his/her age and other responsibilities. These guidelines help everyone in the family find a way to pitch in and make doing the housework easier and less of a one-person chore.Practice Prevention Keep…
Q: Pie is always a favorite dessert in our house. So when we found out that January 23rd is National Pie Day, we thought it was a great excuse for a dessert party! We'd like to make it a fun evening, maybe with checked tablecloths and napkins. But we realize that inviting a bunch of people over to eat pie is also an invitation to stains. How do we get rid of them (the stains, not the guests!)?
A: Blueberry, cherry, boysenberry, strawberry, apple, rhubarb … no matter what your…
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) offers room by room cleaning suggestions for the many surfaces in your home.
You’ve invested in the clothing that will protect you from the harmful rays of the sun. But are you taking care of those rash guard shirts as well as you are caring for your skin? If you don’t launder them properly, they can lose their effectiveness. So read up!
Rinse it out with fresh water immediately after wearing
Never use hot water, only cool or lukewarm
Turn the garment inside out and hand wash, using a biodegradable soap
Hang dry away from direct sun or heat
Don’t fold or ball up…
Grout is generally porous and white or light colored and can get dirty or discolored quickly. Get it clean with a little chemistry and a bit of elbow grease.
First off, you'll want to use an alkaline cleaner. Grout is primarily cement and can be dissolved by acids. Over time, an acidic cleaner may require you to re-grout sooner than intended.
How do you know if your cleaner will do the trick? Typically the product label will tell you the surfaces it works on. Or, if it's says it…
No matter the type of product you are using (soap or detergent), good cleaning takes a lot of energy. Three different kinds to be exact:
Chemical energy, provided by the soap or detergent
Mechanical energy, provided by a machine or by hand
Thermal energy, provided by heating water Let’s look at how all these elements work together.
Assume we have a great, big, oily, greasy stain on one of our favorite shirts. Water alone is not enough to remove the…
Are you a caregiver for a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia?
If you are caring for an individual who is diagnosed with or showing signs or symptoms of dementia, all cleaning products, including laundry packets, should be stored in a locked cabinet or a closet when not in use.
Liquid laundry packets contain highly concentrated detergent. If not safely stored or handled properly, laundry packets can lead to injury from ingestion…
If you’re cleaning and still seeing cloudy spots on your glassware, you probably have hard water. As with most stains, the longer it sits, the more difficult it is to remove. There are cleaning products that can help remove the mineral buildup from surfaces or run dishes through the dishwasher again, this time using a rinsing agent. It can also help to increase the amount of detergent used a bit. On surfaces, look for a cleaning product…
Clean water is a critical element of cleaning.
The vast majority of water on Earth’s surface, over 96%, is saline water in the oceans (USGS). Which means, even though water is plentiful there are limited resources of fresh water to relay on. Beyond cleaning, we also need water to drink and to grow food. The average household may use 88,000 gallons of water per year (REU2016). Within your home, faucets and clothes washers…