The Best Solutions for the Most Common Household Cleaning Problems

During the course of our house-cleaning activities we may often be faced with a perplexing dilemma regarding a stain or odor that conventional methods and cleaning supplies simply cannot resolve.

There are a multitude of tips to be found on the web, but sometimes the search can be daunting if you are unsure what to enter into the search query box, and who wants to wade through a tidal wave of results that yield no reliable information?

While this list of helpful tips and solutions is by no means comprehensive of every problem you may face, it does encompass some of the most common, and each solution presented here has been found to be the most reliable method.

• Removing Pet Urine and Odor from Carpeting
Blot gently with paper towels until most of it is absorbed. Continue blotting until dry. Rinse with water and blot again till dry. Add a little vinegar to some water and rinse and blot again. After the area has dried completely, sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and vacuum.

• Removing Lingering Odors
Before vacuuming, sprinkling baking soda over the carpet will help freshen the floor and remove lingering odors. It is also handy if placed near kitty litter.

• Removing Heel or Shoe Marks
If you wear heels, you may often find that your shoes leave marks on the hardwood or tile floor. These can often simply be rubbed off with your finger, but for stronger marks, a pencil eraser should eliminate them.

• Removing Candle Wax from Carpeting or Fabric
Many brands of inexpensive candles have a tendency to melt at varying angles, often causing the hot liquid wax to seep through the walls of the candle or directly over it, and thus, splashing over your carpet in a large mass before you can staunch the flow. Such a problem can seem daunting at first, particularly if your carpet is made up of long fibers. But there is an easy solution.

You will need a brown paper bag to cover the entire spot, and shopping bag from he grocery store is perfect. If the amount of wax encompasses an area larger than that, you can work in sections. Run a hot iron over the bag. The wax will be subsequently heated and paper bag will lift and absorb it from the carpet.