Stains under the Kitchen Sink

A couple of weeks ago I was searching for some cloths at the back of the cupboard under the kitchen sink.  When I removed the cloths, I noticed a large square brown stain.  Needless to say, I had to remove all the bits stored in that area to get a good look.

The stain was quite close to the corner, but was dry.  I removed it easily with some cream cleanser on a damp sponge and dried the area with a dry tea towel.  But after putting things back on that shelf, a week later when retrieving a sponge, I discovered the sponge was wet.  Umm! Must be a leak.

The edge of the sink had been sealed with silicone, which had become a dirty brown, and it would seem obviously had a hole in the corner above where the stain had been.

Thankfully, hubby came to the rescue.  He removed the current dirty silicone and then set to, to replace and make a new silicone seal.  But it required a fair bit of preparation.

Firstly, once all the old silicon had been removed, the sink had to be lifted slightly so any new product could be spread out between the sink edge and the stone bench.  This was done by loosening off the clamps underneath the sink.  Then hubby cleaned the stone work under the sink edge, removing all the residue. Yes, you’ve guessed it, he used cream cleanser.  But, to ensure the stone and the sink edge were dry he ran a hair dryer around the cleaned area.

Now the silicon we had was old which meant going to our favourite hardware store and purchasing more.  It also meant we needed the plunger machine and more nozzles.  Surprise, surprise, we discovered nozzles that bent and swiveled.  Neither hubby nor I had seen these before, so we purchase a packet and took them home with great delight.

Everything was prepared, the silicon tube was in the plunger and the new nozzle was on the tip.  Hubby was ready to squeeze the silicon in a line under the sink edge. 

The new nozzle was magic.  At the rear of the sink next to the wall the nozzle bent to fit into the space and what was once an annoying difficult job became a breeze. 

It didn’t take long for hubby to finish the job and after a short period, tighten up the clamps pulling the sink back into place.  Yes, the silicon squeezed out, but that was easily removed with the finger coated with washing-up liquid and before one knew it the job was completed.

We did allow the area to settle, which meant using the dish washer with the morning and evening dishes for a couple of days, but after that it was back to normal. 

I have kept an eye on the offending area, but as yet no damp spot has been found.  So, I guess we can say, hubby saved the day, and the kitchen sink has been sealed.

                                                                                                Julie Finch-Scally

                                                                                                The Guru of Cleaning®

                                                                                                Author of ‘Stinking Cleaning’

                                                                                                www.cleaningguru.online

How Often Should I Change My Sheets?

I was having a discussion with a friend the other day about turning mattresses.  I suggested, as it was a new mattress she should turn it every time she changed her sheets.  That was the big question.  How often should she change her sheets?

Now if you ever stay in a hotel, you will note that to save water and electricity, sheets are changed weekly if you have a long stay in the room, otherwise it is between each new occupant.  That does sound logical and one could apply it to your own home, but the changing of sheets really does depend on the weather and the sleeper’s body temperature. 

If it is a hot night, the sleeper will perspire which means in the morning the sheets are slightly damp.  Of course, perspiring can also occur in winter, especially when the covers are too heavy.  In each case most of the bed covers, mattress and linen will have absorbed the moisture emanating from the body, but changing the sheets each day is not the answer.

Many South Europeans refocillate their bed clothes.   This means they pull back the top bed covers and let the sheets air, or they take off all the linen and hang it over a balcony to dry out and air in the sun.

Some people have electric blankets.  This does the drying for you.  In fact, in our house the electric blanket stays on the bed all year round.  In the winter it is set higher than in summer, but during the summer months, it dries out the bed clothing during the daytime and is turned off prior to climbing into bed. 

There is nothing worse than getting into a damp bed, and as mattresses absorb and hold a massive amount of moisture, when an electric blanket it first fitted to a mattress it can take a couple of days before all the moisture is removed.  If you always sleep on a dry mattress, thanks to an electric blanket, you will know what I mean. 

But that brings us back to how often should you change your sheets?  Because my sheets are kept moisture free with the electric blanket I change them once a fortnight.  Many people change them once a week.  I find I do change the sheets on a weekly basis during summer, but the answer is, never, never leave your sheets on a bed for more than two weeks.  Why?  Because they will start to smell; and that is not a pretty aroma in any bedroom.   By the way, we never sleep with the electric blanket on. 

Julie Finch-Scally

The Guru of Cleaning®

Author Stinking Cleaning

www.cleaningguru.online

Cleaning behind doors

Why is it that people forget to clean behind doors?  Is it because as the doors are open one doesn’t see the rear, or is it laziness?  I am of the opinion that it is a little of both.  But, on those days when you do close the door and see the dust and dirt that has collected on the indentations or cut outs in the wood, one realises the rear of all doors need cleaning regularly.

The worst doors to leave uncleaned are in the bathrooms and kitchens.  Because of the humidity and dampness in both these areas the doors get damp and sticky and hold on to any dust floating in the air.  Even plain solid doors in these rooms get damp and hold the dust.

In the bathroom the doors get closed regularly.  It is a different matter in bedrooms because they are quite often left open, but it’s those moments when one closes the door that the dirt and dust behind is seen.  Of course, if you had a cloth in your hand, you would give it a wipe over, but generally that is not the case, so the cleaning of the back of the door is left until the next clean of that room.  Hopefully the door is remembered at that time and the job gets done.

I have found with bathrooms that as I go around with a micro-fibre cloth and glass cleanser, cleaning the tiles, when I need to close the door to reach the tiles behind, I clean the front and then the back of the door.  Not only does this remove the dust on the rear of the door, it helps remove the black marks that seem to appear around the handle on the front of the door. 

Many people do not clean tiles in the bathroom, but the tiles, because of the dampness and the dust from the towels, get a fine dusty coating which after a while builds up to cause a dullness over the tiles.  Giving the tiles a buff on a regular basis is a good opportunity to get behind that bathroom door and clean it.  Use glass cleanser and a micro-fibre cloth.

Doors in the remainder of the home, don’t need to be damp dusted, they can be rubbed over with a duster-on-a-pole while walking around the room and dusting the woodwork and furniture.  If you are running the duster along the skirting board the door has to be closed to get right into the corner. That is the time when you rub over the back of the door dusting across the patterns.

As I said, maybe it is laziness or the fact that doors remain open that stops us from cleaning the rear of doors, but as all the collected dust on the back comes into view when the door is closed especially by a visitor, a regular wipe over and dust is necessary.  Check the rear of your doors and see what I mean.

Julie Finch-Scally

The Guru of Cleaning®

Author: Stinking Cleaning

www.cleaningguru.online