Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World by Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen
Authors: Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen
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instructions on how to cook it up. Add lemon essential oil for that classic furniture polish scent. Apply the paste with a soft cloth, rub it in thoroughly, then buff with a fresh cloth. Olive oil can be used in the place of linseed oil, but linseed oil dries faster, giving a cleaner finish.
STOVE AND OVEN CLEANERS
The stove is probably the most difficult item to clean in the house. The cooktop, range hood, oven, and broiler all collect grease, and most of that grease is baked on. A mildly dirty stove can be washed with soapy water and scrubbed with baking soda, but if the state of your stovetop and oven make you despair, it’s time for a deep cleaning with washing soda.
Put on your kitchen gloves and some old clothes. Wipe down the outer surface of the stove and the range hood with a mix of ½ cup washing soda in hot water. If the wells beneath the burners are filled with baked-on gunk, let them soak in this liquid, or make a paste of washing soda and water, apply to the wells, and let them sit. Meanwhile, wipe down a gas stove’s cooking rings. If they’re crusty, soak them in the same solution or, in extreme cases, put them in a big pot of washing soda water and bring to a low simmer. That should pry off even the worst baked-on grease. Scrub the inside of the oven with washing soda, or apply a paste and let that sit, if necessary. When cleaning a gas stove, don’t apply a paste to the gas burners themselves, as this can gum them up. When cleaning an electric stove, keep the paste off all heating elements. Rinse all surfaces with water when you’re done.
Never use washing soda on aluminum surfaces or aluminum cookware.
SOAP SCUM AND BATHTUB RING CLEANSERS
A combination of soap and abrasive works well to clean ordinary bathtub rings and small amounts of soap scum in the tub or shower. Use the soft scrub described previously, or spray the surface with soapy water, then shake on baking soda. Use something abrasive, like a nylon pad or loofah sponge, to scrub away scum.
If the scum resists these attempts, try scrubbing with borax. If that doesn’t work, heat a cup of undiluted white vinegar until it almost simmers, then, wearing gloves, wipe the hot vinegar over the soap scum, wait a minute, then scrub.
For glass doors that are fogged with soap residue, try warm vinegar alone. Or try polishing the glass with cornstarch sprinkled on a damp cloth, then rinse thoroughly.
To prevent soap scum, consider switching soaps. In our experience, castile soaps (i.e., vegetable oil soaps) seem to leave less scum behind, or at least clean up better, than big-brand commercial bar soaps, which are often made with animal fat (sodium tallowate).
HARD WATER SCALE REMOVER
Hot vinegar removes hard water scale almost instantly. If the scale is particularly stubborn, place a rag soaked with hot vinegar on the scale for a few minutes, then wipe clean. Boil vinegar in teakettles to remove the white scale that builds up at the bottom.
DEODORIZER
Baking soda is your go-to deodorizer. Sprinkle it generously on your carpet, go to bed, and vacuum the next morning. Do the same with car upholstery and carpets. If you can’t wait overnight, wait at least 15 minutes. Wash stinky hampers and garbage cans with baking soda and hot water. Sprinkle baking soda in the bottom of the kitchen garbage can to reduce odors, and change the powder every week. If plastic containers pick up food smells, soak them in warm water and baking soda. Wash the inside of your refrigerator with baking soda dissolved in water.
MILDEW REMOVERS
To attack mold and mildew in the bathroom, combine 1 tablespoon tea tree oil with 1 cup water in a spray bottle. Shake well before each use. Tea tree oil is a powerful natural fungicide. It’s sold in health food stores, near the essential oils. While it’s pricey, a little goes a long way. What you don’t use for mildew combat can find its way into other cleaning products, like the Almost Universal Spray (page 70 ), or be
STOVE AND OVEN CLEANERS
The stove is probably the most difficult item to clean in the house. The cooktop, range hood, oven, and broiler all collect grease, and most of that grease is baked on. A mildly dirty stove can be washed with soapy water and scrubbed with baking soda, but if the state of your stovetop and oven make you despair, it’s time for a deep cleaning with washing soda.
Put on your kitchen gloves and some old clothes. Wipe down the outer surface of the stove and the range hood with a mix of ½ cup washing soda in hot water. If the wells beneath the burners are filled with baked-on gunk, let them soak in this liquid, or make a paste of washing soda and water, apply to the wells, and let them sit. Meanwhile, wipe down a gas stove’s cooking rings. If they’re crusty, soak them in the same solution or, in extreme cases, put them in a big pot of washing soda water and bring to a low simmer. That should pry off even the worst baked-on grease. Scrub the inside of the oven with washing soda, or apply a paste and let that sit, if necessary. When cleaning a gas stove, don’t apply a paste to the gas burners themselves, as this can gum them up. When cleaning an electric stove, keep the paste off all heating elements. Rinse all surfaces with water when you’re done.
Never use washing soda on aluminum surfaces or aluminum cookware.
SOAP SCUM AND BATHTUB RING CLEANSERS
A combination of soap and abrasive works well to clean ordinary bathtub rings and small amounts of soap scum in the tub or shower. Use the soft scrub described previously, or spray the surface with soapy water, then shake on baking soda. Use something abrasive, like a nylon pad or loofah sponge, to scrub away scum.
If the scum resists these attempts, try scrubbing with borax. If that doesn’t work, heat a cup of undiluted white vinegar until it almost simmers, then, wearing gloves, wipe the hot vinegar over the soap scum, wait a minute, then scrub.
For glass doors that are fogged with soap residue, try warm vinegar alone. Or try polishing the glass with cornstarch sprinkled on a damp cloth, then rinse thoroughly.
To prevent soap scum, consider switching soaps. In our experience, castile soaps (i.e., vegetable oil soaps) seem to leave less scum behind, or at least clean up better, than big-brand commercial bar soaps, which are often made with animal fat (sodium tallowate).
HARD WATER SCALE REMOVER
Hot vinegar removes hard water scale almost instantly. If the scale is particularly stubborn, place a rag soaked with hot vinegar on the scale for a few minutes, then wipe clean. Boil vinegar in teakettles to remove the white scale that builds up at the bottom.
DEODORIZER
Baking soda is your go-to deodorizer. Sprinkle it generously on your carpet, go to bed, and vacuum the next morning. Do the same with car upholstery and carpets. If you can’t wait overnight, wait at least 15 minutes. Wash stinky hampers and garbage cans with baking soda and hot water. Sprinkle baking soda in the bottom of the kitchen garbage can to reduce odors, and change the powder every week. If plastic containers pick up food smells, soak them in warm water and baking soda. Wash the inside of your refrigerator with baking soda dissolved in water.
MILDEW REMOVERS
To attack mold and mildew in the bathroom, combine 1 tablespoon tea tree oil with 1 cup water in a spray bottle. Shake well before each use. Tea tree oil is a powerful natural fungicide. It’s sold in health food stores, near the essential oils. While it’s pricey, a little goes a long way. What you don’t use for mildew combat can find its way into other cleaning products, like the Almost Universal Spray (page 70 ), or be
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