Cleaning the Impossible: 4 Secrets from the Pros

Instead of keeping that jar of paint and a brush under your sink for touch-ups, put some of the paint in one of those little water bottles with a sponge top that office workers use to wet envelope flaps. Keep it in a ziplock bag to prevent the paint from drying out and take it out to touch up baseboards, moldings, etc. whenever you want - without having to find and clean a paintbrush. Simple.

Some pretty dumb recommendations. First, don't clean your linoleum floors with alkaline cleaners. Use bleach? Bleach is about as alkaline as it comes. Bleach belongs in the laundry. Period. It reacts with just about every other chemical that comes near it. Better to try something like TSP and rinse with water, cleaning small areas as you go. Or use a commercial floor cleaner available at the big box stores or from a janitorial supply.

The cleaner for kitchen cabinets is a mixture of Murphy's Oil Soap and paint thinner? Are you a chemist? THEN DON'T MIX CHEMICALS!!! It's possible that you could create an explosive mixture or create a lethal gas if you do! And if you're mixing flammable liquids like paint thinner, don't do it in your kitchen unless you want to burn down the house. Remember, there might be lit pilot lights on your oven or stove. Stick with plain Murphy's, or 409.

Here's another method to remove red wine or koolaid stains from carpet. First, spray with a commercial all purpose spotter. Blot, don't rub, with a white cloth to remove any of the stain that will come off. Next, try mixing carpet cleaner meant for foam-type cleaning machines, and soak a white towel in the mixed shampoo. Apply more shampoo to the stain. Cover with the towel and apply a steam iron set on medium heat to the towel. It just takes a couple of seconds. If the stain's going to come out, the heat will release the color from the carpet and transfer it to the towel. Repeat if necessary, then rinse by applying clean water to the spot and blotting with a clean white towel. It's important to use white towels only. You don't want to transfer color from the towels to the carpet.

I keep trying to find a hint on how to clean cookie sheets or pans that become discolored from grease/fat that have baked on...You can clean it but I find rarely remove it..Magic eraser has helped some but not removed it..I use them because they "work" but look bad but eventually replace them because of that reason..My parents had a heavy shiny cookie sheet that never stained..I wish I had that!

Years ago I accidentally grabbed a bottle of Windex to clean red Kool Aid out of a new (2 hours in the house) white sofa. It worked.

Damp dryer sheets will help remove burned on surgary substances from your glass top stove. Let it sit for a bit and then go after it with your finernails and the damp dryer sheet.

Cleaning linoleum floors with bleach is a mistake waiting to happen. It's high PH. It will and can yellow them and take off the finish. If you have new ones that come with a 15 yr warrenty it will void it. Call the manufactor to find out how to clean them. If they are really old use dawn dish soap warm water, and a scrub brush don't scrub hard. Rinse and dry. Some of these older floors need waxed. These floors are made from wood products.

Wood cabinets need a mild cleaner. No wood soap. You are cleaning the finish not the wood. Wood cleaner is made from vegetables so your splashing vegetable oil on your cabinets. Use a mild ph balanced cleaner, rinse and dry. If you have to use lemon oil for shine. But if you do it will build up over time. The key to everything is what kind of finish is on everything. Build up on finishes dull them, stratch them and eventually wear through them if your using the wrong stuff. Ask a wood professional what they think about wood cleaner and oils. It creates build up.
I have used a dusting product on my table. I set something off and it created a steam mark all the way to the wood. I decided to refinish the table. The wax build up that came off on my sand paper was incredible. Even through I cleaned the table stripping it took longer because of wax build up.
I have learned to ask and read. I do this for a living and I am a professional. These tips are very bad.

Baby wipes work on carpet stains. I'm not kidding.

I would suggest using a Magic Eraser instead of soap, water & a rag to clean baseboards. Less messy & less scrubbing. Magic Erasers also get tar of your vehicle!

When taking a break for more than 2 or so hours from painting with rollers, cut a foot long piece of plastic wrap and lay the wet roller at one end. Slowly roll the wrap on nice and tightly....to prevent air from getting to the roller. Your roller will be instantly ready to use days after wrapping.

For Linoleum or Vinyl floors don't use bleach water, use easy off oven cleaner. No scrubbing. Lifts the grime right off.

Best way to clean an entire messy house? Get rid of unwanted in-laws. Your house will sparkle.

If someone has a linoleum floor circa 1950, instead of cleaning it I would think it's time to replace it.

I'm sorry but I read articles all the time about QUICK and EASY ways to clean whatever but #1 doesn't sound that way at all. I would prefer a much easier way somehow.

Clean wood grime with eaqual parts water, vinigar and amonia, buff dry after. My Italian mother in law has done this for too many years to count and her old cabinets, woodwork and furniture looks like new. Never use pledge either a slightly damp cloth with water works great at keeping the furniture looking like it did in the showroom, no residue buildup.

One big mistake shown here is using floor cleaners without wearing gloves. For carpet stains, "Spot Shot" carpet cleaner in a spray can works every time. It gets out anything. Just spray, wait a minute, then blot with white paper towel.

does anyone have any good recommendations for getting built up soap #$%$ off of slate/limestone tiles? My shower needs a good cleaning. Thanks!

For cook tops first use a scrapper the kind with a razor blade to get the burned on stuff off, then wet the surpace and let it set for 15 min., dry the surface and us windex to clean

bleach has a ph of 12???

I am wondering why Shine doesn't check these hints out with the manufactors. The bleach and wood soap cleaning are the worst hints ever. Don't use these. Cleaning the base boards is good idea

In order to get the smell of diesel gas or oil out of your clothes and/or washing machine, use a cup of Murphy's oil soap. It will get the grease out of your clothes and eliminate the smell if you accidentally washed them in your washer.