13 Kitchen Spots You Need to Clean Before the Stench Hits You!

September 2, 2017

By: Stacey Freed

Kitchen cleaning tips so you’ll never be embarrassed by cooking odors.

You love, love, love cooking in your very own kitchen. It’s the kitchen of your dreams, where you can crank up the tunes while trying out that teriyaki recipe you saw in a “Tasty” video.

And it’s tons more fun if you’ve got guests coming over. You love to greet them with the aroma of something delicious.

But what if instead of smelling teriyaki, your guests smell something else? Some lingering, foul odor from meals long gone? It happens — especially if you cook often.

Don’t let stale, icky cooking odors ruin your dinner party. Give these kitchen spots a good detox treatment, so stinky smells won’t have a place to feed.

#1 Disposal Flaps- Scrub Those Suckers:

Flip the flaps in your disposal and prepare to be as grossed out as a sixth-grader in health class. Yucky slime left over from food proteins line the flaps, treating you to a greasy and grimy stink.

“Use a small brush, even a toothbrush, and scrub them clean with hot, soapy water,” says Donna Smallin Kuper, author of several books including “Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness: One-Minute Tips for Decluttering and Refreshing Your Home and Your Life.”

While you’re down there, clean the disposal itself by sending down three or four ice cubes, a handful of kosher salt, and hot water.

Don’t forget the drain side of the sink. Pull out food bits and scrub the drain with that toothbrush again. And then, OMG,throw it out. Or clearly label it “drain brush” and store faaaaar away from your real toothbrush.

#2 Faucet and Sink: Cleanse the Crevices:

If you’ve got a lever handle on your sink faucet, lift it and look down.

All around that nice ball joint is lovely brown slime. No big deal, that’s just where you get your drinking water. Deep breath. You can get the gunk in one swipe with a paper towel dampened with a degreaser or some vinegar and water.

Then keep hunting. The crevices at the base of the faucet, around the soap dispenser, and around the edge of the sink are all gunk magnets.

#3 Range-Sideswipe Food Spillage:

“You probably have dinner for six spilling down the sides of your range,” says Jan Dougherty, author of “The Lost Art of House Cleaning: A Clean House Is a Happy Home.”

It’s gummy. It’s gaggy. It’s stinky. She suggests using Krud Kutter, an all-purpose, non-toxic, odorless de-greaser, mixing 5 parts water to 1 part Krud Kutter. The same solution or another good, non-toxic degreaser like Force of Nature can also clean your cabinet walls or whatever else is in splatter distance of your stove.

#4 Stove Vent Filter: Boil It Clean:

While you’re at the stove, force yourself to really look at the range hood filter or pop-up vent filter.

After the obligatory “ewww,” vow to clean the filter every month at least, depending on how much you cook, Smallin Kuper says. All the grease stuck to it makes a hell of a bouquet. Remove the filter, shake it out, and wash it in hot, soapy water. Or, if it’s extra grimy, put it in boiling water with ½ cup baking soda.

#5 Stove Knobs: Remove to Reveal the Gunk:

In horror movies, the monster is always hiding behind a harmless-looking door. On your stove, your otherwise clean knobs are the stink monster’s hideout.

Remove the knobs and soak them in hot, soapy water, or just toss them in the dishwasher. The real anti-smell work is cleaning underneath the slim rubber gasket behind the knob.

Sing, “If you liked it, then you should have cleaned your ring on it,” to keep from gagging over the ring of brown gunk. Wipe it away with a damp cloth, replace the gasket, and keep singing.

#6 Oven: Use Liners for No Grease Stink:

Why do your fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies smell vaguely like chicken? That would be from last week’s roaster juices that bubbled over onto the bottom of the oven. YUM.

In addition to making your cookies non-vegetarian, the gooey stuff on the bottom of your oven will smoke and stink up the joint. In an ideal world — and who lives there? — you’d clean the oven after every use. (Try a paste of equal parts vinegar and baking soda.)

In reality, you can avoid the problem by using silicone oven liners. When they get dirty, let them cool. Then wash with warm, soapy water.

#7 Dishwasher Door: Wipe the Reek Off the Rim:

How can cleaning machines get so dang dirty? The inside of your dishwasher should, actually, be clean — as long as you get rid of large food particles before you wash your dishes.

But it’s likely that grime will lurk along the edges of the inside of the door and on the gasket. Grab a rag and clean it off with hot, soapy water. A quick swipe with every unload will prevent the build-up.

#8 Fridge Vent Grill: Suck Out the Smelly Stuff:

Dust, cooties, pet hair, dander, and bits of food all get sucked into the vent below your fridge. This could all be a source of odor. Pull off the grate (it usually comes off quite easily with a gentle tug), vacuum under the fridge, and clean the vent grill in hot, soapy water.

More clean, less stink, and (bonus!) the less stuff on the grill, the easier it is for your fridge to cool your food.

#9 Fridge Drip Pan: Find It, De-Gross It:

There’s a drip pan under your fridge. So that’s good to know. And water and food spillage that gets into it, plus hot, humid weather can equal a gross, moldy cocktail.

You can nip it in the bud by wiping out the moisture and spraying the pan with a hydrogen peroxide solution (1 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide in 1 cup water). Wipe clean with a rag soaked in white vinegar.

Also, you’ll want to check the floor beneath the pan and keep it clean, too.

#10 Cabinets: Do a 360 De-Griming:

You may have cleaned up that spattered spaghetti sauce off your backsplash tile, but bend down and look at the underside of your kitchen cabinets. Do it on an empty stomach, lest you yack on your counters.

Give it a degreasing, and then a regular wipe-down to keep build-up at bay.

After going low, go high: Cooking fumes rise and come down on cabinets doors’ top edges and fronts. “Scrape the leading edge of the cabinet door with a fingernail and see how much slime peels off,” Dougherty says.

And after adding that to your wipe-down routine, go ahead and schedule a manicure. You’ve earned it.

#11 Cabinet Floors and Oils: Keep ‘Em Separated:

Coconut oil. Truffle oil. Olive oil. Peanut oil. Grapeseed oil. You’re the Exxon/Mobil of cooking oil options, and now your cabinet shelves are shiny and possibly starting to smell not so delightful. Clean the shelving with hot, soapy water and wipe down all the bottles.

Then keep the bottles off the wood by using the lids of old plastic containers as coasters, recommends Smallin Kuper, or use a sturdy bin in your cabinet to contain them.

#12 Toe Kicks: Wipe Away Smells From Below:

Find a small child or get down on your knees: You cleaned up a sauce spill two days ago, but — whoops! — the wipe-up didn’t extend to the kickboards.

There it is, along with a variety of splotches from other recent meals. Scrub the boards clean with hot, soapy water, and resolve to be less klutzy so you won’t have to do this more than once a year.

#13 High Cabinets: Line Tops With Paper Towels:

Thank goodness most visitors aren’t 7 feet tall. Those hanging cabinets exposed at the top and showcasing your tchotchkes are full of grease and grime — which will eventually add a nasty perfume to your kitchen — along with dust, dead bugs, and anything else floating in the air.

Just what you want lingering right above your cook space.

But how’s this for handy? A roll of paper towels is the same width as your cabinets. So after you clean the grease from your valuables and the top of the cabinets, roll out a line of paper. Toss it, and replace with a fresh batch whenever your very tall friends are coming by. Or, at least once a year.

9 No-Sweat Hacks to Deep Clean the Cruddiest Things!

August 31, 2017

By: Jamie Wiebe

Like using a drill on your tub (why didn’t we think of it sooner?!)

Ahhh! Sparkling floors, gleaming windows, and zero dust bunnies. A thorough cleaning can make your abode feel brand new. But that immaculate house comes with a price — sore biceps.

Instead of skimping on your annual deep clean because you’re zonked, use these brilliant hacks for nine of the most pain-in-the-butt tasks. You’ll get the same pristine results with half the time and energy.

#1 Break Out the Drill on Your Bathtub:

Cleaning a grungy tub can be back-breaking work. But here’s a genius idea that’ll save you time and sweat: Use your drill. Simply attach a scrubby (or a foam ball polishing attachment if you happen to have one) and use it to do the scrubbing for you. Look in the automotive section for the attachment, which is made specially for tackling grime without scratching surfaces.

#2 Soak Stove Burners in Ammonia:

Your stove burners take the bulk of the greasy, gunky mess during cooking, so do them a favor and give them a good cleaning. Don’t worry: No scrubbing involved. To clear the crud, combine your stove burners and 1/4 cup ammonia in a plastic bag and let sit overnight. They should come clean with a light sponge the next day.

#3 Run Floor Vents Through the Dishwasher:

Scour as you might, removing all the accumulated dirt and dust from your floor and ceiling vents can be a spring cleaner’s nightmare. If yours are made of aluminum or steel, there’s a shortcut to spic-and-span: Just run them through the dishwasher on a water-only cycle.

#4 Iron Out Bad Carpet Stains:

Don’t spend an hour scrubbing out that nasty, set-in carpet splotch. Iron it out instead. Spritz a solution of one part vinegar, three parts water on the stain, and lay a clean cotton cloth on top. Turn your iron to its highest steam setting and run it over the stain for about 10 seconds to transfer the stain to the cloth and off your carpet.

#5 Tie a Bag of Vinegar Around Your Shower head:

Mineral build-up on your showerhead can cause low water pressure and wonky water streams. But it’s easy to clean them without removing them. Using a rubber band, attach a bag of vinegar to your showerhead, making sure all the holes are submerged in the vinegar, and soak it overnight. Voilà. Good as new.

#6 Make Your Leaf Blower Multi-Task:

Forget the broom and rags when you’re cleaning out the garage. Whip out your leaf blower and let it blow all the dust, debris, and dead bugs (yuck!) away from the floor and shelving. Just be sure to put away light-weight things could accidentally get blown out with the trash.

#7 Get Rid of Crayon Marks with Goo Gone:

Removing evidence of your toddler’s overactive imagination from your gorgeous white walls can be a struggle, but a little bit of Goo Gone (traditionally used to clean sticker residue) will remove the crayon and your headache. Spray it on the drawing, wait a moment, and wipe it off cleanly — without exhausting your arms.

#8 Boil Your Range Filter:

There’s no need to scrub the grease and grime off your range filters. Use a bit of baking soda and your largest pot instead. Set the water to boil, slowly add 1/2 cup of baking soda, and submerge your filters for about five minutes. (Make sure to dump the water somewhere safe. Grease in the drain is even worse than grimy filters.)

#9 Sprinkle Your Mattress With Baking Soda:

Your mattress needs a springtime refresh, too, but you sure can’t toss it in the washing machine. Cleaning gurus recommend dragging your mattress outside, beating it, and letting the sunshine help freshen it, then dragging it back in. But who has the muscle for that? This is much easier: Use a kitchen strainer to sprinkle baking soda over its surface and let sit for an hour or longer. Longer is better. Then use your vacuum’s upholstery attachment to suck up the odor-absorbing soda.

5 Mortgage Mistakes You’re Too Smart to Make!

August 25, 2017

By: Latisha Styles

How to ensure you get the best possible interest rate you can.

“Shop around for the best mortgage deal.” You may have heard this statement, before, but the best deal for one borrower could be a poor deal for another.

The key is to become a better borrower. Is it possible to influence the type of deal you get? Yes, especially if you avoid these missteps.

1. Not Checking Your Credit Report:

The three main credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — keep track of your credit history, including lines of credit, payments, and available credit lines, among other data. While most information collected is similar across all three bureaus, it’s possible to find differences between reports.

When checking your credit reports, it’s most important to check for errors or misinformation. Accurate information can’t be deleted, but any information that can’t be verified or that’s inaccurate can be removed. If errors on your credit report are impacting your credit score, it’s best to have them removed before applying for a mortgage.

Get a free credit report from each of the three bureaus once a year at annualcreditreport.com.

2. Opening New Lines of Credit:

Before shopping for a mortgage, it’s best to minimize your number of

Will Lender Inquiries Ding Your Credit?

Worry not. FICO regards several lender queries in a short time as a single query, which shouldn’t have much effect.

Credit Inquiries — These come when you apply for a new line of credit. Lenders use your FICO or other credit score to evaluate your creditworthiness.

Although FICO doesn’t provide insight into the number of points added or subtracted for specific credit activity, it does note that new credit lines account for 10% of your overall score and that “inquiries usually have a small impact.” However, even a small negative impact could potentially increase the mortgage rate for which you qualify.

3. Increasing Your Debt Load:

Your credit score is calculated based on a number of factors, including payment history, amounts owed, and the mix of credit and new credit. Each factor is given a percentage weighting. For the FICO score, amounts owed on accounts are weighted as high as 30%. A larger number of accounts with balances can indicate a higher risk for the lender.

For revolving accounts such as credit cards, the credit utilization ratio is what you should watch. It’s the ratio of the amount you owe on your card to your available credit, and it’s calculated as a percentage. For example, a $10,000 line of credit with a $2,000 balance shows as 20%. Reducing your total amount of debt or minimizing debt from revolving accounts could help you get approved.

Beyond your credit score, your debt-to-income ratio could also affect your mortgage deal. A debt-to-income ratio of under 36% is necessary for a loan to conform to Fannie Mae guidelines. Many lenders lend according to those guidelines so that they can take advantage of the special programs provided by this government-sponsored enterprise. The debt-to-income ratio will factor in all of your debt owed, including credit cards, student loans, and any other debts listed on your credit report.

4. Forgetting About Special Loan Programs:

You may qualify for special programs that could reduce the cost of getting a mortgage. For example, you may qualify for one of the VA loan programs. These programs, provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, cover service members, veterans, and eligible surviving spouses. There are also programs that help first-time homebuyers and eligible rural homebuyers, and even state-based homebuyer programs.

5. Applying with Fluctuating Income:

Mortgage lenders require paperwork to verify your financial situation, including but not limited to debt, income, and assets. If you receive a paycheck, you may be asked to provide two years of proof of employment via W-2 forms. If you have a habit of switching jobs often with gaps in between, that unsteady income could delay your approval as the lender seeks other methods to verify your creditworthiness.

Before applying for a mortgage, make changes where necessary so you can get the best deal possible. Seek to improve your credit, minimize your debt load, and search for special programs. Depending on how much you owe and the state of your credit, you may need to begin this process one to two years in advance of purchasing a home.

You Could Be Wrecking Your Home — And Not Know It (Yet)!

August 24, 2017

By: Amy Howell Hirt

First-time homeowners often make these 9 common — and avoidable — mistakes. Don’t be one of them.

You haven’t felt like this since you were a teenager. You have a crush on your new house. (You’re officially a home buyer — wait — owner!)

It’s soooooo great. You love its quirks. It’s your very first home, and you want to do everything right.

The feeling is fun, but also scary: You remember too well how badly you screwed up that first crush as a teenager (so embarrassing. Don’t ask).

Could you screw this up too?

No need to freak out. You can make this love a lasting one. For now, keep an eye out for these common no-nos that can result from good intentions.

#1 Using Bleach as a Cure-All:

If bleach is your chicken soup for whatever ails your home, proceed with caution.

Bleach can:

•Eat through the sealant on stone surfaces like granite

•Discolor laminate and colored grout

•Fade enamel and acrylic tubs

•Dissolve vinyl and linseed-based flooring like linoleum

•Corrode seals within the disposal

In addition, bleach kills mold on non-porous surfaces, but can feed future mold growth on absorbent and porous materials, like grout. Yep, whitening grout with bleach creates a mold feeding ground. Whoops.

Better options? Water and vinegar are all you need for most cleaning jobs. If you’ve got a heftier mold or mildew issue, apply a commercial anti-fungal product.

And to clean your disposal, just dump cold water and ice cubes down the hatch.

#2 Training Ivy to Climb Your House:

You’ve dreamed of living in an ivy-covered English cottage since childhood. Well, sorry for this, then:

“Anything that climbs on the house will damage it,” says Marianne Binetti, a speaker and author who leads garden tours around the world.

The horticulture expert made the mistake herself.

“It looked cool for a while, but it dug into the siding so even when we pulled it off, it left damage. And it climbed up the drain pipe and tore the gutter off the house,” she says.

By sending roots beneath siding and shingles, ivy enlarges tiny cracks in brick and wood, introducing entrances for moisture and insects, says Jay Markanich, a certified home inspector based in Bristow, Va.

#3 Relying on Chemical Drain Cleaners:

Clogged sink! Again! Pay a plumber more than $100, or grab a $10 product at the store? You can totally handle this one yourself, right?

Possibly. But the most common active ingredients in these solutions, hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid, can erode your pipes.

Even the old baking-soda-and-vinegar medley can result in cracked pipes, as the reaction causes a build-up of pressure.

Old-fashioned “mechanical” methods — your plunger, a drain snake, or a handy $2 gadget called the Zip-It — are safer and more effective, according to “Consumer Reports.”

And if that fails, that call to the plumber doesn’t sound so bad compared to an eroded or busted pipe, no?

#4 Using Glass Cleaners on Mirrors:

Your newfound house crush has you scrubbing and spritzing everything. Look at you being so lovingly domestic!

But be cautious with your mirrors. Spraying can lead to what’s ominously called “black edge” — created when a liquid seeps beneath the reflective backing and lifts it.

Instead, clean mirrors with a lint-free microfiber cloth, dampened with warm water — especially mirrors in expensive, installed items like vanities and closet doors.

Avoid the edges and dry immediately with a second cloth.

#5 Planting Trees ThisClose to Anything:

Kind of like adopting an adorable, tiny piglet on a whim, you’ve got to remember how a baby tree is going to grow, and what it’s going to require at maturity.

You probably don’t want a 70-pound pig digging up your daisies, and you definitely don’t want a tree root pushing through your driveway, sidewalk or — so much worse! — your foundation.

And watch out for evergreens. If planted too close to the house, they cast too much shade, encouraging mold growth, Binetti says.

Position trees according to its maximum height, crown size, and root spread. For perspective, even a small tree reaching less than 30 feet tall needs at least 6 feet of clearance from any exterior wall, according to the Arbor Day Foundation.

#6 Using the Wrong Caulk:

As a dutiful homeowner, when you see failing caulk, you fix it. But the term “caulk” is as broad as the word “glue.”

There’s kitchen and bath caulk, concrete caulk, gutter caulk, mortar caulk — and that’s just the tip of the caulk-berg. And just like you’d never fix broken pottery with a glue stick, you don’t want to pick the wrong caulk either.

Markanich sees plenty of damage done when the wrong caulk is used. Such as using silicone caulk (totally great on non-porous surfaces like bathtubs) on concrete or brick or other porous surfaces. It won’t adhere, and moisture can seep in, compromising the bond and the structure.

Before heading to the store, check an online buying guide to find the right match for the project you’re doing. Odds are there’s a specific caulk just for it.

#7 Over-Sealing Countertops:

Take care of your countertop, but don’t smother the darn thing.

Applying sealant too frequently can create a cloudy or streaky appearance on surfaces like natural stone, concrete, butcher block, and glass, which typically only require occasional resealing to resist stains. (Quartz, laminates, and solid surfaces like Corian are best left sans-sealer.)

How to know it’s time to reseal? Drip some water on a high-use area of the countertop. If the water doesn’t remain beaded after 15 minutes, consider resealing.

But always defer to your manufacturer’s recommendations. Different materials can have different needs.

#8 Over-Mulching:

Nothing feels closer to giving your home a hug than being elbow deep in a landscaping project. But when it comes to mulch (which is so great, for so many reasons), it turns out elbow deep is a little too much love.

A layer thicker than 3 inches can suffocate plants and prevent water from reaching roots, so spread thoughtfully.

#9 Piling Firewood Next to Your Exterior Wall:

Your fireplace is the highlight of your home. You love it. That’s why you keep your firewood right outside the back door, for easy access.

Oops. Storing firewood against your home’s exterior walls is akin to opening a B&B for termites.

In fact, “anything that creates a dark, climate-controlled area near the house will invite termites” and other pests into your home, Markanich says.

In one of the worst termite cases he’s seen, he found an enormous termite colony on an exterior wall in a bathroom, which got its foothold in a pile of bricks outside.

Twenty feet is a safe distance from home for firewood — and still not too far to go to fuel your awesome fireplace.