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How to Clean Problem Areas (Stains, Scuffs, Mildew)

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Sometimes you find scuffs on your floor, stains on the upholstery and mildew that you may not know how to clean. Avoid using chemical cleaning supplies. Instead, use homemade cleaners that are healthier for you and the environment. Quite often, you can get the same results with products that are not hazardous.

How to Clean Problem Areas

How to Clean Problem Areas (Stains, Scuffs, Mildew):

Cleaning those problem areas are actually much easier than you think!

How to Clean Scuff Marks

You can clean scuff-marks off the floor by using common household items rather than buying specialty cleaners. For small scuff-marks, use a pencil eraser. Rub the eraser into the scuff-mark until it is no longer visible. Be sure to sweep up the shavings. Larger scuff-marks can be cleaned by using a rubber tennis shoe sole. With your hand in the shoe, rub the spot with the heel. You can also rub your heel on the mark with your foot in the shoe. Finally, you can remove a very large scuff-mark by cutting an “X” in a tennis ball. Place the tennis ball on the end of a broom and then rub the mark with the ball. It will quickly disappear.

How to Clean Upholstery Stains

There is a yellow stain on the arm of your couch. How do you get the stain out without ruining the fabric? Quite likely, the stain is the skin and oils of the family. Create homemade upholstery cleaner using 1/4 cup of natural dish-washing liquid and 1 cup of warm water. Place the two ingredients in a bowl and then mix with an electric mixer until it becomes thick. Using a soft-bristle brush, scrub the stain. Remove any excess cleaner and discard it. Rinse the spot with a clean cloth dipped in water. Allow the area to dry completely. This same mixture will clean other stains on your upholstery, as well.

How to Clean Away Mildew

Mildew can be dangerous whether you have an allergy to it or not. When left unchecked, mildew becomes mold and mold needs to be removed from your home for everyone in your family’s health. Here is how you can clean mildew naturally.

Combine 1/4 cup white vinegar with 1/2 cup of warm water in a spray bottle. Add 1 tablespoon baking soda and wait until the mixture stops bubbling. Add 10 drops of tea tree oil and shake. Spray the mixture on the mildew and allow it to sit for at least five minutes. Rinse the area with warm water and allow it to dry thoroughly. You can make a paste of this same mixture and use it for stubborn mildew stains. Place this on the stain for 10-15 minutes and then remove it with a scouring brush or sponge.

If you have other tough stuff to clean around your home and are not sure how to clean them, check out a book from the library about how to clean things or do a search on the internet. You are sure to find conventional and natural methods for cleaning nearly anything.

How to Clean Things Book Suggestions:

  1. New Fix-It-Yourself Manual: How to Repair, Clean, and Maintain Anything and Everything In and Around Your Home
  2. Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home

The above tasks are just part of our deep cleaning series!  Be sure to check out the previous posts:

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Becca @ The Earthlings Handbook

Friday 18th of July 2014

I was just wondering how to clean the upholstered seats of my dining room chairs! Thanks for the tip! I am pinning this so I can come back to it when I have time to do the cleaning.

I am skeptical about the mildew remover, though: I have always heard that the chemical reaction created by mixing baking soda and vinegar neutralizes the properties of both, so it only works where you need the bubbling action (like clearing a drain clog--that has worked very well for me). I can see how the baking soda would be good for scrubbing off the mildew stain and the vinegar and tea tree oil would kill the mildew, if you used them in two separate steps...but if you combine them and wait for the bubbling to stop, it would be only the tea tree oil that would be really working, I think. Have you tried this yourself?

Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife

Thursday 17th of July 2014

Yah! These are some great tips! Thanks for sharing. Come by and share on my linkup today! http://thediaryofarealhousewife.blogspot.com

Katie

Tuesday 15th of July 2014

Thanks for the tips! I'm still working on cleaning my house from when we moved...I needed this! I would love it if you linked this up to my Motivate Me Monday linky party at IT'S A ginger SNAP.

Kelli Miller

Tuesday 15th of July 2014

Moving (and remodeling) is no fun when you have to get everything organized! We are in the process of cleaning out our storage room so that we can put everything from our bedrooms and living rooms into it so we can get new flooring, paint, doors, etc. Yuck, yuck, yuck! LOL!

Cynthia

Friday 11th of July 2014

Great tips for a spotless home. Thank you for linking at the In and Out of the Kitchen Link Party. Hope to see you again next week.