SPRING AND CLEANING A CAN OPENER AND A MICROWAVE

Spring has sprung, and the yard work has begun (weather ;) or not we’re ready for it…

I mentioned before that I need a plan, as it is a struggle keeping up with work and home let alone yard…

Well…It is almost formulated; I have a couple of things left to figure out…

So far…

Hubby spent a couple of days, or a good portion of them anyway, within the past week...



Power raking, aerating, and fertilizing…



The day before that, he put 128 gallons of beetle-killer mixture out for the Chinese Elm tree…Those beetles get us every year!

Now that we have gotten a day or two of rain, we're off to a good start!



Cleaning a can opener…

For years, I told my kids to wipe off the can opener and toaster every time they did the dishes…When there are splatters that are dried on, you can’t just easily wipe them off…But, if it’s done each time it’s used and evening after the dishes are washed, you won't have any problems…

I don’t know WHY that is such a hard task for kids to do, but it still doesn’t get done…That was the way Mom had us do it, and it seems that we got it done (after we were told a time or two ;)…

At any rate, the time had come…I could stand it no more!

I like to make work easy whenever I can, and I also like to go natural if possible…

One product that fits the bill…And one which my husband and son hate…(but it doesn’t matter, as they aren’t the ones cleaning ;)…

Is vinegar…



Vinegar has 1001 uses…You can drink it (and I do)...



Use it topically on your skin...And a host of other things…

Also, a very important quality is that it is nontoxic to the lungs and skin…

So, the other day, as I was cleaning the kitchen, I sprayed the can opener (ours is mounted underneath the cupboards) with a vinegar/water solution and let it soak……Every so often, I would come back, scrub it with a soft netted sponge and then spray again…



I did this about three different times…The cutting apparatus detaches, and I put it in soapy water to soak until the dishes were washed…And, voila, a clean can opener!

Excuse the blurry picture...I'm still trying to figure this camera out...It looks focused on the screen, and then I find out later that it is blurry...



I believe this vinegar solution that I used was 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water...I put it in an old spray bottle and labeled the back with a permanent marker...



Just remember to shake it each time before you spritz…

When using it to clean my glass and windows, I don’t spray quite as much as I would with Windex…It doesn’t have a drying agent, so less is actually better.



Cleaning a microwave…

I’m sure that this is no trade secret; yet, it IS a very easy way to clean a microwave…And, ease and cleanliness are what it's all about!

I fill a coffee cup with water and microwave for five minutes…Do NOT use a new cup, as the hot water can explode out after the cup is removed…



Our microwave is old, so yours may not take as long…In fact, my husband had gotten it as a Christmas present the year before we met...

He received it in 1980, so this Christmas, it will be 30 years old…Wow, I thought that planned obsolescence came about earlier than that, but apparently they still made some things to last at that time.

My kids were always on me to get a new one…One that cooked faster (and probably one that looked better)…”Why throw out an appliance that still works and spend money needlessly on something that will be dead in five years or less”, I would reply…Besides...It doesn't look bad just out of style, and I don't care about that...

Back to the cleaning…While I go about my other chores, I let the water heat and then wipe out the steamy microwave…Sometimes, I go a second round for just a few minutes being sure not to boil all of the water out… Ours has a glass insert, which I take out and scrub with soapy water…

This system really does work quite well!

Well...Those are my tips for the day…

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!