Tausi Insider

Photo : Felipe Sanchez ( Shutterstock ) Bleach has a ton of uses outside of lifting stains from white clothes, but there are some dos and don’ts we should all remember . You already know to never mix bleach with any other cleaners or disinfectants, as it can release dangerous vapors , but there’s more that you should avoid. What you can use bleach on According to Architectural Digest , bleach can kill bacteria and pathogens left on surfaces after an initial cleaning. It’s not a cleaner itself, but works within 10 to 60 minutes of contact to kill what’s left behind after your first run-through with soap and water or another cleaning agent. What you shouldn’t use bleach on That said, there are some surfaces you should not bleach down : Laminate Stone Marble Granite Quartz Aluminum Silver Copper Enamel (with chips in it) Anything electronic The reasons for avoiding bleach vary: For instance, bleach can eat away at the protective coating on laminate and damage the laminate paper...

Photo : Brent Hofacker ( Shutterstock ) If you got a little too excited when whipping up your pie, we don’t blame you, but a pumpkin stain can be troublesome. Your approach will depend on what, if anything, the pumpkin was mixed with when it made contact with your shirt or tablecloth, according to The Spruce . If there is milk or cream in it, for instance, you have a combination stain that requires special attention. Follow steps to remove the additional factors, like butter, first, then focus on the pumpkin. Use a dull knife to scrape off excess, then run cold water against the back of the affected fabric. Use pre-treatment or liquid laundry detergent to saturate the stain before washing it, rubbing it in with your fingers or a soft-bristled brush. After 15 minutes, toss it in the machine . https://www.tausiinsider.com/10-common-thanksgiving-stains-and-how-to-remove-them/?feed_id=333163&_unique_id=647543c36715c

Photo : EkaterinaSid ( Shutterstock ) Nothing beats the scent of a real Christmas tree in the living room. But what those pine tree needles could be used as a general cleaner? Pine disinfectant is a popular, old-timey DIY that’s perfect for the season. Here are a few ways to make it. The traditional method of making pine tree cleaner There are a couple of recipe recommendations out there, so we’ll start with the one that has the shortest prep time, but they all require those precious bits of pine. For the first recipe, you’ll need: Pine needles and/or sprigs 1 ½ cups of white distilled vinegar 1 ¼ cups of water ¼ cup of rubbing alcohol A big jar A spray bottle Per Gather and Grow , pack your needles into the glass jar, then pour the vinegar in there and put it in a sunny window for a week. When the week is up, strain out the plant material, put the remaining vinegar in your spray bottle, add the ¼ cup of rubbing alcohol, and fill the remainder with water. Other methods ask that y...

Photo : mady70 ( Shutterstock ) Jumping off the body wash bandwagon to reunite with classic bars of soap comes with benefits for your wallet and the environment. But it also leaves you with a relatively small but still annoying problem: What to do with the little pieces left when you’re almost done with a bar. One option is to turn multiple slivers into a “new” bar of soap—something that TausiInsider has covered in the past . But there are other possibilities, too. Here are a few more ways to use up the remnants of a bar of soap. How to use up the final pieces of a bar of soap Don’t even think about throwing those soap scraps away—especially if you splurged on a particularly nice bar. Try one of these other uses instead: Keep your clothes smelling fresh Rinse off the leftover pieces of soap, then leave them out to dry. Then p lace them at the bottom of a drawer where you keep clothes or linens, or in your suitcase when you travel. Put smaller scraps in a small mesh bag or piec...

Photo : SViktoria ( Shutterstock ) Another day, another TikTok hack that seems clean and safe but could actually be a total disaster in practice . While some viral hacks actually   are as miraculous as they seem , a newer one suggesting you make a reusable dryer sheet by soaking a sponge in a fabric softener solution ( and then tossing it in your dryer) is anything but. One British woman has spoken out to her local press , claiming that after soaking sponges in fabric softener and water and putting them in her tumble dryer, the appliance caught on fire overnight. Prior to this horror story hitting the news, appliance experts were already speaking out against this hack, popularized on TikTok, by warning that it could stain clothes, anyway . Still, TikTok is full of videos of people making “reusable dryer sheets” with sponges and fabric softener. If you’re a CleanTok lurker, you’ve probably already seen these clips or will soon. To correct your algorithm, click here for a vide...

Photo : Fevziie ( Shutterstock ) If a baby is one of the sweetest, cutest, most precious things we could ever imagine taking up space in our homes , their diaper pail is the exact opposite. If you have one, I don’t need to tell you how horrifically odorous it is; you’re well aware. There are several ways to wrangle their smell into submission, though—here’s how. A cleaning solution To start with, i n addition to being the source of an absolutely appalling smell, it’s important to remember that the moisture-rich environment of a diaper pail can also lead to mold. When cleaning, you not only want to eliminate the stink, but the risky stuff, too. The parents at Mom Loves Best have a solution for both. You’ll need the following: Borax Warm water White vinegar Tea tree oil Add two tablespoons of B orax to a spray bottle, then two cups of warm water. Swish it around for about a minute until the B orax dissolves, then add ¼ cup of white vinegar and 20 to 40 drops of tea tree oil. S...

Photo : Africa Studio ( Shutterstock ) During a recent bathroom renovation project, my boyfriend had to disconnect his water softener, and it wreaked more havoc on our daily liv es than we expected . Showering and washing clothes, in particular, were much more difficult , as hard water leads to the formation of “soap scum” that is difficult to rinse away . We opted for quick, unfulfilling showers with poor soap lathering, but what can be done to keep clothes soft and residue-free? There are a few tricks to washing clothes if you don’t have a water softener , from combating crunchiness, to avoiding residue and staining. Add vinegar to your hard water washing loads Hard water is just water containing a higher amount of minerals—specifically dissolved calcium and magnesium . To keep your clothes feeling soft , you have to do what you can to neutralize those minerals, and that is where vinegar comes in. Add a half cup to a cup of white, distilled vinegar to your final rins...

Photo : SViktoria ( Shutterstock ) Another day, another TikTok hack that seems clean and safe but could actually be a total disaster in practice . While some viral hacks actually   are as miraculous as they seem , a newer one suggesting you make a reusable dryer sheet by soaking a sponge in a fabric softener solution ( and then tossing it in your dryer) is anything but. One British woman has spoken out to her local press , claiming that after soaking sponges in fabric softener and water and putting them in her tumble dryer, the appliance caught on fire overnight. Prior to this horror story hitting the news, appliance experts were already speaking out against this hack, popularized on TikTok, by warning that it could stain clothes, anyway . Still, TikTok is full of videos of people making “reusable dryer sheets” with sponges and fabric softener. If you’re a CleanTok lurker, you’ve probably already seen these clips or will soon. To correct your algorithm, click here for a vide...