And now for something completely different.
Home Economics.
Today the drying weather is good, so time to wash the bed sheets.
My vast supply of bed sheets is now about 40 years old. Some got rather grungy looking and even a double wash with bleach at the laundromat didn't get them looking clean.
So, I decided to try to get them clean at home. I took a pair and loaded them into a kitchen sink full of a strong solution of Agent Orange (my name for powerful citrus based cleaners). Lots of rub-a-dub-dubbing, and three strongly agitated rinses. They still didn't look nearly clean enough.
So, I figured bleach would at least lighten them a bit, and filled the sink with a bleach solution strong enough to kill alligators. Put in the sheets with more rub-a-dub-dubbing. I was shocked - it didn't work at all as expected. The water was now as filthy as the first pass with Agent Orange. Three more rinses and the sheets looked really clean.
Later experiments showed this effect only worked with Clorox bleach, other brands didn't do it. Must be some secret ingredient.
Another problem I've had recently is cleaning sinks, counters, bathtub and wall tiles. Lots of scrubbing with Comet Cleanser, but just not clean enough. I tried one of those motorized brushes being advertised - too weak to do anything, tossed it.
Then I found there were brush sets for electric drills. I found my old Makita drill motor in the garage, which hadn't been used since I stopped doing wiring jobs, many years ago. Couldn't find the charger, so I ordered one from the Internet, along with a set of brushes. Not labor free, by any means, but a much better job than I could do by hand.
Another problem I had was cleaning walks and driveways. Raking and brooming just didn't get them clean enough - and we are strongly discouraged from hosing things down around here.
I got a 250 mph electric leaf blower (Toro) and a 100 ft extension cord. Again, not labor free, by any means, but much faster, and the clean-up job it does is way better. It's not nearly as noisy as the gasoline ones used at the neighboring condos, nearly every day.
Today the drying weather is good, so time to wash the bed sheets.
My vast supply of bed sheets is now about 40 years old. Some got rather grungy looking and even a double wash with bleach at the laundromat didn't get them looking clean.
So, I decided to try to get them clean at home. I took a pair and loaded them into a kitchen sink full of a strong solution of Agent Orange (my name for powerful citrus based cleaners). Lots of rub-a-dub-dubbing, and three strongly agitated rinses. They still didn't look nearly clean enough.
So, I figured bleach would at least lighten them a bit, and filled the sink with a bleach solution strong enough to kill alligators. Put in the sheets with more rub-a-dub-dubbing. I was shocked - it didn't work at all as expected. The water was now as filthy as the first pass with Agent Orange. Three more rinses and the sheets looked really clean.
Later experiments showed this effect only worked with Clorox bleach, other brands didn't do it. Must be some secret ingredient.
Another problem I've had recently is cleaning sinks, counters, bathtub and wall tiles. Lots of scrubbing with Comet Cleanser, but just not clean enough. I tried one of those motorized brushes being advertised - too weak to do anything, tossed it.
Then I found there were brush sets for electric drills. I found my old Makita drill motor in the garage, which hadn't been used since I stopped doing wiring jobs, many years ago. Couldn't find the charger, so I ordered one from the Internet, along with a set of brushes. Not labor free, by any means, but a much better job than I could do by hand.
Another problem I had was cleaning walks and driveways. Raking and brooming just didn't get them clean enough - and we are strongly discouraged from hosing things down around here.
I got a 250 mph electric leaf blower (Toro) and a 100 ft extension cord. Again, not labor free, by any means, but much faster, and the clean-up job it does is way better. It's not nearly as noisy as the gasoline ones used at the neighboring condos, nearly every day.
