Sparkly Clean: A Kintsugi 'How Do I Clean This' Thread

I had never heard of hydrogen peroxide for blood until I was an adult! I'm curious to try that. We may have to compare results!

 

Okay. Another case for the thread, and prolly a really common one: stovetops. Specifically, the lil guard plates underneath the burner.

No matter what I do or try, lid or not, different sized pans or not, lower heat or not, I ALWAYS have this problem of these guards being Destroyed in very quick order. Destroyed being fairly literal. As in: immediately gets junk on it and it gets cooked into it and ruined before I even realize there was a mess while cooking, and trying to clean them absolutely destroys them or makes them RUST in one unfortunate case. They're cheap enough to replace easily, and I'm not investing in sturdier/more expensive guards considering this is an apartment and not a home of my own that I'm investing in, and the original guards the stove came with were cheap garbage as well. I'm likely going to replace this set with a new one once more, and start fresh, and have A Battle Plan bc i don't think i can actually salvage these.. they're frigging awful. :c

tldr: how do I keep my drip catchy thingies on the stove from being immediately maimed and how do i not destroy them while trying to clean them? stronger chemicals seem to strip them, soaking, boiling, etc. only remove a tiny bit of it, and it's appalling.

 

We have that problem at my apartment too. Best luck we've had so far is covering them with aluminum foil, so you can get rid of the crap by unwrapping and replacing it without having to mess with the drip trays themselves.

 

that's actually a really good idea. :U!

 

Has anyone had any success getting water droplet stains off glass? I've tried so many things, including baking soda / vinegar pastes, magic erasers, glass cleaner, etc. I think the water in our area is somewhat hard, which makes the stains worse. I'm going to invest in a squeegee thing to clear the glass off after showers, but if there's a way to get them nice and clear again I'm all ears!

 

We use This Stuff to get rid of hard water on stuff sometimes, you could just dissolve it in some warm water, throw on some gloves, and then try wiping down the window. Its overpriced on amazon, you can probably get it cheaper at a store.

 

It's pretty heavy duty, but we always used CLR when I was growing up. :U works for clearing out shower heads that get all cloggy from hardwater, too.

 

re: showerheads, I've used vinegar before to pretty decent effect!!

 

before i forget, re: water marks and stuff. if you ever want perfect streak free glass and mirrors when you're done washin' them down, dry them off with balled up newspaper :U works every time. won't magically buff away set in stains, but if its already clean its stubborn as heck to wind up with streaks lmfao.

 

Ooh, thanks for the tips guys! Shall try these out during my next bathroom cleaning session ^_^

 

@TheMockingCrows also they make specific foil burner liners at least in canada, my parents have always used those. They may or may not be worth getting, depending on whether you can make your own out of aluminum foil like @LadyNighteyes suggested

 

My family always did the tinfoil in the stove burner things too - they're so hard to clean that when I moved out of my last rental, the landlord sent us a cleaning checklist that included the line "many tenants choose to replace the stove drip pans as they are difficult to clean".

Re grease stain on the wall, I've always used Dr Bronners, which is a pretty concentrated natural liquid soap that I always keep around my house because it lifts the grime off freaking everything and I can use it to brush my teeth in a pinch. Dilute it one part soap to five parts warm water and wipe the grease with a sponge. It took all the greasy remnants of kitchen smoke off our cabinets and the grease stains on the paint around the stove right off, little to no scrubbing required, and we hadn't cleaned that shit in two years.

 

You know those super-soft plush blankets? Does anyone know how to wash them without them getting less soft?

 

never wash it hot, that's one thing i remember. cold or lukewarm. and i think there's recs on like.. filling the washer halfway to get some suds going and letting the detergent dissolve before putting the blankie in on the Gentle cycle.

 

Wash cold, DO NOT dry with heat. If you have to use a dryer, pick one with a 'cold' setting.

 

Any advice for tea stains on a white ceramic mug? I've tried soaking and scrubbing, soaking with soap and scrubbing, and soaking with baking soda and scrubbing with no luck.

 

Mmmn. Lots of flipping around google said the things you tried, but there's also..

denture cleaning tablets or something else that bubbles like alka seltzer, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, oxyclean, gentle bleach solution soak has mixed results, salt and baking soda together, one of those magic erasers by Mr. Clean had multiple nods.

how set in/dark in the stain tho? :o

 

A mix of peroxide and baking soda is my go-to.

 

My family used to have a white ceramic coffee percolator that I would scrub out with Bon Ami or Bar Keepers Friend. I was never able to get the pot back to pure white because it had been stained for too long, but for things I got to faster (like the counters) it made it look like the stain had never been there.

 

Seconding that Bon Ami is a good thing! Gets tea stains off of mugs, makes the kitchen sink shiny, all that good stuff.