Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
SOLUTIONS: How to remove mildew from stored linens
QUESTION: I am going through items stored for several years in unheated conditions. Some of the linens I would love to keep but they smell so musty... mildew etc. Can I wash them with Detol or bleach or something to get the smell out? Someone also suggested putting them in a closed tub with carbon filters. What is the easiest or most efficient solution that you can suggest? Thank you so much in advance. Lesley, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Place linens into a hot bath of water and four cups of washing soda (available in laundry departments of grocery stores). Let soak for two hours. Rinse with hot water and hang outside for a few hours. If the temperature outside is below freezing you will have an even better chance of success. Bring fabrics inside to dry.
QUESTION: How can I get milk stains off of my kitchen ceiling? So far we've tried soap and water, vinegar and water; I don't know why they won't come off. I can see them as soon as I walk into the kitchen-family room area. Will they ever come off? Yours truly, Angie (East St. Paul)
ANSWER: Sometimes using certain types of soap will actually set stains making them impossible to remove. Attempt to terminate the stain with the following recipe: Into a spray bottle combine a solution of: 1 tsp. Dawn dish soap, one quarter cup rubbing alcohol, half-cup 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide and fill the remainder of the bottle with water. Spray the solution onto the ceiling and blot the area. Let dry. Don't rub; doing so may cause the paint to peel. Administer three applications. If the stain remains, paint the area with flat white paint. Use remainder of spray bottle solution to clean your windows before winter officially arrives.
QUESTION: I can't find the answer to my quandary in any of your books. What size Christmas tree skirt should I purchase; my tree is about six feet tall? Thanks, Samson (Kleefeld)
ANSWER: The size is a matter of personal preference. Tree skirts were originally intended to catch falling needles; therefore skirts would need to be at least as wide as the tree. However, with artificial trees these days, tree skirts are mainly decorative and serve to cover the tree stand. Instead of a purchasing a tree skirt you can make your own: drape a large piece of chiffon around the base or cut out felt fabric and decorate it with sequins and ribbon to encircle the base of the tree. Another option is to sew a long-lasting, heavy-duty, washable tree skirt by patching together denim squares.
QUESTION: I burnt a neck warmer in my microwave. Now it smells. How do I get rid of the smell? Donna (Rosenort)
ANSWER: Here are a few tricks to tackle this quandary: You can either: heat lemon juice or vinegar in the microwave until it boils over and then wipe out the interior. Or combine into a bowl; vanilla and water and heat until it boils over or another option is to combine lemon slices, vinegar, vanilla, dish soap and water in a bowl and heat. Alternatively combine and heat baking soda and water. If the odour persists, store coffee grounds in a bowl in the microwave to absorb lingering smells. All the best!
Feedback from Readers:
Dear Reena,
There was a huge hornet on the ceiling of my family room; I didn't know what to do. Then I remembered in one of your books you said to use hairspray to spray their wings because it freezes them, I did it and it worked! I managed to capture him and send him down the toilet without injury (to me) so I was very relieved! Anonymous
Fabulous Tip of the Week:
Table Centrepiece/Christmas Candle Cookies:
If you don't have time to bake but still want to present an interesting holiday table centrepiece, here is a hot idea. Purchase the following: large flat gingerbread cookies, smaller cookies that have a hole in the centre, rolled wafer cookies. Make a simple icing by stirring together 1 teaspoon water and 5 tablespoons confectioners' sugar. Use dots of icing to attach the smaller cookie with the centre hole onto the larger cookie. Dab icing on one end of a rolled wafer cookie and press it into the center of the small cookie. For the candle flame, halve a mini marshmallow diagonally, dip the sticky side of one half into orange coloured sugar, and attach the "candle flame" with icing to the rolled wafer cookie. Spoon a few wax drips of icing down the candle's sides and use red decorating gel to embellish the base.
I enjoy your questions and tips, keep them coming!
Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org. You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, Man., ROA 0C0.
Renovation & Design
ASK THE INSPECTOR: Wall stains in church may be from candles
QUESTION: Our church worship hall has exterior walls around the entire area. It is an extremely large space with room for over 600 people to be seated. The worship area is painted white. On the exterior walls you can see a faint dark line where each stud is behind the wall. We were thinking of repainting the walls but for a space this large it is quite a costly undertaking.
Do you think this condition is manifesting itself due to inadequate insulation or vapour barrier? If we paint the space, do you think in a few years we might be facing the same problem?
Thanks, Frank Conway, Winnipeg
ANSWER: The issue you are seeing on the inside of the exterior walls of your church may be due to building envelope defects typical of many older buildings, which are not normally easy to rectify. I will provide you with an explanation of the phenomenon and some things to avoid that may help, but remediation may be difficult and costly.
The good news is that the "shadows" on the walls are primarily cosmetic and rarely are a sign of any significant defect in the wall system. These vertical lines can be quite common and are simply due to specific areas where particles in the air in the building adhere to the wall. These particles are not attracted to the surrounding area, so the dark discolouration appears as lines only in these specific sites.
You are correct that this phenomenon normally appears only where the studs are installed. The reason for this is primarily due to "thermal bridging", which is caused by a direct connection of the wood or steel studs in the outside walls to the exterior siding. This will cause the entire stud to be slightly cooler than the surrounding wall cavity, which may be moderately insulated. Even with decent insulation and a polyethylene air/vapour barrier, this can still occur.
Because the studs are colder than the surrounding wall, this thermal bridging can also extend through, and make the drywall or plaster covering these areas cooler. The cooler wall may attract more airborne particles than the surrounding, warmer wall surface.
The airborne particles may be fine dust, smoke, or dirt that normally is carried throughout the building by the forced-air heating system. These particles will be darker in colour than the white walls in your sanctuary, so they will appear as shadows or dark lines.
I've been aware of the cause of this phenomenon for quite some time, but always thought the particles in the shadows were sticking to the walls due to condensation on the cooler surface. This may not necessarily be the case. I read an article a while back, authored by a physicist, who explained this issue at a molecular level. He said that fine particles in the air would adhere to cooler surface of walls because the lower temperature causes subatomic particles (electrons) to move slower than on the surrounding wall surface. These slower molecules would then "plate out" on the slightly cooler surface, whereas the warmer ones would simply keep moving and not stick to the warmer sections.
Further details on this were beyond my level of comprehension, but the theory seemed to make sense to me. This theory seemed more valid than that of condensation because the temperature difference may not be great enough to cause that to occur.
My own experience has shown that this wall staining can happen in one area of a home or building and not in others. I typically see it in areas like family rooms where vaulted ceilings and fireplaces are present. I also have observed it in homes with heavy smokers. Other colleagues of mine from across the country have found this happening in homes where candles are frequently burned.
Because of all these observations, I feel that one of the main variables is a high concentration of smoke particles in the air in buildings where this is seen. These smoke particles may indeed be highly susceptible to the subatomic effects described by the physicist, and plate out more frequently due to the nature of the dissolved smoke particles in the indoor air.
Following this reasoning, it's possible that your church is seeing the "shadows" occurring due to smoke particles in the indoor air. Because indoor smoking in all public places has been banned in Manitoba for several years, and I doubt that there is a wood-burning fireplace in the church sanctuary, I would suspect that the smoke may be coming from candles. If your congregants or clergy regularly burn large numbers of candles, which burn at a fairly cool temperature and emit black, carbon-rich smoke, this may be the source of the dirty air particles.
It may be possible to paint the inside of the walls of your church with a good primer and highly washable paint that will be easy to clean, but that may not prevent future staining. Without major renovations, the thermal bridging will continue and the shadows may return.
If my theory about the candles is correct, addressing that issue with better ventilation in the areas where they are used may help more than re-painting. Washing the walls, if they are not coated with flat-finish paint, may minimize the shadow effects by removing the excessive particles at a much lower cost than painting.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the President of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors - Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
Renovation & Design
SOLUTIONS: Use pin to mark pictures before painting
QUESTION: Before I have my walls painted I would like to know: How do I find the exact same spot where I hung my pictures without marking my walls? Can you help me please? Mary, Winnipeg
ANSWER: You can either insert a small nail or pin into the hole (before painting) so you are able to see the hole. Or measure the exact spot of the hole on the wall using a measuring tape and then record the location of the hole onto a paper for future reference.
QUESTION: Can you please tell me how to remove rust stains from Corelle dishes? I know two other people who are tackling the same issue. I have tried Corelle cleaner and a baking soda and water paste but the stains remain. Please help. Marlene, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Reena's Corelleabunga Recipe: In a large pot, combine 3 cups (750 mL) vinegar, 4 cups (1 L) water and 2 tbsp. (30 mL) citric acid; bring to a boil. Set Corelle dish in the boiling mixture for five minutes. (the water must cover the dish). Remove dish with tongs and scrub rust area with an S.O.S pad. Rinse.
QUESTION: I hope you can help me. I spilt hair dye on our bathroom floor; it looks like little dots. We phoned the number on the back of the box but the company was unable to help. Leah, Winnipeg
ANSWER: This stain may be permanent but, before throwing in the towel, consider the following suggestions. If the floor is white, use RIT dye remover. According to the RIT website: "RIT can be used to dye many different types of materials including; wood, paper, plastic, feathers, and even canvas shoes!" So why not the floor?
Test the product on an inconspicuous area to be certain the floor will not discolour. Soak the area with hot water and RIT dye remover, pour the contents onto the affected area and note the difference. Worst-case scenario, replace a small section of the floor.
Other suggestions: Scrub the area with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) on a clean cloth. Or rub stain with mineral spirits or turpentine on a clean cloth. Or fingernail polish remover with acetone can be used, but apply carefully and sparingly. Clean area with vinyl floor manufacturer's recommended floor stripper and/or cleaner and a clean, nonabrasive scrub pad. Repeat as necessary.
QUESTION: I really enjoy your column and purchased several gift packs for family members at Christmas. I hope you have a simple solution for my problem. We have a farm home in which the living room and kitchen share the same stippled ceiling. All of our ceilings have already been spray-painted with a coat of paint. Unfortunately, cooking grease continues to find its way to the ceiling and dust particles attach themselves to the tiny grease droplets. After a while, you see little dust stalactites suspended from the ceiling.
Vacuuming the ceiling has helped some but, since the rest of our ceiling is still in good shape, I wonder whether there is a grease-dissolving solution that can be applied gently to solve this problem. Thanks! Barbara, Snow Lake, Man.
ANSWER: If the stipple was painted with an oil-based paint, you can paint over the oil with latex or oil. For general everyday cleaning, spray the ceiling with the following all-purpose cleaner recipe: 2 cups rubbing alcohol, half-cup household ammonia, 1 tsp. Dawn dish soap and enough water to fill the bottle. Spray, wipe and rinse. If stains remain, hide them by using shellac before repainting. The shellac will seal the stain and prevent it from bleeding through. Or paint with an oil-based stipple paint.
Lastly, touching up stipple on ceilings can be difficult to colour-match. Often, the entire surface must be repainted. Other options for touching up stipple are to sponge on colour-matched grout or stipple fix, which comes in a small container and is available at hardware stores.
QUESTION: I need your help before my family arrives for 10 days over Christmas. Last year, we bought a new glass-top stove and self-clean, hidden bottom-element oven. I hate my oven. Every time I cook, I smoke up the whole house. If anything goes over (no matter how small) the oven smokes up. I have to open every window in the house and smoke alarms are constantly going off. I've put food in oversized pots but one splash and that's it. Why is this oven so sensitive? I'm stressed out over this oven. What am I doing wrong? Karen, Winnipeg
ANSWER: In my opinion, you are the victim, not the cause. The fact the oven is almost one year old means you have no time to lose. Contact the manufacturer and explain the problem. You need a repairperson to come out and have a look before company arrives at your home. Secondly, by contacting the manufacturer you may be informed the stove was recalled. Act fast before the warranty runs out.
Fabulous Tip of the Week:
I recently had an incident with fresh gum on an airline seatbelt. I could not remove it but I came across a suggestion: heat up vinegar and apply it to the area and rub it off with a microfibre cloth. Linda, Winnipeg
I enjoy your questions and tips, keep them coming!
Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org. You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, Man., ROA 0C0.
Renovation & Design
Keep garden records straight
QUESTION: As we expand our garden, especially the food garden, we would like to start keeping records of plans, plantings, and seeds. Is there a simple way?
ANSWER: At about this time in the year, I set up the new year's garden record book in a lined, coil-spine school notebook with enough pages to accommodate several years of records.
Plans: I begin with a few pages to hold plans for the growing season. Here, I sketch the vegetable plots and begin pencilling in the placements of the crops I want to grow, which are listed along the side of the page and checked off as they are placed. I'll also jot down plans for the annual flower plots and note major container plantings I intend to make.
Seeds: Next comes a seed inventory with vertical lists of seeds on hand by their month of sowing, which is also how I store the seeds, in envelopes according to their planting month.
I list lettuces separately, at the beginning of the inventory listings, because most are sown several times, in succession, from late winter to late summer. I list them by type -- romaine, butterhead, and so on.
Making an inventory of leftover seeds to be used again eliminates duplicate purchases.
Purchases: The third section is for dated seed orders and local purchases. I list each ordered item with its page number in the catalogue. As orders arrive, I record the date of delivery and check off each item. This record is useful when I forget the source for a particular variety of flower or vegetable. It's easy to go back over past purchases to find the information.
-- Canwest News Service
