Many people pick up cleaning skills piecemeal from a range of sources. A father reveals the method for eliminating blood stains, another demonstrates auto washing techniques, and Granny provides you with a set of guidelines for maintaining her cherished cast iron skillet before transferring it to the subsequent generation. Cleaning tips can also be found on TikTok, YouTube, or from your favorite blogger these days.
However, what if the cleaning methods you’ve assembled over the years aren’t the most effective? Even worse: What if they pose a threat or have the potential to do significant, permanent harm? will assist you in determining which popular cleaning hacks and techniques are outdated or just lousy advice.
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Cleaning Myths That Could Be Doing More Harm Than Good
You Can’t Wash Cast Iron Pans with Soap
There are numerous rules about the use of cast iron cookware. While there are good guidelines for treating cast iron, such as drying it right away to stop rusting, there is one guideline that can be disregarded: Now proceed to use soap to clean a cast-iron pan.
The “no soap” rule is based on the theory that soap can remove the oil layer that makes cast iron non-stick. But when a small coating of oil is heated, a process known as polymerization takes place that bonds the oil to the pan and modifies its composition, making it resistant to soap.
Appliances Are Self-Cleaning
Although it is simple to forget that cleaning is necessary for items we use to clean other things, household equipment like washing machines and dishwashers require routine maintenance and cleaning to function correctly.
Additionally, regular cleaning and maintenance will guarantee that appliances don’t present a risk to safety and stop long-term damage from happening.
Wash clothes in cold water only, always
Apart from some situations, it is advised to wash garments in cold water. Warm or hot water is advised in certain situations even if cold water is more cost-effective and softer on garments. Warm or hot water works best when washing heavily filthy goods, certain white garments, and items worn by sick people.
Use Newspaper to Clean Windows
The concept of using newspaper to clean windows is a good one: the paper can dry glass without producing streaks or lint. But there are better choices, so cleaning windows with newspapers is no longer necessary. When washing windows and other glass surfaces, use a microfiber cloth or a squeegee rather than newspaper, which can leave your hands smeared in ink.
Hairspray Removes Ink Stains
Hairspray’s alcohol helps to fade and eliminate ink, which is the theory behind using it to get rid of ink stains. While it’s true that alcohol removes ink stains, alcohol is no longer a major active element in the majority of modern hairspray compositions.
Moreover, hairspray produces a sticky residue that might become stained on its own. Give it a miss in favor of more effective ink stain removal methods.
Red wine stains are removed with white wine
Although it’s not the ideal option for removing red wine from materials like clothing, upholstered furniture, or carpet, the old hostess technique of reaching for white wine to cure red wine stains after a spill does work. White wine will oxidize over time and leave its stain, which makes it problematic to use it to erase red wine stains. Besides, it’s a waste of excellent white wine!
Use dish soap to wash cars
Although it’s all too frequent to see people washing cars’ exteriors with diluted dish soap, this is not a good idea: Dish soap can remove the wax coating that protects the paintwork from dings, scratches, and nicks. Use car wash soap instead, as it is designed specifically for use on a car’s paint, clear coat, and wax.
Dusting requires the use of furniture polish
Less is more when it comes to dusting wood furniture. Use a microfiber cloth to polish wood furniture and remove dust instead of furniture polish, which can leave behind residue that eventually becomes sticky and gummy.
Everything Can Be Cleaned with Vinegar
White vinegar that has been distilled is indeed a multipurpose cleaner that works well for many home tasks. However, to prevent expensive damage, many popular household goods and materials, such as marble, granite, grout, electronics, and rubber, should not be cleaned with vinegar.
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