It wasn’t until we were just about ready to list my sister’s house that how to whiten sheets even came onto our radar. Up until then, we stored our yellowed cotton sheets and duvet cover away, thinking they’d never see the ‘white’ of day again. But an impending open house and zero staging budget have a way of getting us to spring into action! Continue reading
Tag Archives: Cleaning hacks
How to Clean Printer Heads
Before you run out to needlessly to buy another printer, try our fix on how to clean printer heads first! Less landfill = a happier planet and, like our motto says, good planets are hard to find!
The handiest tool in our craft arsenal is actually our home printer; it is indispensable. But over the last few days it has been printing badly at first and then printing completely blank pages. Not a good thing when you need print outs for your next upcyled craft project!
With so many people working from home now, it’s more important than ever to have a printer in good working order. Continue reading
Gas Fireplace Won’t Light? Easy Fix
What do you do when your gas fireplace won’t light? This very thing happened to us just when winter was setting in. But you know what else was setting in? Omicron! If you’re us, you nix calling in an expert because it’s early days of a new variant and you don’t want to take chances. After some initial anxiety on my part about ‘messing with fire’, Hubs got it working for a while. But he only had short-lived success.
There are only two season in Canada: winter and construction. So now is as good a time as any to fix our gas fireplace!
How to Remove Tarnish from Silver (5 ways)
Whether sterling or silver plate, I never really gave a single thought to how to remove tarnish from silver until I inherited some pieces from my mom. In this post we try five ways to get your silver sparkling again! Continue reading
How to Clean Brass Hardware on MCM Furniture
We just love a good mid century modern furniture makeover, don’t you? Oftentimes, MCM furniture has brass hardware. So today we’re showing you how to clean brass hardware on these beautiful furniture pieces! Over the next few days we’re also showing you how we transformed this MCM sewing table for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Continue reading
How to Get Smell out of Old Furniture
Before you complete your next furniture makeover, would you like to know how to get smell out of old furniture? Continue reading
How to Remove Sticky Label from Glass
When I grabbed a recycled bottle to store a new recipe for homemade ketchup coming up on The Unknown Chef, I realized I’ve never shown you how to remove a sticky label from glass! This is our first official cleaning hack on Birdz of a Feather and, of course, we’re showing you non-toxic options.
Although this particular jar is being used to store food, this little trick has so many applications for home decor too. Who doesn’t love a great jar upcycle?! Continue reading
Pond Maintenance: Get Your Pond Ready for Summer!
Pond maintenance is par for the course if you want to enjoy an urban oasis. Are ponds high maintenance? Yup; but there’s a secret to keeping algae at bay if you continue to read. That will help keep maintenance during the season to a minimum.
Opening up the pond for the season is a dirty job. But somebody has to do it – and thankfully, it’s not me! I’m happy to take my place behind the camera to help show you how it’s done 🙂 Continue reading
Mold Prevention After a Water Leak (Part 2)
Mold prevention – and remediation – after any kind of leak or flood is hugely important because of health implications. We learned a hard lesson last year after the pipe connected to our outdoor faucet burst and caused water damage in my newly built craft room. In that post (part 1), we showed you how we installed a frost proof faucet to repair it and make sure it wouldn’t happen again. Now that it’s Fall, we’d like to remind you to remove the hose from the faucet – even if you have a frost-proof one, so you don’t make the same mistake we did. Leaving a hose connected during the winter is a recipe for disaster! Continue reading
DIY Couch Cover – Spring Cleaning an Ikea Sofa
Use this DIY couch cover idea as an interim solution when you’re cleaning IKEA’s washable slipcover. It also works as a cheap & cheerful permanent slipcover. Now that Spring has sprung, it’s time for a little spring cleaning. Upholstered couches are great, but washable slipcovers are even better! Continue reading