DIY Life

I have a very busy house. Two teens in full-time residence, three teens in part-time residence, five toddlers here during working hours. And one very patient husband. (There are still more offspring, as it happens. They're just old enough to live elsewhere.)

It's also a very small house, particularly for the number of people. Oh, and an old house, so that not every bedroom has a closet, and there is really no front hall to speak of, and certainly no front hall closet. I think I have now established my clutter and cleaning challenges, no?

After a long off-season of rainy weather, my boys were restless to get riding again. My oldest took off his training wheels last summer and was eager to get back on the bike and practice his new skills. My husband is riding again too, and we're all excited for an active summer.

As the parents, it's our responsibility to make sure that our children are safe. Gone are the days where kids set up ramps on the dead-end road and fly over them without a thought to the dangers, and without a helmet. Now, many states and provinces, including my own, have laws requiring helmet use. First and foremost, the best way to encourage bike safety is to practice it yourself.

Are you sure you know how to best use a helmet, minimizing the potential for injury should something happen?

Follow me through the break for an important checklist, so that you and your family stay safe while riding.

We have notoriously bad luck with dishwashers at my house. The last one caught on fire, and after my husband, father, stepfather, and repairman each separately reminded me that I needed to scrape the dishes before I loaded them, I nearly fired each of them. Sheesh.

I think I take pretty good care of my dishwasher (yes, I thoroughly scrape each dish before loading), but after reading this post on how to properly clean and maintain one... well, I could probably be doing more.

I clean it regularly and run a cup of vinegar through it, but rarely do I get down in there and disassemble it to make sure nothing has gotten stuck. WikiHow also recommends wiping around the doors and in the "dead spots" where water doesn't reach.

As I said, I usually use vinegar when cleaning my dishwasher, but did you know you can also use Kool-Aid? (Be sure not to use a strong color, however, as it may stain.) Once your dishwasher is freshly cleaned and ready to go, you can get the most out of each cycle using tips and tricks from Good Housekeeping.

For many Americans, Memorial Day is not just a day for getting together with family and friends. It is a day to celebrate the fallen heroes who have served to protect our country, as well as pay tribute to our combat veterans. It is also a day when thousands of people flock to their local cemeteries to embrace the memory of all their loved ones.

It is a great time to decorate the grave with fresh flowers, but even more importantly, to clean and maintain the grave marker.

To preserve a headstone, one must use the proper cleaning supplies, so as not to scratch or tarnish the marker. Maintenance is also very important to the upkeep of the cemetery and how it should look. You certainly don't want your deceased loved ones to have shoddy-looking sites. Although cemeteries have grounds crews to cut the grass, it should still be a communal effort to help keep the cemetery looking nice when the crews aren't working.

Depending on the age of the stone, cleaning can be either a difficult task, or a task that may take you a matter of minutes. Please join me after the break to find out how to clean and maintain a headstone.

As you fire up your central air conditioner, is the temperature really what it says? If it's not, you could be spending extra bucks on your electricity bills. The good news is that you can take care of it yourself without calling a service person. And if you know it's not right, follow these steps before buying a new one:

1. Turn off the power to the heater and A/C.
2. Remove the cover.
3. Obviously, change any batteries.
4. Clean the bimetal coil with a soft, clean brush. On a round thermostat, you might have to turn the dial for complete access.
5. Remove the body from the base on a round model. There are usually screws involved.
6. Clean the switch contacts with a piece of bond paper.
7. Replace the body on a round model.
8. Adjust the anticipator. Start by finding and noting the amp setting; it may be in your manual, on the furnace service panel or on the boiler's transformer. Look at the anticipator setting on the scale. If it's off, adjust it with your fingernail; or you nail-biters (you know who you are), use the point on a pen.
   NOTE: On an air heating distribution system set it to the amp setting. On a water heating distribution system set it to (amp setting X 1.4). I have no idea why.
9. Replace the cover.
   

If your pans and other cast iron cookware are well cared for, they will last a lifetime. Curing or seasoning is the process by which you fill the pores of the pan creating a smooth, non-stick surface. this should be done to the entire pan, even the lids.

Basically, you clean the pan thoroughly and cover it in shortening. Place it on a cooking sheet and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 min. Take the pan out and drain the excess oil, then put it back in upside down, this time for a couple of hours. Make sure you read these full instructions and important tips for curing cast iron.

Even if your pans come "pre-seasoned" make sure you read the instructions for any specific cleaning details, and keep in mind that they will need to be re-seasoned regularly to keep them from sticking. Repeat seasons won't take as long, but it is one of the many important things to do when caring for cast iron cookware. Here are a few other useful tips:

• Don't wash cast iron in the dishwasher
• Scrub any rust spots with steel wool and mild soap
  
• Boiling water in your pan will wash away the seasoning

If you've invested in quality cookware, it will only work for you as well as you care for it. Take the time to season or cure it, then maintain it well.

When a sink or tub suddenly stops draining, it's tempting to reach for the drain cleaner. Though drain cleaners -- actually powerful, corrosive chemicals -- can work when drains have trivial clogs, they aren't effective against bigger problems. Not only that, they can wreak havoc on your pipes and are terrible for the environment.

Instead, recommends Mother Earth Living take a little time to get a better understanding of how your drain system works, and you'll be able to beat clogs at their source.

Tools you might need:

• a sink plunger
• a bucket
• a pipe wrench
• a flexible wire (like a wire coat hanger twisted out of shape)
• a drain snake

Learn how to get started after the break, but if you're squeamish, don't forget to put on your rubber gloves!

We've all been there: that rising feeling of dread and suspense. No, I'm not talking about one of Jean-Paul Sartre's books. I'm talking about when we flush the toilet and all of a sudden the bowl's contents slowly start moving in completely the wrong direction. What to do?

The first thing, since you're standing right there anyway, is to start kicking the base of the toilet with your foot. After all, the stuff wants to go down, and sometimes all it takes is a helping hand (or foot) to dislodge things and help the process along.

The next thing to try is the trusty old plunger. There are times when smooth, slow strokes will do the trick. Other times it takes quick, sharp jabs.

And if that doesn't work, get to the hardware store and pick up a toilet auger. It's really a snake, but inside a long pole with a hand crank on the end. It works every time and costs much less than a plumber's service call.

There's a damp patch in my garage. I've been in denial for a long time, telling myself it's probably caused by rainwater seeping through the garage's concrete foundation. However, the patch has gotten bigger...and bigger. Meanwhile, there's been no rain for at least a week now. Time to face facts: I may have a leaking water heater. Bah!

Looking on the bright side, I might be able to fix this problem myself and avoid shelling out precious dollars for a plumber. (Please, oh, please!) Off I go to look for advice on the Web. Here' s what I found most useful:

Sites to check out:

• Home Tips is an ideal starting point, with a for-beginners-style intro to tank repair, and a ton of other problem-solving articles.

While I silently smirk when people refer to their car with endearing names, there is something to be said for giving your car the love it needs to love you back. A well maintained car will serve you faithfully for years. We all know the basics: Keep up on your oil changes and make the necessary repairs as they come up. If you really want to extend the life of your ride you'll want to take extra care, considering all the details and tending to some seemingly obscure tips.

These 75 ways to keep your car in top-notch condition will minimize your headaches and significantly extend your vehicle's life. The Reader's Digest article covers everything from the break in period, to sun protection and tire tread safety. I found this to be the most clear and comprehensive collection of tips. One of the easiest ones to implement and probably the most effective tool for easily detecting a problem is #8: Keep an auto log. More details about this tip after the break.

Stumped by a difficult DIY task or a fix-it job gone wrong? Here's a possibility to consider: How to Mend it.com. This Brit site lets readers submit questions for other readers to answer. It's a lot like super-popular Yahoo Answers, but it's devoted entirely to fix-it topics. Car repair, home maintenance, renovations, large and small appliance jobs, computers, plumbing, lawn mowers, film projectors, boats, heating and cooling systems, toys, roofing, car alarms, and even musical instruments. Yep. They're all covered here.

Lots of questions seem to go unanswered. However, many others get one or even several replies. Worth a shot if you're having a problem and don't want to pay big bucks for a repair service. To test the site's mettle, I searched washing machine repair. This brought up over 15,000 questions on the topic. Problem is, (assuming you're searching for answers) you're going to have to hope that plugging in a more specific search term will take you to the questions best-suited to your situation. Obviously, you are not going to want to scroll through all those questions page by page.

Bottom line: if there's one fix-it this site could use, it's a more sophisticated search function. But give it a whirl anyway. It's free advice, people!

Drugstores, supermarkets, and convenience stores have aisles dedicated to products that will attempt to cure all your aches, pains, stained teeth, headaches, diarrhea, cold and flu symptoms, upset stomach...well, you get the point. Every single sick part of our body, it would seem, has a drug remedy attempting to aid in our feeling better in no time.

If you look around your home, you can probably find a cure for your aches and pains in your laundry room, kitchen cabinets, and refrigerator. Prevention has 17 simple solutions for us, using everyday household items to cure our aches and pains, and the remedies are brought to us by MSNBC.com. Some of the remedies include: Drinking aloe vera gel dissolved in apple juice or water will help to get rid of bad breath; irrigating your nose with contact lens solution to relieve nasal congestion; rubbing liquid laundry detergent on a mosquito bite to help reduce irritation; massaging green tea into your scalp to help eliminate dandruff; using duct tape to get rid of a wart; and the essential 8 supplements that doctors trust to naturally fix us.

Home remedies can work just as effectively as a pill, but I think that the majority of people have turned away from home remedies, simply because it is easier to pop a pill or drink some liquid medicine than it is to actually fix themselves a cup of chamomile tea. I have had much success with acidophilus, chamomile tea, oatmeal, honey, and green tea. The next time you get a headache or a pimple, try the items you have in your home first before you spending your money on products that may not work, because the cure may be in your spice rack.

Fridge's are very expensive, which is the major reason I refuse to get rid of my old clunker. It keeps going and going, just like the Energizer bunny, because I make sure that I clean the thing from top to bottom every 3 months. If your refrigerator has been acting up lately, refusing to keep your food cold, don't despair. You can keep your fridge going well past it's lifetime too, with these easy and simple tips.

1. Change the water filter. Seriously, if you think about it, if you are using a dirty filter, imagine how dirty the water was before it was filtered through the dirty filter!
2. Clean the gaskets. I use vinegar to clean the gaskets, and I check to make sure the gaskets gives a nice tight seal after I wipe them dry by inserting a piece of paper in the door. If I can easily pull the piece of paper out when the fridge or freezer door is closed, then it is time to replace the gasket. Consult your owner's manual on how to change the gasket.
3. Clean the drip pan and the drain hole. Scrub out the drip pan with baking soda and vinegar. The drain hole has to be cleaned of food and debris, so I usually use Q-tips and a small scrub brush. Consult your owner's manual on how you should clean the drain hole on your fridge.
4. Clean the condenser coils. The coils on the back of your refrigerator can get very dusty, thus making your fridge work much harder than is necessary. Use a vacuum hose to clean the coils every three months. If you have pets like I do, then you probably want to clean the coils every month.
5. Level the refrigerator. An unlevel refrigerator means that the doors might not close properly, resulting in spoiled food and high energy bills. You can prevent this by placing a carpenter's level on top of the fridge and adjusting the feet until your refrigerator is level.

These simple tips will help lengthen the life of your expensive fridge. Mark a date on your calendar for refrigerator maintenance so you won't forget to set aside an hour of your time to clean it. Once you get the benefits of cleaner, clearer water, you'll be keeping that fridge clean without a second thought.

Anna Sattler wrote a great post the other day about shaving pills off of sweaters with a disposable razor. It reminded me that I have my own favorite way of de-pilling a sweater, and I also thought people might be interested to know why sweaters pill to begin with.

All yarns are made up of a bunch of twisted fibers. Short-staple fibers -- a term that refers to the length of the real or imitation animal hair used to create the yarn -- often wind up poking out of the yarn at either end of the individual hair. When a group of fiber ends are sticking up like that, friction often causes them to bunch together... and then you have pills. (The friction may also have caused the fibers to stick up to begin with.)

Several fibers are notoriously pill-prone: acrylics, merino wool, and cashmere, particularly inexpensive cashmere. The "friction" component explains why pilling on clothing often happens in areas where body parts rub together. Acrylics may pill the worst because of their strength: I've seen wool sweaters where the friction eventually breaks the pill off the sweater, but this isn't as common with man-made fibers.

There's more about pilly fabrics after the break, and a free offer for my favorite pilly sweater solution!

You probably haven't used your fireplace since last winter. For us, we haven't used it yet in our new (but 35 year old) house. I was interested in learning what cleaning and and preparation needed to be done before lighting our first fire this season. Brian got me started last month when he wrote about the fireplace check-up. I found some more information to add to his findings. Here I'll cover instructions for a thorough clean and a season ready check list.

If you did a thorough clean after your last fire then you can skip way down to the seasonal check. If you didn't, you'll want to start with a good clean. If it's a particularly big job, follow these instructions:

1. Remove as much of the deposit as you can with a vacuum or scrub brush and water
   
2. Heat 4 oz of nappa soap in 1 quart of water until the soap dissolves. Let it cool
   
3. Add in 1/2 pound of powdered pumice and 1/2 cup of household ammonia
4. Mix well
5. Apply a coating of this soap solution with a paintbrush
6. Let it stand for 30-60 min.
7. Scrub it off with a brush and warm water
8. Rinse well, and sponge it off

Once you've made your way through the layers of smoky deposit, give your hearth and screen a good cleaning. You fireplace is starting to look ready, but there are still some important seasonal checks that need to be done before lighting your first fire. Follow me through the break and I'll outline your final steps to a healthy fireplace.