DIY Life

If you've been reading DIY Life for a while, you know that I really love my Roomba. Well, now my loyalties are divided because I recently met Roomba's floor-washing cousin, the Scooba.

For the uninitiated, Roombas and Scoobas are robots that vacuum and wash your floor, respectively. I was skeptical that either device would do a particularly good job, but I'm happy to have been proven wrong. To keep my Scooba happily cleaning my floors for a long time, I baby it just like I do my Roomba. If you've got a Scooba, here's how to keep it in tip-top shape.

Recently, Unclutterer posted some useful information for those of us who drown in piles of pet hair. In response to a post about speedy house-cleaning, a reader asked what to do about piles of fur shed by their Chocolate Lab. The question came up because most "Clean your house really quickly!" plans don't take pet ownership into account.

Erin from Unclutterer responded with a number of tips for dog and cat owners. In summary, and with a few parenthetical comments from me, they are:

• Pick up pet-hair dust-bunnies with damp paper towels daily.
• Bathe pets as frequently as you can: a lot of excess fur will go down the drain with the water. (Bathing a dog more often than every few weeks can really dry out their skin, so be careful with this one. Also, it can clog your drains.)
• Brush pets regularly. (A shedding loop/blade may be more helpful for longer-haired or double-coated dogs.)

Find the rest of the tips, more ideas about how you can put them into action, and information about equipment that might help you, all after the break!

In response to possible fuel tank leakage, Billy Goat Industries Inc. has voluntarily recalled Billy Goat MultiVac outdoor vacumms. The manufacturer indicates that the fuel tanks on the machines can crack, leading to possible fuel leakage near hot engine parts creating the hazard of fire or explosion. No incidents have been reported to date. The recall affects approximately 1,600 units.

If you have a Billy Goat which is black and green with the product name printed on the collection bag, you can locate the product model number on a label located directly below the height adjustment crank on the left side of the vacuum. To find out if your Billy Goat is affected by this recall you can reference a list of the appropriate model numbers on the original Consumer Product Safety Commission press release.

Please discontinue using your Billy Goat and contact the manufacturer for a fuel tank replacement. You may contact Honda at (800) 426-7701, or you can visit the company website at www.hondapowerequipment.com.

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.

I just spent $16 on a used upright vacuum cleaner. Right now it sucks up dirt about as fast as a baby sea turtle can drag itself to the ocean -- that is, painstakingly slowly. So why did I buy it? Answer: it's not broken. It just needs some TLC in the form of a new drive belt.

Replacing the drive belt on a vacuum cleaner is an easy DIY repair that anyone can do. The drive belt is just a big old rubber band. One end of the belt hooks around a shaft that's attached to the vacuum's motor. The other end hooks around the vacuum's rotating brush, which sweeps the floor and scoops up all the crumbs, hair and other crud you're trying to get rid of. Above is a photo of my "new-old" vacuum cleaner with the drive belt removed and displayed on top, so you can see what it looks like.

Is your vacuum short on suction? First eliminate other possible causes: check for blockages and leaks in the tubes, and obstructions or tangles in the rotating brush. This sort of thing comes under the category of regular maintenance that you should be doing every now and then anyway. If none of those things is the cause, then you should replace the drive belt.

I really dislike coming home to a stinky house. When I walk in my front door, I fully expect the air to smell wonderful. After all, I am a stay at home mom, and it is my job to make sure my home smells clean and inviting. If it doesn't smell up to par, you can be sure that lil ole me will suffer a hissy fit, while frantically trying to eliminate the odor.

Remnants of last night's supper, yesterday's dirty diapers and that smelly kitty litter box can all be forgotten by making your own air fresheners. Chrisjob over at Curbly.com has compiled a list of things to do with items you should already have stocked in your fridge and pantry. Vinegar makes a great deodorizer. Citrus peels make your garbage disposal smell wonderful. You can make any room smell good by dabbing a few drops of essential oil on a light bulb.

Chrisjob also offers you links on how to make your own potpourri and how to make your own paper air fresheners. I don't know about you, but I need my home to smell wonderful since I am in it almost 24 hours of every day. Taking the time to make sure my home smells inviting to others certainly makes me feel like I am a decent housekeeper, even if there are dirty dishes in the sink.

DIY Maven combines the best tips from Reader's Digest and Garden and Hearth and brings us this great list of 10 ways to dust proof your house. First it's important to treat dust as a health hazard, rather than simply a cosmetic issue. If we're looking at dust accumulation as a aesthetic thing, then it's easier to put off or devalue. If we think about all the ways that dust can affect our health, it's a little harder to ignore. Many people have allergies to dust mites, some don't even know it.

So, what exactly is a dust mite? Well, it is pretty nasty. According to the Ohio State University Net Wellness site, the dust mite is a microscopic, spider-like creature which is found in homes. It is primarily in carpets, mattresses and upholstered furniture and thrives in humid and warm conditions. The dust mite feeds on shed scales from human skin! The waste products produced by these mites are highly allergenic (able to cause allergic reaction). These waste products continue to cause allergic symptoms even after the mite that produced them has died.

Your vacuum works hard, picking up crushed fishy crackers from under the couch, sawdust shavings from your latest DIY endeavor, and everyday particles of dust and dirt that find their home in yours. With a little love, you can keep your vacuum working stronger and longer. It doesn't take much, just a bit of consistent maintenance.

This article about how to maintain your vacuum cleaner takes you through the steps of proper at home vacuum cleaner maintenance. Check it out for in-depth instructions and instructional pictures. Here is my summary of their main points and the most important things to keep on top of:

Today's prize is a 6.25 horsepower wet/dry Shop-Vac that really sucks. It holds a good 16.6 gallons of whatever you feel like sucking up with it, scraps from your last DIY job, dust, dirt, exotic particles, something the dog dragged in, or a mess created by a child who is hell-bent on covering everything you own in a slimy liquid, and much more. In fact, this thing has enough oomph for you to experiment with what is and is not suckable all over the house. All the guys reading this just clapped, I know I did.

This beautiful piece of equipment features a long 18' cord, a 2.5" lock-on hose, and all the attachments you could fancy. It also sports a bright yellow hull so it is much harder to lose in your well-calculated DIY mayhem. If that isn't enough to get you drooling, this vacuum will blow you away with its versatility as it doubles as a 200 MPH blower. If I did the math right, that is enough to hold a small child up in the weightless for a few seconds, not that I either recommend or endorse this practice. Please use this in a safe, careful, and proper manner, but don't be afraid to enjoy its use as well.

Please leave us a comment to be able to have a shot at winning this machine which I'm sure you will come to love like man's new best friend and even give it a prime spot at your family dinner table. This Shop-Vac is depressed still in the box, and it is begging to be unpacked, plugged in, and used to suck, or unsuck whatever you want. The vacuum wants you to be its new owner, and so do we. It sucks well, and frankly, we lose more bloggers that way, so we would love for you to have it instead.

To enter for today's giveaway prize, leave a comment on this post and validate it. Entry period is 5AM-11:30PM EST on August 8. Full rules after the jump and on our Toolstravaganza page. Good luck and happy crafting!

After reading about how to clean a Roomba vacuum, one of our readers wrote in to ask about cleaning a bagless vacuum. Thanks for the great question, Mike!

Each vacuum is different, so consult your owner's manual for help in locating all its filters and various dirt cups. While it's a good idea to empty your vacuum's dirt cup after every use, filters can be cleaned less often -- from every couple of weeks to monthly, depending on how often it's used.

The easiest way to keep dust from getting all over the house when you empty the dirt cup is simply to do it outside. Empty the cup into a plastic grocery bag and, while the cup still upside down in the bag, tap it gently on the ground. Use the same process for cleaning the filters.

If taking your vacuum cleaner outside is not an option, open up a large garbage bag and set the vacuum cleaner inside. Now when you remove its parts, all the dust and dirt will be trapped in the bag. Once you've finished cleaning the vacuum, empty all your home's trash cans into the bag to maximize the bag's usefulness.

If you have a Roomba vacuum cleaner, chances are you're considering giving a name and making it part of the family (yes, they're that wonderful). If a more useful tool exists for cleaning your house, then I don't know what it is so I'm all about making my Roomba as happy as it makes me.

Between the dirt tracked that gets tracked in from my three kids, and the fur from our assortment of pets, my Roombas (I have two) get a workout nearly every day. To keep them functioning in tip-top shape, it's important to give them a thorough cleaning after every use and it only takes a couple of minutes.

It's well worth it since I haven't had to use a regular vacuum in months. Here's how to keep your Roomba clean, so it keeps cleaning for you.