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Spilling balsamic vinegar on a piece of clothing won’t ruin the item if you remove the stain quickly. Laundry soap and white distilled vinegar will remove the stain. While it’s possible the stain will disappear during a normal washing, it’s safer to treat it beforehand.
Read MoreOnce you've removed the alcohol from a bottle you'd like to reuse, you must wash it to remove the smell. How easily the smell disappears depends on the bottle. Decorative or specialty bottles may contain small nooks and pockets where alcohol could stick.
Read MoreYellow stains on denim come from a variety of sources. Some of the common causes include grass stains, sweat and paint. Simply washing the clothing does not always remove the yellow stains from the denim. Pre-treating the yellow spots beforehand helps ensure stain removal. Both baking soda and vinegar remove stains.
Read MoreUrine leaves a foul odor if allowed to remain on a wall. As with many cleaning projects, the sooner you remove the urine, the better the chance the smell disappears. If left to dry on the walls, the urine soaks into the surface. Baking soda and vinegar effectively remove the urine off most walls.
Read MoreInstead of using a chemical killer to destroy pesky cockroaches, use vinegar or coconut oil. Both kill the insects and prevent infestations. While it may seem tempting to try them simultaneously, don’t. Instead, alternate between the two. This prevents the cockroaches from getting used to them.
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When perfume soaks into dressers, it leaves an odor. Whether the odor came from a spill or some of the spray landing on the surface, the removal technique is the same. Remove the smell quickly to ensure success. The longer the perfume has to soak into the dresser, the more difficult the odor is to eradicate.
Read MoreWhen mold forms on rubber, it's important to kill and remove it quickly to prevent long-term damage.
Read MoreVomit leaves an unappealing odor. It’s important to clean vomit up right away to prevent the smell from soaking deeper into the fabric. The combination of partially digested food and stomach acid are what create the foul odor. If left alone too long, the smell permeates the fabric fibers.
Read MoreSome set-in carpet stains are removable. The stain sticks to the fibers and may have been ground farther into the carpet. Both factors make removal difficult. Baking soda lifts stains and whitens fabric fibers. The only way to know if the stain is removable is to try to remove it.
Read MoreLace stains need removed quickly. Stains stick to the fibers of the lace permanently if the stain is left untreated for too long or washed and dried before treatment. Lace stiffened with starch or sugar discolors over time, according to the Victoria and Albert Museum website.
Read MoreVinegar, fabric softener and dryer sheets all remove stiffness from cotton fabric. New cotton fabrics tend to be stiff until they are washed, but stiffness can also be caused by soap build up and dirt and other items sticking to the fibers. Vinegar dissolves stuck-on soap.
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Keys rust when exposed to moisture, and rust affects the way a key fits into a lock by slowly dissolving the shape of the key. This causes problems because locks require a key with an exact shape to open. And once a key’s teeth, the jagged part, have dissolved, a copy can’t be made.
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