Do you have some tough stains or deposits built up in your every day kitchen items?  Use the recipes below to help clean them up.

Coffeepot Cleaner
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water

Mix together. For automatic coffee makers, put in a clean filter, then pour solution directly into the water reservoir. If you use a coffee maker with a permanent filter, cover the filter with a square of paper toweling cut to fit. When the solution has bubbled through, discard filter or paper toweling. Fill coffee maker with clean water and run it through to rinse. Discard vinegar-water solution or use it to clean a regular pot or vacuum bottle.

Silverware Cleaner
This is especially good for pieces of silver that are difficult to clean.
3 tablespoons Ivory or Lux soap flakes
3/4 gallon water

In a large aluminum kettle, mix soap flakes and water and bring to boiling. Add silverware. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove silverware from water and rinse in hot water. Rub thoroughly with a soft, dry towel.

Thermos Bottle Cleaner
Hot water
1 tablespoon baking soda

Fill thermos with hot water. Add baking soda. Let soak overnight. Rinse thoroughly.

Tea Kettle Lime Sediment Remover
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons salt

Mix the above in the tea kettle and boil for 15 minutes. Let set in kettle overnight, then rinse with clear water.

Bottle/Vase Cleaner
The vinegar cleans while the rice loosens dirt without scratching.
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons uncooked rice

Pour vinegar into the bottle or vase, then add rice. Cover with one hand and shake vigorously.

Homemade_Insect_Repellants

Cockroach Control

4 parts borax
2 parts all-purpose flour
1 part cocoa powder

Mix; sprinkle where pets and children cannot get to it.

Cricket Bait

9 ounces Borax
2 1/2 ounces cornstarch
2 1/2 ounces plaster of Paris
1 1/2 ounces powdered cocoa

Mix together. Place in bottle caps near crickets.

Cricket Spray

5 ounces turpentine
5 ounces liquid soap
5 gallons water

Spray around foundation of house or garage.

Garlic Spray [for bugs]

6 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 pint water
2 teaspoons liquid paraffin
1/4 cup Soft Soap

Soak garlic in paraffin for 24 hours. Add water and soap and mix well. Strain the mixture and store the liquid in a glass jar for no longer than 1 week. This works well against cutworms, slugs, white flies, and wire worms.

Fly Paper

2 cups milk
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Brown paper bags, cut into strips

Boil milk, pepper, and sugar together for 5 minutes. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes longer, until thickened, and then let cool. Wind the brown paper strips into a tight roll and drop them into the milk mixture. Let them become completely saturated. Rewind the strips gently and let them air dry on a cookie sheet. They are ready to hang when they are sticky to the touch.

To use, suspend the strips up and out of the way wherever flies are a problem. CAUTION: Keep the strips away from young children, especially after they are covered with flies.

Early Spring Insect Soap Spray
This suffocates early spring insects, especially on fruit trees.

1 gallon light-grade oil
1/2 gallon warm water
1 pound laundry soap

Dissolve soap in water. Add oil and mix well to emulsify. Dilute with 20 times more water before use. Apply the soap while the trees are still in a dormant, leafless state, covering the tree thoroughly with each spraying.

Mosquito Deterrent

Submitted to Recipe Goldmine by Barbara Louise – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Source: a gardening forum

Put some water in a white dinner plate and add just a couple of drops of Lemon Fresh Joy dishwashing soap. Set the dish on a porch or patio. No sure what attracts them, the lemon smell, the white color, or what, but mosquitoes flock to it, and drop dead, or fall into the water, or on the floor within about 10 feet. Works just super!

Household Cleaners Part 2

Floor Polish
1/4 cup shredded paraffin wax
2 quarts mineral oil

Boil water in a double boiler with the top empty. Turn off heat and remove double boiler to a heatproof surface. Place paraffin and mineral oil in the top. Stir until paraffin melts into the oil. Store tightly sealed. To use, apply a small amount of polish to a small section of floor, rubbing it in well. Then buff the floor with a clean cloth to remove excess oil.

Formica Cleaner (The Ultimate!)
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil based liquid soap
3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoon linseed or live oil
1/2 cup warm water

Mix well in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray Formica surface, then wash with a sponge. Rinse well.

Furniture Polish
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup lemon juice

Pour oil and lemon juice into a squirt bottle or jar. Stir to combine. To use, dip dust cloth or rag into oil. Blot the oil by folding the cloth together, and then dust your furniture. Leaves a beautiful finish.

Cabinet Grease Remover (for painted cabinets)
1/4 cup baking soda
1 cup ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water

Press a hot, damp cloth against grease deposits until they soften. Wash cabinets with a sponge and the above solution. Rinse off with a clean sponge and water. Wipe cabinets completely dry.

Garbage Disposal Cleaner
1 cup chopped lemon, orange, or grapefruit, including rind
1 cup baking soda
1 1/2 cups water

Mix ingredients, then pour into an ice cube tray. Freeze until solid. Remove cubes from tray, then place in a plastic bag if you are not going to use them immediately. Label the bag, and make sure the children don’t get into them. When ready to clean the disposal, turn it on, drop in 6 to 10 cubes, and let the machine grind them up. Rinse disposal with cold water.

Glass Film Remover
1 cup household bleach
1 cup white vinegar

Fill dishwasher with all your dirty dishes. DO NOT put any silver, aluminum or brass in the washer with this method. Put a bowl in the bottom of the dishwasher. Pour household bleach into the bowl. Run through the washing cycle, but do not dry. THIS IS IMPORTANT! Fill bowl again with white vinegar and let the dishwasher go through the entire cycle. This will remove all film not only from your glasses, but from your dishwasher, too.

Clogged Drain Remedy
1 cup salt
1 cup baking soda
1 cup vinegar

Mix, then pour down the drain. Follow with 2 quarts boiling water.

Concrete Bleach
1 tablespoon liquid chlorine bleach
1 pint warm water

Mix. Wash; rinse; allow to dry.

Concrete Cleaner (heavy-duty)
1 pint liquid chlorine bleach
2 gallons warm water

Mix well in a bucket. Wash concrete; rinse with clear water and allow to dry. For tough stains, allow the mixture to set for 15 minutes before rinsing.

Citrus Floor Cleaner
1 gallon hot water
2 tablespoons liquid soap
15 drops orange essential oil
8 drops lemon essential oil or 1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix together and wash floors.

Ceramic Tile Cleaner
1/4 cup baking soda
1 cup ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water

Mix all in a bucket and stir until the baking soda dissolves. Scrub solution on tile with a brush, nylon pad, or sponge. Rinse with clean water.

Ceramic Tile Stain Remover (heavy-duty)
1 part sodium citrate
Water
6 parts glycerin
Whiting

Stir sodium citrate into the glycerin to dissolve. Add sufficient water to thin to a milk-like consistency. Mix in enough whiting to form a paste. Spread a thick coating on stains and let stand. Rinse with clear water.