Refrigerator Maintennance

If you have dust bunnies residing under your refrigerator, and mystery smells lurking inside, here are a few quick ideas to keep that refrigerator in tip-top condition and smelling great!

1. To clean underneath the fridge, try covering a yardstick with the leg of an old pair of stockings, and run the yardstick under the appliance. The dust bunnies will grab a hold of the stockings for an easy clean-up.

2. To keep your fridge running efficiently, you should check the seal every so often. Do this by closing a dollar bill in the door, and then try to pull it out. If you feel a little tug then you have a good seal. Or, if the bill slides easily, it's time to get a new seal.

3. To keep the fridge smelling good, you can put a box of baking soda inside. Or keep it smelling sweet, just soak a paper towel with vanilla extract and wipe down the walls of the fridge.

Smelly Problems

Stinky sneakers, stale carpets, musty closets, I have some ideas to help with those smelly household odors.

1. When you're steaming vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli the odor sometimes just lingers. Well, eliminate the smell by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to the water!

2. Ever noticed that plastic containers take on the smell of whatever you store in them. Well, for a lingering onion or garlic odor in your plastic ware, clean and dry it well and then pop it in the freezer overnight. Odors out.

3. This same trick works with stinky sneakers, slip them in a plastic bag and then pop them in the freezer overnight. The cold will kill the bacteria that's causing the stink!

4. If your closets are musty, spritz some cotton balls with your favorite perfume and stash the balls in the corners of your closet, it will keep them smelling great!

5. Musty carpets are often caused by excess moisture. Here's a one two punch for those odors, Sprinkle carpets with some scented baby powder, let it sit for a while and vacuum it up. The powder will absorb some of the moisture and the scent will linger in the air!

Mrs. FIXIT's Official Wax Removal Guide

vinYou name it; somebody's got to get wax off of it. Here is how it's done.

1. For carpets, clothing and linens the method is the same. Layer several paper towels over the wax and use a hot iron. The heat from the iron will transfer the wax to the towels, no muss, no fuss. If you're using an ironing board, protect the surface with a brown paper bag or more paper towels.

2. If you blew a little to hard to put out that candle and ended up with wax on your walls, hold a hot cloth over the wax and then use a credit card to gently scrape it away. Then dip a cotton ball in white vinegar and dab at the wall to remove any residue.

3. Need to clean the tail end of a candle from inside a votive holder? Put it in the freezer for a couple of hours, when the wax is good and hard, carefully use a kitchen knife to pop it out from the bottom. Then just let the container come to room temperature and then wash in hot sudsy water to which you've added a cup of white vinegar to remove the waxy residue.