Discover the expert in you.
Discover the expert in you.
Renting space with a roommate allows you to share the costs of living, making it more affordable. Ideally, roommates also share the household chores, such as cleaning dishes, but this is not always the case. If your roommate frequently leaves dirty dishes for you to clean up, it may be time to approach him about his messy habits. Even if you are in the right, you must be delicate when confronting your roommate to spare his feelings and prevent unnecessary drama in your living space.
For years, putting your dirty dishes in the dishwasher was undoubtedly easier than washing them by hand. That changed when detergent makers removed phosphates from their formulas due to a ban in 17 states. Phosphates, although they take the blame for polluting waterways and killing fish, are also one of the best things to get dishes clean, sparkling and spot-free. If your state banned phosphates in detergents, you can still get dishes clean by properly loading the dishwasher.
If you had a fire in your home, clean-up will likely prove to unbearable, which is why many people hire a professional cleaning crew. Upholstered furniture and carpeting will be some of the most difficult pieces to clean. Other items, though, such as dishes, will be among the easiest items from which to remove the soot. Clean cabinets first or have a box on hand, so you have somewhere to store your clean dishes.
An oily film on your dishes is caused by greasy food. The dishes need a grease-cutting dish detergent to remove the film. Commercial detergents are available to safely remove oily residue, or you can use baking soda to naturally eliminate grease from the dishes. Baking soda is a gentle cleaning product that can be used to both clean and deodorize. It is available in the baking aisle of your local grocery.
Whether you are camping or working outside, if you are not in the vicinity of running water, building your own portable sink will give you the opportunity to wash your hands, wash dishes, and prepare food. High-end portable sinks can be purchased online or from various outdoor sporting good stores, but building your own sink will be less expensive and take up less space.
The folks at the Coleman company had a stroke of genius when they developed their pop-up campers. Instead of being large, difficult to maneuver, and inconvenient to store, Coleman campers are easy to manage. Starting as a nice little box, Coleman campers are expanded into full campers by simply opening a canvas shell. However the soft material in a Coleman camper can develop holes or rips, which can let in bugs and rain. You can easily repair these with a vinyl patch.
Most hunters want to preserve their wild-turkey feather-tail fans for future display. Tanning or preserving your fan poorly could degrade the looks of your trophy or even ruin the fan entirely. Fortunately, the process is relatively straight-forward and requires only common household items. Almost anyone can preserve a wild turkey fan as a trophy.
Portable griddles are useful and convenient when you want to cook somewhere other than your kitchen or patio. Camp Chef has been producing outdoor cooking products since 1990, and they include camping griddles in their outdoor cookware lineup. Camp Chef provides easy steps to keep its griddles clean and ready for use. Camp Chef's griddles don't require specialty cleaning products---you'll likely have what you need right in your cupboard.
Making sure your cooking gear is clean while camping is important for both sanitary and safety reasons. No matter what kind of outdoor trip you are planning, learning how to clean up after your meals should be part of the pre-trip work.
Cooking over the camp fire after an exhausting day of hiking is great until it's time to clean up. Ugh. Looks like the flames charred the bottom and sides of your pan, leaving soot marks that are going to get all over everything if you don't clean it right away. Don't worry. Getting rid of those soot marks is easy.
