cheap effective vacuum cleaner image
jfluterpic
I just moved into an apartment and the shower stall is in need of some cleaning. What are some cleansers that I can make on my own, will rid the tiles of mold/mildew, and works well with being in a spray bottle?
Thanks!
Answer
The Green Guide responds:
Serious mold problems require professional expertise to correct, and for good reason: Mold can be dangerous to your health and damaging to your home. Molds actually release volatile organic compounds, called microbial VOCs or MVOCs, that can cause headaches, nasal irritation and even mood changes. A few indications that your mold problem might require professional help include mold that returns despite repeated efforts to clean it, mold that has a strong smell or is black-green in color (which indicates Stachybotrys atra, one of the most health-damaging strains of black mold), and mold that has lingered after a unique yet large moisture event, such as flooding.
If your problem is manageable enough to tackle yourself, it's important to determine the point of origin. Mold won't grow without moisture, so make sure to remove all sources of water, for instance a leaky pipe inside your wall or a crack in the foundation into which water might seep, and "food" on which it might grow, such as surrounding papers and fabrics.
For smaller problems, having some tried-and-true and environmentally safe ingredients that kill mold is invaluable. Here are the best of these:
1. Australian tea tree essential oil (also known as melaleuca) is a broad-spectrum fungicide that is often used medicinally. It has a very strong smell that is too strong for some people, and if this is the case, move on to other suggestions, below. Tea tree oil is expensive, but a little bit goes a long way.
To make a mold-killing spray, place 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil in a spray bottle with 2 cups of water. Shake to blend. Spray on moldy areas and don't rinse. The smell will dissipate in a couple of days.
2. Vinegar is a mainstay of traditional cleaners and effective against mold. Use the 5 percent white distilled solution so as not to stain fabric, and use it "straight up": just add it directly into a spray bottle. Don't rinse. Vinegar is the cheapest available method of killing mold, besides direct sunlight.
The trick with these three sprays is not to rinse so the ingredients have time to do their work, but in a few days, clean up the dead mold with some soap and water.
3. Borax will also reduce some mold spores and is useful for scrubbing walls, including cement walls found in basements. Cover such areas with a mixture of 1 cup borax to 1 quart of hot water (to dissolve the borax), and let dry without rinsing. Vacuum and dust off the borax a few days later.
If you're tempted to combine borax with vinegar to get more bang for your buck, hold off. Borax and vinegar neutralize each other, so you won't get the same cleaning power as if you used the ingredients individually.
The Green Guide responds:
Serious mold problems require professional expertise to correct, and for good reason: Mold can be dangerous to your health and damaging to your home. Molds actually release volatile organic compounds, called microbial VOCs or MVOCs, that can cause headaches, nasal irritation and even mood changes. A few indications that your mold problem might require professional help include mold that returns despite repeated efforts to clean it, mold that has a strong smell or is black-green in color (which indicates Stachybotrys atra, one of the most health-damaging strains of black mold), and mold that has lingered after a unique yet large moisture event, such as flooding.
If your problem is manageable enough to tackle yourself, it's important to determine the point of origin. Mold won't grow without moisture, so make sure to remove all sources of water, for instance a leaky pipe inside your wall or a crack in the foundation into which water might seep, and "food" on which it might grow, such as surrounding papers and fabrics.
For smaller problems, having some tried-and-true and environmentally safe ingredients that kill mold is invaluable. Here are the best of these:
1. Australian tea tree essential oil (also known as melaleuca) is a broad-spectrum fungicide that is often used medicinally. It has a very strong smell that is too strong for some people, and if this is the case, move on to other suggestions, below. Tea tree oil is expensive, but a little bit goes a long way.
To make a mold-killing spray, place 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil in a spray bottle with 2 cups of water. Shake to blend. Spray on moldy areas and don't rinse. The smell will dissipate in a couple of days.
2. Vinegar is a mainstay of traditional cleaners and effective against mold. Use the 5 percent white distilled solution so as not to stain fabric, and use it "straight up": just add it directly into a spray bottle. Don't rinse. Vinegar is the cheapest available method of killing mold, besides direct sunlight.
The trick with these three sprays is not to rinse so the ingredients have time to do their work, but in a few days, clean up the dead mold with some soap and water.
3. Borax will also reduce some mold spores and is useful for scrubbing walls, including cement walls found in basements. Cover such areas with a mixture of 1 cup borax to 1 quart of hot water (to dissolve the borax), and let dry without rinsing. Vacuum and dust off the borax a few days later.
If you're tempted to combine borax with vinegar to get more bang for your buck, hold off. Borax and vinegar neutralize each other, so you won't get the same cleaning power as if you used the ingredients individually.
How to clean a grand piano?
Swako
I have a 1912 Mason & Hamlin grand piano that desperately needs to be cleaned after about 20 years of collecting dust. I play it all the time and I've had it tuned recently so its not being neglected I can assure you. I've seen lots of tools that can help clean the soundboard but they're all so different and expensive! Which one does the best job and is the easiest to use while still being cheap? Or is there a way to make my own soundboard cleaning/dusting tool that is safe and effective? Also, there are a couple gunk spots on the finish. What should I use to get them off without damaging the finish? How should I clean the keys? The area around the tuning pins? The cast iron? Thanks so much in advance!!! :D
i didn't mean i wanted to polish the finish on the soundboard, i just wanted to dust it. i want to clean the lid and places that have a finish
Answer
Easiest ones first. Tuning pins --- soft 2" wide paint brush. (Don't get a cheap one that's going to shed, you don't have a cheap piano) Work the dust to one corner and suck it out with a vacuum.
You can use your paint brush for the edges of the plate and inside the sound holes. Also for whisking away the dust under the strings where they cross over the plate, and lightly on the bridges between the bearing pins.
If you can stand a bit of dust in the air, try using a canister or shop vacuum cleaner in reverse. Use the crevice tool to focus the air stream blowing the dust toward the long (bass) side of the piano where you can then gather it up with a dry cloth or the vacuum in normal mode.
The easiest "thing" I can think of is a "sound board steel" They are available from piano supply houses. It's a piece of spring steel about 24" long by half an inch wide with a slot cut in one end. It could also be made of plastic which is possibly safer, with less risk of gouging the soundboard.
The idea is to pull a corner of a dry rag through the slot and wrap it around the steel. Then, working from the long side, push the steel and cloth under the plate and strings, Then pull the steel and rag back along with the dust. Avoid any aerosol dusting products like Endust (even if you were going to only spray it on the cloth) ... it ends up attracting more dust when you're finished than a dry cloth.
Here's a soundboard steel for less than $5.00
http://www.vandaking.com/s-934-soundboard-steel.html (less than five bucks, but they have a $30 minimum purchase)
Here's the technique:
http://www.hancockrestorations.com/Soundboard%20Dusting.htm
There are other tools that look like an inverted T with a soft brush at the bottom which you can wedge between the strings and "plow the field" about two or three inches at a time. It all works fine until you get the over strung area.
... Seriously I think I've cleaned my Mason's sound board only once or twice using a steel. When I was first getting in to tuning and restoration work. The dust doesn't really affect the sound, and since I have the gold decal it doesn't show up too much. If you've got the red decal http://www.pianodecals.com/store/images/thumbnail/503244.gif it might be a bit more noticeable.
Next time your tuner is out, have him pull the action and vacuum inside. [If your Mason is like mine, the cheek blocks have to be removed to remove the fallboard. One large screw on each side. My keyslip is pinned, but yours might be screwed as well. That will be another five or seven screws.]
Edit: Here are the Spurlock tools: http://www.spurlocktools.com/grand_piano_soundboard_cleaners.htm Good reviews, but not my cup of tea.
Easiest ones first. Tuning pins --- soft 2" wide paint brush. (Don't get a cheap one that's going to shed, you don't have a cheap piano) Work the dust to one corner and suck it out with a vacuum.
You can use your paint brush for the edges of the plate and inside the sound holes. Also for whisking away the dust under the strings where they cross over the plate, and lightly on the bridges between the bearing pins.
If you can stand a bit of dust in the air, try using a canister or shop vacuum cleaner in reverse. Use the crevice tool to focus the air stream blowing the dust toward the long (bass) side of the piano where you can then gather it up with a dry cloth or the vacuum in normal mode.
The easiest "thing" I can think of is a "sound board steel" They are available from piano supply houses. It's a piece of spring steel about 24" long by half an inch wide with a slot cut in one end. It could also be made of plastic which is possibly safer, with less risk of gouging the soundboard.
The idea is to pull a corner of a dry rag through the slot and wrap it around the steel. Then, working from the long side, push the steel and cloth under the plate and strings, Then pull the steel and rag back along with the dust. Avoid any aerosol dusting products like Endust (even if you were going to only spray it on the cloth) ... it ends up attracting more dust when you're finished than a dry cloth.
Here's a soundboard steel for less than $5.00
http://www.vandaking.com/s-934-soundboard-steel.html (less than five bucks, but they have a $30 minimum purchase)
Here's the technique:
http://www.hancockrestorations.com/Soundboard%20Dusting.htm
There are other tools that look like an inverted T with a soft brush at the bottom which you can wedge between the strings and "plow the field" about two or three inches at a time. It all works fine until you get the over strung area.
... Seriously I think I've cleaned my Mason's sound board only once or twice using a steel. When I was first getting in to tuning and restoration work. The dust doesn't really affect the sound, and since I have the gold decal it doesn't show up too much. If you've got the red decal http://www.pianodecals.com/store/images/thumbnail/503244.gif it might be a bit more noticeable.
Next time your tuner is out, have him pull the action and vacuum inside. [If your Mason is like mine, the cheek blocks have to be removed to remove the fallboard. One large screw on each side. My keyslip is pinned, but yours might be screwed as well. That will be another five or seven screws.]
Edit: Here are the Spurlock tools: http://www.spurlocktools.com/grand_piano_soundboard_cleaners.htm Good reviews, but not my cup of tea.
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