Fans
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Rermember the ceiling fans in the 1942 movie Casablanca, gently stirring a breeze at Rick's Cafe? How romantic would they have been with a blanket of gray fuzz atop each blade? Not only would dust buildup have been a turnoff for Humphery Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, but it would have wreaked havoc on the efficiency of those ceiling fans as well. Although table fans, floor fans, and window fans lack the allure of ceiling fans, they also need to be cleaned.
For day-to-day cleaning, pull out a lamb's wool duster and a stepladder or step stool give the blades of your ceiling fans a quick dusting. Other types of fans have grilles that protect the blades. Clean the grilles and other housing regularly using a vacuum with a small brush attachment.
Do a more thorough cleaning every month or two during times of heavy use. First, disengage the circuit breaker for a ceiling fan and unplug others.Remove the grilles. Then round up the usual suspects: a solution of water with a little dishwashing detergent and a sponge or brush. Dampen the sponge and wipe the blades. Rinse the sponge in clear water and wipe again. Then dry with a clean cloth. Be careful not to bend the blades, because that could upset their balance and make the fan wobble.
If the grilles have accumulated a lot of grime, it might be simplest to take them outside and wash them under a hose. Use a stiff brush to clean off stubborn crud.
expert advice
For Old-Fan Fanciers >
If you buy a vintage table fan,clean off built up grease and oil with Gojo Creme Hand Cleaner, says Nancy Taussig, of the Antique Fan Collectors Association in Sarasota, Florida. Smear on the Gojo, let it sit and wipe it off.
Use a lacquer thinner to remove lacquer on brass blades and cages, then polish with a metal polish such as Nevr-Dull. Fan parts made of early plastics can be shined with Novus Plastic Polish.
Gojo is available at auto supply stores, Nevr-Dull at hardware and automotive stores, and Novus at marine and auto supply stores.
Fiberglass
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiberglass is commonly found around the home in bathtubs, shower stalls, sinks, fixtures, outdoor furniture, and window parts. Its smooth surface layer--that's what sparkles--is easily marred, so learn how to care for fiberglass while it's still bright. Sparkling fiberglass is easy to clean. Dull fiberglass is a chore to spiff up.
To clean fiberglass, always use nonabrasive cleaners and scrubbers. After each shower, rinse the shower walls with water and wipe them down with a squeegee or chamois cloth to avoid buildup of water residue and soap scum. Once a week, wash with a little mild dishwashing detergent and warm water, applied with a sponge. Always rinse cleaners off with clear water.
To attack mold and mildew, mix baking soda with enough water to make a paste. Wet the fiberglass with water, dip a sponge in the paste, and rub gently. Rinse with clear water. This also works for general cleaning.
To remove soap scum on your fiberglass, mix a solution of 1 part ammonia to 4 parts water. Or use a cleaner containing phosphoric acid. Rub on with a sponge or clean rag and rinse immediately and thoroughly with clear water.
Hard-water deposits can also be removed with boat hull cleaners. (Many boats are fiberglass, after all) Look for such cleaners at hardware or boating stores and follow the package directions.
To remove glue, tar, or oil-based paint stains, put a little acetone nail polish remover or pain thinner on a clean cloth and lightly rub until the spot disappears. Then wash with dishwashing detergent and water. Finally rinse with clear water.
To help preserve the finish of fiberglass, take another tip from sailors. A couple of times a year, use an automotive white polishing compound on any dull or scratchy areas. Then apply a light coat of automotive white paste wax. Buff with a clean cloth. The surface will be slippery, so use on walls only, not on floors. This treatment will also help protect outdoor furniture.
Filters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A common-sense rule:Anything designed to catch dirt should be cleaned often. Filters fit the description. There are all kinds of filters, but dirty one don't work very well and will cost you money, because motors will use more energy to pass air or water through dirty filters than clean ones.
Cleaning air filters is usually a snap:You throw out the old one and install a new one. new filter, making sure you match the direction of airflow with the indicator on the edge of the filter frame. At the very minimum change, a furnace filter twice a year.
That's how it works with forced-air furnaces. You find the slot in your furnace and, once a month during the heating season ( the cooling season, too, if you have central air), you pull out the filter and toss it in the trash. Then you install a
Air conditioner filters, which may be disposable or washable, also need monthly attention. If the filter is washable, remove it and vacuum up as much dust as you can. Then rinse it under warm running water or swril it around in a solution of 1 table spoon of baking soda and 1 quart of water. (Don't use soap.) Rinse and dry.
Air cleaners may be tabletop, room or whole-house models. The disposable fiberglass or washable metal mesh filters on whole house systems should be changed or cleaned with warm water monthly when they're in use. Filter in which the air passes through a medium such as charcoal should be changed annually. Room or tabletop models of air cleaners may use filters that must be changed every few months. Other use ionizing technology that gives dust particles a negative charge so they will stick to something with a positive charge. Follow the filter-cleaning instructions that come with your unit.
Home water-filtering system often use activated carbon filters that collect gunk. The activated carbon usually comes in a cartridges that need to be replaced when they no longer work. The tricky part is figuring out when they've quit doing their job. Sometimes you can tell by the taste of the water, if the filter is designed to remove chlroine, for example. Some fibers come with lights or other indicators telling when it's time to change them.
You might want to make sure your filtering system has been certified to meet the standards set by the National Sanitation Foundation. Then you'll know that the manufacturer's guidelines for changing the filters have been tested and fond adequate.
See also Air, Air conditioners, and Furnaces.
RULES OF THE GAME
To Clean a Filter, First You Have to Find It >
Keep your owner's manuals. Use them to set up a schedule for cleaning or changing filters on machines or appliances that use them. Check the manuals for instructions about how to get at the filters (sometimes that's the hardest part), whether to replace or clean them, and how often to do so. If you don't have a manual, do an Internet search for the company that made the appliance and either order a manual online at the company's website or call the customer service number.
Fireplaces
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ironically, fireplace cleaning duties are simpler during the wood-burning season and more of a project off-season.
During the fire-burning season, cleaning will usually consist merely of removing some of the ashes periodically. (The fireplace will actually work better with a couple of inches of ash remaining.) Many fireplaces have an ash pit, which is a receptacle underneath the area where you build a fire. If yours does, open it and push excess ashes into it. Or use an ash shovel to deposit the ashes in a metal bucket with a tight-fitting lid. Store the ashes outdoors in the tightly covered can for two days before final disposal, an important precaution because "dead" ashes containing live embers have started many a conflagration.
During the off-season, do a more thorough fireplace cleaning. use a rubber eraser on any smoke streaks that have crept up the exterior of the fireplace. If your fireplace has warm-air circulators, clean the ducts with a vacuum cleaner.
The Ashless Answer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A cozy fire is widely cherished, but the mess that goes with burning wood in a fireplace is much loathed. Many people have solved that paradox with a gas fireplace.
Gas is a clean fuel, and a properly working gas fireplace basically needs no cleaning on hte part of the homeowner, says Mark Gulamerian, a technological support staffer at Hearth & Home (Hearthand Home.net), a fireplace retailer based in Ledgewood, New Jersey. It should, however, get an annual cleaning and inspections
by a professional to ensure that the venting, controls and valves are working properly.
The retailer who sold you the gas fireplace may do such servicing or can direct you to someone who does.
Don't ever burn anything except gas in the fireplace, and learn how your particular model operates. (There are four types.)
"Read the owner's manual--don't start the fire with it," Gulamerian says. If the fire place is working properly, don't tempt fate by tampering with the log or its internal workings. However, if you smell gas or if excessive soot suddenly shows up on the log or the glass, that's a sign to call for servicing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may also want to clean up the black buildup of creosote, a highly combustible residue created by burning wood, on the inside of the firebox. (The firebox is the place where you build your fire. Some people like to use the firebox for displays of candles or flowers during the off-season.) Remove the screen, andirons, and grate, and sweep up all the ashes with a broom and dustpan. Use a wire-bristled brush for the first attack on the creosote. If you want the firebox to be cleaner, use 1/4 cup of washing soda (available in grocery stores in the detergent section) in 1 gallon of water and apply it with a sponge. Brush with a stiff-fiber brush and rinse with clear water. Wear rubber gloves, since washing soda is caustic.
Then off-season is also the time to have the chimney cleaned. This is a job for a professional chimney sweep, who will check the flue for leaves, bird nests, cracks, and soot buildup.
See also Brick, Chimneys, and Fireplace Screens and Tools next
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rermember the ceiling fans in the 1942 movie Casablanca, gently stirring a breeze at Rick's Cafe? How romantic would they have been with a blanket of gray fuzz atop each blade? Not only would dust buildup have been a turnoff for Humphery Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, but it would have wreaked havoc on the efficiency of those ceiling fans as well. Although table fans, floor fans, and window fans lack the allure of ceiling fans, they also need to be cleaned.
For day-to-day cleaning, pull out a lamb's wool duster and a stepladder or step stool give the blades of your ceiling fans a quick dusting. Other types of fans have grilles that protect the blades. Clean the grilles and other housing regularly using a vacuum with a small brush attachment.
Do a more thorough cleaning every month or two during times of heavy use. First, disengage the circuit breaker for a ceiling fan and unplug others.Remove the grilles. Then round up the usual suspects: a solution of water with a little dishwashing detergent and a sponge or brush. Dampen the sponge and wipe the blades. Rinse the sponge in clear water and wipe again. Then dry with a clean cloth. Be careful not to bend the blades, because that could upset their balance and make the fan wobble.
If the grilles have accumulated a lot of grime, it might be simplest to take them outside and wash them under a hose. Use a stiff brush to clean off stubborn crud.
expert advice
For Old-Fan Fanciers >
Use a lacquer thinner to remove lacquer on brass blades and cages, then polish with a metal polish such as Nevr-Dull. Fan parts made of early plastics can be shined with Novus Plastic Polish.
Gojo is available at auto supply stores, Nevr-Dull at hardware and automotive stores, and Novus at marine and auto supply stores.
Fiberglass
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiberglass is commonly found around the home in bathtubs, shower stalls, sinks, fixtures, outdoor furniture, and window parts. Its smooth surface layer--that's what sparkles--is easily marred, so learn how to care for fiberglass while it's still bright. Sparkling fiberglass is easy to clean. Dull fiberglass is a chore to spiff up.
To clean fiberglass, always use nonabrasive cleaners and scrubbers. After each shower, rinse the shower walls with water and wipe them down with a squeegee or chamois cloth to avoid buildup of water residue and soap scum. Once a week, wash with a little mild dishwashing detergent and warm water, applied with a sponge. Always rinse cleaners off with clear water.
To attack mold and mildew, mix baking soda with enough water to make a paste. Wet the fiberglass with water, dip a sponge in the paste, and rub gently. Rinse with clear water. This also works for general cleaning.
To remove soap scum on your fiberglass, mix a solution of 1 part ammonia to 4 parts water. Or use a cleaner containing phosphoric acid. Rub on with a sponge or clean rag and rinse immediately and thoroughly with clear water.
Hard-water deposits can also be removed with boat hull cleaners. (Many boats are fiberglass, after all) Look for such cleaners at hardware or boating stores and follow the package directions.
To remove glue, tar, or oil-based paint stains, put a little acetone nail polish remover or pain thinner on a clean cloth and lightly rub until the spot disappears. Then wash with dishwashing detergent and water. Finally rinse with clear water.
To help preserve the finish of fiberglass, take another tip from sailors. A couple of times a year, use an automotive white polishing compound on any dull or scratchy areas. Then apply a light coat of automotive white paste wax. Buff with a clean cloth. The surface will be slippery, so use on walls only, not on floors. This treatment will also help protect outdoor furniture.
Filters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A common-sense rule:Anything designed to catch dirt should be cleaned often. Filters fit the description. There are all kinds of filters, but dirty one don't work very well and will cost you money, because motors will use more energy to pass air or water through dirty filters than clean ones.
Cleaning air filters is usually a snap:You throw out the old one and install a new one. new filter, making sure you match the direction of airflow with the indicator on the edge of the filter frame. At the very minimum change, a furnace filter twice a year.
Air conditioner filters, which may be disposable or washable, also need monthly attention. If the filter is washable, remove it and vacuum up as much dust as you can. Then rinse it under warm running water or swril it around in a solution of 1 table spoon of baking soda and 1 quart of water. (Don't use soap.) Rinse and dry.
Air cleaners may be tabletop, room or whole-house models. The disposable fiberglass or washable metal mesh filters on whole house systems should be changed or cleaned with warm water monthly when they're in use. Filter in which the air passes through a medium such as charcoal should be changed annually. Room or tabletop models of air cleaners may use filters that must be changed every few months. Other use ionizing technology that gives dust particles a negative charge so they will stick to something with a positive charge. Follow the filter-cleaning instructions that come with your unit.
Home water-filtering system often use activated carbon filters that collect gunk. The activated carbon usually comes in a cartridges that need to be replaced when they no longer work. The tricky part is figuring out when they've quit doing their job. Sometimes you can tell by the taste of the water, if the filter is designed to remove chlroine, for example. Some fibers come with lights or other indicators telling when it's time to change them.
You might want to make sure your filtering system has been certified to meet the standards set by the National Sanitation Foundation. Then you'll know that the manufacturer's guidelines for changing the filters have been tested and fond adequate.
See also Air, Air conditioners, and Furnaces.
RULES OF THE GAME
To Clean a Filter, First You Have to Find It >
Keep your owner's manuals. Use them to set up a schedule for cleaning or changing filters on machines or appliances that use them. Check the manuals for instructions about how to get at the filters (sometimes that's the hardest part), whether to replace or clean them, and how often to do so. If you don't have a manual, do an Internet search for the company that made the appliance and either order a manual online at the company's website or call the customer service number.
Fireplaces
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ironically, fireplace cleaning duties are simpler during the wood-burning season and more of a project off-season.
During the fire-burning season, cleaning will usually consist merely of removing some of the ashes periodically. (The fireplace will actually work better with a couple of inches of ash remaining.) Many fireplaces have an ash pit, which is a receptacle underneath the area where you build a fire. If yours does, open it and push excess ashes into it. Or use an ash shovel to deposit the ashes in a metal bucket with a tight-fitting lid. Store the ashes outdoors in the tightly covered can for two days before final disposal, an important precaution because "dead" ashes containing live embers have started many a conflagration.
During the off-season, do a more thorough fireplace cleaning. use a rubber eraser on any smoke streaks that have crept up the exterior of the fireplace. If your fireplace has warm-air circulators, clean the ducts with a vacuum cleaner.
The Ashless Answer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A cozy fire is widely cherished, but the mess that goes with burning wood in a fireplace is much loathed. Many people have solved that paradox with a gas fireplace.
Gas is a clean fuel, and a properly working gas fireplace basically needs no cleaning on hte part of the homeowner, says Mark Gulamerian, a technological support staffer at Hearth & Home (Hearthand Home.net), a fireplace retailer based in Ledgewood, New Jersey. It should, however, get an annual cleaning and inspections
The retailer who sold you the gas fireplace may do such servicing or can direct you to someone who does.
Don't ever burn anything except gas in the fireplace, and learn how your particular model operates. (There are four types.)
"Read the owner's manual--don't start the fire with it," Gulamerian says. If the fire place is working properly, don't tempt fate by tampering with the log or its internal workings. However, if you smell gas or if excessive soot suddenly shows up on the log or the glass, that's a sign to call for servicing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may also want to clean up the black buildup of creosote, a highly combustible residue created by burning wood, on the inside of the firebox. (The firebox is the place where you build your fire. Some people like to use the firebox for displays of candles or flowers during the off-season.) Remove the screen, andirons, and grate, and sweep up all the ashes with a broom and dustpan. Use a wire-bristled brush for the first attack on the creosote. If you want the firebox to be cleaner, use 1/4 cup of washing soda (available in grocery stores in the detergent section) in 1 gallon of water and apply it with a sponge. Brush with a stiff-fiber brush and rinse with clear water. Wear rubber gloves, since washing soda is caustic.
Then off-season is also the time to have the chimney cleaned. This is a job for a professional chimney sweep, who will check the flue for leaves, bird nests, cracks, and soot buildup.
See also Brick, Chimneys, and Fireplace Screens and Tools next
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