Watches:
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Salt water is one of your watch's biggest enemies, and your watch is exposed to it even if you never set foot on a beach. It comes from your sweat, of course. Other contaminants include skin oils, dirt, and substances such as lotions and insect repellents. Clean only the band and the outside of the watch, leaving the inner workings for a pro.
For daily cleaning, wipe the band and watch with a damp cloth, then with a clean, dry cloth.
For more extensive cleaning, remove the band by releasing the pins on both sides of the watch.
Check the crystal and have it replaced immediately if you notice any damage to it or to the face of the watch, which indicates moisture has entered. A jeweler can also buff out scratches in a plastic crystal.
To store your watch, keep it in an individual compartment in a jewelry box or wrap it in a piece of soft cloth.
To clean the inner workings, take the watch to a professional. Mechanical watches (the kind you wind) need an overhaul about every two years, and analog quartz watches (with hands and batteries) need one every three to five years, just about when you need to replace the battery any way. Digital watches, which have no mechanical works, don't need an internal cleaning, although you will eventually need to replace the battery.
Water Beds
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Water beds are easy to keep clean, especially if you use a mattress cover that can be removed and laundered.
To wash the mattress itself, wipe it off with a damp cloth or sponge. You should not have to do that very often.
To clean the water inside the mattress, use a special conditioner made for water beds and sold at water bed stores. The conditioner keep bacteria, algae, and other slimy undesirables from growing inside. It also bursts noisy bubbles and conditions the vinyl of the mattress. Follow the directions provided by the bed maker, but a general recommendation is to add conditioner every year. There is no need to change the water for the sake of cleanliness, but you will have to empty it to move the bed.
Water Heaters
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All water has some sediment in it, and one of its purposes in life is to create problems for water heaters. If you live in a hard-water area, you're already familiar with the floating stuff in the bottom of a glass in which the ice has melted, or with minerals in the teakettle. The cause, in both cases, is calcium and magnesium salts, which precipitate out of water when it is frozen or heated.
To counteract mineral buildup, you have several choices:
If you decide to do the job, here's how:
Simple SOLUTIONS
Check for the Hard Stuff >
To determine whether your water is hard, look in the teakettle. if there's white, scaly stuff inside, that's just a little of what you have in your water heater. The precipitate will:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salt water is one of your watch's biggest enemies, and your watch is exposed to it even if you never set foot on a beach. It comes from your sweat, of course. Other contaminants include skin oils, dirt, and substances such as lotions and insect repellents. Clean only the band and the outside of the watch, leaving the inner workings for a pro.
For daily cleaning, wipe the band and watch with a damp cloth, then with a clean, dry cloth.
For more extensive cleaning, remove the band by releasing the pins on both sides of the watch.
- Clean a leather band with saddle soap, followed by buffing with a dry cloth.
- Wash a cloth band with a little dish-washing detergent and water, rinse in clean water, and lay flat to dry.
- Clean a metal band by soaking it in a solution of dish-washing detergent and water. Use an old toothbrush to scrub. Rinse in clean water and dry with a soft cloth.
Check the crystal and have it replaced immediately if you notice any damage to it or to the face of the watch, which indicates moisture has entered. A jeweler can also buff out scratches in a plastic crystal.
To store your watch, keep it in an individual compartment in a jewelry box or wrap it in a piece of soft cloth.
To clean the inner workings, take the watch to a professional. Mechanical watches (the kind you wind) need an overhaul about every two years, and analog quartz watches (with hands and batteries) need one every three to five years, just about when you need to replace the battery any way. Digital watches, which have no mechanical works, don't need an internal cleaning, although you will eventually need to replace the battery.
Water Beds
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Water beds are easy to keep clean, especially if you use a mattress cover that can be removed and laundered.
To wash the mattress itself, wipe it off with a damp cloth or sponge. You should not have to do that very often.
To clean the water inside the mattress, use a special conditioner made for water beds and sold at water bed stores. The conditioner keep bacteria, algae, and other slimy undesirables from growing inside. It also bursts noisy bubbles and conditions the vinyl of the mattress. Follow the directions provided by the bed maker, but a general recommendation is to add conditioner every year. There is no need to change the water for the sake of cleanliness, but you will have to empty it to move the bed.
Water Heaters
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All water has some sediment in it, and one of its purposes in life is to create problems for water heaters. If you live in a hard-water area, you're already familiar with the floating stuff in the bottom of a glass in which the ice has melted, or with minerals in the teakettle. The cause, in both cases, is calcium and magnesium salts, which precipitate out of water when it is frozen or heated.
To counteract mineral buildup, you have several choices:
- Have a plumber flush the heater or install a water softener.
- Buy a self-cleaning water heater
- Buy a "tankless" water heater. It's more expensive, but it's also more energy efficient
- Flush the heater yourself.
If you decide to do the job, here's how:
- Turn off the later and the cold water that runs into it.
- Hook a garden hose to the drain valve (the one near the bottom of the tank). Make sure threre are no kinks in the hose. Put the other end of it where you want the hot water from the tank to go.
- Open the drain valve.
- Disconnect the cold water inlet pipe on the top of the water heater to let air into the water heater to let air into the water heater so it will drain. After all the water has drained, close the drain valve.
- Pour 1 gallon of a food-grade delimer (available at plumbing supply stores and some hardware stores) into the cold water inlet pipe. Pour only one cup at a time and pause between cups. Let it work for several hours.
- Drain the cleaner.
- Reconnect the cold water inlet pipe, open the valve, and let water run through the heater for several minutes, flushing out the cleaner and dissolved sediment.
- Close the drain valve and open the hot water faucet nearest to the water heater. Let the water heater fill up.
- When water comes out of the open faucet, reopen the drain valve and let the water heater rinse until the water running out appears clear.
- Close the drain valve and open all the hot water faucets to remove the air from the heater and pipes.
- Turn the water heater back on and remove the garden hose from the drain valve.
Simple SOLUTIONS
Check for the Hard Stuff >
To determine whether your water is hard, look in the teakettle. if there's white, scaly stuff inside, that's just a little of what you have in your water heater. The precipitate will:
- Cut the efficiency of the heater.
- Cost you more money in electricity or gas bills.
- Reduce the water-holding capacity of the tank.
- Cause the heating element in an electric heater to eventually burn out.
- Cause an alarming rumbling sound in a gas heater, which means your heater is inefficient but doesn't mean it's about to blow up.
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