Being a good housewife is a full-time job and has a lot of duties – from taking care of the children, to cooking and cleaning. While I will not talk about how to bring up your offspring, I would like to give you some cleaning advices that have been proven effective over the years. In a series of posts I will talk about cleaning techniques from the past, witty tricks and innovations in the field of hygiene. I hope I can help you reduce the usage of chemical-based cleaning products that are potentially harmful for you and your family. Also, my goal will be to save you time off cleaning by guiding you through the path of being a good, but not exhausted housewife. Last, but not least, my advices will save you a lot of money from expensive, yet not so efficient cleaning products. Hopefully you will start feeling more confident about your skills as a housewife and you will start looking and the cleaning duties as more of an excitement, rather than a burden.

Following the last part of my series of articles giving cleaning advices, I will talk about cleaning furniture again, as I had more information I wanted to share with you.

Painted furniture can be cleaned with nothing but warm water or with a mixture of 50 grams of oat meal in a cup of boiling water. Stains on painted furniture can be removed by rubbing the mixture in circular motions using a cloth or leather.

Polished furniture can be preserved by a regular cleaning with a soft cloth or leather.

Cane furniture has to be dusted every day. You can clean them with soap water. You can add a little bit of salt to the soap water. When you wash them, take them out to dry in the air. Polished cane furniture has to be cleaned with lukewarm water without soap. Dry and polish it with a soft cloth. This furniture must not be dried under direct sunlight. This goes for all wicker furniture.

For upholstery cleaning, use a mixture of water and vinegar. What you can do is soak a towel in the mixture, put it over the upholstery and tap it. You can also use a soft brush or a vacuum to clean it.

Plush furniture can be cleaned using a brush and a mixture of water and ammonia. Scrub in the same direction as the fabric goes. Before you start scrubbing this type of furniture, open the windows and put the carpet away. Put big pots of cold water around you to absorb the dust. I guarantee you satisfying results, should you choose to use this cleaning method.