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.

I will start with a few helpful cleaning advices from the past that could be used nowadays.

1. How to clean a glass bottle. Glass bottles with narrow necks can be cleaned by putting egg shells in them and then fill them with water. Wait for a couple of hours, shake the bottles and rinse them off.

2. How to get rid of the bad smell from the thermos. Before you put the thermos away, put a sugar cube in it.

3. How to clean an umbrella. Rub the umbrella with a mixture of ammonia and water in a one-to-six ratio. Rinse it good and let it dry. You will notice that after the procedure your umbrella will seem brand new.

4. How to clean plush toys. A witty trick around cleaning a tough stain is stitching a patch of some other cloth over the stain. Chose a bright colour in order to attract children’s attention. This way, not only will you cover the stain but you will make the toy funnier.

5. How to clean a red wine stain on the carpet. The red wine stain is a nightmare for every housewife. If you happen to get one of these terrible stains, do not hesitate to put a good amount of baking soda on the spot right away. The baking soda will absorb the liquid and in the morning when it is dry just vacuum it and you will be amazed how clean your carpet looks.

6. How to clean glass lampshades. Instead of putting your life in danger by climbing on a chair and washing them as they are on the ceiling, why not just take them off and wash them like an ordinary dish in the sink?