Help! I Can't Get Rid Of...

Woman's Day, June 16, 2009

Dirt may be public enemy number one, but it isn't the only culprit behind messes that keep coming back: grease on the stovetop, scum on the shower walls, stains and spills on counters. Don't declare defeat just yet. Our fast tips will help you fight back against your worst cleaning foes -- no elbow grease required.

Pet hair everywhere

You love your dogs and cats. Their fur all over the place? Not so much. Try these ideas for getting clingy pet hair off furniture and floors.

Start at the source. Stroke your pet with a rubber glove designed to remove loose hair, like the Groomax Soft Grip Rubber Grooming Glove (Petsmart.com; $7.49). Your dog or cat will love it because it feels like you're petting him. Just make sure to do it in the yard or garage so the fur won't fly back onto your furniture.

To de-fur Fido twice as fast, buy two gloves or brushes. "Do the dog's back with one hand, the stomach with one hand, then come down both legs at the same time," says Mary Findley, co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Cleaning. "If you do that every two or three days, it'll reduce your pet hair problem by 90 percent."

Sponge away hair. To get pet fur off couches, carpet and clothes, use a dry sponge like Pet Select Magic Pet Hair Remover Sponge ($5.97; walmart.com). One stroke across the surface collects not only fur but dander too. When you're done, don't rinse the sponge out in the sink. Instead, rub it with a piece of light-grit sandpaper. The fur will come right off.

Kitchen grease and gunk

Cook at home and your kitchen takes a beating, from spaghetti sauce splatters on the stovetop to baked-on bits in your favorite pan. Before you resort to takeout, try these ideas to make your kitchen gleam again.

Spray and wash. To make washing a sinkful of greasy dishes a snap, fill a 24-ounce spray bottle half-full of water and add 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar and a couple drops of your favorite dish soap. After you scrape off the dishes, simply spritz them with the solution and let them sit for a minute. By the time you're ready to wash, the gunk will have dissolved. Bonus: you can pre-clean dishes without leaving the faucet on, which helps the environment—and your pocketbook.

Soak up grease. Shake baking soda on greasy spills on the stovetop. It'll absorb the grease so you can easily wipe it away.

Slide a round wooden toothpick along the edge of the trim or molding. Spray some white vinegar on a soft cotton cloth and wipe the cabinet front. Then dry with a clean soft cotton cloth.

Simmer down. It's not just grease that makes a mess of your kitchen walls and cabinets. It's the wet steam that rises from your cooking. “The steam settles onto the dust and dirt and turns it gunky and sticky," says Findley. To protect your cabinets, keep lids on pots and pans when you cook, run the exhaust fan, and turn the heat down so your food won't steam so much.

Brew a fresher pot. Fill your stained coffeepot with water, toss in an Alka-Seltzer tablet, let it fizz for five minutes, then rinse it out. "My pot had burnt coffee etched in the bottom for a year," says Christine McDannell, president of Cleanology, a San Diego cleaning company. "I did this and it looked brand-new."

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