Dave Pietromonaco's Household Tips Page

I would like to note that I'm not affiliated with any products I mention these are things that have worked for me.

Also, be careful when using cleaners. Do NOT mix cleaners. Of the things I suggest, be especially sure not to mix the X14 and Comet. You can produce fumes that will hurt you!

This page really IS under construction. I have more tips which I haven't had time to add. If you have some things you'd like to share with me, please do e-mail me. (pietro[atsign]videoi.com (@ omitted to reduce spam. Use @ instead of [atsign] of course). 

Bathroom

This is undoubtedly the worst. I hate cleaning bathrooms. Here's some things I've discovered over time:
• Mildew: I use X14 Mildew remover. It's not as strong as it used to be about 10 years ago when it would dissolve mildew instantaneously and if you got it on your skin you could feel it burn, but it's still pretty quick (~10- 15 minutes) to dissolve mildew (with no work!) and is probably safer. I always use latex gloves. These are handy for lots of things I may cover.

Special Tip: Remember when you first bought your shower curtain and it didn't get mildewey for a really really long time, then after the first time, it seems to get mildew pretty often? You can restore that mildew-proof action by soaking your shower curtain in a solution of water and X14. I fill the bottom of the tub with enough water to cover the curtain and then spray in about 10 triggerfuls of X14. (You have your latex gloves on, of course) Swish the curtain around so that it gets thoroughly covered and then hang it up and let it dry. Works for me.
• Mirrors: Somebody wrote in and told me they used shaving cream on their mirrors to eliminate fog.  I was credulous, so I tried another experiment...  One third of the mirror I used windex, one third I left as control and one third I used a coating of "Edge" Gel.  First off, it took quite a bit of buffing to get the shaving cream (gel) to become transparent and you could still see a slight film if you looked at it at an angle.  (If you didn't know what to look for, though, and didn't look at the right angle, you really wouldn't notice it)  Well, I have used a lot of anti-fog chemicals and I've never seen anything work this well, folks.  The shaving cream (gel) panel has remained absolutely fog free for over a month, as of the time of this writing and there's still no fog at all!  (Hey, no comments on how often I clean my mirrors ;)
  (My pre-shaving cream comments :) :Somebody once told me that if you used an amonia cleaner on glass it would be less likely to fog up. I decided to try this, so I cleaned the left third of my mirror with Windex (with ammonia), the center third with Glass Plus (what I'd always used) and the last third I just left as a control and didn't clean it. Sure enough, the Windex cleaned side had notably less fog, and the other two were identical. The effect lasted about a week for me but I'm sure it'll vary for everyone depending on how hot and steamy you take your showers. 
  Note: I used to use Fog-X but I thought it was kind of a pain since it really didn't last long on the bathroom mirror. I use it in my car, though, see the car section.  And I think the shaving cream has a bit too much residue for use in the car.
• Fixtures: I rather like Lysol's Foaming Disinfectant Basin, Tub & Tile Cleaner spray because I like the way it smells, and it leaves what I think is an unusually shiny surface on the chrome parts.
• Soap Scum in the Tub: Ahhh, I saved the best for last. It took me years of scrubbing with every kind of chemical I could think of and brushes and sponges and etc. and I never found the proper thing to clean the tub. Until I got stupid and used the soft-scouring pad on the backside of the kitchen sponge type of sponge! (Note: don't use the super abrasive ones. The ones I use are the white scrubby material, which is about the hardness of a fingernail I suppose) Takes that soap scum right off! Just use your favorite cleaner, I happen to use some X14 soap scum remover since I have it around, but it really doesn't work better than anything else I've found.

Carpet

• Resolve, Resolve, Resolve. This stuff takes out everything I've ever spilled on my carpets or upholstery. There may be some other brands that work as well, but, I've never needed to try them.
• But what about candle wax? If you use drippy candles and the wax runs off your candles, off your holder, off your cabinet and onto the carpet (or any other cloth) you can remove it easily with a paper towel and a warm iron. Fold the paper towel a few times and put it over the wax spot. Iron the paper towel over the spot, and as the wax melts, the paper will absorb it. You may have to repeat this a few times, but it works well and is quite quick.
• Somebody wrote me an e-mail asking how to get lipstick out of carpet. We discovered that rubbing alcohol (although I prefer denatured ethyl alcohol, myself) would takethe stains out.

Vinyl and Plastic Care

Which leads me to:

Your Car

Well, every good bachelor has to take care of their car!
• Windows: If you like to drive fast, drive in the rain, or drive through bug infested areas, I would recommend RAIN-X highly. It's a little more work because it takes a little time to apply it, but it's worth it for the above people. If your windshield has fine scratches in it, it will tend to make those less visible so you can see better to drive faster. If it rains, you can see very clearly since the water immediately beads up and rolls off, and doesn't make a big distorting slobber on the windshield. You don't need to use your windshield wipers if you drive over 30 (typically) and it will last longer if you don't because the wipers tend to live up to their names and wipe it off. One other thing I've noticed is that bug splatters tend not to stick to the windshield as much. Plus they clean off easier.
• Rear Window Defogger: I bought my car used, (It's an 1987 Toyota Corolla FX 16, which is basically a hatchback Corolla with the MR2 engine stuffed under the hood. It performs great, it handles well, it's got lots of room, gets good mileage, and is incredibly reliable. Trouble is, it looks kind of like a Gremlin. Ah, well...) and it had a couple of the rear window defogger strips which didn't work. I was able to repair the strips that didn't work by simply touching up the wires with a conductive pen where the old conductors were scratched off. Usually (as was my case) it's just a small point somewhere. Conductive pens can be found at pretty much any electronics components store for hobbiests that carry a full line of circuit board prototyping stuff.
• Driving in the Sunshine: Actually, I'm not going to get into driving tips because I'm sure you all know how to drive, but I've driven delivery trucks during the day and make long drives of 1000-1500 miles in a day. (I used to drive from Seattle to San Francisco or LA fairly often). Anyway, I've learned the best thing for long trips is a pair of lightly darkened polarized sunglasses. The polarization removes road glare and blinding reflections off of bumpers, roads and glass. The fact that it's not very dark means that it doesn't slow down your reaction time or make it difficult to see those errant garbage trucks swerving in front of you.
• Remove any spot from the paint of your car: Actually, I really can't recommend this, but I have done it when desperate. Denatured Ethyl Alcohol will take anything off, including paint. Dab a few drops on a clean Kleenex or other thng soft and CLEAN (if it's not clean, you will imbed the dirt in your car paint) and wipe on the spot gently. I'm pretty sure this is removing your paint, so use sparingly and you have been warned!

Kitchen (or Dining Room) Table

You can also use a similar trick for marble (which is highly porous) surfaces, using professional marble wax for them.