June Project for the Home
- , by Trudy Chuoke Trudy Chuoke
My primary goal in this column is to tell my readers the best products to use to maintain their home. I don’t know about you, but one of my biggest assets is my home. And so that the value of the home is preserved, I work at taking care of it the best that I can. And telling you ways to do simply and economically that is what I enjoy doing. I like to make it simple, because I want you to succeed and then once you feel good about one project- you will feel confident about tackling the next project. So, let's go over what monthly projects we have discussed so far.
We talked in January about using White Ring Remover for stains on furniture. February was Morgan’s Repellent for Mice. March’s project was using Howard’s Leather Salve. April was sharpening your own knives with Any Sharp. And May was using Fresh Wave. So now it’s June, and I think it’s time to kick it up a notch. So, pick a cool morning and walk around the house.
In the cool of the morning is a great time to wash the windows and there are two choices of window wash that make the job easy. Zep makes Concentrated Outdoor Glass & Surface Cleaner that runs around $12.99. It is a quart sized container that hooks us directly to the hose. It will allow you the clean the windows and rinse the windows with just a switch on the nozzle. It will leave a streak free shine without using a squeegee. It will reach to the second-floor windows easily and clean about 18 windows. The good part is it will go through the screens, so you don’t have to remove them. (unless they are solar screens) They give a tip right on the container – if the windows are heavily soiled, pre-wash them first with a high-powered garden hose nozzle. The other window cleaner is made by Krud Kutter. It too is a concentrated formula and will clean up to 18 windows and will reach to the second floor. It runs a little more expensive at $16.99 a quart. The most important part of cleaning your windows is to do it while the glass on the window is cool, so that the formula doesn’t dry too quickly. These products work like Jet Dry in the dishwasher, drying slowly without streaking.
Now that the windows are clean, let tackle the outside of the house. A clean house looks like you just painted. You rinse all that dust and grime off and if you have painted with a quality paint, your house will look great. So, what should you clean with? I like to use 30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner. It will take off stains from algae, mold, and mildew. You can safely use it on wood, stone, concrete, vinyl siding, stucco. It would take me almost a paragraph to list all the surfaces that you can use 30 Seconds on. Just like washing the windows, lets clean in the cool of the morning. The 30 Seconds formula comes in 3 sizes. It comes in a quart sized ready to use for small projects like cleaning an outdoor planter or birdbath. It comes in a convenient hose end size for convenience. (but it doesn’t go that far- maybe about 21 ft.) But the size I like to recommend is the concentrated gallon size. The gallon mixed ½ and ½ with water makes 2 gallons and it’s priced about $17.00. Start with a dry surface. Spray on 30 Seconds, let it work a bit and then rinse off with a garden hose. I have used it around my house, and it never bothers my foliage. You flood the area with water when rinsing. Clean the outside of the house, your concrete driveway and sidewalks and don’t forget your deck and outdoor furniture. It does an amazing job on that PVC outdoor furniture. Just remember if you get it on your clothes, it will probably bleach them, so wear old clothing and protective eye wear.
These are two great and easy jobs that are fast and inexpensive. And you will look like a total pro. I was going through some of Dad’s original articles. They were always in the real estate section of the paper here in San Antonio. And I looked at some of the housing prices. The houses went for around 200-229,000. That was in 1993. Those subdivisions now, the houses would be anywhere from 700-950,000 now. The money you can make on a well-cared for home is awesome.