A suit-able remedy for odours that stay
Q I packed a wet bathing suit coming home from a vacation a couple of winters ago, and even though I unpacked it and washed it right away, it has a mildew smell. I rewashed it, hung it up to dry, tried special bathing-suit soap and washed it in vinegar, with no luck. Couldn’t part with it, so I put it in a cupboard with my two other bathing suits. When I pulled them out recently — all three had a mildew smell. I rewashed, hung them outside, let them sit in water with vinegar, and rewashed them with vinegar and bathing suit soap — to no avail. I’ve worn two of them in a chlorine pool several times this winter, and still the mildew odour remains. I always wash and hang dry right after use. Any chance at all I can remove the smell?
A Before washing your bathing suits in the washing machine, soak them in hot water and borax. Borax contains no phosphates and no bleach but is wonderful at zapping hard to handle odours. If you can’t find borax, use a generous amount of Oxy Clean or baking soda instead.
Q I have laminate floors and when the felt floor protectors on chairs, etc., fall off, they leave a sticky residue on the floor. I have tried Goo Gone, dish soap with a microfibre cloth, even scraping with the scraper I use on my ceramic top stove and nothing gets it off. Any help?
A Using a hair dryer, heat the area to loosen the glue. Next spray the area with WD-40 (test on an inconspicuous area first), and then lift the adhesive off of the floor with the help of a plastic putty knife so that the floor does not become scratched.
FABULOUS FEEDBACK
Just reading the question about removing dog blood stains from carpet. I have a messy cat and have used peroxide for years. I keep a small bottle of straight peroxide handy to pour on pet stains, and use lots of cheap paper towels to blot and rub. Works great for me, there aren’t many spots on my beige carpet this hasn’t been used on. Although peroxide will bleach the cat’s hair, it has never bleached anything else I have tried this on, but test on an inconspicuous area first. Cynthia
A little cornstarch in your ■ saltshakers will prevent salt from clumping. Menno
Recently, a lady wrote asking ■ about how much vinegar to use as a laundry additive. I started using vinegar as a laundry additive after I took a microfibre cloth to do some cleaning and found it had been rendered impervious to water as a result of going in the dryer with dryer sheets. My big problem was remembering to run down to the laundry room to put the vinegar in the rinse water. My solution was the purchase of a dryer ball, which is sold to dispense liquid fabric softener. I fill the ball with vinegar and throw it in with the laundry, the vinegar is dispensed at the correct time and it seems to be a sufficient amount. My laundry has never been softer, and vinegar is much more successful at removing long dog hair from dog towels and covers than anything I’ve used, and it is considerably cheaper. Darryl
Note: Users assume all risks of injury or damage resulting from the implementation of suggestions in this column. Test all products on an inconspicuous area first. Reena Nerbas is a motivational presenter; check out her website: reena.ca. Ask a question or share a tip at reena.ca.