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How to get the smell of cigarettes and cigars out of the house?

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It looks like we’re going to be having house guests again in about a month. My husbands brother is going to be coming for a visit from Chicago. Just for the weekend … but it will feel like a week. LOL

When my husband and his brother get together it gets really loud and smelly in here! My brother in law smokes roll your own cigarette and occasionally a cigar … I think he smokes tatuaje cigars but whatever they are, along with the cigarettes … that’s all my house smells of for a week or so after he’s left.

My husband and I smoke as well, but Canadian cigarettes don’t smell quite as much as American ones do. Oh don’t get me wrong I know they smell, but there’s a distinct smell to American cigarettes and cigars.

My brother in law knows he’s not supposed to smoke his cigars or cigarettes in the house. He can smoke our cigarettes … but not his. Still .. after a few drinks and when my husband and him get going out comes those stinky things and I’m stuck with the smell. Grrrr

So how do you get the scent of cigars and cigarettes out of a home? I’d love some good ideas. I put out little dishes with diluted white vinegar and that helps a bit, but not enough. Suggestions?

How not to sell a house!

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Last week our neighbors house, which is for sale (remember the bad renter neighbor stories?) had an open house. Just for the heck of it my husband and I decided to take a peek at the house.

I know the house hasn’t had any renovations … possibly since it was built in 1927 … but we were still curious to see if our neighbors family had decorated the house to prepare it for sale … Uh … the answer is NO. A big no!

The house is mostly empty … which is fine. I don’t think a house necessarily has to be dressed up when it goes up for sale … an empty house can allow prospective buyers to picture their own furnishings in the home.

However I don’t agree with what our neighbors family did. As I said they left most of the house empty, but they put what appears to be office furniture in the living room and dining room.

It just looks … odd.

They also took out all of the appliances! Why? I’m fairly certain that if you’re trying to sell a house for a good price you’re probably more likely to make a sale and get your asking price or higher if you have all the appliances (washer, dryer, fridge, stove etc) in place.

This is definitely an example of how not to sell a house! LOL

I guess it will be a while before we have new neighbors!

What’s the best way to clean blinds?

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I love the look and function of blinds in a room, but I’m at my wits end as to how best to clean them.

When we moved into our house (our first and only house so far) we decided to use curtains on the main floor and and a combination of blinds and sheer curtains or roller blinds in the upstairs bedrooms.

Curtains are easy to clean – just throw them in the wash or take them to the dry cleaner depending upon what materials they’re made of, but blinds are another story.

We have mini-blinds in our master bedroom and I’ve taken to wiping them down with a damp rag and dusting them with my big duster whenever I’m cleaning. This works, but not as well as I’d like or perhaps I’m just not doing it as often as I should.

The roller blinds in the two spare bedrooms we have get vacuumed or dusted. I’d love to wash them since they are made of material, but due to their construction that’s pretty much impossible.

Any good tips on cleaning mini blinds and roller blinds?

A small pond would be a great feature in our garden

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My husband has always wanted to put a pond in our back yard garden.

When we first moved in to our house we landscaped the front and back yards and we now have a lovely rose garden. Well … it’s not all roses, it’s a good mix of roses, flowering plants and greenery. It’s quite beautiful.

The only major thing that’s possibly missing from our little back yard oasis is a pond or fountain. I think I can make some room for a pond fountain somewhere near the patio where we can enjoy it.

I think I’m going to do a little research as to how to put in a pond and what we’ll need .. you know, things like pond pumps a liner and maybe some pond plants and surprise my husband with my new knowledge. Then, maybe in April or early May we’ll start putting in a pond. It will have to be a small one, but I know he’ll love it.

Have you ever built your own pond or installed a garden fountain? Tips?

Time to use the steam cleaner in the bathroom

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In early January I bought a general purpose steam cleaner. It’s a Shark model. I’ve only had a chance to use it once so far and the results weren’t quite as good as I was expecting.

One my first attempt using the steam cleaner I went after the backsplash tiles in the kitchen, the stove and the fridge. The cleaner worked great on the stove and the fridge. It really got the grime out of the corners and crevices on both appliances.

The backsplash tiles in the kitchen were another matter. I used the scrubbing attachment on the steamer to try to clean the grout area between the tiles and while the grout did look cleaner where I worked at it they didn’t look anywhere near as clean as I’d hoped.

I guess I was hoping that using the steamer once on the tiles would remove years of grime that had built up on the grout. I guess I’m going to have to get some kind of grout cleaner to clean the grout between the backsplash tiles and then I can use the Shark Steamer to maintain the clean look.

One my next attempt to use the Shark steamer I’m going to tackle the bathroom. The grout in the bathroom isn’t that bad, but it could use a good cleaning. What I really want to clean in there is the silicone seal between the tub and the shower wall tiles. It looks like it has mildew in some areas and the steamer should at least help kill the mildew … and hopefully remove it too.

Actually almost all of our upstairs bathroom is tile of some kind or another. The tub/shower area is tiles up to the ceiling and then the walls have tile that goes from the ground up to about 4.5 feet in height. (our Kitchen is like that too .. I guess the former home owners really liked tile?). The bathroom floor has those tiny square floor tiles and yes, the grout between those tiles could use a very good cleaning too.

Hopefully I’ll find the time this weekend to get the steam cleaner out and try it out in the bathroom. It’s a shame that I’ve only used it once since I bought it.

Do you have a general purpose steamer that you use to clean the bathroom, tiles, appliance and perhaps even the floor? If so, what kind do you have and are you happy with it’s performance?

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