The How to Get Rid of Things Blog

I am what some might call a neat-freak, some might call ocd, some might call anal, and some might call just clean. Whatever you call it, you can bet money that twice a year I will go on a cleaning spree, getting rid of clutter, clutter’s second cousins, a whole mess of clutter. So as the time for spring and summer cleaning comes around once again, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to write a new page all about getting rid of clutter. I hope the advice you’ll find there helps all of you trying to get rid of your own clutter.

I’ve cleaned my computer so many times, I hardly realize what I’m doing anymore. Well, this time around I took some pictures to show you how to clean a computer too. It’s not that hard, really. You’ll want to keep something metal nearby to ground yourself once in a while. The supplies you’ll need are: a vacuum cleaner (to suck up dust), a cotton rag, a bottle of 92% rubbing alcohol, and a can of compressed gas. I’d offer you advice regarding computer cleaning products, but I never use any, and there’s some stuff at the bottom of the article to help you make decisions regarding those sort of things. Anyway, if you can call rubbing alcohol and compressed air “natural”, then this is a 100% natural how-to about cleaning a computer.

Our list of articles at How to Clean Things is growing, and the next few articles on the docket are related to computers.

I couldn’t take it anymore! I had to write something, get something done. So, what did I do instead of make love to Natasha as she wrote about here? I cleaned the tile flooring in our bathroom with citric acid. It was an interesting experiment, and I wasn’t sure that it would work–but it did, quite well, actually. I chose citric acid because I had read somewhere that some people use citric acid a lot to clean things. I don’t remember where. Of course when I was a janitor, as I mention in “how to clean tile”, we used vinegar for the toilets, sinks, and mirrors, and super strong acids for the urinals and the floor. Eats up soapscum and mineral deposits right quick. So, if you’ve got a dirty bathroom floor (done in tile), then this is the article for you.

Maybe cleaning a bathroom sink is one of the more obvious articles that we’ve written thus far, but I was quite amazed at how well vinegar cleaned our bathroom sink. I was a student janitor for four years, and I’ve used my fair share of vinegar to clean things, but I had forgotten how effective it was on mineral deposits and soap scum–the leftovers on the bathroom sink. I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t get the little drain plug thing to come out. You know, the thing that goes up and down? Usually those things aren’t bolted in, but our is. Maybe the last tenants ran off with a drain plug and Mike (our landlord) decided to make sure we wouldn’t escape with this one.

So, I didn’t get to clean all the way down the drain, or soak the drain plugger thing in vinegar like I wanted to. Perhaps, when we move, I’ll add this to one of the steps if we find an apartment that lets us take the drain plug out–and they should, because those things get all sorts of gross after a few months. Nevertheless, here is a link to the article if you want to know how to clean a bathroom sink with vinegar.

I’ve mentioned in this article that I can’t remember how many times Natasha and I have yelled profanities at the DVD player when scratched or dirty DVDs we’ve rented have failed to continue playing–and it’s true. In fact, just the other night we were watching Poirot–probably the greatest mystery series every made–and our DVD player started to choke on what appeared to be a deliberate attempt by the last renters to screw the people who rented it next. So, I decided to do some research and perform a little experiment concerning how to clean a DVD. Well, wouldn’t you know it, rubbing alcohol and a quick polishing with toothpaste actually gets rid of dirt and cleans up superficial scratches quite well.

It may not be the most elegant job in the world, but knowing how to clean a toilet is important stuff. I know, because I’ve seen my share of toilets I wouldn’t dare put my toosh on, and I’d rather not have my friends thinking the same thing about my toilet. You know? Nobody wants to be known as “that person” with the toilet covered with crap and pubic hair. So, in our attempts to make “How to Clean Things” the #1 source for information about cleaning with all-natural products or household solutions, we have brought you cleaning a toilet with vinegar. Yes, that’s my hand in the toilet, but vinegar is actually just as effective at killing bacteria as any antibacterial soap you can buy at the store. But I wouldn’t tempt fate by drinking the water or anything like that. It’s still gross. Luckily, vinegar is pungent enough (for a very short time; it doesn’t linger too long) to cover the smell of a dirty toilet. This is just the first segment in a series of articles that will deal with how to clean a bathroom, naturally. *wink*