Sarah's Housekeeping Blog

Dinner is delicious. All your guests are thrilled with the cooking. But all you can think of is a sink full of dishes with baked on food. Find out how to get baked on food off of your dishes.

Derrick, a reader asks the question...

"Is bleach better for washing white clothes? Or should I use baking soda?"

It depends on what you want for your whites. Find out how I use both bleach and baking soda to get my whites squeaky clean.

Recently, my husband and his cousins decided to tile their grandmother's bathroom. I had to laugh as I watched them agonize over which color and contrasting pieces would be best. They repeatedly felt the texture of several samples and debated the pros and cons of pieces that looked nearly identical to me. We take a lot of care in deciding what to install in our homes, but we often don't think as much about how to maintain what we install. Here are the top 10 tile mistakes and what to do instead.

Cynthia, a reader writes...

Tile floors are gorgeous but seem like a pain to keep up with. Many people have advise me to seal my tile floors, but I thought it was just the grout that needed to be sealed?

Turns out that the need to seal a tile floor depends on what kind of tile you have.

My kids have been making lists for me since they could draw squiggly lines. My daughter is especially good at writing out a list of things that I've promised to do for her on any given day. I don't think that girl trusts me to remember on my own. I'd be insulted if it weren't for the fact that her lists help a lot. Yesterday, she reminded me that invitations for her birthday party need to go out this week.

"Don't worry. I'll get the invitations tomorrow."

No looking very confident in my ability to remember, she asked, "Mommy, could you please write it in your planner."

So, to appease her little nearly nine-year-old heart, I got out my planner and wrote in all capital letters to "BUY B-DAY INVITES".

Trying to find the perfect day planner for your hectic life? Find out if the momAgenda Desktop Planner is a good fit for you.

I was shopping at a local store the other day when I noticed a woman who seemed a little lost on one aisle. She was picking up each day planner, staring intently at it, and replacing it on the shelf. This process repeated itself several times before she turned to me laughing and asked, "How am I supposed to know which one will organize me?"

Choosing a day planner can be a little tricky. We're often looking for a miracle product that will take our disorganized days and turn them into productive time periods. That can happen, but only if we find a planner that really works for us.

One of our readers emailed me recently wanting to settle an argument between himself and his lovely wife. I'm not used to dispensing marital advice. My first thought was to refer them to our wonderful guides to marriage, but then the husband got to the gist of their argument and I realized that I might be able to help, after all. How much laundry makes a full load?

I put out all of my pumpkin shaped decorations last week. The temperature hasn't really caught up to my mood, yet. I'm hoping it does soon. The calendar says it's fall though, so I'm celebrating even with summer trying to hold on. The beginning of the fall signals me to complete some seasonal chores that need to be done to get my home and family ready for fall and winter.

My mother has an antique washboard on display in her home and I can never really look at it without wondering how I would possibly have made it in a world with no washing machines. Even with our modern appliances, most households still have some clothing items that need to be handwashed. It may seem like a lot more trouble than being able to use a washing machine, but Anne-Marie Barton's video will show you just how simple hand washing clothes can be.

More Laundry Resources

Top Laundry Detergents
Top Stain Removers
How To Sort Laundry

Did you know that football season is my least favorite time of the year? Which stinks, because it's during the fall. The fall would be my favorite time of the year, if it weren't for football. I'm one of the countless football widows that the start of the season reveals. It's not that I don't like football, it's just that I have other interests. And my husband...doesn't. So I truly believe that cleaning our television before all of the big games started this weekend is a huge indicator of how much I love that man. And I'm sure he'll say thanks...after the Super Bowl is over.

More Electronics Cleaning

General Electronics Cleaning Tips
DVD Cleaning Tips
Cell Phone Cleaning Tips
Computer Cleaning Tips
MP3 Player Cleaning Tips