Tip Tuesday! Clean and Save: Make the kitchen sparkle!

I am always looking for ways to get my kitchen in tip top shape. I hate that the kitchen is the germiest place in the house considering that we prepare food there. I did find these fast fixes in AllYou magazine, June 18, 2010 issue that are a great help!

Clean and Save

Substitute know-how for expensive products with this list of handy tips.

1. Eliminate Odors: Try coffee grounds to keep your refrigerator smelling nice and fresh, just as you do with an open box of baking soda. Place them new or used, in a bowl and remember to replace them every month or two.

2. Wash the dishwasher: To clean the inside of your dishwasher, fill the detergent cups with whichever one of these four products you have on hand: 1/2 cup white vinegar or a few tablespoons of powdered laundry bleach, Tang or lemon flavored Kool-Aid (lemon is the only flavor that works). Then run the empty machine through a complete cycle.

3. Chill Out: Use ice to cleanse the blades in your garbage disposal and break up the grease that collects on the rotors. Every few weeks, toss in a handful of cubes, turn on the disposal and run cold water. Add some orange, lemon, or lime peels to ward off odors.

4. Soften Up: Get baked-on foods off pots and pans with a dryer sheet. Just place one in a pot, fill with water and let sit overnight, then sponge off the next morning. The antistatic agent weakens the bond between the stuck-on food and the surface of the pan, while the fabric softener works its loosening magic.

5. Absorb it: Cover the bottom of your trash can with old newspapers to soak up leaks and odors.

6. Wipe away: Make scuffs on vinyl flooring disappear by applying a little baking soda with a damp sponge.

7. Gather shards: Pick up tiny slivers of broken glass--the ones you don't notice until you've stepped on them--by gently pressing a slice of bread or a piece of Play-Doh on the area. Be sure to wrap the glass up carefully before throwing it away--you don't want an animal to eat it or a child to play with it.

8. Nuke 'em: To keep bacteria from taking up permanent residence in your kitchen sponges, rinse them with water at the end of each day, squeeze, then put in the microwave for three minutes. Let cool before touching. Do the same with your cutting boards, if they are microwaveable.

9. Get fruity: Harness the power of citrus to clean your microwave: Cut a lemon in half, squeeze juice into a small bowl of water, add both lemon halves and place in the microwave for five minutes. The fresh scent eliminates cooking odors, and condensation from the steam loosens random splatters that have hardened. Wipe with a damp cloth.

10. Bring back the bling: Polish tarnished copper with this natural solution: Fill a 16 oz spray bottle with white vinegar and 3 tablespoons of salt. Spray onto the copper, let sit briefly, then rub clean.