If you coat the bottom of a stainless steel pan with burnt food,
like I did last night, soak the mess in water and baking soda.
Google said let it stand for 20 minutes, but I soaked it for an
hour or so. Burnt on debris washed off without a problem. Whatever trouble I run into, I generally go to google for a solution. Just wanted you to know, their idea really works!

I did not know that! Sometimes I make fried potatoes (did I say that out loud? Are they still politically correct?) they burn on the bottom of the pan in the first few minutes and I scrap the bits constantly throughout the cooking. I like the crispy fried pieces to eat, but not so much to clean up, and it isn't just potatoes, it's the zucchini, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes that will stick, and noooooooo, I don't leave the pan cooking on high all the time, it just gets like that. So this is a great tip. *Look* - my shortest post!

DreamrKate,
I was happy it worked. That was a new pan I bought myself at Christmastime. And cookware is extremely expensive. I looked at your blogspot and really enjoyed it. I agree with the idea that art is soothing. And I love your artistry!

Just stocked up on baking soda! LOL...

Friends have called me the baking soda junkie. I use it for all sorts of things. From cleaning counters to cleaning burnt on food in pans to getting odors out of pans.

And if you mix it with vinegar, it's like a science project. LOL!!!

Baking soda and white vinegar are the best toilet cleaner around and so cheap.

These are excellent tips. Thanks.

It's also great for cleaning glass vases with the yucky brown ring inside.

For clogged up kitchen drains, I pour a cup of baking soda down the drain followed by some vinegar....when that stops bubbling, I pour boiling water down the drain. If you do this once a month, NO CLOGS! It works like magic...

Now I'm wondering if a baking soda/vinegar solution would take the "smoke" stain off of the INSIDE windshield of my car....anyone know? It is an old car ('98 Toyota) and the previous owner was a smoker. At night, holy cow! You can hardly see out of it. Forget Windex or any of the other cleaners. They don't cut it (pun intended).

JawJaw,
I wouldn't use baking soda on the inside of a car - just because it can be messy. Yes, straight white vinegar works on the tar and nicotine left on the inside of windshields. However, it takes a bit of elbow grease and numerous applications of the vinegar to get it fully cleaned. I know this because my hubby and I smoke. He likes to exhale thru his partially opened sunroof - man, was that a bugger of a job to get clean.

If you have some sort of rag that won't scratch your windshield that may work better than paper towels. I think I need to find something like that for the next time I clean hubby's car windows. (I'm so glad we don't smoke in our house. And the bigger challenge is stopping altogether. Any suggestions, I'm happy to hear.)

I've used white vinegar and water solution with crumpled up _newspaper_ instead of paper towel and done this successfully on the soot inside a glass fireplace door, so most likely it'd work with cigarette smoke. It may take a stack of newspaper, but you're also recycling, so no worries. Gets glass squeaky clean. I've done this for years.

Very cool, DJ. I'm going to try that. You get a big WOW from me today. I had no idea. I knew that newspapers were good for cleaning grills, so why not use them on the windshield! Love it.

DJ, mom used to use newspaper and vinegar and water to clean windows. What's old is new!

Well, I guess great minds think alike! I remember being so surprised when I first heard of this remedy, and was amazed at how well it works. However...the ink from the paper does get on your hands. It washes off, but meanwhile, you have to be careful not to touch the white leather chair, etc.

My neighbor washes her house windows with newspaper. And she has
done so, every since we moved here in 1985.

I always use paper to wash windows of any kind. Also use vinegar water. My windows sparkle!

Love sparklin' windows! Someone told me once, if the windows
in a place are clean, the whole place looks clean!

Mom was big on clean windows. I wish I took after her. HA! SO now you know what mine look like. You clean them and they get dirty so quickly. I can't believe it. We have lots of trees so I think that's why.

Another tip; we just had our kitchen floors refinished and the woman told me to use nothing but 1 part vinegar and 3 parts water to clean them. It works like you can't imagine. The house smells like a tossed salad for awhile, but the floors are clean and sparkling. It's a pine wood floor.

White & regular vinegar? Or doesn't it matter?

Okay. I just googled cider vs white vinegar. I read white vinegar
is mostly used for cleaning and cider vinegar is mostly used
for cooking. I've heard, over the years, that vinegar and
ammonia combined makes a wild cleaning solution. The vinegar isn't bad. But I can't hardly stand the smell of ammonia!

Another great use for vinegar (white) is to mix it with water (35-40% vinegar), put it in spray bottles and use it to clean up dog messes. It works just as good as the commercial stuff that is supposed to break down enzymes so the dog won't sniff out that spot again, and is Way-cheaper than paying 8-10 bucks a bottle for that other stuff. I have 3 dogs, one is 17 yrs old so she has accidents; have used it on tile floor in the dog room, and wood laminate the rest of the house.

Also use small amounts of white vinegar (1/4 cup) to a half full sink of water, to soak fruits and veggies in. Supposed to kill off all the pesticides, wax, dirt, etc.. I swear, after soaking my fruits (lots of berrie and apples) for a half hour, then rinsing well, they taste so 'pure'. Could be it's in my mind, but the method sure sounds valid, and I've made it a practice since we are trying to eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies.

One more and I'll quit.... 8 parts water to 1 part apple cider vinegar makes an awesome astringent. This mixture ratio will put your skin right back at its proper pH after washing your face. You only smell like an apple for a minute or two, and your skin feels so soft and "correct". It doesn't hurt my feelings at all to use something so natural that is so CHEAP, and easy (I make up a spray bottle full and keep it in the fridge). Also great to spray on your legs, right after shaving, though that does sting a little. Makes your legs better accept the lotion to follow.

OK, I lied...another 'one more'... #4 use for white vinegar. This one is for Mustang Gal if she's listening? Make your own fly spray using the U.S. Forestry Dept. recipe (google for it) that utilized Skin So Soft (Avon) oil, vinegar, a dash of essential oil, water, and a squirt of soap. Again, CHEAP compared to commercial fly spray and very effective (albeit, my mare doesn't like the scent either and curls her lip). Flys leave her body and the general area, when the SSS/vinegar fly spray comes into the vicinity.

These are indredible suggestions.

I'm guessing not, but doesn't the fruit or veggie absorb some of the vinegar taste? If not, that's amazing.

The cider vinegar astringent is wild. THe only time I remember putting vinegar on skiw was to take the sting out of sunburn. Anyone heard of that use.

The vinegar/water ratio for the wash for the veggies and fruit is small, only 1/4 cup to a 3/4 full sink of water. And of course, you rinse the fruit/vegetables off with a spray of cold water, after they've soaked a half hour or so... So, no funny taste! Just pure and clean. On the a.c. vinegar astringent, the 8 parts water, 1 part vingegar creates a solution with a pH that is the exact same acid/alkaline balance as 'normal' skin is supposed to be. Try it sometime, your skin really does feel good after splashing or cotton ball-ing with that stuff.

Olgraymare,
Thanks for the hints. I love the fact that you have 3 dogs.
Dogs are my favorite people, woops, I mean animals!

Thanks for mentioning the rinsing off bit. I didn't even think of that. Hello!

I have two friends who have three dogs. I don't know how they do it. One of them walks all three at once!

Know what you mean; I have all I can do to walk one dog, let alone three. Of course, mine still thinks she's a puppy and can
act like a fool.

This post has been one of the most useful ones I've read in a long, long time. Thanks to all of you for contributing. If you think of anything else, please do put it here.

I've got the newspaper, DJ and Olgraymare, and I intend to try it on the inside windshield of my car to remove the cigarette smoke left there, compliments of my son. This weekend I cleaned everything with the vinegar and water solution and it was soooooooooooo easy to do, and sooooooo clean afterwards. I even gave my kitchen (plastic) garbage can a good going over and it is about 20 years old. It looks brand new. I'm not kidding. I'm having a vinegar fest and if it ain't movin' I'm washing it down. Bawwahahaha...ahem.

I've gotta stock up on vinegar. I see that! LOL...

I need baking soda! Got plenty of vinegar. Don't ask...

Sometimes you just can't improve on the old ways of doing things!!! And whats cheaper than baking soda and vinegar?

I always buy the huge jug of white vinegar. Also the largest box of baking soda I can find. I use the vinegar to scrub my kitchen floor the mixture for my kitchen drains and I find white vinegar can take out stains. It's always in my cupboard!!

I just started buying big jugs of white vinegar to clean our kitchen floor. I'd never heard of that before.

What mixture do you use for your sink and drains?

I just dump some baking soda in my sink, then pour in the white vinegar. It really foams up. For my floors I use about 1 cup white vinegar to a bucket of water.

I buy the big jug, its cheaper that way and I use lots of it.

I think someone else on here uses it for their drains also.

K, thanks. I'm going to use this on our sink.

I use the water and vinegar dor our wooden floors.

I always saw those big jugs of vinegar and wondered who needed all that vinegar. Now I know. I'm on my second jug.

When you pour the vinegar and baking soda down your sink, you should follow it with a pan of boiling water once it stops foaming. Just FYI...

Down the toiet as well JJ. I do mine once a week and they sparkle.