Spring cleaning tips via your fingertips

Spring is here, and not a moment too soon. I cannot possibly be the only person who has had his fill of cold weather. Now that the crocuses and daffodils have begun to push their little heads above ground for another year, I am starting to feel better about braving the elements and heading to work every morning.

One day last week it was still a brisk 33 degrees when I departed for work, but Yahoo! Weather promised me that it would reach a balmy 55 by midday, and it did. It turned bright, sunny and warm, one of the nicest days of the year to date.

In the clear spring light, I was hit head-on by two sad realities: My home and my car both looked like a bomb had hit them. Inside and out, stately Granese Manor was a shambles. I would have to make it right.

Outside, my decorative concrete had begun to sprout a coat of light green moss. I have had to deal with this infestation in the past and found it a most formidable adversary. My flowerbeds and gardens were packed with weeds, and the only bright spot of the entire exterior was the spiffy new curb and sidewalk installation that had been effected over the past few weeks.

Worse, the noble Granesemobile, boasting a quarter-million mile odometer, was starting to look a bit threadbare. There was so much salt on the exterior that wandering deer and escaped barnyard animals had taken to licking the fenders. My rims were black with brake dust, and a dozen little paint chips had popped up all over the finish. It, too, needed attention.

The task was too much for me to undertake solo. Undaunted, I headed for the World Wide Web to discover the easiest way to make my home and vehicle look presentable again with a minimum of effort and at little personal expense.

www.flooringknowledge.com

My wall-to-wall carpeting was not in bad shape, but I was faced with a few spots here and there and some high-traffic paths worn into the nap. The Flooring Knowledge website had all the information I needed to service the carpets myself.

The sit offered a few hints for the brave souls who choose to shampoo their own carpeting. I usually seek outside assistance for that task. This time, though, I would attempt to clean up the spots without opening my wallet.  As things turn out, I had already done everything wrong when the stain occurred, mashing it into the carpeting instead of lifting it off. Next time I would know.

I mixed up a batch of the recommended cleaning solution, consisting of highly diluted liquid soap, and set out to remove the offending foreign stains – caused, I suspect, by a soft drink and a popular tomato-based condiment.

I followed the directions, blotting carefully as I worked, and was amazed to see the spots disappear before my eyes. One last cleaning with clear water and a few hours of drying time, and the area looked as good as new. Knowing that this was not the last stain, I carefully labeled the solution and stored it for the next event. For saving me big bucks on the road to clean carpeting, www.flooringknowledge.com wipes up five stain-free spiders.

www.diynetwork.com

Life in southern New Jersey is full of pleasures other people only dream about. With the beach just minutes away, we can take a quick vacation on just about any sunny day all summer long. The proximity of the ocean and our high humidity also bring a downside, like those previously mentioned green patches that have been popping up on the concrete surfaces at my house.

An expensive professional power washing would clean it off, but usually it just grows right back. I could rent a power washer, but the rest of the house is relatively clean, and I don’t feel up to fighting with a high-pressure hose for an afternoon. Fortunately, the folks at the DIY Network have a solution.

They suggested using a stiff brush and a bleach solution to treat the moss-infested areas. This method will kill the moss as well as return a nice bright finish to the concrete. Carefully applied, there is little runoff to damage plants and lawn. With a liberal application of elbow grease, the unsightly moss can be a thing of the past in just a couple of hours.

In addition to that handy hint, the DIY site offered sage paint-removal tips and a number of innovative uses for duct tape around the house; even, amazingly, on ducts. I was surprised to see a fix for leaky nonpressurized pipes that features a little putty and a lot of duct tape. It always pays to have a roll on hand. For removing my last excuse, www.diynetwork.com grabs five moss-free spiders.

www.dmv.org

House and garden work is easy. Cleaning the car is hard. That makes the drive-through practically irresistible to lazy people like me who want a clean car without working at it. While the occasional trip through the car wash is a fact of life, sometimes detailing one’s own automobile can be a cathartic opportunity for true self-expression.

The website at DMV.org offers a complete guide to detailing a car that can help DIYers accomplish the task in just a few hours. Keep in mind that as most home detailers lack the buffing wheels and exotic chemicals of a professional detail shop, the end result may not be quite as impressive. The same goes for the impact on your wallet, as a pro detail can cost $200 or more these days. Clean it yourself for under $20, and if you do a bad job, you can always have a pro fix it for you.

The procedure outlined at DMV.org is simple. It instructs you to start cleaning on the inside and work your way out to the windows. Directions are offered in plain language, like a suggestion to use tools like a can of air and some cotton swabs to make sure that your center console is free of schmutz.

I found most of the tips and techniques to be sensible. Best of all, it offered little in the way of suggestions that could lead less-adept car cleaners down the road to disaster. This site offers a wealth of information to the modern driver, from driving-record transcripts to insurance quotes to instructions on how to change the oil. While the commercial content precludes a five-spider award, the good information collected by www.dmv.org is surely deserving of four officially licensed spiders.

I may still rely on professionals to take care of many of the above tasks, but it is always comforting to know that I could have done them myself if I wanted to. Be especially careful when using any cleaning solutions, solvents, and household chemicals around children and pets.

Always check the manufacturer’s recommendations before attempting to clean anything in your home, and do not forget to wear adequate protection such as eye shields and rubber gloves. Suitably disclaimed, I would love to hear your home, car and computer cleanup tales. Reach me via e-mail at granese@juno.com, but take off those rubber gloves first.