31 Days of Handy Home Fixes | Pretty Handy Girl

Welcome to Day 6 of my 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes. So you finally upgraded to an HE washer. You have to be careful because if you don’t take care of it you’ll have a stinky funky mess. Funky music = good. Funky washer = bad! The HE washers (front load especially) are air tight, which can be the perfect environment for growing mold.

Have no fear, this tip will take 30 seconds of your time! Keeping your HE washer funk free and like new is super easy.

Day 5. How to Keep Your HE Washer Funk Free

After each wash load,  grab a dry wash cloth or rag and wipe off the door.

Then wipe out the gasket (top to bottom) to remove any water and moisture. This is the main area that will get mildewy first. Gently pull the gasket towards you to get into the fold.

Open the detergent dispenser drawer and wipe out any visible moisture. Finally, leave the detergent drawer and washer door open to thoroughly air out your washer.

If you are already stuck with a funky washer, follow these tips for cleaning it out and eliminate any odors. Be sure to read the comments because my readers have a bunch of tips to help keep your washer clean!

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Adding Foam Weatherstripping | Pretty Handy Girl

31 Days of Handy Home Fixes | Pretty Handy Girl

Welcome to Day 5 of my 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes. Winter is fast approaching and now is a good time to assess your doors and windows. Do you feel a draft by your window when the wind kicks up outside? Can you see daylight seeping through your door?

Adding Foam Weatherstripping | Pretty Handy Girl

If you answered yes to either of those questions, you are throwing away money on heating and cooling your home. Today I’ll show you a super quick fix to make your home more energy efficient and weather tight.

Day 5. Add Weatherstripping to Doors and Windows

The photo above is a picture of the gap between our front doors. We were losing heat and letting the cold air inside through this gap. The solution is as simple as buying a roll of foam weatherstripping.

Adding Foam Weatherstripping | Pretty Handy Girl

Peel off a section of weatherstripping. Press it onto the door jamb. Peel off the protective paper. Test your door by closing it and look again for light.

Adding Foam Weatherstripping | Pretty Handy Girl

No drafts will be sneaking in here! You can also use the same weatherstripping on the bottom of your old windows.

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31 Days of Handy Home Fixes | Pretty Handy Girl

Welcome to Day 4 of my 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes.  What happens when you strip a screw head just enough that the screwdriver won’t get a good grip? Or the screw has been painted over so many times that you can’t get the screwdriver head in the hole? Ahhh, well, I have two quick tips for solving this problem!

Grab a thick rubberband, your screwdriver and a hammer.

Day 3. Removing a Stripped (or painted) Screw

If your screw is painted over, this tip will probably work for you. Set the screwdriver in the screw head (be sure to line up the grooves in the screw with the screwdriver cross. Use the hammer to give the screwdriver one good whack.

The pressure will either crack the paint or set the screwdriver in just enough to get a grip on that stubborn screw.

Need a plan B? Use a rubber band!

Stripped Screw? Use the Rubberband Trick | Pretty Handy Girl

Slip a thick rubber band over the end of the screwdriver. Insert it into the screw head.

Stripped Screw? Use the Rubberband Trick | Pretty Handy Girl

Turn to remove the screw. The rubber band will fill in the hole and give some gripping power while turning the screw.

Stripped Screw? Use the Rubberband Trick | Pretty Handy Girl

Uh oh, the screw still won’t come out? Here’s plan C: Use a dremel to get the screw out!

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For the entire month of October I’ll be bringing you tips and fixes you can do to protect your home, save money and save time. Stick around to learn more tips tomorrow. Sign up to get all the tips in your email:


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How to Fix Stripped Holes in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

31 Days of Handy Home Fixes | Pretty Handy Girl

Welcome to Day 3 of my 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes.  Have you ever tightened a screw 1,485 times before you finally admit that the hole is stripped? Procrastinate fixing that stripped hole no more!

Grab some wood glue and tooth picks and we’ll fix that hole in a jiffy.

Day 3. Fixing a Stripped Screw Hole

Remove the screw. Squeeze some wood glue into the hole. Add a little more on the end of a toothpick.

How to Fix Stripped Holes in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

Shove as many toothpicks as you can into the stripped hole.

How to Fix Stripped Holes in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

After the wood glue has dried, snap or cut the toothpicks off with a hand saw.

How to Fix Stripped Holes in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

Drive your screw into your newly fixed hole!
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Also check out other participants in Nester’s 31 Days Challenge.
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For the entire month of October I’ll be bringing you tips and fixes you can do to protect your home, save money and save time. Stick around to learn more tips tomorrow. Sign up to get all the tips in your email:


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Other tips in the 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes series:


31 Days of Handy Home Fixes | Pretty Handy Girl

Welcome to Day 2 of my 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes. Today I’m going to show you a tip for fixing a rubbing or sticking door.

Day 2. Fixing a Sticking Door

Do you have a door in your home that rubs on the frame or gets stuck certain times of year? Our bathroom door used to stick in the summer (but not the winter.) The excess humidity in the air caused the door to swell just enough that it rubbed at the top of the frame. The fix literally took less than five minutes!

Take a look at your door and determine where the door is rubbing. Assess which direction you need to nudge the door to break the contact.

The simplest fix is to try loosening or tightening the door hinge screws. Take a look at the door below. The door was too tight in the upper left corner. To relieve the rubbing loosen the screws a half turn in that top hinge. Test the door again. You may also need to loosen the screws on the middle hinge and tighten the screws on the bottom hinge.

Is your door still sticking? Try removing the screws completely from the door frame. Instead of shimming with a wooden shim (which would be too thick) cut a piece of thin cardboard (think cereal boxes and product packaging) and inserted it behind the hinge. Then drive the screws back in.

Shim a door hinge

95% of the time the above two tips will resolve your issues. If your door is still sticking, you may have to take more drastic measures like routing out more material from the door frame with a Dremel or using a power planer to trim down your door.

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