Home & Auto Maintenance Archives - Page 7 of 35

cleaning, Decorating, Home & Auto Maintenance, kitchen

What No One Will Tell You About Farmhouse Sinks

When we bought our farmhouse sink, I naively thought I wanted one because they looked so beautiful in photos of farmhouse style kitchens. Now that we’ve had our farmhouse sink for three years, I want to tell you What No One Will Tell You About Farmhouse Sinks, especially cast iron sinks.

Fact #1:

You will chip dishes and break glasses if you aren’t careful. It happens. We’ve lost two dishes and two glasses in our sink. Cast iron sinks are made tough to prevent chipping. Honestly, it’s cheaper to replace a glass or dish than the entire sink.

Fact #2:

You may get wet. We’ve found that when our faucet is on the spray setting it spatters us. I’m not sure if this is a factor of the sink design or the sprayer. We didn’t have this issue with our old two basin sink. To solve the problem we use stream most of the time and put the water on low when spraying.

Fact #3:

It will get dirty. A white sink will definitely show dirt and grime.

This was a bit of a bummer, as someone who had to constantly shine the surface of our old stainless steel sink with baby oil to hide the hard water spots. But, I’ve come to terms with it and only have to clean it once a week to keep it looking like new.

Fact #4:

It will get scratched. Cast iron sinks will scratch, but I expected as much since we cook almost daily using heavy cast iron pans. Honestly I’m surprised we haven’t chipped the sink yet. It’s held up to a lot of abuse. In three years we have yet to chip our sink, but the marks and scratches have happened.

Luckily, I have the perfect solution to clean a cast iron sink (or tub) to help it look new again.

Before:

After:

Fact #5:

You can’t wash dishes on one side and set the clean ones in a dish drainer in the second basin. With one large sink, all the dishes in it will get wet. This was the one change that was less of an issue for us. We simply put our dish drainer on the counter. When we have company, I put the drainer out of sight under the sink.

Conclusion:

If we were to go back in time and do it again, would I buy a farmhouse sink again?

Absolutely! I still love the look. Cleaning the scratches every few weeks is no big deal. I absolutely hated our stainless steel sink because of hard water deposits and spots. Scratches are much less noticeable than the hard water deposits.

I LOVE having a big sink to clean dishes in. I feel a bit like Elaine enjoying the extra wide driving lanes Kramer created. Who doesn’t like a little more elbow room?

Best of all, I can hide dishes in it. Little known fact, my coffee mug and a knife were in the sink when I took this photo:

The apron front farmhouse sink we have is this one. (affiliate link) If you decide to buy one, I think you will love it, as long as you are okay with those 5 Things No One Will Tell You About Farmhouse Sinks!

Does your HE Washer stink? Here’s what you can do about it:

Want to save hundreds of dollars a year? Make my tested and approved DIY Laundry Detergent!

October 14, 2016/58 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Home & Auto Maintenance, repair

4 Ways to Remove a Broken Light Bulb

Have you ever found yourself staring down the base of a broken light bulb? You must resist the temptation to reach up and unscrew it with your fingers. Not a smart idea. Instead you can safely remove it using one of these 4 Ways to Remove a Broken Light Bulb.

Let’s get to it! Before you begin, make sure the light switch is turned off or the power has been turned off to the light.

The Potato Method:

The old method that has always been touted as the best way to remove a broken light bulb has been to use a potato. Push the potato onto the broken shards and turn clockwise to remove. This works well if there’s enough shards, but if the glass is gone you’ll need to try another technique.

The Sponge Method:

Similar to the potato method, if you have some shards showing, simply push the sponge onto the broken bulb and turn counter-clockwise. Depending on how tight the bulb is, the sponge may just tear.

The Newspaper Method:

The newspaper trick works well for bulbs that have short or long shards. Ball up a wad of newspaper and grasp the bulb through the newspaper. Then turn counter-clockwise to unscrew the bulb. Then ball up the glass inside the newspaper and discard.

The Needle-nose Pliers Method:

Finally, if all else fails (or you don’t have any shards), you can use the needle-nose pliers method. You must remove any glass carefully with the pliers. Then grasp opposite sides of the bulb base. Gently twist each base to bend the metal. Then turn both pliers to remove the broken bulb base.

Hope these tricks help! If you have any other tricks for removing a broken light bulb, I’d love to hear them.

Like this tip? You might find more useful tips in my 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes!

September 16, 2016/5 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Home & Auto Maintenance

Easiest Way to Make Automobile Headlights New Again

Easiest Way to Restore Automobile Headlights | Pretty Handy Girl

Do the headlights on your car look foggy? I know, like me, you have very little time to deal with these pesky issues. I’m excited to share with you The Easiest Way to Make Automobile Headlights New Again! A year ago I spent about an hour and a half sanding, buffing and restoring our 2004 Honda CRV’s headlights. The kit was from 3M and it was pretty much what most people recommended. It worked great, but that was almost two hours I could have spent doing something else. Worst of all, it has been a year and the headlights have already begun to haze again. Ugh!

When I was at the Haven Conference in Atlanta last month, I was talking to a Rustoleum rep and she told me about Wipe New Headlight Restore. She told me that it was a cloth and you wiped it over the headlight for instant results. I was honest and said I was skeptical, but told her to go ahead and send me a sample. Last week, I received the sample and decided to give it a try.

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Materials:

Wipe New Headlight Restore
2-3 Clean Wet Rags

Optional: Mild soap to clean headlight

Instructions:

I opened up the package and quickly scanned the directions. I groaned as I read that I might need to buff the headlight. But, I was committed to give it a try. Keeping in mind that I had already buffed this headlight a year ago, I was hopeful.

1. First test the headlight with water. If the headlight is clear when wet, you don’t have to buff and can skip to step 4 (you do need to clean the light with soap and water before proceeding.) If the light still has a haze continue to step 2.

2. While the headlight is still damp, pull out the lens polish pad. It has two sides (green and gray). Use the green side to sand the headlight and remove the oxidation.

3. Re-wet the headlight and use the gray side to buff off any additional oxidation and further smooth the lens.

4. Clean the headlight with a clean damp rag, then wipe dry with the provided microfiber cloth. Inspect the headlight and look for any remaining signs of oxidation.

5. Now for the magic! Put on the provided nitrite gloves and remove the Wipe-It cloth from the wrapper. Carefully wipe the headlight (avoiding other parts of your car.) Only wipe once over the lens, folding and rotating the cloth to use an unused portion on each headlight.

You will be amazed at the change in appearance! You can clearly see the difference between the area that has been wiped with the Wipe New product and not yet wiped:

Finish wiping the headlight and use a wet rag to remove any Wipe-It that got on your automobile hood or bumper.

Here’s the difference between one headlight that has been treated and one that hasn’t!

Repeat the process for your other headlight and admire those shiny new headlights! Can you believe this is a 13 year old car?!

I still had some Wipe-It that wasn’t used so I ran to my neighbor’s house and told her how thrilled I was with the results of Wipe New. She let me treat her car’s headlights (which were more oxidized than our’s.) She joked that I sounded like an infomercial (I was that excited.) In all seriousness, this truly is The Easiest Way to Make Automobile Headlights New Again that I have found! I’ll be sure to check back in a year and let you know how it holds up. The Wipe New literature offers a warranty that says your automobile’s headlights will pass inspection for life the life of the car after using the product. Even if it starts to haze again, this process took me about 10 minutes per headlight. That’s so much easier than hours of sanding and buffing. And the cost is almost the same for the 3M kit I used a year ago.

I think all of the automobile owning family members will be getting one of these kits in their stocking this year!

Disclosure: This is a product review of Wipe New Headlight Restore. I was provided with a complimentary Wipe New Headlight Restore kit to try. I was not compensated for this post. I was not told what to write or say. This post contains affiliate links. As always, you will always be notified when reading a sponsored post or product review on this blog.

September 12, 2016/9 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Home & Auto Maintenance

How to Repaint a Metal Storm Door

Fall is coming and that means the trick or treaters will be on your doorstep soon. How scary is your entrance? We live in an area that gets harsh winters and hot summers. The elements really take a toll on outside doors. This is a good time of year to take care of any of those “scary” maintenance projects on your home. Today I’ll show you how to repaint a metal storm door.

In the front of our home, we have a wooden door and a white metal storm door with glass panes. It has gotten rusty over the years. Add in a lot of dirt from the traffic on the street and we were in need of a face lift.

Metal doors are easy to re-paint. There are a lot of color options to seal it and give it a new look. We decided to replace the mail slot, but repainted the door and door knobs. Of course, after you paint your door it may look so good that you’ll be inspired to replace those old door knobs.

Whether replacing or repainting your knobs, here are some easy steps on how to repaint a metal storm door.

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Repaint a Metal Storm Door Materials

How to Repaint a Metal Storm Door Instructions

As you can see below, there was a lot of rust coming through the white paint. The doorknobs and mail slot were tarnished, and the glass desperately needed cleaning.

To prep the door, take off any hardware you will repaint (by spray painting) or cover it with painters tape and foil.

Take out any glass or screens, if your door has them. It’s easier to clean and prepare the door for painting without them. Cover the surrounding area with drop cloths. Cover a wide area since spray paint can travel and cover many surrounding surfaces.

Sand the door as best as you can. I used a random orbital sander and sanding blocks. The goal is to get rid of any loose paint, dust, debris and rust from the door to prepare it for paint.

Using a rag and TSP cleaner, spray down the door and wipe it dry. This prepares the surface so new primer and paint will adhere well. Now you are ready to prime and paint the door.

Prime with a good oil-based spray paint using thin coats. Let it dry the recommended time. Paint your door with a gloss enamel paint in the color of your choice. (I used one can of paint and one can of primer to paint this door on both the inside and out.) Let the door dry over night.

After the door dries you can put on your new hardware (if you chose to replace it.) I took the initiative to replace the tarnished mail slot with a new one in oil rubbed bronze. You can find these at your local home improvement store or online.

I chose to re-paint instead of replacing the outside of the door knob and deadbolt. Using a brush and a can of paint means you don’t have to tape off or remove the door knob to repaint it. If you are spray-painting, you might want to remove the knob first. It took two light coats to cover tarnished brass. Make sure to adhere to the drying time for this kind of paint.

Clean up all of your supplies and enjoy your newly painted metal door. I’ve done this on another door in our house and it saved us hundreds of dollars since we didn’t have to replace the whole door. Painting is an easy DIY project you can definitely do in a weekend.

See you at Decor Adventures soon and happy painting.

~ Read more of Jessica’s tutorials ~

Pin for later!

September 7, 2016/6 Comments/by Decor Adventures

Home & Auto Maintenance

How to Remove a Rusted Carriage Bolt

Have you ever run into a carriage bolt that is rusted and doesn’t want to come out. A first approach would be to spray WD-40 on the nut to try to lubricate it. But, if that doesn’t work, I have a simple solution! Here’s How to Remove a Rusted Carriage Bolt while keeping your sanity.

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

If the bolt still won’t release or the bolt just spins while you try to unscrew the nut, you’re going to need to try something else. Especially because grabbing the head of a carriage bolt is next to impossible. And trust me, I tried using pliers and vice grips to no avail.

The easiest solution is to cut a groove into the top of the carriage bolt. If you have a Dremel with a metal cutting wheel, you can make quick work of this task.

Be careful to stop cutting when you have a groove in the head of the bolt. You don’t want to cut all the way through the head.

Use the socket wrench on the nut and begin turning the nut while holding the bolt still with a large flat head screwdriver.

If the nut still won’t budge, spray more WD-40 on the nut and wait a few minutes. Than use a hammer to tap on the nut and bolt to try to break some of the rust.

And that’s a simple way to Remove a Rusted Carriage Bolt!

September 5, 2016/14 Comments/by Brittany Bailey