Household Hints for Dishes, China and Flatware

Yes I said household hints, not just for flatware and dishes but for the modern day household. We really do live in a much different time than our parents, as they lived in a different time than theirs. For example, my parents didn't actually buy a micro-wave until I was old enough to be the one to clean it.  Now if I had known; to put a dish full of water in it, then to turn it on for a minute or two, that it would wipe clean as if soaked for an hour. I would have saved a lot of elbow grease. I didn't, so scrubbed I did.  Now, when it comes to how to take care of; dishes; china, crystal and flatware some things have changed and some things have not.

We are going to talk about something a little different than dishes and flatware, first of all, the vacuum cleaner is your friend, and I am saying this with a straight face, really. I use my vacuum for a number of things that my friends tell me are odd. However they have always found me a bit odd, so this is just par for the course. Now, when I pull out my vacuum it is serious business, you see I have six children and this pretty much ensures that any act of cleaning in this house is a serious undertaking. When I need to rid my flatware drawer of crumbs I try to remember to put the smallest attachment on my vacuum cleaner. This ensures that I do not suck up the flatware or corn cob prongs [ these are particularly  hard to remove from the hose, therefore creating the, revenge effect, as I like to call it. That is where you spend the little time you have allotted to cleaning, unplugging the hose.] I vacuum my  rice cooker, this is easier than trying to shake it upside down over the sink, with the redundant result that nothing actually comes out, until of course, you have moved away from the sink and over the just cleaned floor.  the refrigerator is much less aggravating to clean once it has been relieved of all its cling-ons. The toaster is also a perfect candidate for the suction technique, no need to move it across the kitchen leaving a trail of crumbs. I must worn you though to unplug the toaster before you clean it, we wouldn't want to be dealing with the revenge effect with this one would we? I took to vacuuming my mattresses when I saw what dust mites really look like. If you haven't seen one look it up, afterward I'm sure you will take to vacuuming yours too.  The bathroom is another favored place for the vacuum, I hate hair, it has got to be the hardest thing to pick up when wet, so I vacuum first, wash second. Last but not least I put the vacuum cleaner attachments in the dish washer, yes the dish washer, I did say my friends think I'm odd didn't I.

The dishwasher is your friend also. Dishes and flatware are not the only thing a dish-washer is meant for, as I mentioned I put my vacuum attachment in the dishwasher. The reason made obvious when you think about the last thing I do with it and the first thing I do with it. There is not much I would not put in the dishwasher, as long as it could survive it. Some examples are;  the glass domes over my ceiling light fixtures, small ornaments with many little grooves and crevasses, barbeque grills, tooth brushes, the knobs off my stove, pot scrubbers,  the tray for the high chair, baby's teething toys or any toy that could handle being wet, because they are all eligible for teething. Things I have tried in the dishwasher without success are; dishes and ornaments with gold edging, brass flatware, silver flatware and serving dishes, and corn on the cob holders,     [ blood is often drawn, when I, as always, in a hurry, I try to rescue them from the bottom and inevitably get stabbed. One must wonder why I have these things.] I think I have mentioned this revenge effect once or twice before.