Of all our material possession in the world, nothing trumps our homes. And, depending on where you live or your propensity to use public transport, in second place and a long ways ahead of third place would be our cars. In fact, cars are so important a material possession for people that those who can afford it build homes for their cars – the ubiquitous garage. And since you care this much for your car, perhaps caring for your car should be one of your 2011 resolutions. Below are some tips for better

Always park under enclosure

Exposure to the elements, particularly in the harsh cold or the blistering sun, damages your vehicle’s paint job. Taking care of your car requires you park it under enclosure as often and as best as you can. If you do not have access to housed enclosure, a key car care tip is to purchase a car cover, and pop it on your vehicle every night. Tedious? Yes. Critical? Absolutely

Drive sensibly

The more dramatically you drive your car – speeding off of traffic lights, taking corners like a Formula One driver, racing people on the roads as if you were a Formula One driver – the more wear and tear you do to your vehicle. In fact, many car care tips would be unnecessary if people adhered to the rules of the road, and didn’t put their vehicles under the kind of pressure they currently are. Advice: Stop treating your car like a toy you plan on discarding – it only puts the vehicle’s condition in danger, as well as your life and the lives of others.

Go for scheduled checkups

Most people drive their cars into the ground, and only once the engine starts croaking, exhaust starts spitting, or handling goes sideway, do we go see a mechanic. Taking care of a car requires you’re proactive about looking out for your vehicles conditioning. A key component of healthy car care is to take it in for a checkup once every six months. Find an affordable mechanic that you trust, who is best able to track your vehicle’s progress, and make a booking now for May and November already.

Taking care of a car is simple if you follow these most basic of car care tips. And while the list of things you could better do runs deep, doing these three things alone will save you money, and keep your baby in pristine state for longer stretches.

If your portable air conditioner fails to start, check if the power cord is in good condition and is plugged in properly. Have the circuit breaker and wall plug checked and replace the damaged parts. Check for fuse also. If the power is fine, then the problem is with the mobile air conditioner itself. Obviously if you just bought a brand new model like the Duracraft AMD 8500, the air conditioner ought to still be under warranty. If you’re air conditioner is under warranty then you are best off getting a professional service associate to fix, but if not then you should try the following steps to fix it on your own.

If operation of your air conditioner stops by itself, make sure the timer is not working, the room temperature is higher than the set temperature and wait for the room temperature to rise to the desired level before beginning operation.

If required cooling is not achieved then have the grill and filter cleaned thoroughly. The condenser coils and evaporator need to be checked for clogs. If both are in good condition then check to see if the compressor is working properly.

If sufficient cooling is not provided by your portable air conditioner, then it means you need to get a bigger air conditioner for the room. At times excessive sunlight can also affect cooling capacity of the air conditioner.

The garden spading fork is used for digging and aerating the soil and therefore is a very important garden tool. The spading fork has a single head that is made of heavy-duty forged steel with four angular back tines and is easy to use in rocky soil that is compacted.

If you have a compost pile in your garden then you will find that the compost pile is growing faster and it needs regularly forked out or turned so the compost gets done faster. For this, you need a compost fork so you can turn the compost pile. While a regular garden fork, like the Wolf-Garten AG-F, can be used for turning your compost, a compost fork allows you to do the job more efficiently. You begin to appreciate the compost fork only after you start using it. Use these two garden forks to get all your gardening jobs done with ease.

]]> http://www.home-living-news.co.uk/in-the-garden/526/choosing-the-best-garden-fork-for-your-gardening-activities.html/feed 0 http://www.home-living-news.co.uk/keeping-clean/506/maintain-a-garbage-disposal.html http://www.home-living-news.co.uk/keeping-clean/506/maintain-a-garbage-disposal.html#comments Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:54:18 +0000 Jay http://www.home-living-news.co.uk/?p=506 A garbage disposal unit is necessary to get rid of all the food waste. This unit needs to be maintained well so there are no hiccups such as clogging during the disposal process. When the garbage disposal unit is turned, the cold water has to be run continuously before the food waste is fed into the unit. No silverware or spatula should be stuck down through the splashguard. Cold water has to be run continuously until after the food waste has been ground and no clanking sounds are heard. If you hear some peculiar noises coming from the unit while it is working then some object is stuck in and requires immediate removal. Often, in such cases, the unit will stop working on its own.

You will not require special skills to remove the foreign object and it takes little time for the whole operation. Keep in mind that the use of chemicals should be avoided totally, as it can cause damage to the system. A simple tool you can use is a broom handle. If the stuck object is a fork like the stainless steel WMF 1871066030, or a bottle cap, the disposal unit may get stuck. If it does not have an automatic shut down, then manually shut it down by turning off the power. Have the splashguard removed and look inside the disposal unit using a flash light. Remove the stuck object. If it cannot be removed, use the broom handle to rotate the grinder and help dislodge the object. An Allen wrench is provided with the unit. This helps remove stuck objects. Purchase one if it does not come with your unit. Have the splashguard replaced and turn on the cold water to clear the disposal unit of small obstructions.

Did you know that dull knives are more harmful than sharp ones? These can slip from your hands easily, so ensure that all your knives are in excellent cutting condition with sharpened edges. The refrigerator is an appliance that requires cleaning on a regular basis. We often tend to forget what we put inside our refrigerator and even fail to use leading to the foodstuff getting rotten. This is especially true for large refrigerators like the Samsung RSA1NTPE fridge freezer. Have the refrigerator contents checked regularly so you can throw out all unused food. It is good to label all the products we keep in the refrigerator so we can identify them with ease.

Keep checking on all your stored foodstuffs in the cabinets. You will be surprised to find age-old tinned cans you have forgotten to use tucked away deep inside your cupboards. A regular clean up of all storage units helps rid of unwanted stuff and ensures your kitchen is well maintained.

Your cook top and kitchen counter top requires good and proper cleaning every time after you complete cooking chores. Use a clean dishcloth and cleaning solution to wipe out any grease or spills on the cook top and the counter top to leave it in a gleaming condition.

The kitchen floor needs swabbing and sinks require cleaning too. Regular maintenance of your kitchen ensures it remains clean and in good condition all the time.

Read on to know what all is essential to maintain your fish tank to give a healthy environment to the fish.

• Make it a part of your routine to check the tank. If any fish has died, immediately remove it from there with the help of the net.

• All the electrical plugs also need to be checked daily. If any of them is lose or removed, your fish may die early.

• As soon as you notice damage in the equipment, quickly fix it to avoid any further issues.

• It is also important to remove the uneaten food from the tank.

• Once in a week, trim the plants in your tank. This is essential to remove the excess growth.

• Remove all the algae from the tank walls with a scrubber. This exercise should be followed on a weekly basis.

• Change one fifth of the water every week to ensure the release of chlorine.

• Get a gravel cleaner, like the Eheim gravel cleaner, to do away with the dirt that is accumulated among the small pieces of gravel.

Apart from these daily and weekly care exercises, your fish tank also requires some monthly cleaning tasks. You must clean the filter tubing and also wipe off dust from the tank. Take care to create a clean and healthy environment for your fish.

If you have appliances that have warped, rusted or chipped enamel or ceramic parts, then you can consider cleaning and repairing these parts using an emery cloth and have it repainted using a paint sprayer. Getting professional help for refinishing appliances is a good idea to provide them with the desired new look.

Appliances that usually come with an enamel coating are cook tops, washer tops, oven doors and range tops. Using a porcelain coating for appliances ensures that they are heat and scratch proof and stain resistant. Certain appliances, like the Hotpoint BD52 double oven, already have a painted finish or a metallic finish. These appliances can be refinished using polyurethane refinishing. Polyurethane is a material that is not only high resistant to rusting and heating, it is also scratch proof and does not peel easily. Some appliances come in more than two colours. Therefore, it is better to check the insides first before you decide on a refinishing job. Appliance refinishing will help you provide your appliances with a new look at a fraction of the cost you need to spend on a new appliance.

First, know the nature of your wallpaper, whether it is washable or not. If they are washable, wash them at least once a year. If not, remove all the webs with soft brushes or a broomstick so that the wallpaper does not get damaged. Next process is the removal of dust. Gently remove the dust from the wallpaper with a vacuum cleaner, preferable a small one like the Black&Decker DV 9605 cordless vacuum cleaner, and you can see the difference in no time. Wallpaper used in the kitchen has a tendency to get damaged easily as they are exposed to a lot of heat and oil as compared to the other rooms. So, clean your kitchen wallpapers at least bimonthly to use them for a long time. There are many brands of wallpaper cleaners available in the market, so use them as prescribed to give your wallpapers a good look. Cleaners can also be prepared at home, the best one being the combination of vinegar and cold water. This combination can act as a wonderful cleaning solution.

Don’t forget to remove the stains as soon as it is caused. Removing of stains can be done with a solution of a little soap and warm water. There are a lot of stain removers, bug removers, tar removers, etc available in the market. So use them on a regular basis to clean and maintain your wallpaper.

Polishing your car could take roughly 15 to 29 minutes. The main items needed are Car polish and towels (preferably terry cloth). Before polishing, it is essential to wash your car first. Washing the car should be done away from the sunlight.

Now, the washed car is read to be polished. For the car polish, wide range brands are available to choose from, each having its own unique properties. It is important to choose a brand that suits your needs.

Polishing the car section by section is advised. This not only makes it easier, but is also more efficient. You will also naturally want to rims polished, especially an alloy set like the BK Racing BK555. First dampen the terry cloth and then add a few drops of the polish onto the cloth. Then, using circular motion rub the polish onto the surface of the car gently. Allow the polish to dry for a while and then a dry terry cloth towel must be used to buff the section that has been polished. This procedure must be repeated in all sections of the car.

It is important to note that washing the car first and using terry cloth to apply and wipe away the polish is essential as ignoring any of these steps would cause further damage to the car.

There are also several machines available for polishing a car, which can lighten this essential task to a great extent. And if you wish to eschew manual labour completely, taking your car to a dealer to get it polished is always an option.

Here are a few tips that will help you to maintain the vivacity your leather shoes:

Things to bear in mind while cleaning them:

Make it a habit to polish your leather shoes at least on a monthly basis, especially if you use them regularly. Moreover, you must be aware of the extra attention they may need from time to time to protect them from wear and tears.

Use leather cleaner that is specially made for smooth leathers to remove dirt. Saddle soap is one item that you can use for the purpose. It is also equally important to identify the type of leather the shoes are made of, as different types respond to stimuli differently. You have to treat smooth leathers differently than say a suede or nubuck.

Once you are done with the cleaning let them dry for a few minutes, and then start shining them with a soft cotton cloth.

Conditioning tips:

This helps your leather shoes retain the softness and also moisturise it at the same time, and thereby act as a shield them form drying and cracking.

Apply a sufficient amount of conditioner into the leather leave it alone for a few minutes so that the conditioner is absorbed by the leather. Finally, wipe away the remaining conditioner of the shoes.

How to polish them?

Shoe polishes are basically comes in four forms- waxes, pastes, liquids, and creams, with each one of them having a specific function. The wax form is the best bet to give a glossy shine to your shoe, while at the same time prevents moisture from soaking into the leather. While using wax ensure that you use the leather conditioner first, so as to preserve the quality of the leather.

Meanwhile, creams and pastes are suitable to all types of shiny or smooth leathers. Liquid polish is the most easy to use, but just like wax has limited utility since it doesn’t penetrate or condition the leather.