Last month I had a serious fruit fly infestation at home so I set up basic DIY traps I found on the internet:

• Fill a glass or another container with vinger with a drop of dish soap, cover it with a plastic wrap and puncture small holes into it. The fruit flies will get inside but not out and drown in the liquid

Then I decided to use various baits instead of common white vinegar recommended in tutorials. I tried distilled vinegar, wine vinegar, white wine, beer and citrus fruit syrup. I set up the traps and let them be for about 3 weeks.

Beer proved to be the most efficient, with white wine slowly behind. Vinegar seemed to work fine on its own but in presence of alternatives, it wasn't very popular among the fruit flies, with wine vinegar being slightly more efficient than distilled vinegar. I added citrus fruit syrup as well just as an idea (they're called fruit flies after all) but only two flies wandered there.

So in conclusion, this DIY trap works well with beer being the most efficient bait.

I’ve tried everything on this shower door:

Water, vinegar, dawn
Bar keepers friend
CLR
Bio clean

Tried using scrub daddy, #0000 steel wool, magic eraser (which may actually have scratched a little, oops)

Nothing has touched it, and actually seemed to maybe make it worse?

Do I need to give in and just replace it?

Hi everyone, I really need some advice.

I rent a small 1-bedroom apartment. Today, a technician came to service my gas boiler. He used an air compressor to clean it out, and it turned out to be insanely dirty. It honestly looks like it hadn't been cleaned in over a decade. It's a miracle it was still working and that I hadn't died of CO2 poisoning, yet.

The issue is that the air compressor sent a fine layer of soot and dust all over my apartment. Everything is covered, white painted walls, wooden surfaces and furniture, plastic surfaces, and fabrics like my couch and the courtains.

I tried wiping a small area on the wall with a dry cloth, but it’s already leaving dark smudges/stains.

What is the best way (and sequence) to clean this off different surfaces without embedding the soot deeper into the paint or fabrics?

Any specific products, techniques, or "do NOT do this" warnings would be greatly appreciated!

I have to clean this thing every month and it’s such a pain. Any vacuums made for dealing w hair? Willing to splurge a bit

Hello. This may not be the typical question, but it's serious.

I am not joking when saying this, but cleaning makes me absolutely miserable. I meticulously just try to never get anything dirty and thus barely live which is also its own misery, but inevitably .. you must clean.

I have to do everything manually for multiple people. The dishes, filling the washer, hanging things to dry, the carpet, the beds, cleaning after visitors, maintenance, food. It feels like it is my entire life.

So my question is this...

How do you, personally, make this at all bearable or fun?

Is there a ritual you do? Is there anything? This isn't personal advice question, I am just asking, what makes you personally enjoy it - if there is anyone that does.

I am trying to view it differently, so I would really like to know what stuff makes people happy about it.

Are there any tools you especially like?
A ritual you do?

Anything about your experiences would be great.

Help!!

Is this realistic? Would you accept this list of expectations and the length of time that he expects tasks to take?

For context, it is a massive house with 4 individuals. (3 bathrooms, two living rooms, huge kitchen, 5 bedrooms, one laundry room, two main entrances including one main closet at the front that is never organized and one back door).

Two adults and two small children live there. Nobody cleans up after themselves, general tidy is never a “tidy” bc it is always insane, including toys everywhere, clothes all over the floor. Etc.

$20 CAD an hour. 4 hours a day. 4 days a week.

Please help. I am extremely overwhelmed by this.

So far I’ve personally tried:

- scrubbing bubbles extra strength
- dawn dish soap
- baking soda and vinegar
- a steam gun
- vigorous scrubbing in all of the above

I’ve barely made a dent in it. I think the dawn dish soap is the closest I’ve come to getting it clean but it’s still awful.

I windexed tf out of the door but it’s still basically opaque.

It is a 10-15 year old shower is there a chance it’s just time for my landlord to replace the pan? Idk if it’s fiberglass or plastic but either way its own of those and Google said those should be replaced about every 15 years

We have a window in our shower. The glass has a “frosted” film on it, but it also looks directly into our neighbour’s window, so in the interest of privacy and keeping the ledge/window dry, the blinds are necessary. It gets this orange build-up on in, especially the cord. The only way I’ve found to clean it is to take it all down and scrub each slat individually, as well as the cords. Is there any easier way?

Sorry for the horribly messy room. I have a trash can but there’s also other wrappers And whatnot around the room. All of those black specks are fruit flies, or at least some sort of bug. Please help, I hate the mess but idk what to do it I feel like the bugs would be the first thing to start with. It’s all just too overwhelming

Hi guys, I am handwashing my stainless steel stuff (I don’t have a dishwasher) and a fishy smell along with these rainbow spots appear once they dry (overnight).

Do you guys know if this is normal and, if not, what I could do?

Thanks!

Brand new fixtures in a commercial restroom, and the GC’s cleaner accidentally (seemingly) ruined them - the GC is going to replace them but they’ll take it from the cleaners and I feel bad, so I’m wondering if there’s any way to salvage them? At least the paper towel because they’re not super cheap - even if we can get it sorta-better, I can swap it with one in the back of house so customers won’t see it.

Any tips or tricks are appreciated!

How do you decide what to keep and what to get rid of, especially when it's something you might need again?

For example, I'm involved in dog rescue but am slowly stepping away from it. I have several dog crates sitting around that I'm not currently using, but I could need one at any time. How many should I keep? One? None?

Another example is those little clear plastic zippered bags that sheet sets come in. I had saved a bunch, finally threw them away, and then, of course, needed one! So do I keep one or two just in case? And if so, where do you store random "might need someday" things?

I can afford to replace these things if I need them, but they're sold in multipacks, which means I'd end up with extras that need to be stored anyway.

These are just two examples, but the list is endless. Different clothing sizes. Dog leashes. Shipping envelopes. Blankets. Appliance boxes. Etc.

My flatmate is quite bad for vaping indoors. There's been many a time that I've gone into a room and they've absolutely hotboxed it. I have no problems (abilities wise) cleaning the bathroom as the walls, floors and surfaces are easy to clean. I can handle the sticky residue on the windows with soap, vinegar or cleaner. But I can't get the smell to leave the spare bedroom or even really their own room!

I was steam cleaning the downstairs sofa, because I spilled something, and I noticed the smell of the vape fluid almost immediately!

It's the bane of my existence. Any ideas on how to get the smell out of soft furnishings and carpet would be greatly appreciated! Also, any tips for cleaning walls, without potentially damaging paint/wallpaper would be appreciated.

I'm aware the problem won't go away until they stop, but until they can at least open the windows, I need to find some way to sort it...

Hey everyone,

I had a large amount of really foul-smelling, rotten potato juice leak onto my hardwood floor. It spread along a line of about 10 meters (around 33 feet).
I wiped it up immediately, so the liquid was only on the floor for a short time. However, it’s been almost 48 hours and the smell is still pretty strong. I can even smell it from several meters away.

The floor is natural, oiled hardwood, so unfortunately I can’t just try all the usual suggestions I’ve seen here, like vinegar, harsh cleaners, or other products that might damage the finish or soak into the wood.

Has anyone dealt with rotten potato juice or a similar kind of organic rot smell on an oiled hardwood floor?
Did the smell eventually go away on its own? If you managed to get rid of it, what worked without damaging the wood?

I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from anyone who’s dealt with this on real hardwood rather than tile or laminate. Thanks!

Two months ago I moved into my dorm bathroom. Luckily my university doesn't have communal bathrooms so I just share this one with 3 other girls.

When our shower curtain started to grow mold inside it, we had to toss it so now I'm seriously considering bathroom cleanliness now. We talked to our ra and had someone check in on the mold to make sure it hasn't reached an unsafe level but it's just a matter of reversing years of cleanliness neglect now from past residents. I've never been in a situation where I've had to clean a shower with years of mild dew and mold built onto it.

How can I tackle this? Any products I should buy? We have a bristle brush and bleach and stuff but is there anything else I might need. Can someone offer advice on what to do or a step by step walk through or product recommendations?

Accidentally put the stove on 6, turned it off and poured some cold water on it.

I just moved into a new apartment and you can tell the previous tenants did not clean regularly. It smells like cigarettes and cats (which I’m allergic to) and there’s is a disgusting film covering the entire apartment’s floors. I have tried quite a few different cleaning products as well as a scraper to try and clean these floors and nothing will work. The scraper is pulling up good chunks of the nastiness but it’s leaving a scraped up - still not clean look and it’s driving me insane. I also can’t hands and knees scrape this entire apartments floors before I move my stuff in. Does anyone have any advice?

Yesterday morning I sprayed my shower with your standard bathroom grime remover. Thing is I forgot I had sprayed it and never scrubbed or rinsed it out. If I get in the shower this morning am I going to be bombarded with toxic fumes? I have it running now with the door shut while I’m in the other room. Is there anything else I need to do?

I have been over these walls 3 times with Tricleanium brand that’s meant to remove tough stains but it just seems it’s pushing the dirt around. I’ve moved into a new room and trying to get the walls looking better. I’m following the instructions. Making sure I do a full wall then go back over it again. Then a 3rd time with water. Has anyone got any tips to make this easier? Or are my walls and roof stuck like this? (The dark marks on photo 4 are where the paint has been removed but I need to clean around it before I can fix that)

We have just had all new doors fitted through the house, and somehow one of my teens has managed to rub some emulsion against one of the bedroom doors, just in the corner. any idea how I can remove the emulsion without damaging the door please?

We had a little early Halloween party for the kids last weekend, and the floors were a mess afterward.
There were muddy footprints by the door, crushed snacks all over the living room, and sticky spots in the kitchen from making treats.
We're hosting another party next weekend, and I'm already thinking about the cleanup. Last time I had to vacuum and mop everything separately, and some of the sticky spots took a lot of scrubbing.
Any tips for getting this kind of mess off the floor faster?

I wanted to reach out and ask if there was anyone willing to help me judgement free and 1on1 with some storage I’m struggling with. I only ask 1on1 because it’s kind of a lot and I have ADHD so I’ll add more than needed or go off track with the post. It was an awful depression room and I’ve gotten very far on it, but I’ve been struggling to complete it due to several mental/health issues giving me the absolute worst brain fog and having awkward storage space. I greatly appreciate anyone willing to reach out and help and completely understand if not, or if it’s not allowed to ask. Thank you and have a great and easy day!

I can visibly see build up between these spikes, but it’s a bit hard to photograph.

This juicer technically says that this component is dishwasher safe but I don’t like to put any plastic parts in the dishwasher due to the high heat. Additionally, even when I have put it in the dishwasher, it never quite gets into these tight sections between the spikes. I can’t quite get there with a sponge either. Sometimes I try to soak it in warm soapy water, but that still doesn’t solve the issue, it seems to need some abrasive movement to get clean.

Any suggestions? I’m on the verge of rehoming it to someone else who doesn’t mind this issue, and getting a simple metal, non-electrical citrus juicer instead. Although I do like this juicer option for being able to juice things that aren’t citrus, like celery, beets, apples, ginger, etc… so I would like to find a solution to cleaning it thoroughly.

Thank you in advance!