Magic Heat Mark Removal - Wooden Furniture

It happens to everyone at some point; a hot mug of coffee or a cold glass gets put down onto a polished wooden surface leaving a dreaded cloudy mark. 

This happened to me recently, but not just a small ring on the table. I had been making roman blinds and used the table to press the seams; of course I had used a thick folded cloth to protect the surface, as I have done before, but my new iron is a little more ferocious and a very keen steamer. The resulting iron prints down the length of the dining table simply couldn't be regarded as 'characterful'.

I had a small panic and tried to polish it out to no avail. So, Google became my best friend. There were a few suggestions mentioned: Iron a damp towel over the affected area (too scary for me), use WD40 (I didn't have any to hand) and then I saw the suggestion of Mayonnaise, whole egg not fake stuff.
Well, I had that in the fridge so I decided to give it a go. I dabbed a test area thickly with the mayonnaise using kitchen paper and put the kettle on. After half an hour I went to check on the progress and to my utter amazement, found the less obvious marks had disappeared; I whipped out the jar and dabbed the whole table with it. The table was already well used and had various battle scars which could benefit from a little treatment. 

The magic mayo trick is so simple all you need to do is wipe it off with a warm slightly damp cloth after about an hour. I don't know the science behind why this works but all the heat marks had vanished and the wood glowed with a renewed lease of life. I left the table to dry really well before polishing with beeswax polish and I must say, it hasn't looked so good in years.

So, no need to panic! This simple, quick and inexpensive trick really does work wonders.

SIO Tips 64: Maintaining a Wooden Board

Wooden or plastic chopping boards are the best to keep your knives sharp but wood can harbour bacteria so it's important to keep them clean. One great, natural, way to do this is to sprinkle the board with salt and use half a lemon to scrub all over; then rinse off with hot water. 
Once the board is dry simply wipe with a little olive oil or similar on a piece of kitchen paper to keep in tip-top condition.

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

SIO Tips 63: Snipping Corners and Excess

If you are sewing something that needs to be turned inside out when finished, make sure you snip the corners before you turn it right side out. This will make it easier to push the corners out and a neater final project because there won’t be so much excess fabric making lumpy edges. The same applies if you have excess fabric on the seam; trim some of it off, avoiding clipping the stitches before turning the fabric right side out as well.

 

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

SIO Tips no. 62: Keep your Kitchen Sponges clean

Keeping your washing up or cleaning sponges bacteria free is really simple with this handy tip. Just wring out the excess water and zap the sponges in your microwave for one minute on high; this kills any bacteria growth.


SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

SIO Tips no. 58 - De-odorise your wooden spoons.

Wooden Spoons are one of the most used items in the kitchen. Some people may have separate ones for baking or for stirring a savoury pot but this isn't always ideal and who wants onion or garlic tainting your Victoria sponge mix?

Here is a simple way to care for your spoons to revive them and have you cooking with confidence.

Mix together 1 Tablespoon of Baking soda to 1 Cup of warm water. Adjust the quantities depending on how many spoons you're treating; you want to fully cover the bowl of the spoon. Leave for 15 to 20 minutes and then rinse well. Dry as normal before using.

SIO Tips no. 46: Easy draw scents

When you have nice soap, keep the wrapper and pop in your undies draw to leave a lovely smell. Ensure you shake out any loose bits of soap before doing this.

SIO Tips no. 44: Sewing Machine Tips 3.

Needles, it is vital that you get the correct needle size for the job. Fine needles used on denim will snap; often inside the machine, so you risk damaging your machine or hurting yourself as you try to extract the broken needle from the work or machine. Needles specific to your machine and your work are very important and will mean you get great results from a sewing machine that will last you years.


SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

SIO Tips no. 39

Candle Wax removal - Many table cloths or carpets have been subject to a spill of candle wax but what do you do.

1. Work out what the fabric that has the wax on is, important as you're going to use heat and sometimes that might not be possible or you can only use a very low heat.
2. Scrape off as much as you can with a blunt knife, taking care not to damage the fabric.
3. Now using blotting paper (preferably) but failing that thicker unpatterned kitchen paper lay this on the area and then use a warm/hot iron on the paper.  This melts the wax and the wax will soak into the paper.  Change the paper often and do not leave the heat on for any time. Take your time, too much heat may damage the fabric below.

This should remove most of the wax from the clothes or carpet. However if the item is of valuable or on a high profile spot, then a specialist cleaner should be found.

SIO Tips no. 38

A stitch in time saves nine! The old ones are the best, well, so the comedians say.
Some of the simple pieces of advice from the past are some of the best. 

 Sewing: When making up a project it is quicker to pin and check, then even baste (long simple stitches - removed after seams sewn) your work so you can really see if you have it made up correctly before you finally machine stitch.  Unpicking fine machine stitching is soul destroying - avoid at all costs.

SIO Tips no. 37

When ironing fabric which has been printed onto, always iron from the back or even better with a clean tea towel between the back of the fabric and the iron so not to smudge the ink.

SIO Tips no. 34

Brushed steel appliances are difficult to keep looking show-room perfect and special cleaners can be pricey. Try using WD40 instead; simply wipe down the appliance with a damp cloth and spray on a thin layer of WD40, wipe off using kitchen roll leaving a clean, dry surface that is easier to wipe up next time your saucepan boils over.

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

SIO Tips no 30

Roof windows allow in a lot of light but can also fade your furnishings or clothes, make a simple light floaty blind to reduce the damage but keep the light.

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

SIO Tips No 27

Pop a little dish of Bicarbonate of Soda in the fridge to rid it of smells, leave in it lasts a good while.  Also when cleaning the fridge wipe with a damp cloth and Bicarbonate of Soda to give a lovely fresh and clean finish.  You can still use a little washing up liquid but do not use harsh chemicals in the fridge or mixed with other chemicals / materials.

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.