Category Home Problem Solver

•  Solution for sunlight damage

Sunlight can wreak havoc on your furniture, but you can restore it to its former lustre with plain old petroleum jelly. Use a soft cloth to rub a good amount into the wood until the finish perks up. Remove any excess with a clean cloth, and then polish the wood to renew its shine.

•  Tea time for grime

To remove accumulated grime on wooden furniture, put two tea bags in a litre of boiling water and allow to cool. Dip a soft cloth into the solution, wring it out and then test it in an inconspicuous area on the table. If you’re pleased with the results, wipe down one section of the piece at a time. Continue dipping, wringing and wiping until all the old polish has been removed. Let it dry, buff with a soft dry cloth, then stand back and watch it glow.

•  Steam out a dent

You can sometimes repair a small, shallow dent in wooden furniture with a warm, damp cloth and a steam iron. Fold the cloth and place it over the dent, then press down with the tip of a warm iron for several seconds. If the dent doesn’t swell, repeat, but don’t overdo it. You need to provide just enough moisture to swell the wood back to its original size. (Don’t do this on shellacked or painted finishes.)

•  Repair veneer edging with an iron

If veneer stripping or edging is bulging or popping up from the surface of a piece of furniture, lay a warm, damp cloth over it and press down with the tip of a warm iron for several seconds. Once it’s flattened, roll the edging with a rolling pin.

•  Unstick a drawer

Wooden drawers can become stuck for all sorts of reasons, but the most common cause is excessive humidity. Although you can’t see it, the wood fibres actually swell from the extra moisture in the air. To shrink them back to their original size, use a hair dryer on a warm setting, directing it to the drawer slides and the drawer itself — which should open with ease after a few minutes. For stuck drawers that are more stubborn, try rubbing the sides, bottom edges and slides with lip balm, a bar of soap or paraffin wax or beeswax.

•  Lubricate metal drawer runners

Rust and other deposits can cause metal drawer runners to seize up or to move unevenly. Keep them running smoothly and free of rust by lubricating them occasionally with a smear of petroleum jelly or a squirt of WD-40.

•  Hassle-free hardware

If you want to keep the shine in decorative brass handles and knobs, give them a coat of clear nail varnish or clear lacquer. This simple task will provide years of protection against the damage wrought by skin oils and tarnishing.

•  Revive sagging cane seats

The more use it gets, the more a cane seat is likely to sag. To tighten a baggy seat, first soak two or three tea towels in hot water and wring them out lightly. Then turn the chair over and lay the hot towels on the bottom of the seat for about 30 minutes. Remove the towels and let the seat air-dry and then give the cane at least 12 hours to shrink back into place. The revived seat will be tighter and firmer to sit on.

•  Tighten loose joints

A bit of woodworking adhesive is usually all that you need to secure a wobbly chair leg or rail. But if the joint is very loose, adhesive alone may not do the job. An easy way to solve the problem is to increase the width of the tenon (the contoured end of the loose piece) by coating it with wood adhesive and wrapping it with cotton thread or by adding a wood shaving. (If you decide on the latter, choose a shaving that’s uniformly thick for a consistent fit.) Let the adhesive dry, and then glue the tenon back into the mortise.

• Reglue it right

Most wobbly furniture can be fixed by simply regluing the parts back together — but since new glue won’t stick to old dried glue, the key is to get rid of the old stuff. One of the best tools for getting rid of dried glue is the small wire-bristle brush you can get for cleaning car battery terminals. The external brush (shaped like a tiny fir tree) is ideal for removing glue from mortises and holes, while the internal brush is perfect for scraping dried glue from small tenons and dowel ends.

•  Paste over a minor burn

Although fewer people smoke in their homes these days, burn marks on wooden furniture are a more common problem than you might think. If the scorch doesn’t go below the finish, you can usually rub it out with a paste made of fine ash (wood or cigarette ash) and lemon juice (2 parts ash to 1 part juice). Wipe the area clean, then polish and wax.

•  Use grandma’s fragrant warming tip

Increase the warmth and moisture level inside your home on bitterly cold days by simply simmering a large pan of water on the stove. Don’t forget to periodically check the pan and refill the water as needed. Throw a few cloves, some orange peel and one or two cinnamon sticks into the pot and you’ll have a delightful air freshener as well.

•  Get lit up about draughts

To pinpoint the often mysterious source of draughts — and where you’ll need to add or renew any draught-proofing — wait for a windy day, then light a candle. Start with the window or door nearest the draught. Hold the candle in a bottom corner of the frame and slowly raise it. The flame should travel up in a straight line; when it moves sharply in one direction or another, you’ve probably located a leak. Repeat this process for all the sealed openings around your house to pinpoint draughts.

•  Block door draughts

A draughty door will raise your fuel bill and make you feel uncomfortable. Until you can replace the draught-proofing, try blocking the draughts under doors with a homemade door ‘sausage’. Get an old long sock or cut a sleeve off an old shirt and fill it with sand, rice or foam padding weighed down with a few small stones. Sew the open ends shut and keep it against the crack at the bottom of the door. For safety’s sake, prevent stumbles by spray-painting the draught-blocker a bright colour.

•  Cooling energy-savers

Buying a bigger air-conditioning unit for a room won’t automatically keep you more comfortable during a long, hot summer. In fact, room air-conditioners that are too big for the room they are servicing will perform less efficiently and cost you a lot more to run. And don’t forget that air-conditioning may not be the answer to everyone’s cooling needs. Follow these easy tips for staying cool in summer:

1.  Use whole-house fans to pull cool air through the house and exhaust warm air through the roof space
2.  Don’t set the thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you turn on an air-conditioner. It won’t cool the house faster and may result in excessive cooling.
3.  Don’t put lamps or TV sets near a thermostat as it will respond to the heat.

•  Hot water money-savers

If you insulate both the hot-water storage tank and the first metre or so of pipes running from the water tank, you can save some serious money on your heating bill. But remember not to cover the tank’s top, bottom, thermostat or the pilot flame, and don’t hesitate to get help from a professional. Storage tanks have relatively short lifespans, so when your tank is about seven years old, start looking around for energy-saving replacement options. Comparing prices will help ensure the best deal, and although the initial outlay may be more than conventional tanks, you’ll save money in the long run by saving energy.

•  Degrease a dirty fan

Even occasional use can cause an extractor fan to collect dust and grime on its blades and grilles. The build-up of dirt will reduce the fan’s air output and, worse, place unwanted stress on the machine’s motor.

To clean a dirty fan (which you should do at least once a year), unplug at the socket or turn off at the wall switch, and remove the housing. Vacuum off any loose dust using a soft brush attachment, then wipe down the blade and grilles with a rag or sponge dipped in a solution of ¼ cup (60ml) ammonia and ¼ teaspoon washing-up liquid in 5 litres warm water. Make sure that all the parts are dry before you reassemble them.

Credit: Reader’s Digest

•  Give scratched floors the boot

Light scratches in wooden floors can often be successfully camouflaged with shoe polish. Just be sure to shop around and find the best colour match for your floor. Apply the polish with a soft cloth, let it dry, and then buff with a slightly dampened rag for a quick and easy cover-up.

•  Iron off a broken tile

To lift a damaged vinyl tile, cover it with a cloth, and then give it a rub-down with an iron on a medium setting. Use slow, even strokes. The heat from the iron will eventually loosen the adhesive and the tile, making it easy for you to prise it up with a filling knife. If you don’t have an iron on hand, try using a hair dryer.

•  Tiles on the move

Do you find that your carpet tiles have a tendency to move around and not stay put? Use double-sided adhesive tape to hold them in place. You don’t need to stick down all the tiles — just a few key ones and they should hold the others in check.

•  Repair carpet

If you have Berber carpet with a number of unsightly pulls, squeeze a bit of latex adhesive into the base of the loose stitch and push it back into place. If the pulled stitch is very long, trim it down with a sharp knife or scissors before gluing. With looped pile you may need to thread a toothpick through a loop to keep it free of adhesive.

•  Renew a burned carpet

To remove slight burns and singes from carpet, use tweezers to lift the threads and then carefully slice off the charred tips with sharp scissors, a razor blade or utility knife. Trim the threads as little as possible to avoid leaving an indentation. The longer and denser the carpet material, the better your results are likely to be.

•  Stone-cold clean

Tools covered with flooring adhesive can be really hard to clean. Instead of scrubbing, place them in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer overnight. In the morning, the glue will be rock solid and can easily be chipped off using a hammer and chisel. Always wear goggles to protect your eyes from any airborne shards.

Credit: Reader’s Digest

Picture Credit: Google

•  White-out wall and ceiling flaws

A small bottle of white correction fluid such as Liquid Paper can be incredibly handy in more ways than one. What you may not know is that it’s even more useful around the home for covering up small stains and blemishes on white walls, mouldings and ceilings. Simply dab it on the defect, and it’s gone. When touching up glossy surfaces, coat the dried correction fluid with a little clear nail polish.

•  Fix small cracks

Don’t repaint a ceiling expecting to cover up a few small cracks. Hairline cracks need to be checked and repaired. Use a utility knife to open up the cracks, brushing away all dust. Fill with quality plaster filler and then smooth over the patch with 180-grit abrasive paper before sealing and painting.

•  Wipe away wallpaper paste

Removing old wallpaper can be a pain, but what’s even worse is contending with old wallpaper paste. A window squeegee can make the job a lot easier and neater. Dip the squeegee into a bucket of very hot water; add 1 cup (250ml) vinegar for extra-strength paste. Use the spongy side to apply the solution to the wall; then flip it over and use the blade to remove the glue. Then wipe the glue off the blade frequently with a damp rag.

•  Cover nail holes without filler

If you run out of filler, take a look in your bathroom before heading off to a hardware shop. A little bit of plain white toothpaste should do the job. You can also fill small holes in plasterboard with a paste of equal parts of bicarbonate of soda and woodworking adhesive. Or you could mix 2 tablespoons salt and 2 tablespoons cornflour with just enough water to make stiff putty.

•  Stick on a patch

Some people think that the lack of wall studs makes it far more difficult to patch a hole in plasterboard. But they’re wrong. In fact, all that’s needed is a couple of thin slats of timber about 25mm wide, manoeuvred through the hole and held in place against the back of the plasterboard by a combination of cornice adhesive and plasterboard screws. A piece of string tied through a hole in the middle will prevent you losing the timber slats down the wall. Once the slats are in place, a matching plasterboard patch can be stuck or screwed in place and damage made good with wall filler.

•  Find a wall stud with a shaver

If you don’t have an electronic stud finder, use an electric shaver instead. Switch on the shaver and place it flush against the wall. Move it slowly over the wall, and note the sound of its hum. When the shaver moves over a stud, the pitch of the buzz will rise.

•  Secure a screw

A screw set into a wall without a plastic plug may work loose over time as the hole surrounding it expands. Take up the slack by cutting one or two twist ties into strips that are equal in length to the screw. Bunch them together in your fingers, stuff the hole and then reset the screw. If the hole has significantly widened, opt for oversized plastic plugs in masonry walls to match or toggle bolts in plasterboard walls.

•  Banish ceiling stains

Get rid of ugly ceiling stains by putting on a pair of gloves and goggles, then aiming a long-handled sponge mop moistened with equal parts water and sugar soap at the ceiling. Simply scrub until the stains are gone.

•  Match a patch

When repairing damaged textured coating on a section of ceiling, it’s worth putting in the extra effort to do the job properly. Once the coating is level, try to match the texture of the surrounding ceiling. You can usually come pretty close by applying some gentle touches with a small scrubbing brush, a pocket comb or a dry abrasive sponge.

•  Get the lead in

Forget about oil, which can do more harm than good to a stuck lock. The best lubricant for a lock’s inner mechanism is graphite, and a good source of graphite is pencil lead. Rub a sharpened, soft lead pencil (B or HB) repeatedly against the matching key, then insert it several times into the lock. Perform this trick twice a year to keep locks in top working condition.

•  Remove a broken key

It happens all the time: keys get old and bent and end up breaking off inside the lock. If you can’t enter your house or flat through another door, go to a neighbour to borrow a couple of items before calling a locksmith. First, try removing the broken piece with tweezers. If that won’t work, apply a tiny drop of Superglue to the end of the piece that’s still on your key chain. Line it up with the part inside the lock, and carefully insert it. Hold it in place for 40-60 seconds and then slowly pull out the key.

•  Light up your lock

To solve the problem of having to come home to a dark verandah, then feeling around for the lock on your front door, dab a few drops of luminous paint around the keyholes of your exterior locks using a cotton bud or small paintbrush. Do the same for any locking bolts on the inside of your house as well, which will make exiting much easier in the event of a power failure, fire or other emergency.

•  Polish a loose doorknob

A wobbly doorknob is often the result of a loose setscrew (a tiny screw found on the doorknob shank), which keeps the knob firmly in place on the spindle. Everyday usage can cause setscrews to become loosened, but you can keep them in place by brushing a little clear nail polish onto each screw after you have tightened them.

•  Pamper a noisy hinge

Is a squeaking door hinge making you feel unhinged? A few drops of baby oil applied around the pin should solve the problem. When you can’t find any baby oil and you are out of WD-40, a bit of cooking spray, petroleum jelly or even shaving cream could also be used to silence a squeaky hinge.

•  Re-fix a hinge screw

A loose hinge will cause a door to stick or become difficult to open or close. Tightening the hinge screws usually solves the problem, but if an undamaged screw won’t grip, it means the hole has become worn.

To fix it, slide a magazine or two under the opened door to prop it up, if necessary, and then remove the screws from the loose side of the hinge so that it can be folded back. Loosely fill the screw hole with wooden toothpicks or matchsticks that have been dipped in some woodworking adhesive. Keep them flush with the frame by trimming off any protruding ends with a utility knife. When you screw back the hinge, the extra wood should hold the screw firmly in place.

•  Pop goes the rusted bolt

Loosen a rusted bolt by rubbing it with a few tablespoons of a fizzy drink.

•  Unstick a stuck door

If a door sticks because it rubs against the floor or threshold, try this simple fix. Gaffer-tape all four edges of a coarse sheet of sandpaper to the floor where the door rubs, then open and close the door back and forth over the sandpaper until it swings smoothly.

A door that is sticking in its frame (because of too much painting or because it has swollen) can be cured by using an electric plane, hand plane or belt sander to remove the high spots from the door where it is binding. Re-paint after removing the offending wood.