After my last post entitled Make Your Own Carpet Cleaner Solution, I realized that there is one other cleaning solution which never hangs around very long: glass cleaner!
I don’t know about you, but I can never find a bottle of the stuff. Maybe the problem is that with enough windows and mirrors around, you need a LOT of glass cleaner to keep everything looking sparkly clean. Alas, that costs money.
As you may have guessed, glass cleaner is ridiculously simple and cheap to make. Even if you’re paying 99 cents for a refill bottle, you’re paying way too much.
And so, in this post, I shall endeavor to instruct you on how you can brew your own “Bling” Glass Cleaning Solution!
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Scottie Do-It-Yourself ammonia, cleaner, glass
If you happen to have pets, children, or a husband, then you most definitely will need some kind of product to clean tough carpet stains.
There are many commercial products out there that claim to do the trick. After having tried many of them – from sprays to powders to foams – I was truly amazed that none of them worked that well. The one or two that did seem to remove most of the stain required a LOT of scrubbing with a brush. Of course, vigorous scrubbing tends to ruin carpet fibers!
To make matters worse, commercial carpet cleaning products can be relatively expensive.
Thus, I set out to brew my own ultra-powerful carpet cleaning solution for just pennies. And I’m happy to report that I succeeded! Here’s how you can make your own super-powerful carpet cleaner…
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Scottie Do-It-Yourself ammonia, carpet, cleaning
A lot of people think that defective RAM modules are easy to detect. They think that if you get a blue screen of death, the error message will reveal that the memory is bad, and that’s that. Problem is, it’s nowhere near that simple.
There are two steps to diagnosing bad RAM. The first is that you are able to recognize the possible symptoms of bad memory, and the second is actually using a tool to confirm that your theory is correct. Then you just replace the bad module, and off you go.
A defective memory stick can cause a LOT of different problems, some of which might surprise you. It may seem that your hard drive is corrupted or defective, when in fact it’s the RAM that’s bad! It can all get very confusing.
And so, here I shall endeavor to describe what to look out for with your RAM, and what to do about it.
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Scottie Computers, Do-It-Yourself memory, RAM, repair
One of the most common computer problems I see people facing is a faulty or corrupted hard disk drive. In many cases, the solution to the problem is a reboot, and the OS automagically runs a utility like Windows’s chkdsk that repairs the errors.
Sometimes, the problem is a bit more severe than that and more drastic measures are required. Most people I’ve encountered were unnecessarily afraid of running any kind of tool to scan and repair their hard drive. But it doesn’t have to be all horror and blood and gore: with a little knowledge and a few specialized bits of software, you too can be a genuine Disk Doctor!
Now, this will not be an exhaustive guide to fixing all disk problems, cloning the data from a bad disk onto a new drive, and so on. That would take quite a bit of time to explain, and a lot of it simply requires some experience. What I can tell you, though, is how to diagnose a bad drive yourself. At least you won’t get taken for a ride by some money-grubbing repair shop if you end up needing a hand to finish the job!
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Scottie Computers, Do-It-Yourself diagnostic, hard drive, repair, sector
Everyone loves WordPress – especially when it comes time to upgrade to the latest version of a plugin or of WordPress itself. You just click a button, and it does all the work.
Those of you who are used to doing things “The Joomla Way” can no doubt testify to the glory that is WordPress.
Sometimes, you can’t automatically update WordPress itself. In such cases, you need to manually install the newer version. Normally, you delete most of your old WordPress files (be sure to read the manual update instructions!), and then simply upload and uncompress the new version in your application’s directory. Voila! Everything just works…
Well, most of the time. Sometimes, it doesn’t. Sometimes, you are dumped back to the initial WordPress setup screen. If you fill in the fields and carry on with the install, it will look like you have just destroyed your entire old WordPress site when you are greeted with a default, empty home page.
Fortunately, you haven’t destroyed anything! Here’s how to get your site back in just 3 steps…
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Scottie Do-It-Yourself, Programming upgrade, wordpress
Never let children use a chainsaw!
Let’s face it: everyone loves chainsaws. A chainsaw can make very short work of any trees, bushes, or branches that happen to be causing a problem. I have even seen a small chainsaw skillfully used in place of a large circular saw for home remodeling – no electricity required! They are seriously handy devices.
The one problem with chainsaws is that they require maintenance. In fact, they require a lot of maintenance in order to perform optimally. A lot of “service” shops really don’t do a very good job of taking care of saws. If you can find a service shop with an old guy who still uses files to sharpen chains, then you have discovered a true gem!
For the rest of us, you can save some bucks – and have a lot of fun – by servicing your chainsaw yourself.
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Scottie Do-It-Yourself chainsaw, repair
Those of you with hard water have no doubt encountered one of the most annoying problems ever: descaling appliances.
Sure, calcified bathtub superscum is also seriously annoying, but there are plenty of products out there that will magically descale and de-scum your bathtub with a few sprays and some waiting. It’s the appliances that are particularly annoying to clean – appliances like coffee makers and water distillers.
There are a number of different products available for removing rock-hard mineral deposits from your gizmos, but how do you know which one to use to make your life as easy as possible? You don’t! Otherwise, what the heck are you reading this for? But now you will know soon enough…
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Scottie Do-It-Yourself acid, descale
If you’re still using an inkjet printer, you have my sympathies. If you’ve taken the plunge and purchased a laser printer, you’ll probably want to keep it in tip-top shape for years to come. After all, they’re a lot cheaper than they used to be, but not that cheap!
Most printer problems are caused by gummed up inner workings. A lot of people simply chuck their malfunctioning printer in the trash can and buy a new one. With the economy the way it is, that isn’t the best move for most of us.
Lucky for you, it’s actually surprisingly simple to clean out a laser printer and make it work like new!
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Scottie Do-It-Yourself, Gizmos printer, repair, rubbing alcohol
Let’s face it: in this dawning age of high-definition video, a good old fashioned VHS tape seems rather, well, ancient. Nevertheless, a lot of people have movies on VHS that they can’t get on DVD. And sometimes, there’s even a bit of nostalgia attached to certain video cassettes.
It has become more and more difficult to find an inexpensive VCR that doesn’t include a DVD player as well. If you already have a DVD player and you want to save some money (who doesn’t these days!), you may find yourself out of luck.
VCR repair is also a dying occupation. So if you can’t buy a new VCR, and you can’t get your current one repaired, what do you do?
Why, you open up your current VCR and fix ‘er yourself!
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Scottie Do-It-Yourself, Gizmos repair, rubbing alcohol, VCR, VHS
One of the problems I have encountered again and again is how to cheaply and easily soundproof something.
Whether you are dealing with a noisy dishwasher or you just want a soundproof wall, there are many products available that you might use. There are rigid styrofoam sheets, expandy foam, various types of soft foam, fiberboard, etc. Most of these materials will provide a slight degree of soundproofing, and different materials will block sound at different frequencies.
But when it comes right down to it, nothing beats the general soundproofing characteristics of a certain material that you probably didn’t even consider…
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Scottie Do-It-Yourself fiberglass, insulation, soundproof
After my last post entitled Make Your Own Carpet Cleaner Solution, I realized that there is one other cleaning solution which never hangs around very long: glass cleaner!
