The Best Wood Cleaner, Ever

Baking soda is the best way I have found to clean any kind of wood--finished, unfinished and even painted wood. Dissolve some baking soda in a bucket of warm water and start cleaning! For particularly dirty surfaces, make a paste and rub with a rough cloth. Besides being cheap and non-toxic, it is one of the few cleaners that will do a great job without disturbing the finish. Do you have an especially dingy piece of furniture that you think needs refinishing? Try the baking soda trick first. You might save yourself some work!

Efficient Oven Cleaning

In my opinion, the self-cleaning feature of most modern ovens is an immense waste of energy. I used it once, when I was first married, and the heat created made me worry that the cabinets on either side of the appliance would ignite! Of course, they didn't, but the high temperatures necessary to reduce spills to ash is just too wasteful. Also, if you forget to take the racks out, they become permanently discolored.

To avoid using this cycle, clean spills as they happen. If you have a baked-on mess, try this: Warm the oven, then sprinkle baking soda on the spill until it is covered. Spray some soapy water on the baking soda, then close the door and wait about 20 minutes. After that amount of time, you should be able to scrape the mess off using a pot scraper (another great tool). Repeat the procedure,using a scrubbie pad to remove any lingering traces of the stain.