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Decorating for Thanksgiving

Kitchenware Cleaning Secrets Revealed

Post-Thanksgiving clean-up can be tough, so this week we’ve got some tips for taking care of the mess. Most cleaning jobs can be taken care of with some lukewarm soapy water and elbow grease. For jobs like cleaning silver or copper kitchenware you'll want to take a few additional steps to keep them bright and shiny.

Learn some DIY cleaning tips here...

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Q. The whole house is heated with hot water and a boiler. The boiler/furnace has a chimney that goes up, through the attic and through the roof. We live where it gets to be -10 degrees at times, with very deep snow. I am trying to prevent ice daming, icicles, and water build-up on my roof. The attic floor is insulated, and there is a ridge-vent and the eaves are vented. Would it be wise to insulate it so that heat is not escaping into the attic, causing the roof to melt the snow?
A.The easiest way to demonstrate free and adequate attic ventilation is to dip a straw into a fluid, cover the end of the straw with your finger, and take the straw out of the fluid. The fluid remains inside the straw until you remove your finger from the end of the straw. Adequate free venting is illustrated by removing your finger from the end of the straw, and inadequate free venting is illustrated by leaving your finger on the end of the straw. You can compare this to your situation where there is no snow on your roof covering the ridge vents (adequate free venting) and snow on the roof covering the ridge vents (inadequate free venting).

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tips and tricks

What Does Hard Water Mean?

The term "hard water" was originally coined to refer to water that was difficult or hard to work with. Hard water requires much more soap, shampoo or detergent than soft water, so your soap products don't stretch nearly as far. The effects of hard water are felt most often in daily household activities such as cleaning.


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