14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Keeping Your House in Tip Top Condition, January 8, 2006
This review is from: Consumer Reports How to Clean and Care for Practically Anything (Paperback)
Consumer Reports is a division of Consumers Union, a non- profit organization that was established in 1936. This group is known primarily for its magazine publication and for its testing and rating of consumer products. But it also tests other consumer- related services and how to best maintain the appearance of consumer goods. That's how this book was created. It's the accumulation of years and years of experience and testing, conducted by the Consumer Reports Technical Division.
Some of the advice in this book is pretty good, while other advice seems a little silly, almost insulting to one's intelligence. I found the most helpful parts of the book to be chapter 2 and chapter 4. With chapter 2, you can look through the alphabetized listing and find the item that needs to be cleaned, along with a description of how best to approach the task (the appropriate cleaning agent and the equipment to do the job). Many of these descriptions are brief, however, and they don't always cover the specifics. For example, if you lookup advice on cleaning lighting fixtures, you will be presented with a generalized way to clean. You will not see any advice that relates to specific types of stains. The only area of the book that gets specific is chapter 4, and it covers only the major cleaning tasks (furniture, carpeting, clothing, and floors). But it does present some good advice on cleaning. For example, if you have a cigarette burn mark on a non- wood floor, Consumer Reports guide tells you exactly how to best remove it, using a mixture of lemon juice and water.
Other parts of this book get a little silly. If you lookup advice on washing dishes, for instance, it tells you to "start by filling the sink with hot water and add a squirt of dishwashing liquid, then use a sponge or dishcloth". (Great! Now I know why my dishwashing methods weren't working- I forgot to use water!). Other subjects are equally obvious and will insult your intelligence.
I don't know if some of the cleaning suggestions are completely safe, and I don't know if I would trust some of these ideas on valuable items. Take gold jewelry. This guide recommends using a mixture of ammonia and water and immersing the jewelry for about one minute before wiping clean with a cloth. I can't speak for everyone, but I really don't know if I would feel safe dropping an expensive piece of gold jewelry into a mixture with ammonia. I know that Consumer Reports has a solid reputation for giving advice, but I would be wary of using cleaning materials like this on something valuable.
Overall, this is a pretty good book. Some of the advice is obvious, and some of it is useful. I have only tried a few of the suggestions here (like cleaning out a coffeemaker) and the ones I have tried have worked well. But that doesn't mean that everything contained in this book will work for any situation. Many specific types of cleaning problems are not covered, and there are unique situations that would probably require the help of a professional.
I give this book a marginal recommendation. While it is very brief, it can help you with your household cleaning chores by explaining exactly how to tackle certain stains on carpet, flooring, and all around the house.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to Use Book, January 4, 2007
This review is from: Consumer Reports How to Clean and Care for Practically Anything (Paperback)
This book is a great book to have when it comes to cleaning household objects. I've been able to access the information quickly to clean odd household items. Most of their suggestions work well.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great reference book, September 5, 2006
This review is from: Consumer Reports How to Clean and Care for Practically Anything (Paperback)
This book is compact and contains extremely useful information about cleaning some very commonplace things that you're never really sure how to clean.
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