What a Mess! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leather jacket

Not only should I not wash my leather jacket with all my shirts, pants, socks, towels and everything else, I shouldn't wash my leather jacket in my washing machine at all! Real leather is not meant to be submerged in water nor dried in regular clothes' dryers. Leather jackets don't generally need frequent washing. If you get a bit of dirt on a leather jacket, you can usually just rub it off by hand with a damp cloth. You can also take it to a dry cleaner or other professional to have cleaned every so often.

Answer: Cast iron frying pan

Most kitchen items nowadays are made dishwasher safe and many people put just about everything in the dishwasher. Cast iron, however, should not be washed in the dishwasher and in fact ideally shouldn't be 'washed' at all. Cast iron cookware gets 'seasoned' after repeated use and scrubbing with soap will undo the seasoning. Most manufacturers of cast iron and stoneware cookware recommend using just hot water and wiping the pan, or scraping with a utensil if necessary.

Other items that shouldn't go in the dishwasher include good knives (like the ones that sit in a butcher block on your counter), wooden items, fine china and expensive crystal.

Answer: Dawn

Dawn, a Procter and Gamble brand on the market since 1972, claims that their product is superior in cutting through tough grease yet also gentle to use. They show this by using their soap to clean animals covered in oil, such as after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. If you buy select bottles of Dawn, they will also donate $1 to animal aid organizations if you go online and redeem the $1 donation. Dawn is also effective at removing grease stains from clothing; simply dab Dawn on the spot and let sit before washing the clothing as normal.

Answer: Sweep up the big pieces and then vacuum thoroughly to get the little shards

You have to be very, very careful when cleaning up broken glass. First and foremost, do not walk anywhere near the area in bare feet until you are absolutely sure you've gotten it all; when glass shatters, the pieces really spread out! If you can safely pick up the biggest pieces by hand, you can carefully do so, making sure not to touch sharp edges, but the safest way is sweeping up as much as you can and then vacuuming to get the little bits. You may need to run the vacuum over the area multiple times to get it all, particularly if any of it landed in a carpeted area.

Answer: Clean out the lint trap

Lint and fuzzies from your clothing get stuck in your lint trap while your clothes are drying. Because the dryer gets very hot, if the lint is allowed to build up too much, it could catch on fire. While it's usually okay to let it go for a couple of loads, particularly if they were small, it's easiest to get in the habit of cleaning it after every load. Better safe than sorry, and if you're drying a few towels, sweaters and other fuzzy items, the lint trap will be pretty full after one load anyway.

Answer: Vinegar

Distilled white vinegar is a great cleaning product, and much less expensive than most commercially produced cleaners. Vinegar kills bacteria, deodorizes, removes many types of stains and is a safe and natural product, which appeals to many people in today's green world. Vinegar can be used, usually diluted with warm water, for basic cleaning jobs such as wiping down counters or sinks, washing tiled floors (careful, it's not suggested for all floor types!) and cleaning grout such as in a tiled shower, among many other things.

It can even be used in your dishwasher to remove soap buildup and any odours, or in the washing machine as a cheap fabric softener! While hairspray is sometimes suggested as a trick for getting stains out of clothing, particularly ink stains, it would not be very effective as a general household cleaner. Ketchup and particularly nail polish would make more of a mess than they'd clean up.

Answer: Baking soda

Baking soda, also called sodium bicarbonate, is commonly used in baking as a leavening agent, but like vinegar also has other household uses. One such use is as an odour absorber; keeping an open box of baking soda in your fridge can help reduce odours.

It's not a miracle worker, as a small sized box can only do so much, but if you generally keep your fridge pretty clean, it can help keep it smelling fresh in between cleanings. Ground coffee also works for this, but then your fridge will smell like coffee (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how you feel about coffee).

Other uses for baking soda include as an all-purpose cleaner (as a paste with water or sprinkled on a damp sponge), as toothpaste, as deodorant, as an antacid and can also help you quickly put out a small kitchen fire.

Answer: Your vacuum hose plugs into the walls of your house and the debris that gets sucked up goes into a central unit

A central vacuum unit is something that is permanently installed in a home. AS opposed to an upright/canister vacuum or small dustbuster, which keeps the debris in a canister or bag inside the vacuum itself until you empty it, with a central vac, the dirt and dust travels through tubing in your walls to a central storage unit, usually installed in the garage or basement.

The invention of central vac began in the 1800s, but didn't become practical or affordable to have in residential households in North America until around the 1960s.

The popularity of the central vac rose steadily for a few decades until it became very popular in the 1990s.

Answer: Pressure washer

The outside of your house, exposed to elements, can get very dirty and the high-pressure blast of water that comes from a pressure washer makes cleaning many outdoor surfaces much easier. Some models of pressure washer can release soap or detergent with the water, making outdoor cleaning even more easy.

In addition to the brick or siding of your home and concrete patios, other things a pressure washer is useful for cleaning include decks, driveways and even vehicles. Some models that don't produce fumes can even be used indoors, though you'd need a tough mess inside to warrant the pressure washing.

It can be a dangerous machine to use and safety guidelines should always be followed.

Answer: Spring

The tradition of 'spring cleaning' goes quite a ways back. One theory on the origin of spring cleaning is that a major cleaning was traditionally undertaken before the Jewish holiday Passover, which happens in the spring. In many areas of the world, spring is just a practical time for a major cleaning of the house.

It's not too hot, it's not too cold; outdoor jobs such as washing windows can be done in relative comfort, doors can be opened to shake out dusty carpets or air out the house from cleaning fumes.