Quaintrelle Weekender

Party ready: let's talk spring cleaning.

Welcome to Quaintrelle Weekender.

This is a short list of things I am currently loving to make eating, drinking, and hosting easier and a lot more interesting.

Why, yes, this is still the view since last Wednesday’s newsletter.

I Don’t Like Spring

No, this isn’t a “gotcha” – like after “spring” comes a period, followed by “cleaning.”

Spring in Southern Ontario is just an extension of winter. Or, at the very least, it’s “Winter Lite.” It’s cold and wet and windy and muddy.

Yes, we have glimmers of hot days – it did hit somewhere close to 20°C in Toronto a few days ago, but that was followed by a crazy rain storm, and the day after that I was back to a fleece turtleneck and my Uniqlo Ultra Lite Puffer Vest.

I see my friends in France and Italy – joyously boasting market hauls of bursting, sweet strawberries, young favas so delicate there’s no need to pod, thick asparagus so large it nearly makes me blush.

In Ontario we won’t see local asparagus until mid-May, and strawberries until June. Right now, looking out my grey and overcast window, I’m thinking of coq au vin for dinner.

Do I sound curmudgeonly? Apologies. I’m battling a cold. A SPRING COLD.

Still, spring hope is eternal, and in three short weeks my lanai will be open for the season.

So today’s Weekender is all about spring cleaning.

Look, sorry if you’re disappointed but it can’t be all parties, all the time. Into every host’s life, a little glitter must fall – at least if they’re doing it right – and there is no sadder site than the forgotten detritus of a once-lively shebang.

Let me share with you the party prep tricks I lean on to get the place ready for its close-up. Let’s start with the windows.

Streak Free Shine

I find glass a real pain to clean properly. No matter how much I scrub, I’m always left with streaks and it drives me crazy. So bless my friend Kristy who introduced me to this DIY glass cleaner – and FYI, her house is always enviably spotless. Mix equal portions rubbing alcohol, vinegar, and water. Vinegar cuts through grease, and isopropyl alcohol works to evaporate quickly – so no streaks! (However I’ve been warned not to use it when the sun is shining on the glass because that will cause streaks. Not sure why.) I’ve been using it on my glass tables stove tops, and so far, so, so admirably good.

Wipe Away

These bar towels have replaced 85% of my paper towel usage.

I hated how much paper towel I was going through. It’s a terrible waste of money and a slap in the face to the environment.

I ordered a stack of these inexpensive, hard-working bar towels. They’re great: I use them on mirrors, counter tops, glass (like my windows with my new cleaning formula!) They’re highly absorbent, lint free, and wash well. Can’t recommend them enough.

“For a Cleaner, Fresher, Brighter Decanter Everyday”

Denture tablets for decanters and vases.

While we’re washing that Old Man Winter right out of our hair, don’t forget about wine glasses, decanters, and vases.

I can’t find the post any longer, but sometime ago, I got vulnerable with you all and admitted how I rotate my wine glasses in order to not always use the same ones at the front, while letting the back row get dusty. (I know, I know…but you if you don’t find neurosis charming, the unsubscribe button is below.)

Anyway, another thing I do, because I’m truly that neurotic, is I give all my wine glasses a thorough polish once a season. If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready and all that.

If you have skinny vases and weirdly shaped wine decanters that are tough to clean – use a denture tablet. Drop it in (or break it up if it’s too big to go through the opening) fill the decanter with warm water to just past the stains and let it sit overnight. The next morning, ta-da! Sparkling and fresh!

We Love Alcohol!

Because you will likely be working up a sweat with all your spring cleaning, let’s talk about getting those sweat stains out.

My dad is an avid golfer hitting the links a few times a week. To get the yellowish sweat stains out of his visors, my mama (she’s such a good wife) rubs the stains with a little rubbing alcohol and then launders as normal. And my dad can return to the course with a rim as white as his balls.

To take it one step further, Maytag embraces my beloved baking soda. (One day I will stop talking about baking soda, but today is not that day.)

The washing machine company advises to soak the sweat stains in 2 parts water to 1 part white vinegar for 30 minutes. Create a paste of half a cup of baking soda mixed with 1 Tbsp salt and 1 Tbsp of hydrogen peroxide and rub it on the stains and allow to sit for another half hour (for super gross/set in/smelly stains, like the insoles of shoes) I let it sit overnight. Then wash on the hottest setting advised for the material.

Added Stain-Removing Bonus

Can you tell I’m getting super turned-on by this topic?

Hold on to your sweat-stained, wine-stained, blood-stained hats, we’re getting the dirty on getting clean.

I do use very coarse Kosher salt and lemon juice as a deodorizer for my wood cutting boards, but I’ve never added it to my baking soda/rubbing alcohol formula. When Maytag casually dropped that little stain-away secret, my investigative journalist instincts kicked in, and I went a-Googlin’. According to How Stuff Works, salt is a miracle cure of sorts, working to absorb grease and brighten colours.

Almost makes you want to do laundry, right?

Friends, if you have any clever cleaning hacks, please leave them in the comments below!

I think we would all love to know tips and tricks!

Thank you for reading Quaintrelle.