SAVE YOUR MONEY | Have you checked recently to see what drycleaners charge to clean down comforters, pillows and jackets? Bloody expensive, this service! Drycleaners have their place to be sure, but paying them to fluff your down when you can do it yourself with minimal effort is silly. Read more
What is it with us? We can’t wait to air our dirty laundry in public but scorn hanging clean laundry outdoors to dry. Years ago I lived in the heart of Montreal’s Latin Quarter yet had a clothesline running from my back balcony to a post on the lane—and so did everyone else. Here in Vancouver, I can’t remember the last time I saw laundry flapping in the wind. A 2007 StatsCan Environment Survey shows the percentage of B.C. residents drying clothes on a line or rack at just 54 percent; in P.E.I. it was 75 percent. Read more
Shell Busey, host of the Home Discovery Radio Program broadcast on the Corus Radio Network throughout Western Canada, is one of Canada’s best known experts on home improvement. Shell also leads the HouseSmart Home Services Referral Network, a free service he created to help homeowners find qualified and reliable tradespeople, suppliers and products for their home improvement projects. For more information visit thehousesmart.com. Read more
LESS IS BEST | While overdosing on detergent is probably not going to destroy your dishwasher, using too much or the wrong kind of laundry soap will eventually damage and could actually kill your high-efficiency front-load washing machine. Here’s why.