Author Archives: TheDIYGirl

What’s living in Your keyboard? How to clean a keyboard

Posted on by September 21, 2014avatar
What's living in Your keyboard? - The DIY Girl

I do a lot of typing so when my space bar started missing about half the time it became incredibly annoying. I have a wireless keyboard so I checked the batteries and they were in good shape. I was typing an email this morning and I was missing almost every space in a sentence and out of utter annoyance I got a small screw driver and popped the space bar off. My jaw dropped. There was so much dog hair and so many crumbs under it I had no idea how it had been able to function at all. Yes, … Read more…

Repairing washing machine rust

Posted on by September 21, 2014avatar
Repairing washing machine rust - The DIY Girl

I have an “antique” washing machine — it was made in 1995 and has served me well for almost 20 years. At one point I had a home warranty and it broke down and was $7 short of being replaced, but instead the bearings were replaced. I have always been good about leaving the door up on my top loading machine after using it so it could dry out. But I started noticing rust spots on some of my clothes and realized it was rusting around the plastic insert for the bleach dispenser. I finally pulled the dispenser out and … Read more…

Best knife sharpener

Posted on by September 21, 2014avatar
Best knife sharpener - The DIY Girl

My son thought the Accusharp was the best knife sharpener you could buy. I’ve researched and he was correct. On his recommendation — he actually bought one for me — I have used the thing for years. I don’t have great, high quality knives. I have the knives he purchased for me as Mother’s Day gifts when he was little. The aren’t the best quality — they ARE the best knives as far as I’m concerned, due to sentimental value. Recently they have all become pretty dull so I got out the Accusharp to sharpen them. It occurred to me … Read more…

How to whiten yellowed pillows

Posted on by March 6, 2014avatar
How to whiten yellowed pillows - The DIY Girl

Man — I can’t believe how boring it is to have a house up for sale. I have all my projects either completed or put on the back burner so everything can be put away and the house look perfect all the time. I don’t have anything to do. Hence the experiment to see if you really can whiten yellowed pillows without bleach. My pillows are in good shape so no need to replace them, but they were due for a bath (pillows should be washed a couple of times a year) and they were definitely yellowed. I didn’t just … Read more…

Running board dog step

Posted on by September 21, 2014avatar

Okay, so I had the problem solved for my dog Ellie with her preferred point of entry – the back of my SUV. You can see the DIY for the trailer hitch dog step here. But what would happen when I’m pulling a trailer? An event that was imminent with our move to Florida. As luck would have it, my Xterra is tall to step into so it has full length running boards on either side of the SUV. It hit me that I might be able to use them to create a side step if there was a way to … Read more…

Dog step for trailer hitch

Posted on by September 21, 2014avatar
Dog step for SUV - The DIY Girl

Ellie is my dog with the incredible vertical leap. She’s also the dog who accidentally got her rear right leg broken when she was five months old. She’d snagged a dog bone and ran with Nikki chasing when she abruptly screeched to a halt. 45 pound puppy was hit full speed by 75 pound adult dog equaled snapped leg. After nine years of watching her rocket into the back of my SUV with room to spare I was shocked when she started missing (not quite making it in) and getting progressively more and more frightened of the effort. All the while … Read more…

Moving and Mourning

Posted on by March 4, 2014avatar
Moving and Mourning - The DIY Girl

Moving I’m in a bit of an odd place here. I’m finally moving from a foreclosure DIY project house in an area I have not liked the entire year I’ve been here to a brand spanking new house in area I hope I will adore. The DIY Girl in a new house??? After 17 years in a three-story monster on a heavily wooded lot and the last year in a foreclosure badly in need of work and updates I feel like I’m due for an easier home. Hopefully home repairs will be few and far between for a while, but … Read more…

Dripping faucet is an easy fix

Posted on by March 4, 2014avatar
Dripping faucet is an easy fix - The DIY Girl

I have a Moen kitchen faucet that suddenly started dripping right after I put my house on the market to sell. Not exactly the look I wanted for showing – a spattered sink and dripping faucet. A failing faucet cartridge is almost always the reason for a dripping faucet and is usually not a difficult fix. Figuring out what cartridge you need In the past I have taken bathroom faucet cartridges to the hardware store and they have matched it up to the correct replacement. This time I couldn’t even get the handle off and needed directions on how to … Read more…

Tips on preparing house to sell

Posted on by March 13, 2014avatar
Tips on preparing house to sell - The DIY Girl

Maybe some things you might not think of in the flurry of activity to get your house on the market… Clean Windows — clean them and keep them that way checking before each showing to make sure dogs or kids haven’t left smears behind. If bright and sparkling sells houses, letting the light in through clean glass is the first step. Clean fans blades — you don’t want everything else to be sparkling clean and have a prospective seller look up and find caked on dust layered fan blades. Get up there with a ladder and give the entire fan … Read more…

Surge protection for appliances – do it now!

Posted on by April 19, 2015avatar
The DIY Girl - Surge protection for appliances - do it now!

After a repairman told me a surge probably fried the electronics controlling the compressor on my refrigerator and suggested I get a single outlet surge protector I started doing some research. Which appliances are at risk? Appliances used to be a lot simpler than they are now. Now everything is digital and electronic. I found the following comment on BobVila.com: Interesting how refrigerators have changed… Now 2013, leading OEM’s include leading electronics manufacturers, Samsung, LG, etc. Today they are laden with electronics, motherboards, digital displays in the door, LED’s, etc. all subject to surge damage, especially in those regions that … Read more…