Keeping your investments clean

With such a pretty, versatile and most of all, useful, investment such as you have in your home, you want to keep them looking nice. Easier said than done, sometimes those baked beans slop out of whatever you have them in when you hit the that pothole  small lake in the middle of the road, or you put the christmas basked in the attic and now it's dusty and smells kind of funny... What is a self respecting consultant or collector to do?

Clean them!

Remove Odors from Baskets:
Spray them lightly with Febreeze and you can either put it in a plastic bag or outside on a sunny day, this will take care of the odor and shouldn't spot your baskets.

Some say that they wash their baskets with soap and water, don't soak them in sopa and water, but a light wash with a wet cloth should be fine.

Try putting a scented candle in the basket with some baking soda, the baking soda will pull out the foul odors and the candle will make it smell like vanilla or cinnamon!

For the smelly basket (Did your husband think that boat shaped basket was for fishing????) Take a plastic bag and sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda in it. Put the basket in and kind of shake it around to get the baking soda on it. Throw the plastic bag away, it will smell.

Cleaning
Alcohol free baby wipes- take away the smell and dirt, when dry apply baking soda and brush it off with a paint brush.

For extreme cases you can try Orange Glo wood cleaner, use this very sparingly or it will make your baskets a oily,

Murphy's Oil Soap is not recommended by the company, but some have claimed that it worked. Use only in EXTREME cases (say, your child thought the cake pasket and Pie Plate would be GREAT for mudpies)

*Note: if one of these irreparably ruins your basket, i'm not responsible, i'm just reporting some solutions i've heard

Preventing Basket Mishaps-

 Scotch guard, waterproofs baskets so they won't get stained, you can find this at walmart or home depot

Plastic sleeves you buy in Dresden work great for outside uses (planters, etc) so you don't have to subject your baskets to the cruel world but can still display your love.

Cleaning Pottery-
Barkeepers friend or Bon Ami- take away scratches and give enough grip to clean the pottery without ruining it, works well on oil spots. (I have no idea what that is, but it sounds cool!)

Keep a small scrubby by calphalon handy, it's nylon with a round handle and made specifically to take food out of grooves. Tupperware ameks a vegi brush, or a dobie pad, anything with a nylon scrubbing surface

DO NOT USE SOS OR STEEL WOOL ON YOUR POTTERY!!!!!!!!!!

You can also try using a toothpic for grooves

and good old toothbrushes and a one of the products above will be good too!

And, for a gift idea to a fabulous friend who loves baskets like you do, or a fabulous hostess, Pick up a nice fluffy paintbrush from your local craft store and stick it in a mug or a votive and put this poem with it

You are a fabulous hostess,

forgive me if i blush,

when cleaning your baskets think of me

and don't forget to brush!

With this your "Basket Duster"

Your baskets will always keep their Luster!

or

My weaves get dusty, this is true

but use this brush, it's so simple to do

Just give me some tender, loving care

And, I'll last a lifetime for you to share