There is nothing more irritating as a homeowner than to find items at home broken and useless. It can also get expensive if you need to keep replacing some of your most heavily used items. Here are some top tips on how to restore some of the most popular household items when they break.

Great tips to help you restore broken items in your home

Smart homeowners are those that focus on restoring and refurbishing their household items instead of getting new ones. The truth is that not all homeowners want to let go of their household stuff because of the sentimental value that comes with it. What can you do when something you like gets broken? Should you call in for a replacement?

The household tips

Before you throw that stuff into the bin, you might want to pause and reconsider first. In this age of innovations, are you really surprised that people have come up with amazing ways to make something broken look as good as new? Here are a few tips on how to restore common household items.

How to fix corroded and destroyed metal

As hard as they are, some of the household items that degrade quicker than others are those that are made of metal. They can be affected by various factors such as the humidity in the air and the overall temperature inside the house. 

Not only are these corroded and destroyed metals an eyesore, but they are also hazardous. The rusted metal can cause severe infections if anyone gets a cut from it. The first thing you’d want to do when fixing corroded metals is to get them wet with vinegar for a few hours. If possible, have them soak in vinegar for a long time. Once the rust softens, use sanding paper to remove the rust. 

Lastly, this is one of those household tips that is really worth trying. Use an industrial rust remover to take out all of the remaining rust. What can you do if the metals have fallen apart? A good idea would be welding them together. It is the process where you join two metals using heat.

You can use an induction brazing machine to make it a little easier. While a bit complex to use, it’s very easy to learn how to weld objects. It’s a skill you should consider learning especially if you are planning to fix more items in your house.

Restoring Cloudy Glasses and Mirrors

The problem with glass panels and mirrors inside the house is that they tend to get cloudy and unpleasant over time. Most people tend to throw away these things once they see them because they look very hopeless and irreparable. However, all it really needs is a little work to make the mirrors look as good as new again.

What you’d want to do is to remove the cloudy sections of the mirror or glass panel. To do this, simply wipe down the mirror with a vinegar solution. This helps put a new shine on your mirror and in most cases, it makes them return to their pristine condition once again.

Re-shining Patio Furniture

Patio furniture is exposed to the elements 24/7. This results in them losing their shine. In most cases, they rust and become less and less appealing too. Patio furniture can be pretty expensive so it’s best to just have them restored. This is one of the major cost saving household tips.

What you’re aiming to do to them is to restore them to their old shine. One way to do this is to use car wax on aluminum metals that patio furniture usually is made of. This gives you patio furniture a whole new shine and sealant which can protect it for months to come. Do this regularly to protect your patio furniture.

If you want to, you can also have your patio furniture repainted as well. Just make sure that it’s also given the last finish so that it stays protected for even longer.

Old school household tips

Restoring Old Pottery and China

If you have a lot of fine china and antique pottery in your home, then you understand how annoying it is because they get discolored and stained over time. The discoloration you see is often caused by cracks so tiny that they cannot be seen by the naked eye.

Aside from ruining the colour of your china, these also ruin their durability and finish. Even if you store them properly, they still get these signs of aging but the good news is that they can still be saved and refurbished.

The best way to do it is to soak the China and pottery in mild oxygen bleach. Don’t use anything that’s stronger because these can make the items more brittle. After you’ve soaked them for a few hours, what you should do next is to wipe them down with cold water. The difference will be staggering.

Removing red wind stains

An oldie and yet still a goodie is how to remove red wine stains from any material. There are several old wives tales that come into their own.

Salt –

Throw a load of everyday table salt and leave it there to absorb the red wine. After about 1 hour scrape off the salt and it should ( hopefully) have absorbed the red wine.

White wine –

If red wine accidentally spills over any absorbent surface the best magic trick is to throw white wine over it. It works every time!

A final note on household tips

It’s actually very easy to restore most of the stuff in your house. Unless it’s been completely destroyed beyond recognition, only then should you consider throwing it away.

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