economicmultipliers_159

Economic Multipliers (159)

Do you know what these are?

They help CREATE wealth in systems.

‘Easier’ is an economic multiplier (No. 1).

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Millions of people strive to make things easier on the Internet and a lot of other places. Embrace those people (and ideas).

‘Easier’ can save time, dollars, prevent frustration and even encourage action.

If you’ve ever had something spill in the refrigerator and didn’t get to immediate cleanup, this might be ‘easier’ than something else you might do.

The quick directions:

You’ll need: A dry rag, a damp rag, a cold damp rag, a piece of plastic, a dry towel.

  1. With the refrigerator still running, QUICKLY wipe up anything that is easy to wipe up with the dry and damp rags (including the bottoms of containers). If necessary, have a container/pan to squeeze any excess moisture into.

  2. Place the cold damp rag on any remaining spill and cover with plastic.

  3. Come back after a half hour, wipe the area of the spill with the damp rag and if all is clean, wipe dry with a clean towel. If part of the spill still remains, rinse out the rags with cold water (and possibly a little baking soda, vinegar or dish soap) and repeat the process until the area is clean.

Spot cleaning occasionally can make deep cleaning a lot easier AND it’s possible to do deep cleaning spot by spot.

If you use this technique, these are things you’ll want to consider:

  • If you’re going to ‘spot clean,’ it’s better to do so during times that are cooler and/or less humid.

  • Refrigerators normally last longer if the door tends to stay closed, if liquid and moist food items are always covered and if hot foods are cooled to room temperature prior to refrigerating.

  • If you need to empty a refrigerator for a short period of time and don’t have coolers, paper or plastic bags which keep the cold items together can be placed in a laundry basket or box (which also keeps the cold items together) so everything stays as cold as possible.

  • ‘Plastic’ to cover a cold rag can be anything (preferably clean) which retains moisture: plastic food wrap, tin foil, a plastic or glass cutting board or even a cutout section of a cereal bag or chip bag (anchored with a plate, cutting board or silverware if necessary).

  • People who turn a refrigerator off to completely clean it (preferably after they’ve spot cleaned along the way) many times use hot water and baking soda. If nothing major is ‘stuck on,’ it’s easy to get everything back into the refrigerator quickly.

If you want to completely clean a refrigerator, spot clean a few days before shelf by shelf and drawer by drawer and everything will be a lot ‘easier.’

Energy companies have lots of literature on how to treat the outside of a refrigerator or freezer:

  • Refrigerators and freezers last longer and take less energy if you let them breathe: Air should be able to flow around, above and below them. They need to release heat.

  • Clean coils (with a coil brush if you have one) and try to minimize dust accumulation.

  • You may have a moisture tray which can be washed out with soapy water.

  • An old damp sock on a plastic bag on a flat yardstick (with a couple rubber bands around it) is handy if you want to clean underneath and don’t have anything better.

  • If there is a plastic attachment at the bottom, it comes off and goes back on easily (to clean) if you pay attention to how it attaches. If it doesn’t come off or go back on easily, don’t break it: Get directions (online or from a human being).

  • Many people turn off, unplug and fully clean out their refrigerators and freezers every 1-3 years (including moving them to clean behind and below). Plug a refrigerator or freezer back in BEFORE you turn it back on (good to keep in mind for anything electrical).

If you hate the thought of cleaning out a refrigerator, hopefully these thoughts will be ‘easier.’