ReColor by Wipe New Blog

How to Prepare and Store Your Grill during the Cold Months

For many, the end of one year and the beginning of a new one means chilly weather and no grilling. It’s important to prepare, protect, and store your grill for those cold months. Here are some basic tips to help ensure your grill will be ready come next spring:

Step 1:

Start by giving your outdoor grill a good cleaning. Many people first start the grill up and let it run on high heat until all of the food is burned off of the grill plate. Then take a wire grill brush and scrape all of the leftover food off of the grill surface and get things nice and clean while the grill is hot (make sure to use gloves!). After the grill has cooled, you can use soapy water to help with the cleaning process or you can even use oven cleaner to help with the tough spots. Make sure you thoroughly rinse the grill grates off with water to remove any soap residue.

Step 2:

Wipe down the outside of the grill with a damp cloth. Take an old rag and a bucket of hot soapy water and clean every surface of the grill including the tank and all hoses. You can even clean and wipe down the inside of the lid where all of that carbon build up exists. Once the outside of your grill is dry use some Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New to bring back the shine and to help protect your grill from the elements.

Step 3:

Shut off the gas at the LP tank and unfasten the burner, slip the gas tubes off the gas lines, and lift out the unit as a whole. Coat the burners with cooking oil to repel moisture that can build up over the winter and to prevent rust. Wrap the burner unit in a plastic bag to keep spiders and insects from nesting in the gas tubes during the winter.

Step 4:

Purchase a good grill cover to keep the dirt, rain, and snow from accumulating on the grill. If you are using a grill cover from last year, make sure that it is still in good condition and has no tears or holes. Make sure your grill and cover is completely dry before storing them. If possible, store your grill inside in a dry location away from the elements.

ReColor Your Patio Furniture

Maybe you’re having a barbecue, or maybe you’re just lounging around and enjoying the scenery, but there’s nothing like enjoying some time outside on the patio with your patio furniture.

Patio furniture is built to last for quite a while, but after a while, the furniture loses its eye appeal as it collects dust and dirt as well as being subjected to the harsh rays of the sun and other seasonal changes. Imagine if someone left you outside for the entire Winter, or made you stay outside in a storm… you wouldn’t look so great after a while, would you?

That’s where Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New comes in! With proper cleaning and prep work using the product as directed (especially when it comes to wearing the protective gloves), ReColor can restore your patio furniture to its original color. It works great on all surfaces, including plastic and vinyl.

Just take a look at this before and after picture! It’s remarkable, isn’t it? Why put your patio furniture out to pasture when you can use ReColor? When used correctly, you can enjoy your patio furniture for years to come!

ReColor Your Shutters

Shutters are amazing. They’re such a wonderful addition to any house, aren’t they? Not only do they look great, but they also add an extra layer of protection to the house by shielding the windows from the harsh elements, as well as take a beating from the sun!

Unfortunately, like the rest of the exterior of the house, the elements take a toll on your shutters and their color starts to fade, until finally, they don’t provide that beautiful accent to your house anymore.

Why resort to refinishing, repainting, or even replacing your shutters if you don’t have to? When used properly, Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New can restore that beautiful color to your shutters in just a matter of moments.

Make sure that you prep your shutters. Wash them with soap and water, allow them to completely dry, and then using the enclosed protective gloves, apply ReColor; try to avoid direct sunlight to reduce the possibility of streaking.

Prepping your Home A/C for Winter in 3 Easy Steps

Winter is coming, and it’s time to start preparing for the cold, snow, and ice. This includes prepping your air conditioner for its off-season.

Here are 3 easy steps to prepare your air conditioner for winter:

Wash the unit to remove bird poop, bugs, leaves, and dirt. Also, clear the area within a couple of feet of the unit to discourage little critters from moving into a nice burrow. Allow the unit to dry completely before proceeding.
ReColor it! Using Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New on the outside of the unit can make it look great year round. ReColor will also help to protect from fading from UV in the future and make clean-up easier next time.

Instead of covering the unit, consider covering the top with a plywood board. Covering the whole unit may trap moisture in as well as out, while a board will protect it from falling leaves, snow, and ice. This is a great tip for renters too! Even if you don’t own it, for less than $10 you are making sure that it’s there when you need it next year and you don’t have to wait for the landlord to replace it if damaged.

Halloween Decorations

It’s that time again! Autumn has returned and Pumpkins Patches and decorations are popping up everywhere.

Pulling out all the old decorations is great fun but seeing them worn and faded can tempt you to run out and buy some more. But you don’t have to! There are so many fun and easy ways to make your own new decorations and restore your old favorites.

Ghostly: Make your own ghosts with cheesecloth, paper, and string!

Ball up newspaper or old packing paper.
Wrap a piece of cheesecloth around it and fasten it with string.
With a permanent marker draw eyes and a mouth.
Cut two small holes at the top and slip through a piece of string (or you can use a needle and thick thread).
Hang from trees, windows, bushes, etc.

Spiders Spiders Everywhere: Pipe cleaner spiders are fun and so easy to make:

Grab black or purple pipe cleaners.
Take four and fold them in the middle then wrap the middle section into a ball.
Pull out the “legs” and bend them.
Glue on red buttons or googly eyes.

Pumpkin Fun:

Get a new pumpkin or dust off an old foam pumpkin that is damaged or has an old carving. Wrap it in white gauze. Add giant googly eyes, or black stones or buttons for eyes for a ghostly good time.
Paint a fresh pumpkin or foam pumpkin with glow-in-the-dark paint and add eyes. Then dress it up with sunglasses, a hat, anything you have around that could be fun.
Stack three real or foam pumpkins for a fun and easy “Pumpkin Man” and decorate as you wish.

ReColor will save you money and time:

If you have any old carvable foam pumpkins that have lost their sheen, use ReColor and they will shine like the first day you bought them. Add them to your front stoop, under a tree, in a window, or around the house.

Old skeletons can also get an upgrade with a little wipe with ReColor. Then tack it to a tree, wall, or outside gate for ghoulish fun.

A big black witch’s cauldron is the perfect place to brew up a vat of candy delight. Shine it up with ReColor for a more dramatic look.

Creative Storage Ideas

Let’s face it – we all could use a little more storage space. Here are few fun ideas to satisfy our needs.

Multipurpose Coffee Table: If you have a single surfaced coffee table, you could double your space by replacing it with one that has compartments, or one with a second shelf which you can add matching baskets to for more storage.

Adding shelves to your walls gives you a place to display pretty vases, photo frames, knick-knacks, and such without taking up more tabletop space. If you have closets with high ceilings, you can also add some shelves in there for more out of sight storage.

Wicker baskets can help with storage issues in every room and always look great! A large basket in the living room or bedroom can store extra blankets and pillows. Small ones in the bathroom can hold make-up, hair, and body products.

Shoe Organizers can hold so much more than just shoes. Hang one on the back of a door and fill it cleaning products, arts and crafts, stuffed animals, toiletries, hair products, gardening tools… there is nearly no limit!

Check out your local thrift shops and neighborhood garage sales for more prime storage items that you can easily refresh with ReColor:

Coat racks
Old galvanized pails for fun storage options both inside and outside the home.
Apple/fruit crates to store towels, blankets, shoes at the front door, board games, videos, music…
Bedside tables with drawers or cabinet can help unclutter your room.
Old-fashioned leather suitcases make for great storage compartments that also look great on display. A quick wipe down with ReColor will restore the leather making them look good as new. Then fill them, stack them, and display!

Got Kids?

Easily transform a small old utility cart into a portable Craft Cart.
Clear shoeboxes can be labeled with its contents while keeping everything in its place.
A hanging shoe rack will also hold a multitude of kid’s items.
Convert their old changing table into a bookshelf and toy chest. Remove the mattress and add books to the top and a few baskets on the bottom shelf to house their stuffed friends, games, and toys.

Look Under the Bed for more space.

Long flat storage boxes fit under most beds.
Rolling storage shelves are great if you need regular access.
If your bed sits too low, you can buy inexpensive lifts to gain more space.

Restoring the sun fading on awnings and covered porches

Do you have an awning, covered walkway, covered porch, or gazebo? If you’ve had it for a while, chances are that it’s maybe getting some sun-fading on it. Maybe it’s just not as bright and vibrant as it used to be, or maybe it’s down to a dull grey or whitish color. You don’t need to replace it, though. ReColor to the rescue!

Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New® is the fast and easy way to restore those aging, weather-beaten items around your home. It’s convenient to do on the fly. Perfect for everything from last minute touch ups before the house party or restoring an 8-piece patio set to better than new condition. Now restore and protect items around your home the easy, effective way for less!

The below pictures are actual results from using ReColor on an awning and covered porch.

Getting Started with Vertical Gardening – Finding the Space

Even if you’re living in a small space, you can have a garden. You just may need to go up! Vertical gardening allows you to have vegetables and annuals in your life and home, all you need is a blank wall, bare fence, or other vertical space!

One simple way to start a vertical garden is to build a wire frame and hang pots and planters from it. Start with a wooden frame, and wrap it in hex wire. Hang it on a wall or add a base so that it is sturdy, and hang away!

Or you can use a sturdy trellis from the store as your grid to hang pots from.

Not into putting something on the wall? Hang different lengths of chain and hooks to give it a tiered appearance.

You can also use pallets! Pallet furniture is a big trend right now, and it’s due to the versatility of this often-discarded piece of shipping equipment. You can use a pallet as a flower bed laying down, or stand it up to use as a vertical gardening space!

There are so many different ways to create a virtual garden, almost anything that you can think of will work! Old furniture, even an old bicycle would make a nice planter. And if you do use something that may not look as new as it once did, consider brightening it with Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New. It restores the original color and shine instantly, and helps protect against the elements.

If you are looking to start gardening this fall, you are limited by what can grow in your area in the time before the frost and winter set in. Quickly growing crops such as lettuce, greens, spinach, and chard may do well.

For more ideas check out Country Living’s 19 Creative Ways to Plant a Vertical Garden.

Ready! Set! Action! Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New

Love to entertain in your backyard? Have you ever thought of watching movies outdoors?

There are many different ways that you can do it, but a simple white canvas on a frame makes a perfect screen for a projector. You can paint the other side with a beautiful design, and then just flip it around when you are ready to watch movies! Other options include buying a screen and painting a wall white.

Just as there are many ways to see the movies, there are many ways to project them. Here are a couple resources for those who want to get started:

How to set up an inexpensive outdoor home theater

Outdoor home theater basics http://www.crackerjacktheater.com/p/basics.html

Of course, you’ll also need somewhere to sit, which is where we come in. Instead of buying new chairs, upgrade your current patio furniture by giving it a coat of Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New! Then, all you have to do is bring a pillow out and you’re ready to go.

A DIY Tic-Tac-Toe Garden Table for the Kids!

diy ic tac toe garden table wipe new recolor — Source: Hometalk

Here’s a great way to create some outdoor fun for the children in your life! This DIY Tic-Tac-Toe garden will look fabulous in your backyard and it’s really easy to create.

First, find a small round wooden table top at your local hardware store or thrift shop. Create the tic-tac-toe lines with a wood burner or some permanent paint. Stain your tabletop and seal the surface after staining. Then treat it with Rust-Oleum ReColor by Wipe New to shine it up – and to preserve it from rain or water damage. Then simply attach it a tree stump and buy some stones (or other items) to use as pieces to play the game.

Get the step-by-step directions on Hometalk and enjoy your tics, tacs, and toes!