So you’ve worked your carefully crafted charm, or lucked into, getting a girl to come back to your place, but can’t seem to get any further than seeing her run in terror at the first sight of your literal "man cave."

Perhaps it’s time you gave your abode a much deserved spring sprucing. With the following products to always have on hand, and a couple of helpful tips, we’ll go section by section, and get your place back to a bachelor pad worthy level. (And maybe even get the health department to stop sending you those pesky letters).

Floors

Just because a lady likes being taken out to the movie theater on occasion does not mean she wants to recreate that at home with sticky, grungy floors. So do yourself a favor and pick up the Shark Vac-then-Steam, a 2-in-1 vacuum with powerful suction (easy fellas), that easily sucks up all the bits and schmutz that foot traffic brings in.

After you’re done with the vacuuming you can then easily (and by easy I mean literally drop the whole unit onto the steaming pad), both mop and sanitize your floors with the Shark’s steamer. It'll quickly heat up and sterilize your floors killing 99.9% of all bacteria. Couple this household essential with some decent floor polish, and you’ll be doing your best Risky Business impression in no time. (Tighty whiteys not included).
$149.99
SharkClean.com

Dishes

Getting tired of eating toast off a cutting board? Is your romantic candle-lit home dinner date ruined by forcing her to use the gravy boat as a drinking glass? Then perhaps it’s time to brave the ...There's more

If you've scrambled a couple of eggs, you've probably used non-stick cooking spray to keep them from sticking to the pan. You might have even sprayed a couple shots of the stuff on your barbecue grill grates to keep your burgers easier to flip without coming apart.

But you may never have thought that this oily, edible spray that first hit store shelves back in 1959, can be an invaluable addition to your toolbox. Making a variety of things in your life a lot easier. So here are a couple dozen unusual (yet extremely helpful), uses for non-stick cooking spray:

YOUR CAR

1. Wipe Away Brake Dust. When brake dust and other dirt accumulates on the wheels of your car, you can expect a lot of scrubbing to get them shining again. Once you get 'em clean, spray a little cooking oil on them, and the next time they get a layer of brake dust and grime on them, all you'll need to do is wipe it off.

2. Keep Your Grill and Bumper Clean. If you live in an area where there's a big bug population, you know how hard it is to clean dead flattened bugs off your grill or bumper. Spray some cooking oil on a cleaning cloth and rub it onto the grill. Bugs come right off, and the oil adds a shine.


OUTSIDE

3. Shovel Easier. Not looking forward to shoveling that snow this year, having to slamm your shovel against the ground repeatedly to try to get the caked-on snow off? Coat your shovel with some cooking spray before you hit the driveway, and the snow will slide right off it. Works with regular shovels in the dirt too. And you snow thrower users can spray some inside your discharge chute to make the snow fly out easier as well.

4. Mow Easier Too. Once the snow has melted and you're back to mowing, give the blades and undercarriage of your mower a few quick sprays. It'll keep the clippings from sticking.

5. Bicycle Chain Sticking or Rusted. A few sprays of non-stick will have you peddling again fast.

6. Fix Sticking Locks. Trouble getting your ...There's more

You gotta keep your pad clean. But when you spray that cleaner on your kitchen counter, you might be getting rid of the remnants of last night's party, but you may also be doing as much damage to your body as a Dirty Bomb.

Everyday household cleaners can contribute to allergies, asthma, headaches, dizziness, chest pains, eye and skin irritations, birth defects, fatigue, depression, and cancer. Here's a list of 17 common ingredients in cleaners you probably have in your house right now, and the effects they can have.

Forget rubber gloves, you should be wearing a hazmat suit.

Ammonia –
Causes irritation to eyes and nose, breathing difficulties, chest pains, pulmonary edema (lungs fill with fluid), cataracts and skin burns. High exposure can lead to lung damage, blindness, heart attack or death. Has been shown to produce skin cancer. Typically found in glass cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, and disinfectants.

2-butoxyethanol / Ethylene glycol butyl ether –
This chemical can be easily absorbed by the skin or inhaled, and can damage the liver, kidneys, reproductive organs and cause blood disorders. Commonly found in all-purpose cleaners, window cleaners.

Ethoxylated nonyl phenols (gender-benders) –
This chemical has been shown to induce female characteristics in male fish (if that doesn't make you go "holy crap", nothing will), and poses such a threat to the environment that it has been banned in the UK. It is still available for use in the US. ...There's more

She's coming over in a half hour and your place is a wreck from the poker game last night. You go to clean the stale beer coagulating with chip crumbs on the coffee table, and realize you're out of glass cleaner. Screwed? Not if you know what to grab from your kitchen.

Using only three main ingredients: water, baking soda and white vinegar, you can cook up some homemade cleaners that'll get your place back to date-shape before she shows up. And for a helluva lot less than the cleaners you buy in the store.

All Purpose Cleaning Solution:
1 cup Vinegar
1 cup Water
1 spray bottle

Pour vinegar and water into a spray bottle and shake. Use this for daily wipe-downs of the counter in your kitchen or bathroom, or for small spills on the stove-top. If you want to add some scent use one or two drops of lemon, orange or pine oil and shake the bottle before use. These oils are great for ...There's more

New research is showing, like a lot of new research lately, that what we thought was good for us may not be. And could possibly be doing more harm than good.

According to the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases (just a little light reading to have with your morning coffee), researchers from the University of Michigan went back and studied the results of over 27 studies conducted from 1980-2006 on the effectiveness of antibacterial soaps.

They found that soaps containing the commonly used bacteria-killing chemical triclosan, were "no more effective than plain soap at preventing infectious illness symptoms and reducing bacterial levels on the hands." So apparently "antibacterial soap" is just another marketing ploy that went and got itself mainstream. At our expense.

As an added bonus they found "several laboratory studies demonstrated evidence of triclosan-adapted cross-resistance to antibiotics among different species of bacteria." Which translated to normal-person speak means the little buggers are adapting rather than dying, and are becoming resistant to the stuff we developed to kill them.

"Antibacterial" my ass. I'm heading out to buy some old-school soap.

Guys spend billions a year on dry cleaning. Adding regularly to the cost of our clothes and helping George move on up to a deeeluxe apartment in the sky. George, I love ya, but I'm tired of my money paying for your deeeluxe rent.

If you're just looking to clean and freshen your suits, sweaters or dress pants - and there's no heavy stains or ground-in dirt on the collars or cuffs - you can achieve the same results as your dry cleaner, at home and for a helluva lot less.

A product like Dry Cleaner's Secret can help. They're simple enough that you don't have to be a laundry guru to use them. All you do is place up to four garments in your dryer with the dry cleaning sheet, set the timer for 20 minutes and let 'em roll on medium heat. Take them out fresh, wrinkle-free and ready to wear again.

How much can you save? Each single-use sheet costs about $1.67 and can clean up to four pieces of clothing. Meaning it costs you about 42 cents per cleaning. Big savings over the average $6.50 it costs to dry clean a suit. ...There's more