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Drain cleaner – Pour ½ cup baking soda and ¾ cup white
vinegar down the drain. After the mixture stops bubbling, flush with boiling
or very hot tap water.
Grease cutter – Scrub with a mixture of 1 part lemon
juice, 1 part water, and 2 parts white vinegar.
Laundry brightener – Add lemon juice to the wash water.
Linen whitener – Soak yellowed lines in sour milk;
launder as usual.
Marble cleaner – Mix salt and lemon juice to form a thin
paste. Polish with a soft cloth.
Oven cleaner – Mix baking soda with water to make a thick
paste. Spread over baked-on grease; let sit overnight, scrub with a plastic
scrubber, rinse with water.
Room deodorizer – Dab vanilla extract onto a lightbulb.
Heat from the bulb will spread the aroma throughout the room
Scouring powder – Mix baking soda and water to make a
thick past.
Silver polish – Rub with half a raw potato dipped in
baking soda.
Wallpaper cleaner – Rub a piece of stale white bread over
the paper to remove fingerprints and other oily marks.
Window cleaner – Four cups of water mixed with ½ cup
white vinegar.
Greasy Hands
To clean greasy hands when no sink is available, use
shaving cream. Keep a can handy in any place where you might end up with
greasy hands but don’t have running water.
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Stains on Collars
To scrub out stains on your collars, mix baking soda and
water into a paste. Scrub the paste on the stains with a soft toothbrush
before washing the shirts.
Sprinkle undiluted ammonia over garbage bags and in
garbage cans to keep dogs away from your cans.
Clothing
Belt Buckles
Keep metal belt buckles bright and shiny with a
coat of clear nail polish. This will help prevent scratches also.
Earring
Don’t discard a stud type earring if you’ve misplaced
one. Wear the single earring as a one-of-a-kind lapel pin.
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Get rid of deep creases
To get rid of deep creases in your trousers, sponge white vinegar on the
fold. Press the creased area with a warm iron until the vinegar dries.
Neckties
Neckties can be draped over a curtain rod attached to the
inside of your closet to keep the ties visible, well sorted, and protected
from creasing.
Shoelaces
If you’re not sure what size shoelaces your child needs,
count the pairs of holes in one shoe and multiply by four. Multiply by seven
for adults.
Storing Clothing
Before storing woolen clothing for the
summer, put cloves in the pockets. This will deter moths as well
as mothballs, but with a better smell.
Finance
Head Off Bankruptcy
Learn to recognize the signs that you are
carrying too much debt. Making only minimum payments on charge accounts each
month, charging essentials like food and gas, or nearing the credit limit on
your credit cards is a sure sign that you need to develop a budget and a debt
repayment plan.
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First
Aid
Antiseptics
Kill germs and prevent infection by rinsing cuts
and scrapes with sterile saline solution or hydrogen peroxide diluted with
water, or you can use an antiseptic mouthwash instead of an antiseptic
ointment.
Aspirin
Aspirin acts as a blood thinner, reducing the
risk of a heart attack. Before starting an aspirin regimen, check with your
physician. If you notice that your nose runs, you sneeze more often or you
have difficulty breathing when you take aspirin, you are probably allergic to
salicylate, the main ingredient in aspirin. Several foods contain large
amounts of salicylate such as oranges, raspberries, and certain spices such
as cinnamon. You are also probably allergic to these foods. For relief, try
acetaminophen.
Back Pain Prevention
Use your thigh muscles instead of your back and
arms to lift a heavy object. Keep your back straight, squat and then raise
the object as you stand up. Never bend at the waist or lock your knees when
doing heavy lifting. The wide leather belts used by professional
weightlifters don’t protect your back from the strain of lifting heavy
objects. Instead, they put pressure on your abdomen, which can raise your
blood pressure.
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Drink
Liquids
Drinking at least eight glasses of water or juice a day
will help prevent dehydration if you have a fever and will thin mucus in the
nose and throat. Hot tea or broth, including chicken soup, helps open a
stuffy nose. Caffeinated beverages make bronchial passages dilate and makes
breathing easier.
Heart
Burn
Eat a banana at the first sign of gastric distress. The fruit contains
natural antacids, which can provide fast relief for people who suffer from
heart burn pain.
Hiccups
Swallow 1 teaspoon of granulated white sugar for quick relief if you have
hiccups.
Medications
Medications should not be kept in a medicine cabinet in
the bathroom. The warm, moist environment will deteriorate the medication.
They keep better in a cool, dry place.
Pimples
Mix a paste of baking soda and water and apply at bedtime
to help dry up and draw out pimples overnight.
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Puffy
Eyes
Cool used teabags in a plastic bag in the refrigerator,
then place the teabags on your eyes in the morning for about 10 minutes.
Sleeping
Getting more sleep than your body needs can make you feel
tired and can cause headaches and sinus congestion.
Sore
Throat
To soothe a sore throat, stir ¼ teaspoon salt into a cup of warm water and
gargle with the solution four or five times a day.
Splinters
Coat a splinter with white nontoxic glue. After the glue
had dried, peel it off slowly, and the splinter may pull out with it.
Upset
Stomach
Peppermint tea or peppermint candy can soothe a stomach
upset by overeating.
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Gardening
Garden Trick
Put coffee grounds into the planting holes of acid-loving
plants such as rhododendrons, blueberries, and azaleas to enhance their
growth.
Holiday
Tips
To avoid last-minute holiday hassle, try these tips:
Shop year-round for the best bargains. Keep a list of
gifts you’ve bought so you won’t duplicate.
Mail out-of-town gifts early. Mailing your gifts in
November by third-class mail saves money and time spent in long lines at the
post office in December.
Shop by catalog or on-line so you don’t have to deal with
crowded stores, gift wrapping, and mailing. Most brand-name catalogs offer
services 24 hours a day.
Keep the names of your gift and card recipients on file
on your computer, and update the list during the year. When Christmas comes,
you have a list for easy reference.
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Household
Stock up on shovels, gloves, and deicing materials in the
off-season. Prices are generally lower, and you can avoid the crowds of
shoppers at stores after the first snowfall.
Have your furnace checked and cleaned annually by a
professional. The improved efficiency outweighs the cost.
Replace the batteries in your smoke detectors each fall
when you change your clocks back to standard time and again in the spring.
Never put your name or address on a key ring. If it is
lost or stolen, thieves will know exactly where to go.
Do not return warranty cards, because mailing lists are
compiled from the information asked for on these cards. Most warranties are
valid as long as you keep the receipt.
Leave an extra house key with a trusted neighbor rather
than under a stone, in a fake thermometer, or in a magnetic holder under the
mailbox. Thieves are familiar with those clever gimmicks too.
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Kitchen
Ants
To repel ants inside your house, put spearmint, broken eggshells, pennyroyal,
camphor, or clove oil in a dish in closets and on shelves.
Bananas
Store bananas in the refrigerator, either in a
sealed plastic container or wrapped in newspaper. The peel will turn brown,
but the flesh of the banana will be unaffected. The cold slows down the
ripening process. The fruit will keep longer.
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Bleach
Always wear rubber gloves when using bleach, be
sure there is good ventilation in any room where you are using it. For all
its many ordinary household uses, bleach is still a powerful chemical.
Never mix bleach with any other commercial
cleaner, especially products containing ammonia. Bleach and ammonia, when
combined, create a lethal gas.
A solution of 5 percent bleach and 95 percent
boiling water will kill weeds between the flagstones on your terrace or
walk-way. If the weed problem is serious, increase the percentage of bleach.
A tablespoon of bleach added to the water
container of your dehumidifier to keep it from developing a musty odor. This
will also make your room smell especially fresh and clean.
Porcelain teapots and cups can be cleaned by
filling them with warm water and a few drops of bleach. Let them soak for an
hour or two and then wash thoroughly with soap and water.
Brown
Sugar
To soften hardened brown sugar, sprinkle with water and heat in a microwave
oven for 20 seconds.
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Coffee
Freeze coffee to keep it fresh. Coffee’s exposure to moisture and air rob it of freshness and flavor.
Drains
To keep a drain sweet, add a handful of baking soda or a
cup of vinegar once a week. Let it stand for 30 minutes, then flush with very
hot water.
Eggs
Before boiling an egg, prick a hole in the large end with
a pin to prevent the shell from cracking and the job of peeling the egg will
be much easier.
Hard- boiled eggs will peel more easily if you boil them
in salted water.
Egg whites will whip up faster if you add a pinch of salt
when beating them.
Garbage Disposal
To remove bad smells in your garbage disposal, grind half
a lemon, orange or other citrus fruit in the disposer or add a cup of vinegar.
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Grating, Chopping, or Slicing
Use a sewing thimble on your first finger while you
grate, chop, or slice. All you have to watch out for will be your thumb.
Lemon
Juice
If you need only a few drops of lemon juice just jab the
lemon with a toothpick and squeeze out several drops. Stick the toothpick
back into the hole and it will be ready the next time you need more juice.
Rub lemon juice over your hands after peeling onions to
remove the smell. Then wash your hands in soap and water.
Microwave
Rid your microwave of offensive odors by placing a thick
slice of lemon on a paper towel and microwave it on high for about a minute.
Leave the lemon wedge in the oven overnight.
Oven Cleaning
Place a bowl of ammonia inside an oven overnight for easy cleaning. In the
morning, wipe away grease and clean as usual. Not recommended for use on
self-cleaning ovens.
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Plastic Wrap
Keep plastic wrap stored in the refrigerator and the wrap
won’t stick to itself and will be easier to use.
Potatoes and Cauliflower
To help keep potatoes and cauliflower white, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to
the cooking liquid.
Store potatoes and onions separately. Potatoes emit
moisture and a ripening gas that will cause onions to decay.
Wooden Spoons
Wooden spoons are great stirrers and scrapers. They
don’t get hot, and they won’t scratch nonstick coatings. Soak new ones in
cider vinegar overnight to prevent them from absorbing food smells.
Personal
Hygiene
Bad Breath
Munch a sprig or two of fresh parsley after a
meal to sweeten your breath. Toothpastes containing hydrogen peroxide may be
more effective at controlling germs that cause bad breath than ordinary
fluoride toothpaste. If dental hygiene fails to eliminate the problem,
consult your dentist or doctor. Bad breath could be sign of a medical problem
such as sinusitis or periodontal disease.
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Pets
The Best Family dogs
Basset Hound – Moderately
easy to train, low shedder, very mild mannered.
Cocker Spaniel
– Easily
trained, medium shedder, can be hard to housebreak; some bark if left alone.
English Springer Spaniel –
Easily trained, medium shedder, can bark and become destructive if left alone
too much.
Golden Retriever – Easily
trained, medium shedder, ideal family dog, requires exercise.
Labrador Retriever – Easily
trained, but strong on a leash, medium shedder, ideal family dog, requires
exercise.
Poodle – Easily trained, low
shedder, can be high strung.
Schnauzer
– Easily trained,
low shedder, friendly, playful but can be yappy. |
