Home Living

• Instead of an address book, consider keeping names, addresses and phone numbers on index cards in a file or recipe box. You'll also have room for email addresses, birthdays, even presents you've given or received.
• Use all those address labels you receive from charities to label books, magazines, tupperware, anything you do not want to lose.  Great for your office stapler or tape dispenser too
• Looking for a safe alternative to chlorine bleach? Try lemon juice. Soak stained garments in a gallon of water with 1/4 cup lemon juice added.
• Save worn-out toothbrushes and use for cleaning jewelry, plant leaves, grout and other hard to reach places.
• After washing pants, hang from the legs. The wet weight of the pants will help eliminate wrinkles, and little ironing will be necessary.
• Before storing leftover paint, be sure to write on the can the room(s) or furniture that was painted with that color. If you have to do a touch-up later on, it will be easy to find the right can.
• Can't remember where you put it? When you've stored items, write in two places where you put them, perhaps the back pages of the phone book and your date book.
• Assign each family member a basket for mittens, gloves, hats and scarves. Keep them by the door most frequented...hung on the wall, or set on the floor or a shelf.
• Take photos of a room and its furnishings; cut samples of its fabrics and carpet. Glue onto index cards. Next paint more cards with colors used in that room. Carry them in a binder for reference when adding to or changing the look of a room.
• For longer life, store batteries in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. Allow them to warm to room temperature before using.
• Energy-efficient light bulbs last up to five time longer than conventional bulbs. Substitute fluorescent bulbs for standard ones. Use low-voltage Tungsten-halogen bulbs for powerful, unobtrusive lighting...such as in a kitchen.
• If it's freezing outside: Fill a milk carton halfway with water, set outside until outer shell is frozen, yet center is not. Peel away carton, break top off ice and pour off water. Set it on your porch with a small candle inside!
• Keep a bulletin board next to the washer and dryer. Pin tags, labels and receipts for clothing to it. If a garment does not wash as it should (or shrinks excessively), you can return it to the store for a refund.
• Spring cleaning? When storing many boxes in the basement or attic, number each box. Tape a list to the wall with an itemized account of the contents next to the corresponding box number.
• Know a budding young artist? Paint one wall of his/her room with flat black or dark green latex paint to create a giant, easy-clean chalkboard.
• To remove a broken light bulb: Turn off the electricity, place half of a raw potato or apple into the broken base, then twist the bulb out.
• Hang table linens on hangers padded with paper towel tubes to keep them from creasing.
• Remove lipstick stains from machine washable clothing with petroleum jelly or vegetable shortening. Rub a little in, then launder as normal.
• Keep household appliance instruction books and pamphlets in a single binder with pocket file inserts, and keep it on the bookshelf or next to your cookbooks. When you need directions for the steamer, microwave or iron, you'll know right where to look.
• Freeze candles? The cold can make them last longer, so place them in the freezer before lighting them.
• To remove candle wax from furniture, aim your hair dryer on the drippings...when it softens, remove it with a soft cloth.
• An easy way to remove wax from glass candleholders is to pop the container in the microwave on LOW power, just until the wax melts off.
• Looking for a safe alternative to chlorine bleach? Try lemon juice. Soak stained garments in a gallon of water with 1/4 cup lemon juice added.
• Save worn-out toothbrushes and use for cleaning jewelry, plant leaves, grout and other hard to reach places.
• After washing pants, hang from the legs. The wet weight of the pants will help eliminate wrinkles, and little ironing will be necessary.
• If you have an older house you can save money on your heating bills by blocking up unused chimneys. Plastic foam is the best but I usually end up using old clothes.
• Repairing burned carpet-- First cut away any brown area that has melted, then in a spot close to the wall clip some of the fabric. You then glue this on top of the burn spot. If done correctly with some patience this will work effectively to cover the burn with little to notice.
• Regular cellulose kitchen sponges tend to get smelly, and the odor transfers onto your hands when you use the sponge. We have found that a spray of Febreeze (or any fabric odor remover, I would imagine) keeps that nasty odor away.
• Utilizing these little pieces of soap that are always left over. Add a little glycerin and mash them up with a little warm water and you will have a liquid soap that is gentle and economical
• To bring back the fluffiness in bed pillows, put them in the clothes dryer. The warm air does wonders in just a few minutes.
• If an electric plug fits too tight and is difficult to pull out, rub its prongs with a soft lead pencil.
• To clean a candle stand especially a glass one, place it in the deep freezer for one hour. The wax will chip off more easily .
• Sprinkle a little boric acid on bathroom tiles before washing for economical as well as sparkling results.
• While shifting residence, pack crockery while it is still wet. This way, the chances of breakage will be less.
• To remove obstinate ball point ink stains, rub the affected area with a cotton bud soaked in cologne.
• To eliminate beer stains from woolen outfits, scrub the affected area with a mixture of lukewarm water and salt. (be careful with salt as it can fix some stains )
• Apply mineral oil over your shower doors and tile surface. That delays the mineral build-up in future use.
• If your water pipes sometimes make a loud "hammering noise" after the toilet has been flushed or sink, etc. Ask at the hardware store for something for "waterhammer". It's a fitting or some thing which is easily installed in the line. A common problem and not very expensive.
• Marks inside cups and mugs are caused by the metal cutlery abrading the glazing coating the service. Try an old fashioned remedy from an old fashioned man - toothpaste!
• The whitening toothpaste usually contains alumina which is an abrasive. I suppose that if it safe on the teeth it has to be O.K. on cups etc
• I run vinegar through my dishwasher once a month and this prevents hard deposits from getting a head start.
• Broken Glass: Use bread to pick up fragments of broken glass -
• Squeaky floorboards can be eased by using French chalk or talcum powder
• When sewing tough material, rub the material first with an old candle or cooking paraffin. Used this technique to sew carpeting.
• Faded carpets can be restored by hand painting using fabric dyes  (A useful range of fabric dye pens is available from Dylon)
• House Plants: If you have an aquarium, save the water each time you change it and water your house plants with it. You'll be amazed at the results.
• Socks can be useful in protecting the ends of unused fluorescent tubes –

Furniture

• Rub a candle on the runners of a sticky desk drawer, it’s amazing how much of a difference it will make -- David Edmunds.
• Furniture restoration: To make furniture look older mix varnish with soot and then paint on.
• Light scratches on furniture can be disguised by using a wax crayon pencil. Another method is to rub with a Brazil Nut.
• Small dents in furniture can be steamed out using a steam iron on a damped cloth. Be careful not to overdo it on delicate or very valuable items.
• Removal of Sticky Residues  Given a few days to work, cooking oil will combine with the glue and soften it. After peeling off the label, the oily residue responds to hot water and detergent. You can help the oil to penetrate by peeling off or scratching the label's surface
• Use WD40 to remove sticky labels. Just spray a little WD40 on the label and leave it for a few minutes. The label usually slides right off
• Sticky label remover from glass I have found that if you put peanut butter, preferably not chunky, on glass, bottles, or even mirrors, it will remove the residue. Sometimes it takes more than one application. Most people have peanut butter on hand.
• Removing Adhesive: Rubber cement thinner which you can buy at most art supply stores and some office supply stores removes most adhesives used on labels. Scrape off as much of the paper from the label as possible before applying the thinner and rubbing with a cloth or paper towel. It works great on glass, Formica and most non porous surfaces but will cloud many plastics. Also, it is extremely flammable. Lighter fluid often will also remove rubber based adhesives.
• Use white spirit or lighter fluid to remove the residue from sticky labels.
• Goo Gone works great on removing adhesives left behind by stickers, store stickers, gum, etc. It is found in Sears Hardware Stores and other department stores.
• I used vinegar to remove adhesive from glass jars, and off of our sink. it worked pretty well -- Jan
• Avon Skin so Soft. to take sticky goo off of things. I use it for many things. Including the dog and cat. I use it when cleaning old glass it helps take the old grease off and leaves everything shining. Baking soda is a all around cleaning solution. It is non abrasive. Cleans the outside of a refrigerator very well and takes the yellow away if you have white. I use it in the wash instead of softeners. It sweets the clothes and softens them also. It is also good to take the bugs off the car. Remember it is non abrasive.

printer friendly tips