1. If you can't sleep because
a cricket's come calling, here's a sure cure. Put a wet washcloth in
your kitchen or bathroom sink at night, and you'll find you noisy
"neighbor" hiding in the morning.
2. Have fleas invaded your
house? If you're afraid of using harsh chemicals/toxins to rid your
house of pesky fleas, try this remedy: fill a shallow cookie sheet with
2/3 of rubbing alcohol, and place the cookie sheet onto the floor of
your infested room(s)....after all the little ones have gone to bed.
Then take a small lit votive candle in a glass holder and place it in
the middle of the cookie sheet. During the night the fleas will hop
toward the candle's light, and land in the alcohol mixture. The rubbing
alcohol will trap and kill them by morning.
3. Patent leather handbags or shoes can be quickly brightened with a polish of milk. Appy with a soft cloth and rub into a shiny new-like finish.
4. PLace some nonslip strips, normally used in bathtubs, in painted porch steps to give your family and visitors nonslip safety in wet weather.
5. Prepare your snow shovel for
winter with a coat of floor wax. the wax helps prevent the scoop from
rusting and also makes the snow slide off without sticking.
6. This cleanup trick works
while you sleep! Lay a barbecue grill rack on the lawn overnight -- the
dew will combine with the enzymes in the grass to loosen any burned-on
grease! Try it with messy oven racks, too.
7. Next time a plastic bread wrapper melts onto
the toaster or the coffeepot, try this. Rub some petroleum jelly on the
spot. Reheat the appliance and use a paper towel to rub off the plastic
and the printing.
8. Newspaper repels moths, which is quite helpful when storing woolen rugs.
9. If you're stung by a bee,
apply a slice of onion to the spot and hold it there for a minute or
two. If you are outside, or traveling, you can also make a poltice out
of fresh dirt and saliva mixed together to make some mud. PLace the mud
on the sting, and let it dry. Both these remedies will do the trick!
10. To make your own cleaning
solution for windows that's easy and less expensive than commercial
solutions, add 1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol to 1 quart of water. Either
use it in a pail or pour it into an empty spray bottle.
11. To keep shower doors shiny and
clear, use a soft cloth moistened with baby oil. It prevents scum
build-up from dirt and soap. And harsh water spots won't appear for
several months.
12. "Dry clean" your dog during the winter months by rubbing baking soda into its fur. Brush out with an old hairbrush.
13. When hanging a picture, heat the nail with a flame before driving it into the wall. You won't crack or chip the plaster.
14. To reduce cat hair around the house, gently run a damp paper towel over your cat. It collects both hair and dirt.
15. To remove candle wax from carpeting, place a brown paper bag over the wax and gently run a warm iron over the bag. This works for tablecloths, too.
16. If you find the tops are sticking to
your tubes of glue, try rubbing a little petroleum jelly around the
rim. It works on nail polish bottles, and paint can lids, too.
17. A hanging pocket-style shoe bag is a great addition to any hallway for storing winter gloves and mittens, scarves and caps. Put it where children can reach it so they can be responsible for finding and putting away their own things. You could even label each pocket with a family member's name.
18. Revarnishing with a small soft lint-free cloth is twice as fast as using a brush. You can rub in any direction, and the varnish goes into the wood better. There will be no splatters and no brushes to clean out. Throw the rag away if it gets too dirty. Use rubber gloves or clean your hands with paint remover.
19. Use a coffeepot brush to clean your sewing machine. It will be long enough to poke into even the farthest recesses and narrow enough to fit into those thousand-and-one crevices where lint clings.
20. To separate two glasses that are stuck together, put the bottom glass in warm water and pour cold water in the top glass. The two will pull apart easily without breaking.
21. Sharpen a dull pair of scissors easily by cutting through several thicknesses of aluminum foil.
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