Tips, Tricks & Good Ideas

[Dotcobbett]

Hello, if you put Fabric Softener sheets in you heat vents in the house it smells awesome!!!

[Chantel]

If you buy cartridges for razors, many come in a little plastic containers with peel-off tops. This is certainly true for venus razors.

Anyway, if you keep these around, they make for handy little travelling cases! the head of the razor fits in fairly snugly, if you don't jostle it around too much it'll stay stuck on the head of your razor and you needn't worry about it scratching anything in your bag.

It's like those stupid travel caps that sometimes cost 2-4 bucks, but it's FREE!

[Shwa Girl]

If you run out of stain remover before the next sale (lol), load your washer + detergent, run for 5 minutes, soak for as long as you want, and run the load.
The soak sometimes releases the stains.

[Irie at CN]

Hey I've got a few too!
1) use baking soda to get the baked on cheese off dishes, pots etc. - just sprinkle some on, add water, let sit a few minutes or longer and wash off normally
2) get microfibre cloths (Dollarama or Canadian Tire) use them to dust and clean your windows, I wet them and then wring out til barely damp then clean even the window nearest our bbq, comes out crystal clear (I don't buy window cleaner....ever!) NOTE: do not put them in the dryer after washing, just hang dry) I also keep one in the car to dust the dashboard and interior windows

[RMurp007]

Wet a cloth, put it in a freezer bag and freeze it. When you go golfing or you are out walking on a hot day, place this around your neck and you will stay cool.

[Jeff_Schwan]

This is great! Thanks so much!

[Shwa Girl]

If you are a gardener, and the garden centre is closing for the season, don't say no to the free plants that don't look so hot. Especially if they are marigolds or snapdragons.
Marigold seeds can be kept for the next year. And you do the same seed saving every year.

Snapdragons will come back for one more year.

[grannyg]

I think we've exhausted the bounce dryer sheet - but great ideas to those who have contributed so far to this thread.

Any now, moving on, here's a few tips & tricks (all borrowed) for Coke or Pepsi …. Did you know?????
To clean a toilet:
Pour a can of cola into the toilet bowl. Let it sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains.
To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers:
Rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
To clean corrosion from car battery terminals:
Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
To loosen a rusted bolt:
Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
To bake a moist ham:
Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan; Wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
To remove grease from clothes:
Empty a can of Coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.
If all else fails, drink the darn pop!

And to think ppl drink this stuff...
Old army trick told by grandfather..... to get rust off bolts ,,, 1 can of coke, and sit over nite, In the am no rust...
can u imagine what it does to the belly

[grannyg]

If you feel a cold coming on lie down with one ear up and drop some hydrogen peroxide in that ear. Stay there until the fizzing sound stops. Dry your ear then turn on your other side and do the other ear. Works like a charm!

Hydrogen peroxide should be in everyone's medicine cabinet

Great for getting excess wax out of the ear as well,,

[travel-mum]

I REALLY CAN'T TOP THE PREVIOUS POST!

But here goes:

I don't have small children in my house, so all of these might not work for everyone:

Keep a jar of baking soda beside your kitchen sink. It works great for taking out coffee stains from cups. Just make sure to remove almost all of the water first. Works great on other tough stains too! And you don't have to worry about anyone ingesting it, as it's a edible product.

I use kleenex often instead of paper towels to clean up small messes. It's a lot cheaper! I also use it to pre-wash dishes. If I've made spaghetti sauce I'll soak the pot, and then before I wash it I'll give it a swipe with a couple of kleenex. It takes the thick sauce off, so I'm not washing items in greasy, saucey water.

For stain remover, try just putting some laundry detergent directly on the stain and rub well before washing.

Take clothes out the dryer when dry and fold. I hardly ever have to iron.

I keep a laundry basket above my washer and dryer for each member of the household (I have a main floor laundry room). I fold items out of the dryer and put them in the basket. Each person is responsible for putting their own laundry away.

Put a laundry basket in the bathroom. Everyone is responsible for their own dirty clothes. When it's time for laundry, if it's not in the basket, I don't wash it!

Divide the chores according to what people hate the least. My daughter hated cooking, but didn't mind doing dishes. My son hated doing dishes but loved to cook. Guess who did what?

Do your household chores a little at a time. Taking a whole Saturday morning to do the chores is a waste of family time. Have everyone do a little each day, and by Saturday it's just the finishing touches and you're off to enjoy the weekend!

I would do a load of laundry every day. I had a laundry chute in my laundry room, and every morning I would empty out he bathroom laundry basket and throw it down the chute. When I came home from work I would go directly to the laundry room and throw a load in the wash. Then it's time to make supper, do dishes, get the kids to bed, etc. After that it's back to the laundry room to fold clothes from the dryer, throw it in everyone's laundry basket and throw the new load in. Laundry's done by the time you go to bed, and you haven't felt like you wasted precious family time doing it.

When making meals, make a lot! I'm the freezer queen! (I have an all-fridge in my kitchen and a small apartment-size freezer. The fridge is ALL FRIDGE and I love it! No more cramming everything into a small space!) On days when I feel like cooking I make enough for at least two meals, and put half in the freezer. On days when I'm too tired to cook after work, I just MICROWAVE a home-cooked meal out of the freezer! I especially love to cook a big turkey, chicken, ham, pork roast, roast beef, etc. Just make sure you have lots of juice and don't make gravy. Put the left-over meat in old margarine or cottage cheese tubs, pour over the juice and freeze! When you thaw you can make gravy then out of the juice if you want. The meat is so moist it's like you just cooked it. And in the summer you can have roasted meat that you made when it was still cool enough to have the oven on.

I have lots more, but people are probably nodding off by now.............

[FrugalNotCheap75]

The only trick that I can think of that hasn't been covered already is that I freeze my SOS pad. When I use one I give it a quick rinse, throw it into a baggie and toss it into the freezer. The next time I need it, I simply dip it into the warm dish water to thaw out an edge and use as needed, when done, rinse throw it back in the bag and toss back in the freezer. Because it's been frozen it hasn't had a chance to rust and get all grundgy, and I don't have to worry about the germs that have developed a new city on the SOS pad while it was sitting on the side of my sink in between uses. An SOS pad now lasts a few months for me and a whole box can last me about a year

[marusababusa]

I need your help and think this is a right place to ask.How I can clean up mould in the shower?I have ceramics and the mould spreads as black stains between ceramics.What I have to do????I used some brand from Walmart but it got worse.Help!

[Shaykeija]

I just spray with javax...rince with hot water.

[marusababusa]

Thanks

[matty's mom]

Blueberry stains? Rinse with boiling water (must be rolling, boiling water). My little guy loves blueberries, so I have done this one every shirt/pj that he owns. It really works.

Depending on the severity of the stain, you may need to repeat- but yellow & white jammies became white & yellow again!