Subject: Getting a Glass Lid (top) from a Glass Jar. We had trouble getting the glass lid (top) from a glass jar. Temperature differential did not help nor did rubber bands and rubber gloves. With eye protection and gloves, one of us held the jar whilst the other levered the lid using vice-grip pliers. The knob was protected with thick rubber bands and a rubber rest was on the edge of the jar lever point. It took a little time and patience but we were successful with not one but two jars. — Dr John BROWNBILL. 15 Jan 2008
Subject: Markings on Food Bags: For markings on foodstuff and on freezer bags you could use an old lipstick to write the name of the foodstuff in the box or plastic bag.Lipstick is edible stuff so safe. — Pushpa Kishore Mehta Oct 02 2006
Subject: Zip Top Freezer Bags… I Have difficulty getting them open? Take scissors and snip a fair sized “V” in one side of the top strip (don’t cut into the ‘sealer’) and you will find it easy to gain access without the frustration. Also if you find it difficult to fill small freezer bags you might try putting them inside a measuring cup, folding a small flap down over the edges of the cup. Then it’s easy to fill with foodstuffs and prevent the bag collapsing and the resultant spills. Same holds true for larger bags if you find a suitable sized bowl or can to place the bags in. — “Shelly” 10 Oct 2002
Subject: Bleach Smell: To remove bleach smell from hands (and that slimy feeling) pour a little vinegar or lemon juice over your hands then rinse. (bleach is alkaline, vinegar and lemon are acid, so they cancel each other out and balance the pH of your skin.) — Candace Downing Apr 11 2005
Subject: Fragrance: My hint is that to make a room smell nice spray a fragrance you like onto a light bulb and when you turn on the light bulb it will let of the smell with the heat. — h. fitch 22 Mar 2004 – Caution – Only do this when the bulb is cold – Ed
Subject: Butter Dish. To keep butter from sliding around on the butter dish, heat the dish with hot tap water, dry off and then put the butter stick on the dish and then into the refrigerator. It will melt just a little of the butter which will freeze when put in the fridge. Doesn’t slide around when you are getting butter. — Ron S
Subject: keep your socks together in the wash and dry process. Get some safety pins and keep them by the washing machine for your socks .Pin the toes of the socks together so you save time matching them up after the laundry process. — Tammy Dixon Kingston Springs, Tn. 18 Nov 2003
Subject: Recycle Grocery Bags I have recently fixed a pair of 3M Commander hooks – the kind that come off any surface just by pulling the tab – onto the sides of my kitchen garbage bin – the kind that fixes onto the inside of a cupboard door. I put the Commander hooks, one on each side a few inches below the rim and upside down. Instead of buying expensive garbage bags I can now hang a pair of plastic grocery bags from the hooks and tuck the edges neatly round the top of the bin. You know how these bags have an annoying habit of gradually sinking into the bin as they fill up – well, with the hooks they can’t do that and when the bin needs emptying, I can just unhook the bag and tie the handles ready to toss down the garbage chute. It’s also a great way to use up grocery bags instead of throwing them away. Ingenious hint – Ed
Hope you think this is worth passing on via your interesting web site. From: “Meg Gagie” 23 Mar 2003
Subject: Save on cleaning Materials. The best thing for cleaning anything around the house is very hot water with a squirt of good quality washing up liquid, and a window cloth (the best one is a reasonably priced Vileda window cloth found in Wilkinsons for £1-99). I like the water as hot as possible therefore I use rubber gloves, and ring out the cloth as much as possible. I use this for cleaning windows (in and out), mirrors, tiles, marble furniture, even the bedroom furniture, dusting around the house, car windows, anything that you might use cleaning products or polishes. Guaranteed not to leave smears. I haven’t bought any cleaning products or polishes for about 8 years. — “A M” 31 Jul 2003
Subject: Pesky fruit fly tip Here’s a good way to get rid of those pesky fruit flies around the house without using harmful chemicals. You will need a spray bottle with an adjustable spray-head. fill the bottle with rubbing alcohol and adjust the spray head so that it sprays a fine mist. When you spray the fruit files, the rubbing alcohol will not kill them but it will knock them out so that they fall onto the floor where you can sweep them up. Doesn’t work as good as insecticide, but then again, you won’t be poisoning your family and yourself either. Blessings, — Tony – 13 Aug 2003
This is for anyone that has a problem with pet stains and odors – even skunk. “Nature’s Miracle” is fantastic!! It can be bought at Pet Smart. It is to be used full strength. It’s rather expensive, but it does the trick. We have a dog and has been great for the occasional accident so don’t know how well it would work on cat pee. But, it did work on removing the skunk odor from our deck and shrubs that got sprayed one night. It’s really terrific stuff!! – Mary Frankenfield
Carpet Spot Cleaner. To clean spots on rugs and carpets, use window cleaner. It works as well as the spray-on carpet cleaners and if you buy the store brand (I use Wal Mart), you can get it for as little as $0.97 for a full quart bottle. — Jean Calderon,
Subject: Candles and Drains. Try putting your cheaper candles in water just deep enough to cover them, add 2 teaspoons of salt and soak. This is suppose to cut down on the amount of dripping. I haven’t tried it yet, but will when I bring the Christmas decorations out. This will eliminate tossing out all of the cheapies you already have on hand. If anyone has a leaky faucet that drips rusty water, purchase a cheap screen-type strainer for tea (the one I bought had a handle on it, but that’s OK) and place it directly under the faucet and over the drain. The water will be directed into the strainer and down the drain instead of splashing the sink or bathtub sides. Discard the strainer when you have time to repair the faucet and you’ll have a cleaner sink or tub, as well. E. Knack –
Subject: Carpet Stains Don’t remember where on the web I got this solution but it has worked everytime. I was originally searching for something to remove old red wine stains from carpet but have used it on other stains and it has worked just as good. dishwashing liquid (i use Palmolive) and peroxide. The stains actually just disappear. It’s great. I’ve never used a precise measurement of either. I would be careful on dark carpets. From what I understand the peroxide can have a bleaching effect. My carpets are beige so it hasn’t been an issue. – (Belinda Enamorado)
Subject: Stainless Steel Appliances Hello, Thought people out there would like to know a tip about cleaning stainless steel appliance doors etc. The folks at the Sears store use “baby oil” to get the finger prints and marks off the doors. I was nervous to try it but it works like a charm. I used a small amount on a napkin and wiped the fingerprints away. It also took off the glue from the tape that was used in shipping. K. MacPherson ~~ 9 Jul 2002
Subject Carpet dents: Scraps of carpet can be used to stop chairs from making dents. — Veronica Smith
Subject: Talc Talc removes sticky labels. Use talc to make playing cards easier to use. Remember to put a little quantity of talc in your rubber gloves — Rickie Cantley
Subject: Stuck Glasses etc. When you can’t use lots of physical force to separate two “stuck” things, heat is often the best way to do it. The principle here is that when you heat something, it expands a little. When you cool something, it shrinks. You need a temperature difference (what scientists call a “delta-t”) between the outside (neck) of the decanter and the stopper. This causes increases the space between the two parts, hopefully enough to separate them. For example, you could tie a piece of cloth on the outside, soaked in hot water. You could even try ice on the stopper at the same time. Another application of this idea is to apply a torch to a nut that won’t come loose from a dirty or rusty bolt. The nut heats up faster. This helps to break the “glue” binding them together. — Tony
Subject: Re: slow draining sinks — If your sink drains are chronically slow and you live in an older house, the problem may be an accumulation of sludge in the lines. No amount of plunging and chemicals is going to fix this. What’s needed is to climb up onto the roof of your house with a metal snake (preferably one with a business end looking a bit like a ballpeen hammer) and ram that snake down each of the drain lines, entering through the vent stacks, with a fair amount of force. It may require 50 or 100 motions for each stack. A licensed plumber will charge you about US$250 or, you can venture it yourself. You should also snake out any drain clean-outs you can find at ground level. — Mark Gilman 28 Feb 2004
Odors
Subject: Bathroom Smells. To help get rid of ‘bathroom’ smells, instead of using air fresheners, try striking a match, (regular not safety) sounds strange but very effective. r j russell. — Richard Russell. 02 Feb 2008
Subject: Doggy Smells. To get rid of the smell on your dog, instead of using expensive dog shampoos, use a tomato (i personally use tomato puree in the same way as you would use regular dog shampoo) this will rid your dog of its smell for about six months and your dog will love you for it.
A dogs smell is the reason why some dogs will roll in about anything that smells different to itself, so by getting rid of its natural smell it won’t have the urge to roll in anything. Relax, your dog won’t smell of tomatoes, it won’t smell of anything, can also be used on your self if you have a strong body odour.
p.s. A VERY IMPORTANT p.s. if your dog has light hair, i wouldn’t recommend using puree, as you will end up with a pink dog, unless you want to spend a couple of hours rinsing him out, fortunately the dog smell will still be gone.
r j russell. — Richard Russell. 02 Feb 2008
Subject: Body Odor I have found that to remove body odor from the armpits of my husband’s long sleeve running shirts and Under Armor winter athletic wear, I pre-soak the armpits in vinegar before washing normally. Doesn’t seem to discolor them, and they do smell much better! Loved your site! Great ideas. J Marcum – 28 Aug 2005
Subject Onion Smell: To remove the strong odor of onions from your hands, hold a stainless steel spoon in your hand while running water and rub your hands as though the spoon were soap. Silly, but it works – Gene Scully
Subject: Smelly hands. I keep the lemons and limes that have been squeezed beside the sink, the main use is to rub on my hands after processing fish or any other foods. You can use them to cut the limescale around taps and plugholes. — Rachel Dee
Subject: STINKY HANDS. I was reading about those smelly hands and all you have to do to get the onion smell off after you get through cutting is use a drop or two of dishwashing liquid and a little salt and rub for just a bit and rinse. Also if you are cutting an onion and bell pepper, cut the onion first then the bell pepper and rub your hands just a little with the pepper and no need to do anything the pepper does the trick. For shrimp smell use a little lemon juice and a little salt and rub and rinse. ~~ D Kelly
Odors on hands: To get rid of onion, pepper or garlic smells from hands, mix a ratio of two level tablespoons of baking soda to a glass of water and soak hands for 30 seconds to a minute. Also great for getting rid of these smells/burning from mouth (rinse, don’t swallow!). – (TonyW)
Garlic odor on hands: To rid your hands of garlic odor, rub a piece of stainless steel while washing your hands. It works like a charm everytime! Sincerly, — Leah Chamberlin
Subject: hint for removing smells from your hands. To remove the smell of garlic, onions, or anything else, rub your hands with a stainless steel spoon under cold running water (like you would with soap). Then you can wash the smell off the spoon with soap and water. — Julia
Subject: Removing odors from hands. To get rid of onion or garlic smells from hands, wet your hands in running water and then rub your fingers and palms briskly on the silver metal of your sink faucet. If you have a stainless steel sink to rub your hands on, that is even better. Wash hands normally afterwards with hand soap and water. — Judy jcarra
To remove bad odors from your hands, such as onion or garlic, rub your hands in used coffee grounds. I learned this from a perfume store that had a bowl of coffee grounds to rub into your hands after trying the different scents. It works for almost any odor. Then, of course, to remove the coffee smell, you’ll need to use soap and water! — Kelly Jimenez
For removing onion, fish, or whatever smells from your hands. No need to buy any fancy gadgets or metal stones. Turn on the faucet, wet your hands and run them back and forth along the water spout (using wringing motion). After a couple of passes, you will find that your hands now smell fresh and clean. — Patti Duke
Subject: how to get rid of smells on hands. to get rid of seafood, fish, onion smell on your hands, pour two tablespoons of table salt into your palm, mix with a little water and wash hands with this mixture, rinse, and add a little lotion to your hands. The salt not only cleans the smell from your hands; but, it also sluffs old skin off and softens hands. ~~ Lena -
Subject: Getting pee out of kids clothes My son has a problem about wetting the bed i have found that if you take your regular washing stuff and add a can of cheap cola to your laundry it takes the pee smell out. It also works great on getting greasy stuff out of clothes just let the clothes soak for about 30 mins. for both and when you dry them they will not come out smelling like pee. ~Sabrina~ Michael Matthews 13 Oct 2003
Garlic hands: To rid your hands of garlic odor, rub a piece of stainless steel while washing your hands. It works like a charm every time! — Michelle Anglin / Alabama “Shelly”
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. — ESD
Clothes Burned in House Fire: To get smoke smell out (or skunk smell,) I have found that the only thing that works is taking clothes, etc to a dry cleaner that has an “ozone room.” They do not dry clean the clothes — they put them in a room with these hydrocarbons (or fluorocarbons, not sure which it is) and it removes the smell. This is the only thing that worked for me when a skunk got in the basement of a rental home & sprayed. 17 Feb 2004
Leftover soap: Utilising these little pieces of soap that are always left over. Add a little glycerine and mash them up with a little warm water and you will have a liquid soap that is gentle and economical — Essie
Musty Instrument cases: Damp Rid is wonderful for removing must. Damp Rid is designed to be used in the container it comes in, but this may be too big for the instrument case–you may have to improvise. Once you’ve shut the Damp Rid in the case, you should probably leave it there undisturbed for several weeks. If you open the case to take a peek to see how it’s working, you will allow the case to fill back up with humid air & the Damp Rid will have to pull all of that new moisture out of the air. Be careful not to bump the case–as the Damp Rid absorbs moisture out of the air, it dissolves, leaving an orange liquid in the container — Jeanne
Hi, I am Ashwaty Nair From India. Recently I visited your site and I simply loved it. It is an extremely helpful and useful one. Here are a few handy hints from my side. Hope you’ll accept them:
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 eau-de-cologne.
To eliminate beer stains from woollen outfits, scrub the affected area with a mixture of lukewarm water and salt.
Thank You and bye for now !!!!! –Ashwaty
Thanks Ashwaty — Ed
Apply mineral oil over your shower doors and tile surface. That delays the mineral build-up in future use. — Cameo
Spruce up your wardrobe and Linen Cupboardby using brightly colored dyes. Faded shirts, underwear and towels can be made to look as good as new.Off-white whites and stained clothing can be rejuvenated. You can buy dyes that can be used in your washing machine – Essie
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! (Betcha it works!) — Alan -
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 — Ed
I run vinegar through my dishwasher once a month and this prevents hard deposits from getting a head start. — Good Luck, Patti Seizetheday
Broken Glass: Use bread to pick up fragments of broken glass – - Veronica Echols
Stuck finger rings? Use washing up liquid as a lubricant to remove stuck rings, I have seen it used to release a dog stuck in a rocky crevasse, alternatively use cooking or olive oil etc. — Axel Klystron
Squeaky floorboards can be eased by using French chalk or talcum powder – Jean Smith
When sewing tough material, rub the material first with an old candle or cooking paraffin. Used this technique to sew carpeting.– John
Faded carpets can be restored by hand painting using fabric dyes — Tony Doran. (A useful range of fabric dye pens is available from Dylon)
Daffodils: Don’t mix cut daffodils in with other cut flowers as the daffodils produce a toxin that kills off the other flowers. – Anon.
Subject: 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. Andy P Smith — Nuneaton — England ” –
Socks can be useful in protecting the ends of unused fluorescent tubes – Dave Edmunds
After working on your car you can clean your hands with a mixture of dishwashing liquid and sugar — Simon Spicer
Use olive oil or other cooking oil to clean hands dirtied by engine oil — Jean Edmunds.
A teaspoon in the glass will prevent it cracking when boiling water is poured — Wendel Quinn, Hong Kong
Furniture
Subject: Putting Curtains on a Curtain Rod. When putting curtains on a metal rod, slip a plastic sandwich or freezer bag over the metal end first so that it doesn’t snag the curtain and it will also go on much easier. — Sheri in Spokane
Subject: tips on stuff. To spot clean carpets or upholstery, go to an auto discount store and get Lifter 1 in a spray can and just follow the directions. You’ll be amazed!!!!!!!!! — I’ve learned a lot of neat things while on this planet for 68 years. Try them, what do you have to lose? — (Irene M. Ward)
Sticky desk drawer: Rub a candle on the runners of a sticky desk drawer, it’s amazing how much of a difference it will make — Axel Klystron
Furniture restoration: To make furniture look older mix varnish with soot and then paint on. – Robin Edmunds.
Light scratches on furniture can be disguised by using a wax crayon pencil. Another method is to rub with a Brazil Nut. – Dave
Small dents in furniture can be steamed out using a steam iron or a damped cloth. Be careful not to overdo it on delicate or very valuable items. – Dave Edmunds