Over the years, I have acquired many quick tips that certainly save time, effort and sometimes even a little money around the house. I hope you find them helpful too!

 

~*~ PLEASE NOTE, NO PART OF THIS PAGE MAY BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART ON ANY OTHER SITE. THANK YOU FOR HONOURING THIS. I RECENTLY DISCOVERD OVER HALF OF OUR HOUSEHOLD HINTS, WORD FOR WORD, ON A FEW OTHER SITES AROUND THE WWW. I HAVE COLLECTED THESE HINTS OVER THE YEARS, AND AM PLEASED TO SHARE THEM WITH YOU. I DO NOT HOWEVER, GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE MY DESIGN OR WORDING ON YOUR OWN PERSONAL HOME PAGE. THANK YOU AND ENJOY~*~

 

 

 

Candle Tips

 

Use an old pair of pantyhose to shine candles and to remove nicks and scratches.

Always remember to trim the wick before burning a candle. This helps to prevent uneven burning and increases the life of your candle.

Prior to burning taper candles wrap them in saran or foil and place in the freezer for approximately 30-60 minutes. This will prevent them from dripping.

For votive holders that have melted wax in them that you no longer wish to burn; place the holder in the freezer for about 30-60 minutes, wax pops right out.

Don't have any long matches to light that certain candle? Substitute a piece of uncooked spaghetti. Light one end of the spaghetti, hold at the opposite end and light that candle.

 

To restore colour to coloured candles, run the candles briefly under hot water. Dry with paper towels and your colour will be improved.

 

 

 

Kid Stuff

 

Use empty film canisters to send items, such as money to school with children. This holds loose coins perfectly and doesn't get lost as easily as Ziploc bags may.

~Teachers~ Use the above tip to send home those teeth that come out at school. We wouldn't want the tooth fairy to miss them!

When sending correspondence to school with your child (note,book order,permission slip etc), print this information on one of those "My Name Is" sticky tags and stick the tag on your child's clothing under their coat. The teacher instantly knows there is something he/she must receive from your child. Teachers may also use this method when sending something home with a child to alert parents. This works really well with young children.

Before using tempera paint with children, drop a small amount of liquid soap in it. This makes clean up, especially from floors, so much easier. Works great with finger-paint as well.

When going on a long car trip with children take story tapes to help pass the time.

Use old calendar grids to help children practice their numbers. The squares are large and the numbers are right there for them to practice and copy. They may print them, read them, say them, etc.

To make removal of a splinter hurt less, apply anbesol to the area first. Let sit for a few minutes in order to numb the skin. Remove splinter with less hurt.

If you are in need of a lubricant (for sticky zippers etc) you may use nonstick cooking spray such as PAM. Simply spray it on the item. It will oil the item to restore movement and it is non toxic.

To catch the drips from popsicles, cut a slit in the lids that come on sour cream, cream cheese and chip dip containers. Insert the stick from the popsicle through the slit in the lid and it will act as a coaster and catch any drips that may result.

 

 

Kitchen Tips

 

To remove surface scratches from fine china, mix toothpaste with a little water to form a slightly diluted paste. Use a cloth to apply the paste to the scratch and gently rub in a circular motion. If the scratch does not disappear completely , it should at least lighten. This method also works to remove water marks from tables.

To help rid pots of stuck on material, fill the pot with water and boil on the stove for a few minutes. Makes scrubbing the remainder much easier!

If you are short a serving table at a party, your ironing board makes a quick substitute. Simply drape with a long tablecloth and you are all set. Try to place it against a wall for added stability and support.

The shoulder pads that you may remove from your clothing make perfect pot holders for removing hot casserole dishes from the microwave.

When making punch for a party, pour some of the punch into a jello mold ring or a bundt pan and freeze. To remove the frozen punch ring, place the container in warm water for a few seconds to loosen. Pop out and float in the punch bowl to keep the beverage cold. No more diluted punch!

To prevent cutting boards from sliding on the counter, use your glue gun to place a dab of glue on each corner. The glue, once dry will act as your skid stoppers.

Old rubber gloves that are lined make excellent silver cleaners. Simply turn them inside out and use the lining to polish your silver. I know it sounds odd but it really works!!

 

If the inside of your dishwasher is stained and discoloured, you may be able to restore it with lemon juice. Use a full bottle of lemon juice and run your dishwasher through a normal wash cycle.

 

To clean the inside fo your microwave, cut a lemon in half. Fill a microwavable dish half full of water and put in one half of the lemon. Allow the water to boil and the steam in the microwave will loosen baked-on food. After this you can can wipe it clean.

 

To clean a rusty butter knife: Mix a little water with baking soda, cut a potato in half, dip the inside part of the potato into the mixture and scrub the knife blade with the potato. Redip the potato as necessary. After a few minutes of vigorous scrubbing the blade will be shiny once more.

 

To soften brown sugar that has hardened, place a slice of apple in the container.

 

After an onion has been cut in half, rub the cut side with a little butter before storing. This will help to keep it fresher, longer.

 

Use a meat baster to squeeze pancake batter onto the griddle. Perfect pancakes each and every time.

 

To prevent potatoes from budding while they are awiting use, place an apple with them.

 

 

Household Hints

 

Place fresh cut flowers in a solution of half water/half 7-Up. They will last twice as long. Sorry, no DIET 7-Up, must be regular.

Use your hair dryer to assist in dusting artificial flower arrangements.

You may also use the hair dryer, on the cold setting, to assist in blowing up an air mattress.

Use a little nail polish remover or lighter fluid to remove the sticky residue left behind by price tags or manufacturers labels on glass items.

To stop a small run in pantyhose, apply clear nail polish to the run. By doing this you may get a little more wear out of the pair.

Use hairspray to help remove ink from skin. Simply spray on the ink and wipe/wash off.

Rather than cleaning paintbrushes used in household painting, wrap them in saran wrap and place in the freezer. No cleaning necessary and they are already to go when you resume painting, in the same colour of course! If you are using them for a different job/colour, clean them before placing in the freezer.

Clean paint rollers by placing them in a tall canister (Pringles cans work great) with mineral spirits and shake to clean. Continue shaking until the roller is completely clean.

Tear the twist tie off your old resealable cookie bags, they are really strong and work great when you are in need of a large twist tie.

When you have pantyhose with runs in the legs, cut the top off and use to tie bundles of anything. They are very strong and hold well.

After washing baseball, tennis or golf caps, the best way to dry or shape them is to position them over a partially inflated balloon. Then inflate the balloon until the cap is stretched tight across it. Tie the balloon shut and let the cap dry.

Don't discard old bath towels. Cut them into 2 or 3 pieces to make good thick potholders. Cover them in a new material. Trim with bias binding and you have a nice loop to hang them up with. If you have bath towels with the middle portion thinned out due to use, the 2 end pieces may still be used as kitchen or bathroom hand towels and the middle is still good for cleaning many things (stove top, floor, etc) before it is discarded.

To keep laundered sheet sets together, place one pillowcase, flat sheet and bottom sheet in the other pillowcase for storage. When you are in need of the clean sheets, you will no longer have to search for the set as it will be right there in the pillowcase.

You can use the small wire out of a twist tie to make temporary repairs to the arm or nose pad of eye glasses. Take the wire out of the twist tie, feed it through where the screw was, twist it 4-5 times, cut off the excess with scissors and bend the excess out of the way. It will last several days until you are able to have the necessary repairs made.

 

Dish soap is the best eyeglass cleaner. Simply squirt a little soap on the lenses and rub gently with your fingers. Rinse with warm water and dry using papertowels. There will be no streaks or residue left behind. Fantastic and affordable.

 

When painting a picket fence, slip a dustpan under each picket as you paint it. This prevents dirt and grass from getting in the paint, and also collects paint that may drip form the lower ends of the picket. Excess paint is easily picked up from the dustpan with the paintbrush, and cleaning solvent easily cleans the pan for regular use.

 

For portable lower back support, fill a fanny pack with clean sponges. Simply turn the fanny pack around to the lower part of your back, and voila, you have an instant, inexpensive, effective, lower back support. Great for travel and on the subway, train, plane, etc.

 

Use a bar of soap as a pin cushion. This helps make the needle slide easier when you are sewing, as well as keeping the pins and needles from getting lost.

 

After washing and ironing a tablecloth, wrap it around the tube that wrapping paper comes on to keep it from wrinkling while being stored.

 

Before using your dustpan, spritz it with water to prevent loose dust from escaping from the pan.

 

If you loose an item such as an earring in your rug, put a nylon knee-high over the end of your vacumn hose. The suction will pick up the item and the nylon will prevent it from entering the vacumn. Remember to hold tightly to the nylon or to secure it with an elastic band before beginning.

 

 

Down In the Garden

To ensure that your flower bags have water evenly distributed from top to bottom; cut the appropriate length of garden hose for the size of the bag. Punch evenly spaced holes down all sides of the piece of hosing. Plug up the bottom of the hose, clay or plasticine (the hard type) work well for this. Insert the hose through the middle of the bag, leaving a very small portion sticking out of the top. When you go to water your flower bag, pour the water through the piece of the hose at the top. This way water is evenly dispersed and your bags bloom twice as well. This method also works well with strawberry pots. For strawberry pots you may substitute the hose for PVC pipe if you wish.

Plant peppers in-between your tomato plants. This discourages those pesky tomato worms from visiting, as they do not like peppers and will stay away.

When planting pepper seeds in the spring, drop 2-3 matches in with the seeds and cover. As the sulfur is released from the matches it encourages the peppers to grow. You will get twice as many and they will be twice as big.

To discourage cats from using your flower beds as a litter box, grind citrus peels and add cayenne pepper to the mixture. Mix thoroughly. Sprinkle in and around your flower bed. This will keep the kitty's away.They hate the smell and it won't harm the environment.

To prevent cut worms from destroying your tomato and other plants, sprinkle crushed eggshells around them. You may also like to try ashes from the fire if you have a fireplace in your home. The ashes from hardwood work best.

 

Visit your local dollar store and purchase bags of marbles, to use as drainage in the bottom of plant pots. They last forever.

 

Collect some Queen Anne's Lace, found by roadways or in fields and place in water and food colouring of your choice. Allow to stand overnight. In the morning you will have a lovely pastel arrangement.

 

Sign Our Guestbook View Our Guestbook

Graphics by...

~Tanya's Country Corner~ ~Ed's Golf Green~ ~Pixie's Place~

~Photos~ ~Home Page Contents~ ~Poems~ ~Awards~ ~Crafts~

~Country Recipes~ ~Craft Recipes~ ~Country Decorating~

~Country Bookstore~ ~Happy Holidays~ ~Webbin Friends~

~Memberships~ ~Webrings~ ~Juvenile Diabetes~ ~Boyds Bears~

~Bless My Computer~ ~Great Graphics~ ~Award Winners~

~Graphics Game~ ~Fall~ ~Our House~

~Home~

 

You are the visitor to our country home.

Copyright 1998,1999,2000 Robinson's Heart Warmers.

.