Household Hints

[Janice]

Chip clips.

I love them, always have. Aside from using them for bags of chips, etc., I use them for everything I can think of.

I have them in all sizes. I use a tiny one for my tube of toothpaste. As I roll it up, the clip comes in handy.

I use them to close the inside wax paper bag for cereal, boxes of cookies, Cheez-Its, you name it.

I have one on a bag of cat food.

I use them to close bags of nuts, cheese, etc.

Anyone else use chip clips for more than just chips?

[MsOrange]

I just clothes pins isntead of chip clips... and i use them on EVERYTHING... chips, cereal, crackers.. anything that needs closed

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by MsOrange

I just clothes pins isntead of chip clips... and i use them on EVERYTHING... chips, cereal, crackers.. anything that needs closed

so do I. I use clothes pins and chip clips. They are great. Hey Janice, I love this thread. Maybe, change the title or make another thread abt household hints! kinda like the one from the newspaper so we can all share ideas!!!

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Hey Janice, I love this thread. Maybe, change the title or make another thread abt household hints! kinda like the one from the newspaper so we can all share ideas!!!

Great idea Irene! Thanks.

[Ireneparalegal]

oh you are welcome

now let me see what i can add to this thread...

oh yeah, you know when you have a vase that you can't reach to the bottom to clean out the guck, dirt, etc? drop two alka seltzer tablets with some water of course and let it sit for a while. it will clean out the bottom perfectly.

[PZelda]

I actually made a thread like this back in 2003. I locked it myself because I don't want anybody bumping it up.

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...ad.php?t=86229

I don't know how well some of the tips would work, but it's definitely a start!

Oh yeah, and if you have cats, you know how they throw up. Sometimes they throw up in spots hidden from view and you don't realize it until a few months later, when you go to clean up. Oxyclean takes care of everything.

If you have washed your shower/tub area and still have stubborn mold spots, BLEACH. BLEACH. BLEACH. Put some bleach in a spray bottle, add some water to it (not too much) and spray directly to the moldy spots. Let it sit for about a 1/2 hour and clean it off. Presto! Mold is gone.

Not really a household tip, but if you have sunburn and have been using aloe vera to sooth the burns and you feel it's not helping, stick it into the freezer. Depending on how powerful your freezer is, the bottle only needs to be in there for like 45 to 1 hour, long enough to make it very cold but not freezing over. Simply take out and apply the aloe vera to your burns. You will feel sooooo much better. Put the aloe vera into the fridge for later use.

Ohhhh, I have some more. I swear by this, really works. I don't keep my coffee grounds in the cupboard. I keep my coffee grounds in the freezer - keeps the grounds fresh for FAR longer than if it were to sit in a cupboard at room temperature. My coffee tastes sooooooooo much better too!

[Ireneparalegal]

to keep your dryer in tip-top shape, just remove the cover where all the unreachable lint goes to and periodically clean it out. Last year my sister's dryer stopped working. She bought another one and she found out later from the salesperson that if you periodically clean out the lint compartment area (the hard to reach part) you will make your dryer last alot longer. Most dryer malfunctions are due to lint build up. I take a screwdriver and unplug my dryer and remove the compartment holder and use a thin brush and gather all that lint that has build up.

also, for hard water build up in the shower, i use those scrubbing blue pads that are for pots and pans. i can't remember their name right now, but they already have soap in the pads and just brush lightly in the shower and all that residue and other stuff will come off easily.

[Mr. Stefani]

um vegtable oil around the cat/dog bowls. this way the food that they don't eat doesnt stick there and get all annoying to clean out. It's good for their teeth, too.I don't know where I learned that one, but it works since i have both a cat and dog.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by TIM087

um vegtable oil around the cat/dog bowls. this way the food that they don't eat doesnt stick there and get all annoying to clean out. It's good for their teeth, too.I don't know where I learned that one, but it works since i have both a cat and dog.

yeah, i read that too. or you can use that cooking spray. preferably the one that tastes like butter.

[PZelda]

I have another tip. I need to consult my sister on this one because I'm not 100% positive on this. We did this when we were growing up 10 to 15 years ago. Get a water nozzle bottle (preferably the ones you would use for your hair- I think these bottles are 12 oz), and add some clothes softener. I can't remember if it was 1/4 or 1/2 cup. Fill up the rest of the bottle with water to diluate the softener and then use it in your hair. The way I remember it, we used it in our hair to prevent static electricity. Much better than these stupid anti-static products, IMO.

[Pitooey]

Hey i like this thread.

What I do when trying to screw a screw that doesn't want to go in the wall or on the toy what I do is put a little butter or oil on the grooves and then Viola! You can screw it in.

[Bootsy Whoosh]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

also, for hard water build up in the shower, i use those scrubbing blue pads that are for pots and pans. i can't remember their name right now, but they already have soap in the pads and just brush lightly in the shower and all that residue and other stuff will come off easily.

They're SOS pads, or at least that's one brand. I'll have to try this, I happened to buy some of those pads the other day for dishes, and I do have some stubborn build-up in my shower.

I also keep my coffee grounds in the freezer.

Um.....I can't think of any hints I have....I'm not a very handy or domestic person, yet (hope to be someday). I did try this awhile back: you make a solution of vinegar water (3 cups vinegar to 1 cup water) and spray it on your car windows. It's supposed to prevent them from freezing. It worked one day when there was a light frost....all the other cars in the lot were frosted and mine wasn't....but then next freeze it didn't work. Supposedly you're supposed to reapply it every so often but you're also not supposed to apply it in temperatures of freezing or below because it could crack your windows....but if I had an environment (say, a garage) where I could potentially apply in away from the freezing cold temperatures, then I wouldn't need to use it in the first place...

[MsOrange]

I always put a single dryer sheet int he bottomn of hte trash can... it helps it from smelling all funky when it gets time to take it out. It really works too!