Household Tips

Here are a few household tips that have helped me plus a few different websites that have a much larger collection.

To unclog a drain, I pour 1 cup of powdered laundry detergent down the drain and follow with a dutch oven filled with boiling water. Unclogs instantly usually. The phosphates in the detergent eat away at the clog.

To clean a stainless steel or glass pan that has food burnt on to it, I pour powdered dishwasher detergent on it and sprinkle with a few drops of water. Let it set until dry and usually the burnt on food will peel right out with the dish detergent. Also, you can use oven cleaner, spray on, let set for 30-45 minutes and rinse and wash. Just make sure you wash well with hot, soapy water.

To make homemade vegetable stock, I keep a bowl in the freezer full of unused vegetable parts such as vegetable peels, tops of carrots, etc and when I need stock I just add my bowl from the freezer, spices and water. I also keep 4-5 butter bowls full of stock in my freezer so making soups is a snap.

To prevent ants, wipe windowsills and doorframes with a bleach based cleaner. Bleach erases ant trails.

To prevent slugs, pour beer around the area you want to protect.

Windex will remove food stains and odors from your hands.

To save money, we buy the bulk packages of chicken breasts and slice them in half. We get twice as many meals that way. For those of you who think that won't be enough, just add extra sides.

To prevent lemon seeds when you are squeezing a lemon, squeeze it upside down. It keeps all the seeds in the peel.

Vinegar will remove paint from brass safely. Just put item in a bowl and cover with vinegar and let sit for 1 day. When you pull it out, paint rubs right off.

For lettuce that is starting to brown, put it into a bowl, fill with ice and water and put in a few drops of lemon juice. Brings it back and doesn't change the taste.

To make your own pillows, cut up old sheets and sew them together then stuff with fiberfill. The pillows stay cool and you can make them any size you want. Also you can use an old pillowcase and stuff it with fiberfill.

If you get stung by a bee, hemmorhoid cream cools the sting and reduces swelling.

Coca cola removes acid from terminals on a car battery.

When putting vap-o-rub on a toddler, put it on their back instead of their chest, Keeps little fingers out of it and they still get the full benefit.

Save empty jars to store small items like screws.

My family can tell you, I save everything. Anything that can be used as a container of any sort is saved at my house. When we empty jars, we wash them and save them to store stuff in, sour cream, butter containers, coffee cans, we save it all. But, I almost never have to buy containers because we do save everything. I am also a big fan of lining baking dishes with foil. Saves loads of time doing dishes and you can use the cheapest generic aluminum foil to line with. It's mainly just to keep you from having stuck on food. This is a big help with lasagna and other foods that have melted cheese. I also like to keep zipper bags and such on hand because we buy everything in bulk and then separate it into portion sizes. For those who are not really fond of cutting up fresh vegetables, I find it much easier to come in from the grocery store and cut up everything at once then store in refrigerator or freezer. Then when you need, say, cut up onions, you already have them cut up in your freezer. Saves time when you need it most.

http://tipnut.com/category/household-tips/
http://www.mortonsalt.com/salt-facts/household-tips
http://mamamusings.net/archives/2005/02/02/useful_household_tips.php
http://www.thefunplace.com/house/tips/hhtips.html
http://www.youtips.net/household-tips.php