Household Hints

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Little bits to help make your life easier... Got a HINT,  Call us! We'd love to hear your ideas!

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Contents 1 Stain removal 101 2 Mothproofing 3 Battling food odors 4 Burnt sauce pans 5 Cleaning The Microwave 6 Home sweet smelling home 7 Tips for freezing fresh food 8 5 Household uses for rubber bands 9 Fast furniture fixes

[edit] Stain removal 101

Following these easy tips should ensure that you get those stains out. And if you miss a stain before laundering a garment, don’t despair! You can get out older, set-in stains as well.

Act fast! The more quickly you treat a stain, the better your chances are of removing it completely. Blot the stain with a paper towel or a clean cloth to remove as much of the stain as possible.

Don’t let stains dry out. If you can’t treat a stain right away, sponge it with cold water (hot water sets many stains, making them more difficult to remove), spray it with soda water or cover it with a damp towel.If a stain dries out, rub it with vegetable glycerine before trying to remove it.

Soda water or a soapy solution is often all that’s needed to remove a stain.

Move from the outside in so you don’t leave a ring.

Don’t scrub! You’ll damage the fabric. Instead, place an absorbent clean cloth on the stain itself and apply the solution that you’re using from the “wrong” side. Change the pad as often as needed.

If a cleaner isn’t working, simply rinse it away and try something else.

Be sure to check clothes carefully when you take them out of the wash. If a stain is still there, re-treat and rewash. Don’t put clothes in the dryer until the stain is completely gone as the heat will set the stain.

Set-in stains will often come out in the wash after being pre-treated with a solution of 3 Tbsp white vinegar and 2 Tbsp dishwashing liquid in 1 L of warm water. Rub the solution into the stain, then blot it dry before washing.

On-the-Spot Stain Solutions Here’s what you can do if you’re, say, sitting in your favourite restaurant when disaster strikes:

1. Sponge the stain with cold water immediately.

2. Pour a little soda or mineral water on it, then mop up the excess.

3. Cover a fruit or wine stain with salt to absorb some of the liquid.

4. Sprinkle a grease stain with flour or cornflour.

5. Cover a beetroot stain with a slice of wet bread.

6. Pour white wine on a red wine stain, then blot.

Also, check out these helpful stain solutions:

ANTIPERSPIRANT:

Rub liquid laundry detergent into stain. Wash as normal.

Blood:

Wash stain immediately in cold running water rubbing with bar of soap and rinse. For old stains soak for 15 minutes in a solution of 2 tablespoons ammonia to 1 gallon cool soapy water, soak any remaining stain in warm water with an enzyme detergent wash in warm water suds and bleach.

BUTTER:

If grease residue remains after washing sponge or soak in dry cleaning solvent, and laundry as usual.

CANDLE Wax:

Harden the wax with an ice cube, or place garment in freezer, gently scrape off as much wax as possible with a dull knife. place stain between paper towel and press warm dry iron, change towel as necessary.

KATCHUP / TOMATO SAUCE:

Soak fresh stain in cool water, wash as normal.

[edit] Mothproofing

The best way of course is the traditional method CEDAR closets.

If your home doesn't have them use cedar panels and planks..the drawer strips and balls are less effective. other fragrant natural moth repellents include lavender and dried orange peel. You make a natural sweet repellant equal parts of cinnamon, cloves, orris root, and black pepper. tie the mixture in a gauze. To be effective all repellents must remain in an enclosed space. Cedar that lost it's scent... just sand it and use it again.

[edit] Battling food odors

To get rid of fish, garlic or other odors lingering on your hands, wash with lemon juice or salt. Cinnamon sticks and cloves in an open dish can cover frying odors.

[edit] Burnt sauce pans

To remove burnt foods, use cola bring it to a boil and scrub a little. Repeat the process if necessary.

[edit] Cleaning The Microwave

Mix 3/4 vinegar with water, place in the microwave and boil for 5 minutes, or a little longer. Wipe clean.

[edit] Home sweet smelling home

Want to fill your home with scent without pumping chemical air fresheners into the air? These all-natural solutions will cover up icky odours and provide a breath of fresh air.

Make Your Own Air Freshener

Fill a spray bottle with water and add ten drops of an essential oil—try rosemary, eucalyptus, pine, lavender or citrus.

Simple Smell Solutions

Remove unwanted odours from inside the microwave by heating up a slice of lemon in a bowl of water or a baking soda solution.

Clear Smells with Lemon

Remove fishy or garlic smells from a wooden chopping board by rubbing the board with a wedge of lemon. Put citrus peel down the garbage disposer to clear smells.

Scent of Cloves

Simmer cloves in water for a delicious smell that is welcoming in winter.

Fragrant Baths

Drop about eight drops of a relaxing essential oil such as neroli or sandalwood into your bath.

Absorb Odours

Place a bowl of vinegar next to the stove to absorb strong odours.

Freshen Up as You Vacuum

When you do the vacuuming, put a couple of drops of essential oil into the dust bag and the scent will be dispersed around the house.

Add the Scent of Baking Bread

Warm brown sugar and cinnamon on the stove to fill your home with the delicious smell of fresh baking. Take care that the mixture doesn’t burn.

Free the Fridge of Smells

Put a bowl filled with clean cat litter in a fridge that is going to be switched off for any length of time to absorb smells.

Lavender Sachets

If you grow your own lavender, snip the heads off the stalks, let them dry, then make your own sachets using scraps of muslin or thin cotton.

Sweet Pomanders

Keep closets smelling sweet with homemade pomanders. Stud oranges, lemons or limes with whole cloves, then hang from a piece of string.

[edit] Tips for freezing fresh food

Freezing beautifully captures the color, texture, and flavour of fresh vegetables. If a vegetable is in season and plentiful, purchase a few extra to put away in your freezer. If you're a gardener, don't let surplus crops go to waste -- preserve them to enjoy year round.

Vegetables Most vegetables can be frozen with excellent results. Prepare vegetables as directed below, then pack them snugly in resealable freezer bags or sturdy containers that can be tightly closed. The bags are ideal because they allow you to expel excess air, which prevents frost from accumulating, and to readily vary the portions from one serving to four. Once thawed, cook frozen vegetables, covered, in a small amount of boiling water. Don't refreeze.

Asparagus, green beans, carrots Wash, trim, and cut into lengths suitable for chosen containers or into 2-inch pieces. You can also slice carrots 2 inches thick. Sort asparagus according to the thickness of the stalks; water-blanch thin stalks for 2 minutes, thick stalks for 4 minutes. Blanch green beans for 3 minutes. Blanch whole carrots for 5 minutes, slices for 2 minutes. Rinse briefly under cold water, drain thoroughly, and pack. Seal, label, and freeze.

Beets Wash and trim, leaving 1-inch stems (be careful not to pierce the skins). Sort according to size and cook small beets in boiling water for 25 to 30 minutes, large for 45 to 50 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and cool. Peel off the skins. Slice or cube, as desired, and pack. Seal, label, and freeze.

Broccoli, cauliflower Wash and peel stalks if woody. Cut stalks and florets into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Steam-blanch for 5 minutes. Cool quickly, drain thoroughly, and pack. Seal, label, and freeze.

Brussels sprouts Trim off coarse leaves and stems and sort by size. Water-blanch small sprouts for 3 minutes, large sprouts for 5 minutes. Cool quickly, drain, and pack. Seal, label, and freeze.

Corn Use young cobs only. Remove the husks and silks. Water-blanch for 4 minutes. Cool quickly. Drain well. Wrap each ear individually, airtight, in freezer paper or foil, molding it to the shape of the ear. Pack several together in a freezer bag, expelling as much air as possible. To freeze corn kernels, blanch the ears as above and cool. Cut the kernels off the cobs and pack in meal-size containers. Seal, expelling as much air as possible; label and freeze.

Green beans Wash and trim off ends and any blemishes. You can water-blanch small green beans whole, but you may want to cut larger beans into pieces. Blanch whole beans for 3 minutes, pieces for 2 minutes. Cool quickly, drain, and pack. Seal, expelling all the air; label and freeze.

Mushrooms Wipe with a damp cloth to remove any dirt. Do not peel or rinse. Button varieties can be frozen whole, raw. Spread on a baking tray and place in the freezer. When hard, pack into bags, label, and return to the freezer. Wild mushrooms, such as Portobello and shiitake, should be sliced and sautéed in butter and packed in small containers with their cooking liquid.

Peas Shell sweet peas, discarding any damaged ones. Water-blanch for 1 1/2 minutes. Destring pods of sugarsnap peas and water-blanch for 2 minutes. Cool quickly, drain thoroughly, and pack. Seal, expelling as much air as possible; label and freeze.

Pumpkin and hard squashes Wash fruit, peel, and cut in half; remove any seeds and strings. Cut into slices or cubes. Steam-blanch until tender. Mash. Cool and pack into containers, leaving a 1/2-inch space at the top of the container. Label and freeze.

Spinach and greens Wash the leaves thoroughly; remove any thick stems and imperfect leaves. Water-blanch for 30 to 60 seconds, or until just wilted. Cool quickly by running cold water over the leaves. Drain thoroughly, pressing out excess moisture. Pack in a plastic bag. Seal, expelling as much air as possible; label and freeze.

Sweet peppers Wipe firm sweet peppers and cut out the stems, removing all seeds. Cut in halves, slices, or rings. Blanch halves for 2 minutes, slices for 1 minute. Cool quickly, drain, and pack. Seal, expelling all the air; label and freeze.

[edit] 5 Household uses for rubber bands

Do you have an ever-growing rubber band ball in your desk drawer? If you’re ready to dismantle your collection, here are some surprisingly practical uses for all those elastics.

Cushion Your Remote Control

To protect your fine furniture from scratches and nicks, wrap a wide rubber band around both ends of the television remote control. You’ll be protecting that remote, too – it will be less likely to slide off the table and be damaged.

Extend a Button

Having trouble breathing? Maybe that shirt top is too tight. Stick a small rubber band through the buttonhole, then hoop then ends over the button. Put on your tie, relax and enjoy your ability to breathe easily.

Wipe Your Paintbrush

Every time you dip your paintbrush, you wipe the excess against the side of the can. Before you know it, paint is dripping off the side of the can and the little groove around the rim is so full of paint that it splatters everywhere when you go to hammer the lid back on. Avoiding all this mess is easy. Just wrap a rubber band around the can from top to bottom, going across the middle of the can opening. Now, when you fill your brush, you can just tap it against the rubber band and the excess paint will fall back into the can.

Get a Grip on Twist-Off Tops

Ouch! The tops on most beer bottles these days are supposed to be twist-off, but for some reason they still have those sharp little crimps on the crown seal from the bottle-opener days. And those little crimps can really dig into your hand. Wrap the top in a rubber band to save the pain. The same trick works well for smooth, tough-to-grip soft-drink bottle tops, too.

Reshape Your Broom

No need to toss out that broom because the bristles have become splayed with use. Wrap a rubber band around the broom a few centimetres from the bottom. Leave it for a day or so to get the bristles back in line.

[edit] Fast furniture fixes

Don't toss that old piece of furniture. Give it a facelift with these tricks for giving new life to your old favourites.

Mask wood furniture scratches

Furniture refinishers would prefer to have your business, but you can save hundreds of dollars by hiding scratches using one of several inexpensive methods. Drop by the hardware store, and pick up a putty pencil or scratch polish. Make sure it matches the colour of your wood finish. Apply as directed, and presto! The scratch disappears, not your money.

Follow the antique furniture golden rule

Do as little as possible to change the original construction and finish of your antiques. By stripping a finish and putting on a new finish, you can drastically reduce the value of antique furniture. If a chair is a little loose and creaky or a table’s lacquer top is cracking, that’s okay.

Protect fussy antiques without the fuss

Contrary to what the makers of those lemon-fresh, spray-on furniture polishes claim, you don’t need fancy chemicals to clean and protect wooden chests, desks, tables, and chairs, even if they are your prized possessions. In fact, those products can do more harm than good.“Some sprays have additives that will never come off,” says Nancy Rosebrock, conservation manager at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. “They crosslink chemically over time and become insoluble. A lot never completely dry, and they attract dirt, darkening the finish.” And that, she says, can decrease the value.

1.Protect the wood from moisture. Use coasters, wipe up spills, and avoid cleaning with water.

2.Dust regularly with a soft, dry white cloth.

3.Wax once a year with a furniture wax—but only if the wood’s finish is intact. The paste wax, which protects the finish without penetrating the wood, keeps dust from binding with the surface the way car wax makes water bead. Pick a wax that matches the colour of the wood (for instance, a lighter wax for maple and a darker one for walnut). If the wood finish is cracked or rubbed away, skip the paste.

4.Steam out a dent. A dent on a wooden surface can often be fixed by swelling the compressed wood fibers back to their normal size using moisture and heat. Prick the varnish finish of the dented area several times with a fine pin so that moisture can penetrate into the wood.