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You know how you can learn one simple little household tip that will change your life?
I've gotten several lately. Have blog will share.
- When we would take the trash out of the kitchen trash can, the smell could knock you over. Why? There was mostly just paper that went in there and it was emptied at least once a day? Unending mystery. I bleached it regularly, I Lysolled the heck out of it, still stunk. I put some sheets of newspaper - the sports section, to be precise - in the bottom of it and VOILA. No more stinky trashcan.
- I read that newspaper will absorb the odor in shoes too - and FYI, at age 6 your son's feet start to stink. Gonna try that next.
- Donna Otto taught me this one: line your fridge shelves, drawers, cabinets, etc with cheap plastic placemats (hello dollar store) that you cut to fit. So easy to pull out and clean.
- In my ongoing mission to reduce chemicals, I read you can use vinegar instead of JetDry in the dishwasher. It works!
- I also use vinegar now instead of fabric softener. Because I have a front loader Whirlpool Duet and you can't actually put Downey in the Downey dispenser or else the whole thing gets mildewed and stinks which is the stupidest thing ever especially since that dryer is one of the most expensive things in our home - I will just stop now because I could go on and on and on - just use vinegar.
- WD40 gets crayon off of walls. Hand sanitizer gets Sharpie off of paint. Hallelujah.
- French Onion Soup is one of the easiest things you can ever make and also one of the tastiest. Here ya go:
French Onion Soup
4 onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup butter
3 cans beef stock
2 cups white wine
1 t. Worcestershire
salt & pepper to taste
french bread and Swiss cheese slices
Saute onions in butter till yellow. Add stock and bring to boil. Add remaining ingredients and simmer about 30 min.
To serve, put a chunk of bread in the bottom of the bowl, slice of cheese on top, then ladle the soup on top of that. Presto yummo.
4 onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup butter
3 cans beef stock
2 cups white wine
1 t. Worcestershire
salt & pepper to taste
french bread and Swiss cheese slices
Saute onions in butter till yellow. Add stock and bring to boil. Add remaining ingredients and simmer about 30 min.
To serve, put a chunk of bread in the bottom of the bowl, slice of cheese on top, then ladle the soup on top of that. Presto yummo.
Got any amazing life changing tips? Lay 'em on me.
Oh - one more thing - I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last night - (deep sigh.) Treat yourself to this book. So, so dear. Haven't loved a story so much in such a long time. When I finished it I kissed it - literally - and laid it on my nightstand. I kissed it. Literally. Kissed it.
Oh - one more thing - I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last night - (deep sigh.) Treat yourself to this book. So, so dear. Haven't loved a story so much in such a long time. When I finished it I kissed it - literally - and laid it on my nightstand. I kissed it. Literally. Kissed it.
33 Comments:
Did you know that dryer sheets attached to the chord for ceiling fans absorb odors, too? We bought a smelly home. Cigarrette was the most recognizable stench, with a little mold/mildew/decaying rodent mixed in. The dryer sheets and open windows did a world of good! I love vinegar, too!
If you happen to get sharpie marker on another surface, say a linoleum or tile floor, you can go over it with a dry erase marker then use a damp paper towel over that and no more sharpie! (or dry erase marker!) you don't want to know how i learned this....
I have put a Bounce in my car to get out cigarette smoke after coming home from a smelly club. Back when i used to go to smelly clubs! Worked great.
Good to know about the Dry Erase Lisa!
There's a great product called Greased Lightning that will clean just about anything. It get pencil markings off the wall better than anything -- lifts the pencil right off without damaging the paint.
We keep a dry erase marker on the bathroom counter and use it to jot down those things we NEED to remember in the morning!!! It's also used to leave sweet notes to each other! Also baking soda in your wash (and I use it with my front loader) along with your regular detergent will take out that mildew smell if you say forget that you washed clothes--I wont say how I know this but I do!!
vinegar as fabric softener?!? seriously? do you smell it?
Nope.
I use vinegar instead of farbic softener too! I will start putting the newspaper in the bottom of the trash can!!
Thanks for sharing!
Lou Cinda :)
We found out when camping once that hand sanitizer also gets sticky tree sap/pitch off your hands...the alcohol in it.
I've also heard about and tried both of these:
Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar (I use the apple cider vinegar) with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria...to me it kinda tastes like a good vinegarette dressing.
Bee stings, hold a penny on where the sting is for a few minutes...all the pain is gone. My husband got stung just recently and we tried this he was amazed that it didn't feel like he had been stung.
Not that this has ever happened to me, but if you should, oh, say, forget and leave the clothes in the washing machine for two or six days and it sours, pour a heaping cup of vinegar in with your detergent when you re-wash.
Takes the sour smell right out.
Or so I hear.
I've just started using vinegar as fabric softener too. Makes no mess in the machine or the fabric softener dispenser and the clothes are just great.
Two litres (I think that's half a gallon??) of white vinegar in an empty wash load will clear out your washing machine pipes and apparently you can use it to clean the dishwasher as well.
OK, so that last comment was me and I have no idea why the user name came as that bunch of numbers. It should have said mizbear with a link to http://bitsofthing.typepad.com
So glad to know hand sanitizer gets Sharpie off paint; I'm sure I'll encounter that someday! Hand sanitizer also gets Silly Putty off carpet -- ask me how I know!
I loved that book too. So much that I sent it to a friend that had five people ahead of her on the library waiting list. I'm on the hunt for pretty paper to start writing real letters to friends because of that book.
Thanks for the newspaper in the bottom of the trash can tip - very useful for me!
I'll have to see if our library has that book so that I can enjoy it as well!
I listened to the book on CD first and LOVED it so much I had to OWN it. The narrators are all different depending on whose voice is being narrated. Dawsey...be still my heart.
My hardback copy may just rest lovingly on my bedside table as well...and woe to the urchin who lifts it...ever!
P.S.
Another that I JUST finished is Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella. You can quote me - it will be a movie and far, far better than the Shopoholic one that was just out. I read every page (sadly I've become a bit of skimmer...) and was so sad when it was over.
Tell me, when you read Brit lit...do you do so with an British accent? Because I do.
Please Hollywood - put a real British chick in the movie - not Renee (God love her...she's great but the Bridget Jones accent is not convincing). I beg you.
I absolutely HATE the smell of vinegar. Who knew it had all these wonderful uses?
I'm sorry I judged you, oh Smelly Vinegar.
Here's my tip. With a two story house and a finished basement, I found myself either
A. Constantly running up and down the steps to replace stray toys and children's items
or
B. Putting them on the steps until I was going upstairs or downstairs, thus, dangerously cluttering up the steps.
Solution: I bought adorable baskets from Target that fit perfectly on a step. One for each kid. As I find something of theirs throughout the day, I toss it in the cute basket. At the end of the night, it's their duty to empty the basket and return it to the step.
Voila!
Sandy
Great cleaning tips. I'll have to try the newspaper thing. I also just finished the Guernsey book a few weeks ago. And I can totally understand kissing it. It is the sweetest, saddest, funniest book ever. How it managest to be all that I don't know. Definitely one to keep forever though.
Almost every single box of wrap that you have on a roll in a box (think here: foil, wax paper, plastic food wrap) has little push in tabs at the ends of the boxes. You push them in and they act as a spindle for your wrap so it doesn't come all tumbling out of the box when you yank out a length or so. Your welcome :)
That news paper is also good in your kid plays a sport (like soccer) and his cleats get wet...especially if they are leather and you don't wanna toss those in the dyer...stuff newsprint in the boots...will help air them out, dry them up and not crack the leather!
Great tips! I love french onion soup but never attempted it because I thought it might be difficult. Now I know...I'll have to give it a try.
Thanks for all these great tips. I am going to try the vinegar as fabric softner and the newspaper in the trash can.
A lady at the emergency vet told me that rubbing alcohol gets blood stains out really well. I put it to the test after my dog cut his paw and there were hundreds of tiny dog footprints all over my carpet. It worked great!
Love the tips!!! I'm with you on the book... so sad when it ended.
Now I'm off to load the washing machine (that cost more than my first car) with some vinegar.
i just got front load washer & dryer... you can't use fabric softener?!?! vinegar instead?!?! never, ever heard of this & would not even think of this in a million years. so tell me, how much do you use?
That recipe sounds really good. I'll be tryin' that.
I'm gonna look into the book, too. Anything kissable is worth my time. :)
Also, I'm going try the hand sanitizer right now b/c Puddin' put Sharpie marks all over my deep freezer and nothing else has worked. It's worth a shot.
Thanks for this life-changing information. :)
we have a laundry station with a hamper for each type we normally sort: reds, blacks, whites, lights, delicate, baby stuff. When any hamper gets full, just take it to the washing machine.
We do one load a day and never get behind on laundry.
does that newspaper trick work on ....diaper pails?
also, where are you putting the vinegar? in a fabric softener ball? or what?
Put it where ever you put it usually - in the ball, in the dispenser, whatever.
One load a day - ahhhhh. What a dream. To keep up, I SHOULD be doing 3 loads a day.
Hair spray will take ink pen off hard surfaces and out of clothing! Just squirt in on & wipe off with a paper towel, or squirt on clothing and rinse out with water.
Thanks for the book recommendation! And the recipe . . . mmmmmmmmm.
-- Nancy
The front loaders have lots and lots of problems. Mine is 3? yrs old, so I hope that they have solved them with the newer ones. But the deal is, mildew grows in them. My towels kept coming out smelling musty. Then I would pull out a load and the whole load would smell musty - I just felt like my clothes weren't getting clean. I called them in, they checked it, said it was fine, etc etc. Then a friend filled me in. Her's was actually recalled because of the mold factor. She opened up the flappy thing around the drum, and it was black with mold. UGH!
Does your's have a "clean washer" cycle? This is why.
So I googled and found this stuff
http://www.smellywasher.com/
which they made just because of this problem. Turns out using the dispensers makes it worse, which is irritating. I don't put my detergent in with the dispenser anymore, I throw it in with the clothes.
The main thing is I have to bleach a load every few days. Even still, about once a month I notice my clothes getting musty again, and I use the Smelly Washer. It does seem to work.
It is just irritating that this thing that cost so much has to be so high maintenance.
But, I have had friends that have had no problems whatsoever - so, maybe you will be one of the lucky ones.
I fill the cup all the way with vinegar, then I also pour some in the detergent dispenser for good measure.
I LOVE FO soup! I had no idea it was so easy, will def be making some soon for an in home day night.
And I've got the Potato Peel Society book on hold at the library... always looking for a good recommendation from a friend.
My vinegar tip? Put vinegar on a sunburn and it takes the burn out pretty quickly!
Look at YOU with your vinegar fabric softener. That's an old cloth diapering trick, ya know. I think perhaps I'm starting to rub off on you.
Also, I cannot remember the last time I KISSED a book out of sheer fondness. I've heard mighty fine things about that book. I guess I'm gonna have to see if I can go about checking it out.
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