Tip Top Tips For Canny Homemakers! (General House/Tips and Hints)

Member Name: splodgethecat

Product:	General House/Tips and Hints
Date:	05/09/01 (680 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Save time, Save money, Save effort

Disadvantages: none

As an avid collector of tips (and having just been awarded a crown for my cooking tips opinion :)) I thought I would try my hand at compiling a set of useful hints and tips to save money, time and effort around the home this time. Therefore, to follow are some of the best ones I have collected over a long period of time, all brought together here in one place. I usually write my tips down in a little book whenever I come across a good one, so I have pulled out a few of the best here. I hope you find some of them useful.


1; Insert a rolling pin covered with a towel into the sleeves of jackets to prevent ironing creases in.

2; Remove stains from net curtains by soaking them in cold water and salt before washing.

3; When knitting with light coloured wool cut a 1cm hole in the plastic lid of an empty baby milk tin and place the wool in the tin with the end coming out through the hole. This will keep your wool clean.

4; Before ironing, spray a little of your favourite perfume onto your ironing board. Let it dry and iron your clothes. They will smell lovely.

5; Clean up copper bracelets with toothpaste and an old toothbrush.

6; To find the end of your Clingfilm dust a little flour over the surface and it will become visible.

7; A fine crochet hook will remove hair from sink and bath plugholes.

8; Use used phone cards to apply grouting to tiles.

9; Don’t throw away old telephone directories and phone books. Use as disposable ’mats’ in your pet’s food dishes tray.

10; Store belts hung from hooks screwed into a wooden coat hanger. You can store about a dozen from the one hanger.

11; Rejuvenate marble by rubbing salad cream on with a dry cloth. Leave a minute and buff to a lovely shine.

12; Have all your undies gone grey? Next time you wash them, add a brand new yellow duster to the wash. They will turn a lovely fresh lemon yellow.


13; Add a few drops of food colouring to the water when you stand flowers in a clear vase for an unusual effect.

14; Baby wipes are ideal for cleaning computers, keyboards, typewriters etc. Much cheaper than buying specialist cleaning cloths and solutions.

15; Pull out a ball of string out from the inside and it won’t roll all over the place.

16; Run out of shoe polish? Rub the inside of a banana skin over the surface and polish with a soft cloth.

17; After hanging your tools on the walls of your garden shed, trace round them with chalk. You can tell at a glance what’s missing, or where they need to be replaced.

18; Hang on to the carton lids of mushy pea cartons when you get them from the fish and chip shop. They make great temporary lids for pet food cans.

19; Save electricity by unplugging your iron when you only have a couple of items left. The iron will stay warm enough to finish these.

20; Wrap Clingfilm around the legs of new tables and chairs to prevent scuffs and scratches appearing when children kick their feet at the table.

21; Store your sleeping bag in the airing cupboard wrapped round the tank. It gives extra lagging and keeps the water hotter for longer.

22; When laying foam backed carpet, sprinkle the floor with a little talc or corn flour first. It will stop the backing sticking so much when you take it up.

23; Feed houseplant with water you are throwing out from your fish tank.

24; On very windy days, secure large items such as sheets and heavy towels to your washing line with bulldog clips.

25; If you turn a loaf upside down it is easier to slice.

26; For a cheap wallpaper border buy an end of season roll of ordinary wallpaper with a vertical stripe pattern and cut the stripes lengthways.

27; Make house guests feel welcome by putting a small basket by their bedside containing those eas
ily forgotten items such as hair grips, shower cap and comb.

28; Stick ring pulls from used drinks cans on to the ends of light tools such as brushes to hang them on the wall for convenience.

29; The greaseproof bags that come inside of cereal boxes make great linings for cake tins and they are also ideal for storing items in the freezer.

30; Stop patent leather shoes form cracking by rubbing with a little olive oil on a cloth. Leave a minute and buff.

31; Collect quick, cheap and easy recipes from magazines and stick in a scrapbook to give to a son or daughter when they leave home.

32; Clean wooden surfaces and objects such as tables, spoons, stools with a damp cloth and some salt. It works wonders.

33; When knitting a sweater for a family member, knit a matching elbow patch at the same time for sewing in later when the elbows start to wear a bit thin.

34; When decorating, line your wallpaper paste container with a bin liner. It will be much easier to clear the mess up.

35; Save money on odour eaters by filling a pair of old socks with potpourri and inserting them into the shoes when they are not being worn.

36; Keep a spare corned beef tin key in your cutlery drawer as it’s infuriating to find when you come to open a tin that the key’s missing.

37; Mix sugary cereals half-and-half with ‘proper’ ones. Your children won’t notice the difference and they’ll be eating less sugar.

38; Thoroughly wash out a washing up liquid bottle after use and use to water delicate seedlings. The fine nozzle will allow you to place the water delicately.

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