To make your own furniture polish, mix two parts vegetable oil or olive oil and one part lemon juice. Apply and polish with a soft cloth.
Archive for May, 2009
Home-made Furniture Polish
Clothes Dryer Info
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.)
Then, he took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material – I’m sure you know what your dryer’s lint filter looks like. Well, the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that’s what burns out the heating unit. You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free — that nice fragrance too. You know how the dryer sheets can feel waxy when you take them out of the box? Well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire and potentially burn your house down with it!
He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.
He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!
Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
‘home,’ can’t digest it, so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
Foggy Windshield
Hate foggy windshields? Keep a chalkboard eraser in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
Measuring Cup Tip
Before measuring your sticky ingredients, such as shortening or peanut butter, fill the measuring cup with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient to the still warm cup and watch how easily it comes right out.
Reduce Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and — ta da! — static is gone.
Flexible Vacuum Attachment
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum hose. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
Squirrel Away
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.
Stretch Store-Bought Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
Easy Way to Make Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy microwave pizza.
Garlic – Know When to Add
Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
Bananas – Keep Them Longer
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
Peppers – Sweet to Eat or Firm to Cook?
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
Storing Cheese
Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!