Tips

Quick general tips that I have gleaned will be posted here

• Want ice cubes fast? use boiling water – it freezes faster than tap water
• Make your own coloured paint, buy white & add a coloured sample pot
• Don’t clean windows when the sun is shining, it dries too quick & will smear
• Get that last bit of soap from the pump bottle, add a bit of water, shake & it will last a while longer
• If you get 2 glasses stuck together, pour cold water in the top one & stand them in hot water
• After boiling eggs, use the cooled water for house plants
• If you don’t own a shredder, soak paper documents in a bowl of water overnight & pulp together
• If you have a tangled necklace chain, put talcum powder over it and give a little shake and the knot will come loose.
• If you have a problem with spiders, put a little peppermint oil where they are coming in. They hate it. I had a problem with my security camera’s every night there was a new web and I couldn’t check outside. I dipped a cotton bud in peppermint oil and wiped it around the lens of the camera’s and they have not been back since! That was 6 months ago!
• After washing a puffa jacket e.g – The North Face, the fibre filling goes into balls. To prevent this, place your coat in a tumble drier with 3 or 4 clean tennis balls on a cool setting and tumble for at least 30 mins. It will come out with all the filling evenly spread.
• If you have an annoying dripping tap, tie a piece of ribbon / string around the spout of the tap so that the drips run down it and doesn’t  splash into sink making a noise!
• Save your egg shells and crush them to make a deterrent for snails and slugs by liberally putting the around the stems of young plants.
• If you own a pet, in case of an emergency, carry a little card in your purse /wallet stating that he /she is home alone and put a contact number on of the person who would take care of your pet for you while you are being treated.
• If you are painting wooden chairs, instead of standing the legs on newspaper which you will have to rip off later and risk damaging your paint job, hammer a nail in each leg through the bottom so that it will clear the floor. It makes the job so much easier and then just pull the nail out when the job is finished! I did six chairs like this with 3 coats of paint on each leg and it made the job so much easier!
• Cleaning a glass hob the easy way~ sprinkle bicarbonate of soda all over the top. Wet a towel in hot soapy water and wring it out so that Its not dripping and lay this over the top of the hob completely coving the bicarbonate. Leave for 15~ 20 mins and wipe all the residue away, keep rinsing out the towel with fresh water. When all the bicarbonate has been removed buff up with a dry towel. Job done with little effort!
• If you spill red wine on your clothes or carpet soak it with white wine to remove the stain.
• To remove grass stains on clothes soak with vinegar.
• To remove coffee stains use bicarbonate of soda.
• Help remove sweat stains from clothing with lemon juice.
• After sewing buttons on, paint them with a coat of nail varnish to keep in place longer.