Hi Reena,

I am looking for help for two different problems:  

 1) The hardware for the railing on our basement stairs and the door hinges on the basement doors have paint on them that has been there a long time (i.e. previous owners). Is there an easier way to remove this paint from the hardware, than scrapping it with a razor blade?  

 2) Do you have a homemade solution that can be used to repel squirrels? They are constantly digging up our flower beds and vegetable garden and they also chew on the wires of the electric lights that we have in our trees. The lights are only on at night and they chew them in the day time, so no they have not been electrocuted and we wouldn’t want them to be. Just want a repellent that is not harmful to them, but would save our lights, flowers and vegetables.

Gail

 

Dear Gail,

1) Cover the bottom of a pot with baking soda. Remove the hinges/hardware from the wall. Place the hardware inside the pot and add enough water just to cover the metal. Simmer on the stove for 30 mins. With tongs, remove the hinges from the pot and place them onto a rag. Using a gentle scrubby pad, rub the softened paint off. No elbow grease or scraping required!  

2) To repel squirrels with love. You can either make a solution of one cup castor oil with four gallons water and spray around your flowers or vegetable garden. Or sprinkle liberal amounts of cinnamon wherever you don’t want squirrels to visit — i.e., around the base of the tree where the lights are hanging. Put wide metal strips or plastic pipe around the base of trees. Also, to prevent squirrels from sliding down the chimney, install a flue cap.

• • •

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Please share, Glenda.

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Reena Nerbas is author of the national best-selling series, Household Solutions 1 with Substitutions, Household Solutions 2 with Kitchen Secrets and Household Solutions 3 with Green Alternatives

 Email her at : householdsolutions@mts.net or check out her website: www.householdsolutions.org