Some things, you just can't categorize. So it is with this week's tips, a round-up of ideas for various parts of your home. Even your finger.
1. Remove a stuck ring by greasing your ring with butter or oil. Wrap the entire finger with plastic wrap. Pull off the plastic wrap and ring; they should both slide off with ease. Tip: Glass cleaner sprayed onto the area is another trick for removing a stuck ring.
Lighting a candle before cutting onions can help alleviate tears.
2. Pigeon problems? Screen the birds out of wall recesses and window ledges with fine-mesh chicken wire sold at hardware and garden shops. Also, sheets of plastic with plastic spikes at narrow intervals are available in hardware shops for use on flat roofs or window ledges. It is impossible for pigeons to perch on them or find a comfortable foothold.
3. Discourage mice from visiting areas around the home, car or barn by shaving several bars of Irish Spring soap and sprinkling them wherever mice tend to gather. Tip: Discourage rats and mice with the help of a weasel. They'll soon be gone.
4. Transfer your jelly to a small plastic squeeze bottle, no more mess, sticky jars or knives! This also works well for homemade salad dressing!
5. Concrete that has black colouration from weather is usually mould. Spray bleach water on the concrete with 1 part bleach to 3 parts water. Brush in and let set. Then wash off.
6. Wax paper taped inside slatted closet doors will help to keep out moths and dust.
7. The best way to hammer a small nail into the wall is to use a small comb to hold the nail.
8. For all of the little wastebaskets around the house use this housecleaner's trick. Keep folded garbage bags underneath the liner being used. That way you don't have to track down another liner after you empty the basket.
9. Use glue traps (the kind for mice) in the corners of rooms to catch unwanted insects such as spiders, bugs and flies. The glue traps are small, flat and inexpensive.
10. When cutting/chopping onions, light a candle first in the area where you'll be doing your work. The candle flame "burns up" the fumes from the onion and your eyes won't water as quickly.
11. Store birdseed in a large bottle, for quick and easy filling of bird feeders. Less mess, and less time.
12. Before cooking, place a sheet of waxed paper on the counter top. This makes a convenient disposable spoon rest and clean up a snap.
13. For painting crafts, use an empty egg carton to place puddles of paint colours in, when finished dispose of carton, no mess to clean! 14. Make ripe tomatoes firm again. Dip tomatoes in cold water, add some salt and leave overnight.
15. Make leafy vegetables crunchy again. Cut the stem off and separate the stalks. Add three quarter cup granulated sugar to a vessel filled with cold water. Place vegetables inside. Soak for 4 to 5 hours. Drain well and refrigerate.
Solutions, is compiled from various sources: Thank-you to all who contributed! Similar information may be found elsewhere.
Solutions sleuth Reena Nerbas is a home economist and speaks professionally on the topic of household challenges; she is also the author of two national bestsellers, Household Solutions 1 with Substitutions and Household Solutions 2 with Kitchen Secrets. She can be heard on radio programs across Canada and seen on the CBC TV show Living Winnipeg.
www.householdsolutions.org
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