"I wish I'd thought of that!"- The Little Thread Of Handy Dandy Tips & Tricks

McChubbin

Found this one today: If caught short on milk for basting pastry, use sunflower oil. Virtually tasteless and it gives a lovely golden sheen to filo pastry. Surprizing but simple. Not sure if this would work for sweet pies, though...

cc-offe

CHEWING GUM IN HAIR!

Doesn't need to be cut out, massage mayonnaise into it until it dissolves it...it really works!

I found this out once when some chewing gum ended up stuck to my hair straightener which I had then clamped on to my front section of hair......nightmare I left it in for a full day trying to figure out what to do before I went online, (this was in the day where most computers had modems but very few people knew that that meant they could use the internet)....found out about the mayonnaise trick and it worked magically!

Novella

NoDice wrote: »

[*]If you find your lighter clothes (delicates like underwear, light cotton cardys, tights etc) are getting destroyed in the washing machine, putting them into a pillow case for their wash keeps them fresh and pretty safe during the wash!
[/LIST]Hope someone finds these useful!

Jesus, that is genius! Thank you!

Agent Smith

WindSock wrote: »

The only one I ever remember is when changing pillow cases & duvet covers. Turn them inside out and grab the corners of the pillow/duvet then shake it over.

Someone watched Live at 3!

Mitch Buchannon

Is the mirror in your bathroom always steamed up after a bath / shower ??

To stop this what you do is :
Put some shaving foam/gel on the mirror and rub in with a tissue until its all gone. Next time when you get out of the shower you will no longer have a steamed up mirror. You dont have to do this every time you have a shower. Once done it will last for weeks, all you have to do then is clean your mirror once in a while and reapply the shaving foam/gel.

LittleBook

"Colour Catcher" by Punch is a great help with the washing. Throw your darks and ALL your colours in together with a sheet of this and the dye doesn't run. Very handy when trying to get a load together in a household of two. Supposedly you can even throw whites in with "well-washed" colours!

There's also a "Keep it White" which I haven't used myself yet but my sister highly recommends.

FoxInATreehouse

Neyite wrote: »

Vaseline rubbed inside straps and where skin contacts straps prevent blisters.

I must try this! I have wide feet so sometimes I have to buy a smaller size when I want to wear heels, but I usually end up with blisters after a few hours of dancing. I've tried putting band-aids before I go out, but they never stay on long enough to be effective.

cc-offe wrote: »

CHEWING GUM IN HAIR!

Doesn't need to be cut out, massage mayonnaise into it until it dissolves it...it really works!

Peanut butter works for this too. When I was five I got tree sap in my hair before going to a birthday party. My mom didn't want to cut it since my hair was almost to my hips. So she put peanut butter in it and then washed it out. The only drawback is that the other parents kept wondering who smelled like peanut butter. I've read that olive oil works too; it must be the oil in all three fixes that does the trick.

SeekUp

My OH swears by using newspaper to clean glass . . . apparently it makes for a streak-free surface.

Mary-Ellen

I second newspaper and vinegar makes the best window and mirror cleaner

Cotton buds (cotton on either end of the little stick) are ideal for tidying up liquid eyeliner lines

Hair straighteners are great for getting wrinkles out of clothes I use this for small jobs like the collar of a shirt or running quickly down jean legs

I'll add more if I think of them

pickarooney

Neyite wrote: »

buy shoes early as you can during the day -

You should really be thanked 500 times for that tip by non-shoeholic husbands and boyfriends

Molecule

Johnson & Johnson's No More Tears shampoo will help remove hair dye. It also works really well for removing chewing gum or paint from clothes (possibly hair too - haven't tried that).

Also, if you spill red wine on something, pouring white wine on afterwards is meant to stop it staining.

Rubberlegs

getting hungry so hence the following tip. Marmite doesnt spread v easily on toast I have found. But if you put a blob of butter on middle of toast and a blob of Marmite on top of butter and mix em together with top of knife it'll spread no bother:D

dammitjanet

McChubbin wrote: »

Stretch your shoes with ice:
First, clear a space in your freezer (ideally, have a whole drawer cleared out). Get two standard-sized freezer bags and fill them to capacity with water. Place one bag of water into the end of each shoe, making sure it's stuffed in fairly tightly. Leave in the freezer overnight and you should find that due to the water doubling in size as it ices over, your shoes will be loosened by at least half a size.

This works best with fabric shoes, though I've yet to test it out with leather.

(Note: If this is in the wrong forum, I apologize and give the Mods permission to move it as appropriate)

there are not enough thank you buttons in the world for this, i'm a half size and hate shoe shopping because of it, gonna try this!!

If you have jewlery that turns you green, put a little bit of clear nail varnish on it, good as new

in addition to what was said about babywipes, they're perfect for cleaning cds and dvds that are acting up

to make a room smelly lovely easy, put shaken vac down over night and hoover the next day (also you get to sing the shake and vac song!):D

Snoopy1

So if you have really delicate bra's that are meant to be handwash only, can you stick them in the pillow case and put them in the washine machine????
Thanks for the tip about the shoe stretching, i have a pair of heels which definitely need doing

StinkySocs

if you spill red wine on a white table cloth, pour white wine over it, defo works.

If you have nail varish where the top is stuck to the bottle, boil the kettle and put it into a cup of hot water, or run the hot water tap over it.

If you have a light top or shirt thats really creased and no iron but a hair dryer, use the hair dryer on the hotest but the lowest speed and it takes out the creases!

Maple

sam34 wrote: »

toothpaste makes lovebites disappear quicker

This does not work.

God I remember the stink of Colgate on a Monday morning in school. And everyone wearing their collars up. Or scarves.

xzanti wrote: »

If your mascara has dried up, leave it (sealed) in a cup of hot water for a few minutes and it melts the leftovers for you..

Genius!!

/pegs it downstairs to boil kettle

Barbieliveshere

To get chewing gum out of your hair just spray it with deodorant and its just crumbles to pieces... Worked for me anyway!

RightlyRandom

Toothpaste for Lovebites... works but not greatly when used on its own... had a huge one on me neck there two weeks ago.. Used toothpaste in the night when going to bed, and during the day i used Arnica for bruises put it on 3 - 4 times a day n your sorted! Lovebite was as big as my fist n was gone in 3 days was great! ha

sam34

RightlyRandom wrote: »

Lovebite was as big as my fist

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

NoDice

Snoopy1 wrote: »

So if you have really delicate bra's that are meant to be handwash only, can you stick them in the pillow case and put them in the washine machine????
Thanks for the tip about the shoe stretching, i have a pair of heels which definitely need doing

Well I do it for my "handwash only" underwear and especially for bras as the clasps kept catching on my other clothes. Works wonders for me but if you've any doubts, keep doing what you're doing. I'd hate for your underwear to be ruined cause of me! No joke intended obv!!

RightlyRandom wrote: »

Toothpaste for Lovebites... works but not greatly when used on its own... had a huge one on me neck there two weeks ago.. Used toothpaste in the night when going to bed, and during the day i used Arnica for bruises put it on 3 - 4 times a day n your sorted! Lovebite was as big as my fist n was gone in 3 days was great! ha

YOUR FIST??!! Man.. Sounds like it wasn't a love bite at all.. Here we call them bruises from being punched!! :pac:

Vinta81

Thought of this thread this morning;

instead of using cotton wool to take off nail varnish, I use baby wipes with the nail polish remover, it's much softer on the nails and it moisturises them so they aren't as hard/dry when you remove the polish

The Big Red Button

If you use those Veet wax strips that you're meant to rub between your hands to warm up - it's soooo much faster and works a million times better if you just use a hairdryer on the strip for a few seconds before using it.

mood

Millicent wrote: »

Hairspray is useful for getting pen off painted walls and leather couches and handbags. God bless How Clean is Your House! :P

Have they a book or website?

i71jskz5xu42pb

panda100 wrote: »

Maybe its the medic in me but that sounds quite dangerous to me?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_bandage

Liquid bandage is typically a polymer dissolved in a solvent (commonly water or an alcohol) ................ Other types of liquid bandages (more suited for use when the wound is actively bleeding), are based on cyanoacrylates. Although ethylcyanoacrylates are conventionally used in "superglue" adhesives, medical cyanoacrylates are based on octylcyanoacrylates, as they do not break down in the body to toxic byproducts, as ethylcyanoacrylates do.

Easy for them to say.

lil'bug

peat moss or potting compost can be used to clean up paint spillages. it works really well

NoDice

chatterpillar wrote: »

If you use those Veet wax strips that you're meant to rub between your hands to warm up - it's soooo much faster and works a million times better if you just use a hairdryer on the strip for a few seconds before using it.

Absolutely +1 to this! I do this too!

Also if you run out of the wipes that remove the wax after, no worries, a bit of baby oil works wonders to remove the excess wax! AND it moisturises your skin.

Danniboo

Milk is great for removing hair dye that's got on your face.

Iron your bedclothes when you've put them on the bed it's so much easier.

mood

Danniboo wrote: »

Iron your bedclothes when you've put them on the bed it's so much easier.

Great idea!

Angelandie

mood wrote: »

Have they a book or website?

They do, its called "The Cleaning Bible: Kim and Aggie's Complete Guide to Modern Household Management" you can find it on Amazon

Danniboo

mood wrote: »

Great idea!

One of my personal favourites and gives your bed that nice fresh well made look