Handy household hints

[Guest Admar72]

Hope i have the right forum for this.

This was sent to me in an email and i thought good enough to pass on.......

CLEVER IDEAS WORTH KNOWING

 

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS

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.) He

told

us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the

sink

and 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 they 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 potentially burn your house down

with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very

longtime

(and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and

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! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly

didn't

know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water

on

it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the

water in

the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and

I

had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right

thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew

what

he was talking about!

 

 

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.

If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

 

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.

It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

 

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.

 

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.

It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of

spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then

beat them up.

 

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes

mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a

wonderful

minty frosting.

 

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.

 

 

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert.

Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few

apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars

over

the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla

ice

cream. Yummm!

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 micro pizza. I saw this on the

cooking channel and it really works.

 

Easy 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.

 

Expanding 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.

 

Reheating refrigerated bread

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place

them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will

keep

the food moist and help it reheat faster.

 

Newspaper weeds away

Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet

newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover

with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening

plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

 

Broken Glass

Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass

you can't see easily.

 

No More Mosquitoes

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the

mosquitoes away.

 

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.

 

Flexible vacuum

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. It can be

bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

 

Reducing 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.

 

Measuring Cups

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with

hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your

ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right

out.

 

Foggy Windshield?

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the

glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works

better than a cloth!

 

Re opening envelopes

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include

something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an

hour

or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

 

Conditioner

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than

shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way

to

use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in

your

hair.

 

Goodbye Fruit Flies

To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2'

with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well.

You

will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

 

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 and you don't have the worry about

pets

or small children being harmed!

[Diane]

Some really interesting tips there thanks! Specially like the apple and snickers bars idea..yummmmm

[Guest the4hopes]

Thanks, I love handy tips I will be writing these down later. I have noticed the dryer sheets are very waxy here and a very strong smell, so I wont be using anymore!

[Guest Guest75]

The Ant & cornmeal is a new one on me - anything to stop the little b@#$%s:)

[Guest rachinadelaide]

Glad to hear other people have ant problems too... (well not glad in an 'I'm happy you're sharing my misery way' but glad in a 'we are sharing the pain' way!!).

 

I was trying to do some gardening last weekend and ended up doing some weird dance moves in the garden as they kept running up my legs and biting!!

 

Will be trying the cornmeal approach...

[Guest Guest75]

Glad to hear other people have ant problems too... (well not glad in an 'I'm happy you're sharing my misery way' but glad in a 'we are sharing the pain' way!!).

 

I was trying to do some gardening last weekend and ended up doing some weird dance moves in the garden as they kept running up my legs and biting!!

 

Will be trying the cornmeal approach...

 

 

So you do the "Dance" as well???

 

Ant's are one of the few things that really bug me and I wage constant war on them.

 

We get the Inch ants around the place as well.

Stood on a nest once without realising - looked down to see my jeans covered in those tear inducing monsters.

Dunno what the neighbours must have thought of me madly dashing around taking my jeans off!!