Household Tips

It is birthday season at my house! My best friend is a master cake decorator, but I, sadly, am not so talented. All I ever really need to do is write names on cakes (which really isn’t all that difficult.) But I have on more than one occasion found myself with neither decorator icing bags or those handy little tubes of icing. If you find yourself in such a pinch, grab the icing and use an empty (and washed out) mustard bottle! Fill the bottle (hopefully it’s a smallish bottle!) with your icing, and write away! Your cake will look neat, and you can either re-use or recycle the plastic bottle.

Once, when I was about fourteen or fifteen years old, my brother and I were home for the summer and he was playing with something in the garage, or his models or some semi-dangerous machine. Whatever it was, I seem to have forgotten the specifics. However, a chemical, and I think it was gas, oil or some derivative thereof, splashed into his eye. He came running to me and we immediately flushed his eye with a lot of lukewarm water. His eye was burning a little bit but he could see and wasn’t in extreme pain.

I called the Poison Control Center! (great sister, eh?) I spoke to a really nice lady who walked us through what to do, rinsing the eye, staying out of the sun, taking it easy, monitoring the eye, going to the doctor if there were any changes. She was really nice and helpful and praised us for calling, and never once made us feel as though we had done something bad, because, dur! we hadn’t. What impressed me the most was that later that evening, around dinner time, the phone rang and it was for me. The same lady from the Poison Control call center was calling back to talk to me with the intent of checking on my brother*. I was really floored and have never forgotten how helpful and reassuring they were that day.

So, today, I take this time to pass on to you, fellow readers, a gentle reminder about chemicals in your home and where you keep toxic substances.

All of the information below can also be found online at the Poison Control Center Website…

Store Poisons Safely
• Store medicines and household products locked up, where children cannot see or reach them.
• Keep poisons in their original containers.
• Use child-resistant packaging. But remember — nothing is child-proof! You really must WATCH your children at all times.

Use Poisons Safely
• Read the label. Follow the directions on medicines and products.
• Are children around? Take the product or medicine with you to answer the door or the phone.
• Lock products and medicines up after using them.
• Is it medicine? Call it medicine, not candy.
• Children learn by imitation. Take your medicines where children can’t watch.

Teach Children to Ask First
• Poisons can look like food or drink. Teach children to ask an adult before eating or drinking anything!
If you think someone has been poisoned, call your poison center right away — 1-800-222-1222.

Just Facts:
92 percent of all poison exposures occur in the home
52 percent of poison exposures occur in children under the age of six

*Brother is very much fine right now. I doubt he even remembers this incident.

Those of you with kids have dealt with this one. Those of you who want kids will deal with this one. Those who have ever had a child visit your house, well, you might need this tip, too.

I love WD-40. I believe God created it on the 8th day. One of my many favorite uses for WD-40 is to remove crayon marks. From wallpaper. From painted walls. From floors. Just spray on and wipe off. One word of warning, if your wallpaper or paint is in bad shape, the WD-40 might leave an oily spot. I’ve never had this happen, but I’ve heard rumors.

I’m writing to you from vacation. In Florida. Where the sun is VERY POWERFUL…. For those of you (like me) who happen to get a bit too much sun this summer, we all know and love aloe. But when aloe is not available or you need to cover a large area, try yogurt! Just smooth plain yogurt on your skin, leave on for 20 minutes, and rinse off with warm (but not hot) water. An added bonus? Smooth, moisturized skin!

I’m a bibliophile. (That’s a fancy way of saving, I LOVELOVELOVELOVE books.) I buy a lot of my books used, and sometimes, I come across one with that not-so-fresh odor of must and dust. The smell used to turn me away from what would otherwise be a treasure, until I came across this oh-so-easy way to rid books of must.

Place the book in a plain brown paper bag with an opened box of baking soda. Seal the bag and leave it alone for a week. The smell will disappear!

baking soda, musty books

Happy Memorial Day! Monday marks the beginning of summer for most of us, which means it’s time to get the grill in tip-top shape. I’m a big fan of those brass, wire brushes for cleaning grill grates. Recently, though, someone at our house left the brush outside, and the dog decided to turn it into a chew toy. (Yes, our dog opted for a brass chew toy. Go figure.) So, when it came time to use the grill for the first time, we had no brush. My husband had seen a tip on public television that worked well enough. He got the grill hot, then balled up a large piece of aluminum foil, and used the foil to scrape the grill. (Think of how you’d use a sponge on dishes.) The heat is a bit daunting, but in a pinch, it works!

grills, outdoors, cleaning

It is that time of year. Dogs are shedding. They have fleas. They’re dirtier than usual. (Why is that, by the way?) And it’s time for a SERIOUS bath.

When my husband bathes our dog, he always does it outside with a garden hose. Neither of them seems to mind, so I’m in favor of the approach. However, if you’re in an indoor bather, this tip is for you.

Next time you bathe Fido in the tub, put a piece of an S.O.S pad in the drain before bathing. When you drain the water, the water will still drain THROUGH the steel wool, but the wool will trap all that shed fur! Simply pull out the S.O.S pad after you drain the water — fur and all — and you won’t have a clogged drain!

bathing dog, S.O.S, clogged drain

I know that composting is a great idea. Environmentally friendly. Great for my plants. But I never seem to be able to get over the smell…. Those of you with weak constitutions like me can meet the composting wagon halfway — by using your coffee grounds as fertilizers! Roses do particularly well with coffee grounds. Just sprinkle used grounds around the base of your roses. You’ll get more blooms and beautifully healthy stems!

For Mother’s Day, my son’s preschool class made their moms painted flower pots. And they planted impatiens in them. They’re very sweet and lovely.

Except…..

The first time I watered this masterful work of art, the soil drained out with the water, making a mess.

There’s a very simple way to prevent soil mess in your potted plants. When you pot, simply cut a small sponge to the size of the bottom of the pot, and place it in the bottom of the pot BEFORE adding soil. Not only will the soil stay in the pot when you water, but the sponge will also keep you from having to water quite as frequently!

I often learn interesting tips and tricks from my high school students. The other day, I overheard a conversation about dying batteries. For teenagers, who go through about a gajillion batteries a week for their CD players and other personal entertainment devices, this is a national crisis. They claimed that if you needed to get just a bit more juice out of your batteries, you could toss them in the freezer for a half-hour and pop them back in the device.

I was dubious.

But when my son’s leap pad ate yet another set of AA batteries this weekend, I decided to try it. It worked! Not for long, but it was WAY better than making a run to the store for a pack of batteries!

batteries, cheap tips

Those of us who live in the deep South are lucky enough to see roses in bloom. Some of us are even lucky enough to grow roses! Whether your roses are home-grown or from the market, they need nourishment to retain that beautiful color and smell once cut.

First, always make sure rose stems are cut at an angle — at least 90 degrees. This will allow them to effectively absorb water and nutrients.

Second, add SOMETHING to the water for your roses. They’re not very fond of the chlorine in our tap water supply, and they really don’t get everything they need from filtered water either! To keep them fresh longest, add a teaspoon of Sprite or 7-UP for each rose or add an aspirin (not Tylenol or Ibuprofen!) to the vase. Don’t have either handy? Plain old granulated sugar will work in a pinch. (Ha-ha. Get it? Pinch…)

Happy gardening!

roses, 7-up, Sprite, aspirin

Hello readers of Household Tips! I’m Stephanie, and I’m your new host. Some of you may have met me already over at http://www.elementarychef.com (come visit for recipes!) I’ll be writing this site with my favorite household tips, and I hope you’ll share some of yours with me along the way!

My favorite hose attachement is the multi-nozzle sprayer.

I have one on the hose in my front and back yard.

The best thing about this nozzle attachment is that you can water grass in a wide path, and tiny little seedlings up close, you just use the mist mode.

This Scott’s Website discusses techniques for getting the most out of watering your yard.

I like to think that I’m a decent housekeeper.

Please do not try to tell me otherwise; it might make me cry.

I discovered today that you can lift the HVAC vents out of the floor. Sometimes they are not screwed into the floor. Which, I suppose is a hazard for pets and children.

I digress … today I removed the vent from under the table on which I feed my cats. There was enough loose cat food in there to feet a small family of goats for at least a week. I do not have goats. It was just an analogy.

However, I emptied the vent into the trash can and went a step further to vacuum the parts of the HVAC duct that I could reach. Do you KNOW what is in your HVAC ducts? Honestly, I don’t really want to know, but I am very sure that any vacuuming you can do to reduce the potential dust bunny hiding places is a good idea.

Here are some handy tips for cleaning the ceramic tile of your shower.

1. Before you start cleaning, run the shower on hot for several minutes to allow the steam to loosen some of the dirt.

2. Spot the stubborn stains and apply a paste of scouring powder and water and let those sit for five mintes.

3. Scrub mildew and dirt spots with a nylon scrub pad, rinse and wipe dry with a soft towel.

4. To avoid future stains accumulating in the grout joints, wash with a solution of 2 tablespoons of bleach mixed in one quart of water. Dry thoroughly and apply an acrylic sealer.

5. Once the mildew is removed, make your tiles sparkle with a solution of ammonia and water.