What is Your Best Household Hint??

[missycpn]

I was looking through my household hint books on how to remove a dark stain from my carpet. It gave me an idea to start a thread on our best household hints. The ones I am listing are ones I have actually tried or have read about.
Swallow 1 tsp. sugar to cure the hiccups. This works.
Crisco makes an excellent face cleanser. Makes hands, legs, elbows, and lips soft. I tried this on my hands. Was a little greasy. Washed my hands with soap, and they felt so soft.
Give yourself a facial. Separate an egg. Use the egg white and dab on face with cotton ball. Let dry and rinse off. This sounds terrible, but your face will feel softer.
Use Preparation H on pimples. It shrinks them. Haven't tried this one. LOL
Buy some cheap shampoo. Use it as liquid soap. Cheaper and works fine.
Shampoo makes a good stain pretreater for spots on clothes.
Mix equal amounts of cornstarch, baking soda, and epson salts. Pour some in your bath. Good for dry, itchy skin.
When you have a bad cough, mix 1 tsp each honey and vinegar and swallow. Can be mixed in hot tea, too. Use more if you have a bad cough. Got this hint off an old Matlock show. LOL
Unwrap your soap before storing. It lasts longer when it is air dried.
Add 1 c. vinegar to your wash (plus your regular detergent). Makes clothes cleaner. Good for sweaty clothes such as DH's work clothes or baseball uniforms.
To stop new clothes from bleeding when you wash them, soak them in sink (or bowl) with water and 1/2 c. salt. Soak overnight. Wash as usual.
Cut seams off old mylar balloons and use to gift wrap small presents. Or save old mylar balloons and ask florist to refill them for next birthday party. Refilling them is cheaper than buying new ones.
To save water, put a brick inside a ziploc bag (might want to use two ziplock bags). Put in toilet tank. Takes less water when it refills.
Put shades on all your windows. Open in winter to let sun in. Close in summer to keep sun out. Helps keep your house warmer or cooler.
As I writing this, I remebered something I had read long time ago about a contest for the "cheapest tightwad". Winner was a man who bought 2 ply toilet paper and separted it to make two rolls. Entry sent in by his wife.
Runner up was a woman who refused to buy Pampers. She used cloth diapers and made rubber pants from old bread bags. Entry sent in by her baby. Just kidding!!
Hope everybody will add a hint or two to this thread. Was going to post more hints, but this got too long.

[kmarr]

I love household tips. One of my favorites is to use used softener sheets to clean shower doors. This really works. Takes the soap scum right off. Wipe the doors while they are still wet. I also line waste baskets with used softener sheets. Makes them smell nice. A damp sponge is great at getting pet hair off furniture-if I am lazy I just dampen my hand.
Hope some great new hints are posted.

[big*deals]

[Pipanella]

Hair spray will remove ballpoint ink. Aerosol works the best.

[missycpn]

kmarr, your fabric softener tip reminded me of a few uses I have for them. I have a swifter broom (or whatever they call it). I use fabric softener sheets instead of the regular swifter sheets you can buy for it. I find it works just as well. You can buy the store brand fabric softener sheets cheaper than the swifter sheets. When one side of the sheets is used and dirty, I flip it over to the clean side and put it back on my swifter broom. Get two floor cleanings for the price of one. If I am using the swifter on my hardwood floor, I spray the sheet with some furniture wax. I also cut fabric sheets into squares and put them in my clothes drawers. Gives everything a nice smell.
Pipanella, same for you. Your hair spray made me remember if I have fly-away hair (static electricity), I put some hair spray directly on my hair brush. It seems to tame my hair enough so that I can work with it.

[cata5]

Saw this on tv today. I don't know if it works, but if it does I'll save a bundle on my kids tanks and tees! To remove yellow armpit stains: Dissolve about 6 aspirin in water in a small bowl, saturate the stain, let garment sit for 30 min., launder as usual. If anyone tries it, let me know how it works.

[Nanc]

I'm going to try it!!
This tip has more to do with sanity and keeping the
house clean. Every day, I do the five minutes in each
room (I actually set my timer)and I work as hard as I can for five minutes. You would be surprised how great this
works. Not only is my house neater, but if I can't
straighten a room in five minutes, something has to go.

[AndersonGal]

Hey, I LIKE that 5 min per room idea.
I just might have to give that one a try!

Another thing that helps me is *THE LIST*.
Every evening I make a list for the next day and
mark them off as I go.

(Of course if I *really* wanted my house to pass the "White Glove" test, I would have to get rid of the computer. lol)

[kmarr]

I love the 5 minute idea. I'll bet you can get a lot done and not feel as though you are spending your whole day doing it. It will be great to do when I get home from work.
I am also a list maker. I make one each and every day and I always put one thing on that is very easy to do and can be crossed off right away so that I feel I have accomplished something.

[jennymae1]

oooooo- i love this stuff!!! I've got a few that I use all the time:

1.) NEVER use conditioner for your hair in the shower. Try this - it save TONS of $$$ and the results are 10x better! Take a spray bottle and put a few tablespoons of your favorite conditioner in and fill the rest with H20. Shake and after each shampoo, towel dry, spray a few spritzes (especially on the ends) and comb through. Works as a great detangler too.

2.) I am a clean freak, but also lazy and frugal. Instead of paying 3 or 4 dollars for those Mr. Clean Wipe ups - make your own- they work better too, I think. Take an old container or baby wipe container and buy a roll of those Bounty Select a Size paper towels. Rip off at smallest section and fold in thirds. Fill container to the top and pour a cup of plain old Lysol Deordorizing Cleaner. A bottle will make like 5 or 6 really full containers. Makes cleaning easy and cheap.

3.)Water down your shampoo by more than 1/2. You probably already know this if you are into frugality, but the manufacturers make shampoo much more concentrated than necessary to clean hair thoroughly because consumers like the texture and thickness and big lather, equating it with cleanliness. Trust me- I am a hair person, and it works more than fine.

4.) Invest in an electric shavor for your legs, ladies, and dump the blades. Sure it costs more at first but no more nicks or cuts or blood and no need for expensive disposable razors.

5.) Change your attitude about an evening of fun. I LOVE to stay in and play those silly board games with my loved ones instead of going out and getting drunk like I once did. My relationships are more real, not tainted by the booze and noise and $$$, but wholesome fun, that you can spice up your own way.

6.) You probably know this one too- but NEVER do groceries unless your full. You'll think clearer and not be so impulsive.

7.) Keep a notebook of everything you buy at WalMart, the grocery store, pet store, etc. All things you buy on a regular basis. Share it with your family. Make 4 columns- the item- the price you paid- the date you purchased, and the store you got it from. Then make it a game with your family on how to beat last times price on soda, shampoo, chips, etc. Things you buy regularly for the kids- have them find the deals and pay them the difference so they can learn about money. Get everyone involved. The date column is to see how long you can make an item last and to track how frequently you really purchase a particular item.

That's it for now- dont want to bore yo8u guys to death- but I really like to make my $$$ go far, because there are certain things I do like to spend on that are little luxuries....


Take care and have fun,

Jenny

[bassmount]

I just saw a commercial and realized I have had a tip! The product was the new Floor Cleaner from Spic and Span that you just spray on and mop up. I have been doing this for almost three years now! I have all linoleum through out my house. Well, I do this with what ever multi purpose cleaner is on sale. I mix it in an 8 oz pray bottle at a half cleaner/half water concentration. It works great and dries fast! Right now I am using the orange clean concentrate at a slightly weaker mix, because I got it for a great price at SAMS and it smells great, works good too. Not the best tip in the world, but it does save me a little money.

[buckeyemomma]

Try putting a drop of your favorite perfume or any kind of scent on a light bulb. The heat makes it work and will make a light scent of whatever you put on the bulb. Really nice for bathroom or bedroom.Or use a citrus or something in the kitchen

[ftmom]

Use your downy ball and put in the exact same amount of vinegar as you normally would downy. Then add a few drops of downy for the scent, close it up and swish it around!

I know, vinegar... I was skeptical at first, but a gallon of vinegar is so cheap!! Expirement to get the exact scent you want. I like more scent on towels, so I add more downy... :0

[elf64]

to keep mirrors from fogging rub them down with shaving cream then wipe till they shine

[Nanc]

Some time back my two year old caught sight of the
forming Barney bath soap/liquid at Target. Normally
I would not buy a $2-$3 bottle of liquid bath soap,
but it came in one of the cool foaming dispensers.
I have since refilled it with 1/2 bath bath and 1/2
water, I don't know if I am saving on baby bath, but
my daughter loves the foam and is eager to wash up.
I plan to buy a few more for hand soap by the sinks
(the Barney label comes off)...and I may try it with
shampoo. I know this will save $$ two ways..we won't
be using as much soap and we'll use less water to
rinse the soap away.