Random Household Tips From Tipnut Readers
Sometimes we’re lucky enough to receive tips from Tipnut readers but the tips were off-topic in the section they were posted in (that’s ok!).
These tips deserve their own spot so they don’t get lost in the shuffle and are easily found when needed, I’ve created this section to collect them.
Please continue to leave your comments or tips for the posts they apply to, this area is for new tips and ideas that are the author’s original idea and don’t fit elsewhere. I’ll be moving new tips in here as needed :).
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05 Feb 2007 at 4:53 pm
Although I am an empty nester, I buy my ground meat at a wholesale store and normally buy 6lbs at a time. As soon as I get home, I score the meat into 6 even squares, then put each 1 lb pack into a freezer bag and squish the meat flat into the bags. These 1 lb packs are perfect for whatever I am cooking and that they lay flat on top of each other is a real space saver.
08 Feb 2007 at 1:18 am
How to skin Garlic.
Soak the garlic cloves in water for one hour before skinging them.
09 Feb 2007 at 5:13 am
BEFORE DISCARDING FINISHED SHAVING CREAM/TOOTHPASTE COLLAPSIBLE TUBE, CUT THE TUBE SO THAT FINGUR CAN REACH TO THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF EACH CUT PORTION.
tHE PASTE CAN BE TAKEN OUT FOR SHAVE/TEETH CLEANING AT LEAST FOR 5 TO 6 TIMES RATHEN THAN WASTE IT.
TOP CAPPED PORTION CAN BE USED AS A MINI FUNNEL FOR POURING LIQUID IN SMALL BOTTLES
26 Feb 2007 at 6:46 pm
To remove burnt food from bottom of a pan without scratching the inside, scrub off what you can with a bristle brush, then use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It comes off so easy its unbelievable! Wash again with dish soap before drying.
14 Mar 2007 at 9:26 am
How to easily cut a cake.
Using dental floss to cut a large birthday cake is easy and not as messy as using a knife. Cut a peice of floss longer than the longest side of the cake. Use the floss in a back and forth sawing motion until you cut trough to the bottom. Pull the floss out from one end. (I always buy a new package of floss)
20 Mar 2007 at 9:48 am
Are those dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty? As soon as the dishwasher is emptied, or during the process of refilling it, drip something visible on the door that is water soluble. It can be chocolate sauce, or ketchup, or whatever. My son likes to take a knife used for making a peanut butter sandwich, wipe the PB off with his finger, and smear that on the door. Doesn’t matter what you use. If whatever it is is still there when you look, you haven’t run the dishwasher yet. Just make sure you use something that the dishwasher cycle will wash away.
That’s a completely original idea I came up with.
23 Mar 2007 at 5:44 pm
How to remove oil stains from clothes and material,
for this you need a medium hot iron and a spare piece of cloth (rag) [note: this is for small oil stains]
First put the item with the stain on the ironing board single thickness, then sprinkle with talcum powder to cover the stain, then place the rag/cloth over the patch, and run the iron over the rag/cloth for about 10 seconds approx, brush off the talc to reveal no oil stain anymore!!!!
19 May 2007 at 12:47 pm
Hello Tip Nut (T.N.)
I found your little gem of a website when googling tips for softening brown sugar. I have added you to my favorites. Please use my first name only.Thanks, T.N.
I did not see this tip and it is one of my favorites: “Keeping drains flowing and sweet smelling” Twice a month, do the following for all drains. Measure 2 T baking soda into the drain. You might have to add a tiny bit of water to get it to go down - use just a little. Next, pour 1 c vinegar down the drain. It bubbles up. Leave for 20-30 min. Works great in tubs too. No caustic chemicals.
Second tip: For sweet smelling garbage disposal, put orange/lemon rinds down. Smells nice!
ADMIN EDIT: Patsy comments are posted automatically so what you enter in the comment form is published (only the email address is hidden). I just noticed your note re: first name only so I went in and edited it out for you.
~ Tipnut
31 May 2007 at 7:44 pm
KEEP FROM CRYING WHEN CUTTING ONIONS, ETC.
Mix equal amounts of water and distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray your hands after you cut onions. Put your nose up to your hands and breath in the vinegar/water mixture on your hands. The urge to cry will disappear. (This spray can also be used to clean plastic tablecloths, greasy stovetops, windows, mirrors, and the vinegar helps to reduce odors in the air.)
If you don’t have vinegar, drink cold water immediately after cutting the onions. Then, keep your eyes and nose over the cold water for a few seconds, breathing it in, to avoid the urge to cry.
22 Jun 2007 at 11:30 am
Besides the obvious use, a pizza cutter is great for cutting up young children’s sandwiches, french toast, etc. (note: do it on a cutting board to avoid damaging your crockery).
30 Jun 2007 at 8:20 am
To remove the smell of fish or onion from your hands: Rub them against the edge of your stainless steel sink in small circular movements until the smell disappears. This will only take a very short time.
05 Jul 2007 at 8:15 am
Keep a SPRAY BOTTLE OF WATER near your clothes dryer to lightly dampen the lint trap when you remove it for cleaning the lint the dryer produces after each load of clothes.
I happened to clean a dryer lint trap in a bright beam of light recently, and was surprised at just how much dust went into the air.
07 Jul 2007 at 5:46 pm
cake platter
i used a plate and conical bowl i had hidden in the back of the cupboard.using strong contact glue,glue base of plate to base of bowl,let dry 24 hours,turn over add a big bow and you have a nice gift or use yourself.
14 Jul 2007 at 3:21 am
Tip to get quick hard boiled eggs without wasting gas-fuel.
3-4 Eggs in water should be brought to boiling point and then put two teaspoons of salt and put off the burner gas stove.Keep it closed for ten minutes.You get hard boiled eggs.
15 Jul 2007 at 4:39 am
Ginger & Garlic paste is quite often used in Indian cooking. Its quite cumbersome to grind them in small quantities every time you need it. So make it in large quantities, freeze it in the small cube ice trays. When hardened take out and put into a box and leave it in the freezer. You can use these cubes as and when you need them, instead of thawing the whole lot.
15 Jul 2007 at 4:42 am
Again for Indian cooking. If you oil can is very close to the cooking range etc. it tends to get a bit greasy. So you can make a cap with the aluminium foil ( very commonly used in the kitchens ) and cover the bottle as a cap. Make a new one when this one gets soiled. You can retain the newnes of the can.
15 Jul 2007 at 11:24 am
Broken plastic wares can be made usable by cleaing the broken edges with a smooth cloth and then applying chloroform or carbon tetra chloride at its edges and immideately putting togather the two edges togather and holding it in that place for about 15 miniutes. yor plastic ware will not leak unless and untill broken again.
27 Jul 2007 at 6:44 am
Use Vicks Vapor Rub daily on nail fungus for several months and watch it go away. Apply generously to whole nail.
04 Aug 2007 at 2:33 pm
To test for a leak, you can put a few drops of food coloring into the toilet tank and do not flush. Wait about 10 - 15 minutes and check. If you have color in the bowl, chances are you have a leaky toilet, which if goes undetected/treated can wind up costing you over 300 dollars a year. So it is cheaper to fix it and spend that 300 dollars on something fun. Vacation anyone
17 Aug 2007 at 5:29 pm
When you wash your grapes, it is good to wash them in two rinses. The first rinse you should pour in some vinegar into the water, and rinse as usual. Then dump out that water and rinse another time, to make sure no more vinegar are on the grapes. The vinegar will help wash the pesticides off the grapes.
08 Oct 2007 at 3:34 pm
When camping or going on a picnic, use baggies to put perishables like dressings, etc. in so you don’t have to risk having a whole bottle going bad for just one days use. It is also easier to keep small amounts of mustard, ketchup, etc. colder easier and you can just snip off the corner to make them squirt out.
15 Nov 2007 at 9:57 am
Having a garage sale can seem very overwhelming. What I do is have my self stick tags,marker and rubbermaid bins in the corner of the basement. When I decide to get rid of something I take it to the bin and price it right then. When the bins are full(usually 6-8) it is time to have a garage sale and everything is priced and ready to go. This also comes in handy if a friend is having a sale. All you have to do is deliver the stuff. My 2 day sales usually make 300-600 dollars.
Benefits: It does not take 3 days to
price items.I know when I have
enough items to make it
worth my while.
When/if I have leftovers I take pics of the items in groups before I donate them for the write off. It made a huge difference in my tax bill last year.
The IRS requires photos of donations if the deduction is over 250.00
19 Dec 2007 at 11:01 am
I recently discovered a fantastic stain remover for my clothing. I am an obese elderly lady that is apparently a messy eater. I always seem to let a piece of lettuce land on my chest, resulting in a stain from the olive oil dressing I use. Some male friends advised that I should try the degreaser used by auto mechanics. I purchased a bottle of “Orange Goop” and used it on some sweaters that had been washed and dried with stains. The goop is a gel and I just squirted some on the stained areas and left it until I had enough dirty clothing for a full load. After laundering the stains were gone!! No more olive oil stains on my tops. The Orange Goop is only $3-4 for a bottle of 16 fl. oz. So it is definitely affordable to try and is available at auto parts stores. Shirley
Admin Edit: Thanks Shirley! I moved this to the Readers Tips area. I’d also like to suggest drizzling some liquid dish detergent on the stain, then throwing the clothing item into the laundry pile. This gives the detergent some time to soak into the stain. Then launder as usual. I’ve found this to be a great stain remover.
12 Jan 2008 at 9:16 am
To prevent stains in plastic storage containers spray with Pam or whatever non-stick spray you use. Also rinse with cold water before using cold water.
12 Jan 2008 at 9:17 am
Correction to tip re: stains in plastic containers–the last sentence should readcold water before using hot water.
21 Jan 2008 at 8:57 pm
If you’re babysitting multiple children, and one is making a fuss about something dumb, and it’s getting the rest all whiney, dont dispair. Just make sure there’s an extra room you can seperate him into. Even if they are throwing a fit about it, just usher him/her into the room, give them something to do(i.e.put in a dvd, give them a game, a video game, a dolly) and keep them there until bedtime or dinner.But, if they start whineing after they’re quiet, you’ll have to give them something else to do, so beware of kids.lol
04 Apr 2008 at 1:59 am
If you need to use softened butter in a recipe and don’t have time to wait for it to reach room temperature…just use the largest holes on your grater and grate it onto a plate. Let it sit about 5 minutes and its perfect for creaming in your recipes.
29 Apr 2008 at 11:01 pm
I save the clear snap type lid containers from strawberries and use them to pack pears for Hubby. Two pears fit well wrapped in paper toweling. He loves pears but they get badly abused in his big rig. He says the pears are perfect this way! I also save cardboard potato chip containers and store wet paint rollers in them. They’re ready to go when I’m ready to finish painting.
05 May 2008 at 7:41 am
I you grow (or buy) fresh herbs
wash them and dry,put in a plastic
bag and freeze,,when they are frozen they are easy to crumble,so they’re ready to use,,dont need chopping,,
10 May 2008 at 4:51 pm
When making mashed potatoes I don’t peel them because most of your vitamins are in the skin, just scrub them good cut them add them to the pot of water boil until soft, mash add butter salt and pepper or whatever you put in your mashed potatoes and there you are without the fuss, mess and time.