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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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Bookmark this on Delicious November 16, 2007
Filed: Household Tips
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.
How to skin Garlic.
Soak the garlic cloves in water for one hour before skinging them.
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
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.
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)
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.
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!!!!
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
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Use Vicks Vapor Rub daily on nail fungus for several months and watch it go away. Apply generously to whole nail.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Correction to tip re: stains in plastic containers–the last sentence should readcold water before using hot water.
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
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.
Sesame seed coating for fish or meat
brown 1/4 cup of sesame seeds in
small non stick pan when brown add
1 table spoon butter and 1 table
spoon brown sugar mix well remove
from heat
grill fisn or meet when you turn
over place 1/2 mixture on top
place remaining mixture on serving
dish place fish or meat when done
on coating
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.
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,,
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.
Here’s a way to use fresh herbs all year. Buy fresh herbs in season, on sale. Wash and chop, float in water and make into ‘herb ice cubes’. Bag the cubes and mark them with a sharpie in freezer bags,a separate bag for each type herb. They’re ready to drop into your recipes. These will keep for months in your freezer.
Here’s a tip for cleaning in the kitchen. Want to remove that greasey build up around the stove. The goo that builds up on the cabinets, range vent, and the back wall. I hate having to scrub! Simple solution–spray with Spray ‘N Wash and wipe down. Comes right off and no sticky film remains. Some of the heavier build up areas may need another treatment. Stainless steel range vent is like new. It did not dull my cabinet finish either!!! Test your’s to be sure first.
Hi all, I make jewelry and sometimes I spill my seedbeeds, or I don’t have a container to sort my beads.
My grandson came over and I purchased alot of jello, pudding and cookie snacks. The ones in the small plastic containers. They work really well. I can sort a complete bracelet, small necklace, etc. Also I use them for my acrylic paints. I used an empty egg carton altered a bit to balance the cups. Let your imagination run wild.
Hope this works for you
I save the empty containers of
6 pack applesauce, etc.. the
smaller ones. I also use the small
serving size tartar sauce container with lids. After washing & storing them, whenever I have a little chicken or beef broth left over, I freeze them. Then when I need just a “dab” of either broth, I’ve got it. For larger amounts of broth, I use yogurt containers that have lids.
I once left a uncooked fish in an unplugged refrigerator for an ENTIRE summer. It was not pleasant, let me tell you, when I opened the door. Only one thing worked to get the smell out. Scrunch up newspaper, fill the refrigerator and freezer with it and run the refrigerator for a week. There should not be any smell at the end of the week when you take out the newspaper.
SAVING WATER
After taking a bath, don’t drain the tub. Simply fill a large plastic pitcher with the soapy water and water your plants. The plants love the soap, it keeps the pests away and my water bill is lower.
While hubby is shaving, have him plug the sing and rinse his razor in the hot water in the basin.
While everyone is brushing their teeth, get the toothbrush wet and turn the water off. Brush your teeth and then turn water back on and rinse mouth and toothbrush.
When wasing my hands in the kitchen, I was with soap and water and rinse over a plastic pitcher and water my plants, outside and inside.
After suffering for three days with a mosquito bite and trying every remedy available, I finally wet the bite with water and then cut a Benadryl capsule in half, poured the powder on the bite, and it was gone immediately. Hope this helps someone else who is allergic to mosquitoes.
TINAS QUICK LUNCH
I LARGE SKINON RAW POTATO
I SMALL PACKAGE FROZEN SPINACH
I CUP COOKED RICE
2 PATS OF BUTTER
ANY CHEESE
Wash potato, put in microwave for 6 minutes rotate after 3 minutes
Steam spinach in water or broth season to taste, add rice when spinach is done put half cheese on top and let melt
Split potato in half lightly fluff potatoe add butter and cheese garnish with bacon bits parsley if you wish.
THERE YOU HAVE in ABOUT 10 MINUTES ; ) TINAS
Try a drop of fennel under your tongue for hot flashes. Only one each day for three days in a row. You may need to repeat in six months. It balances your hormones. No hormone supplements for me! You can buy this at any natural food store. Look it up on your computer search engine.
If you don’t want to cry when chopping onions, cut the onions in half and put them in a bowl with enough ice and water to cover them, let them soak for 15-20 minutes. Cut one half at a time, that way every half you cut is nice and cold: You won’t cry a single tear!
i have a great tip! i wear glasses and clean them every mornig with a spray cleaner i got at walmart. i was going to buy a refill bottle and the saleslady said to me , i can refill your small bottle if you want. well i have refilled it six times at a savings of at least $12.00 plus don’t have to throw away the small plastic bottle.
In the home made laundry soap,Octagon Soap made by Colgate is the same as Fels-Naptha.
For mosquito bites…cover them with clear fingernail polish. the bites react to the air…and the polish blocks the air. works wonders…
If you have long hair like me, you may find yourself putting your hair up in a ponytail a lot. After a while the hair elastics will stretch out. Instead of throwing them out and buying new ones, put them in a pocket of a pair of jeans or some other snug pocket where they won’t fall out – and wash and dry them with the laundry. This restores their elasticity so you can keep using them! Mine come out like new!
I found this out by accident since I usually keep an elastic in my pocket for emergency pony-tails and washed one by mistake.
Why buy the expensive moisture control potting soil when you can easily make your own at home?! Take an unused diaper and split it open, add these little balls to regular potting mix and you have it! The little balls absorb the water and release it back in to the soil as it starts to dry out.
Also, if you add a layer of styrofoam, it can even be the packing peanut type, to the bottom of larger potting containers, you will not need as much potting soil to fill them up. It also makes the containers lighter and easier to move around.
New use for Gorilla Tape with Food Saver
My food saver appliance stopped keeping a vacuum. When I looked at the sealing strip, I found that there was little bulges in it. I called the company and was told that since my appliance was over a year old they did no support it. I removed the tape that was buckling and replaced it with a strip of Gorilla tape and the Food Saver was useable again.
I have a totally awesome stain remover recipe I’d share.
1 qt wiskX2
1 qt ammonia
2 qts water
Mix and spray onto stains. Here is where spray bottles left over come into use. Let set a couple of minutes,if stain is deep rub both sides, spary again and wash as usual. Makes 1 gallon of totally awesome.
As with any stain, take care of it asap.
It works as well as any stain remover I’ve ever tried.
Hey y’all My tip is for anyone going to be using apples. If you need to core an apple and don’t have an apple corer then you can use a potato peeler. You just stick it down in the apple and twist then pull and the core should come out. Hope this tip is helpful. Thought it might be with it being fall and the holidays coming up and all.
To prevent mildew from boots, shoes, etc. place a drop of oil of cloves on the shoe polish, smear it over the polish and then clean and polish the boots as normal
An easy way to hold/organize your ribbon rolls is to use a hanger from the cleaners with the cardboard bottom and pull the wire part out and slip your rolls on and close the end again. Also, if you have ribbon rolls that are too small to fit slide it up the wire part. Thought I’d share my new idea!
winter sidewalk anti-skid! Up here in NW Pa.. we get lots of Snow. and freezes and thaws.. salt or calcim. turns the botton to slush, which then refreezes and makes MORE ICE.. after I shovel, I scatter birdseed.. makes anti-skid and makes it easier to shovel or sweep next time around.. costs a bit $4.55 for a 10 pound bag ,but goes a long way and makes it easier all winter long.