Helpful Hints

AUTOMATIC DRIP COFFEE POT CLEANER
Add 1 cup white distilled vinegar to your automatic drip coffee pot to clean it out. Rinse well with a pot of cold, clean water.

AUTOMOBILE FRAGRANCE
Put a sheet of fabric softener underneath each seat in the car to make it smell nice.

For bad odors in cars, put some new ground up coffee beans in area where odor is. Leave for a couple days if possible and vaccuum it up. Odor should be gone or at least better smelling.

MAKE YOUR OWN BACKSCRUBBER
Cut the legs off of a pair of pantyhose. Insert a bar of soap into one of the legs, centering the soap so it is in the middle of the leg. Secure it there by tying a knot on both sides of the soap. You can use this to wash your back with or your body as nylon acts as a mlld abrasive to the skin.

BANANA HANGER
Buy a long utility hook and screw it underneath one of your kitchen cabinets. Hang your bananas on it.

BATHROOM CLEANING MADE EASIER
Mix equal parts epsom salts and liquid dish detergent and scrub down the bath tub, sink, or shower area with it.

Use equal parts cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide mixed together to clean rust stains.

Pour a can of soft drink in your toilet bowl and let it sit overnight. Brush and flush for a clean toilet bowl.

Old pantyhose makes a great scrubber for the bathtub and sink.

To keep rust spots from forming on the bottom of aluminum cans coat their bottoms with clear nail polish.

BLACKENED POTS NEED CLEANING
If you have pots that have blackened because you boiled water in them, soak the pots with a pot of water in them to which you add 2 denture tablets. Let them soak overnight. The pot should be clean in the morning. Wash before using.

BOTTLE CLEANER
To clean bottles or Thermos bottles put 2 tsp. baking soda and some hot water in it. Cap and shake. Let sit overnight to clean. Rinse well next morning.

BRASS CLEANER OR COPPER CLEANER
Make a paste out of white corn meal and white vinegar. Coat the tarnished brass with this paste and leave on for five minutes. Wipe off with a soft clean cloth and tarnish will be gone. Buff with a soft clean cloth.

Slice a lemon in half and sprinkle some table salt on it generously. Rub your brass pot with this to clean it. Wipe off with a clean, dry cloth. This will work on copper items just as well.

BUG KILLER
Mix 1 tsp. sugar with 1 cup baking soda and spread it around where bugs might crawl. The sugar will attract them to eat, but the baking soda will kill them as they cannot digest it.

This recipe is not harmful to humans or animals.

Mix 1 part boric acid powder to 1 part sugar and sprinkle around area where bugs or ants crawl to get rid of them.

BUG REPELLANTS
Lay pieces of Peppermint Icebreakers chewing gum still in wrappers inside your cabinets to repel bugs.

Flies hate the smell of basil. Grow this herb around doors or in pots around doors to repel them.

Bay leaves or wrapped peppermint gum will keep bugs out of your sugar and flour.

Pine needles or pine odors will keep bugs away from your pet’s bed. Lavender works just as well. Bugs hate the smell. You can keep bugs off you with lavender rubbed on yourself.

ELASTIC THREAD IN YOUR BUTTONS
Sew your buttons on with elastic thread and your blouses and pants won’t pull or bunch anymore. This is a great tip if you have a large chest or are heavy around the middle. It also makes it easier for small children and senior citizens to button their clothing.