Some Of My Favorite Household Tips

I'm not a stay at home mom. I'm not a housewife. I'm not a Stepford Wife! But I could be, with these tips from In this Crazy Life!!!

Use a dish drainer to organize pot lids, or Tupperware lids in a cabinet. 

You know how you never get all of the mascara out of the tube before it dries out? I saw on Pinterest that you can add 4-5 drops of saline solution, insert the wand, stir it up and tah-dah! You can do this 3 or 4 times or until you use up all of the mascara. 

When Painters tape gets dry and hard to peel off, pop it in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds. A little heat reactivates the glue and it works like a charm.

Dawn gets any grease stain out, even after it has gone through the dryer!

To prevent hair and dirt from sticking to your baseboards, after cleaning them rub a dryer sheet over the surface. The fabric softener will help to repel dirt. Just remember to re-apply every so often!

Good old Martha taught us that rather than buying those ridiculously expensive anti-slip mats for a rug, just turn it over and run a few lines of acrylic-latex caulk every 6 inches or so. Let dry and flip over and your rug wont be going anywhere!

To keep stainless steel appliances clean, use a little bit of baby oil on a soft cloth and buff into the surface. Then wipe clean with a dry cloth. It prevents fingerprints from sticking to the surface. If you dont have baby oil, use some Pledge. Bonus for the lemony-fresh scent!

Picked this one up from Rachel Ray- cook bacon in the oven rather than in a skillet. Pop it onto a tray and bake at 400 for 10 minutes to ensure that all of the bacon gets done at the same time, plus, no bacon grease to get everywhere!
 
Erasing water marks on wood furniture: use a hairdryer on a low setting to dry the water out that is stuck between the layers of varnish. It works best on fresh stains, but it can work on old ones as well!

Did you know you can reuse the foaming soap dispensers? Simply fill them with water and a teaspoon of antibacterial dish soap and voila. Instant cheap refill!


Baking soda and vinegar will do a multitude of things in the kitchen. Use it as a drain cleaner, to clean the tops of glass top stoves,  or to clean the grease off of the bottom of an oven.  Just put the baking soda down first, then add a splash of vinegar and let the chemical reaction do the work for you. (This will also make a heck of a volcanic explosion- just add a little orange dish soap and red food coloring to make the lava!)

From Lunchinabox.net, when you buy the super packs of ground meat. Bring home and put into gallon zip lock bags, then use a ruler to create divisions within the food, forming individual portions. This way when you freeze the entire bag, you’ll be able to quickly break off just as much as you want to use, no more.

Did you know that weeds will not grow through wet newspaper? I saw this on Pinterest, and backed it up from BHandG.  When planting flowers mix up the dirt, then place a thick layer of wet newspapers down around the plants.  Then cover with your top soil and mulch.  Apparently weeds can get through plastic, but not this stuff. (I wouldn't know, I can only get weeds to grow- I kill pretty much everything else!)


Instead of buying expensive hangers to keep wide necked and silky tops from falling off- just take out your glue gun and make a zigzag pattern on the top of the hangers where the clothes would normally hang.

 Use conditioner to shave your legs. Not only is it cheaper, but it is A LOT more moisturizing, so your legs wont be all dry and itchy after you finish shaving.

Reheat pizza in a skillet on the stove to make an extra crispy crust.

To keep squirrels/animals from eating your plants, sprinkle on a little cayenne pepper. It wont hurt the plant and the squirrels wont come near it.

From Real Simple  to get baked-on food off a glass pan or an oven rack, use dish washing liquid and a ball of foil in place of a steel-wool soap pad, to get baked-on food off a glass pan or an oven rack, use dish washing liquid and a ball of foil in place of a steel-wool soap pad. Its a great way to reuse the clean side of foil.

Line your fridge shelves with Glad Press and Seal paper. Just press down to create a seal that will keep your shelves nice and clean!

A piece of chalk placed into your silverware bag will draw in moisture and prevent the silver from tarnishing.

Real Simple comes through again- to get the gunk off of the bottom of your Iron, place it on a low setting and run it over a dryer sheet until the residue disappears.

To remove small stains from suede by gently rubbing the file (either side) across the problem area a few times to get rid of the splotch and refresh the nap.

The next time you have green onions, don't throw away the white ends. Simply put them in a glass of water (make sure they are submerged!) and place them in a sunny window. They grow super quick and you can grow as many as you want.

Make your own microwave popcorn- just place  1/2 cup of corn kernels into a brown paper bag. Fold the top over two or three times  and pop it into the microwave on high on your popcorn setting.  Or if yours doesn't have one of those, pop it in for three or so minutes and stop when the popping noise slows to every 1 or 2 seconds. Then you can take it out and add your own toppings. Fresh butter and garlic salt, or fresh grated parm cheese in this house. Yummm.