"Remove candle wax from a tablecloth, carpet, or couch by gently rubbing the spot with a plastic bag full of ice until [the wax] hardens. Then gently tap the splotch with a hammer and vacuum the chips."And now if you'll excuse me, I have some stain-removing to do... ;)
Pick up some sleep shades
The blue light emitted by your computer screen, smart phone, and television stimulate your brain, making it hard to fall asleep. But even insomniacs typically aren't willing to give up screen time for the recommended hour or two before bed, says Lisa Shives, MD. So she's found another solution: blue-light filtering glasses. Put them on if you're using the computer before bed, and you'll sleep much better, Dr. Shives says. Find them at: safetyglassesusa.com/amberlens.htmlHopefully this will help you still get enough sleep after catching up on "Stuff I Just Learned". :)
FastCustomer is a free iPhone and Android app that calls customer service numbers, navigate those maddening phone trees, and notifies you when a service rep is on the line.Almost makes me want to get an iphone!
- The best way to clean blinds: Close them, then wipe up and down with an old dryer sheet. It'll create an antistatic barrier that helps prevent dust from building up again.
- To clean glass and mirrors: Use coffee filters, not paper towels. They leave no streaks or lint -- and they're cheap.
- A great nontoxic all-purpose cleanser: Just put two squirts of Seventh Generation dish liquid in a spray bottle and fill it with water.
- To clean your microwave oven: microwave a cup of water with some baking soda in it until it boils. That eliminates odors and makes it super easy to wipe away all of the stuck-on stuff.
- To clean cobwebs: Use a yardstick covered by a tube sock. That also works for cleaning under stoves and refrigerators.
- Shine your bathroom tiles: Use lemon oil. It also helps prevent mold and mildew.
- To eliminate that ring in your toilet: Drop in a bubbling denture tablet, and leave it for at least 30 minutes. The stain will come off with just a few swishes of the brush.Also, the housecleaners said that their "biggest secret weapon" is a product called Bar Keeper's Friend. It apparently can be used on almost anything (glass-top stoves, counters, toilets, sinks) and leaves a great shine after easily cutting through grime.
Pour 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol in a ziploc freezer bag (quart size); seal the bag and throw it into the freezer. The alcohol will keep the water from freezing solid, leaving you with a moldable slush that conforms perfectly to knees and foreheads.That sounds like a much easier and cheaper alternative to running out to the store to buy an ice pack next time you get hurt!
Oftentimes, after you wear a shirt or sweater a couple of times, it begins to "pill" or get annoying fuzzies on it.
To clean pilling off your clothes just spread the fabric across a flat surface (something firm like a table is best) pull the fabric taut and carefully shave the pilling away from the fabric. Be careful with the razor, especially around seams, buttons and stitching because you can easily cut the fabric.
One in five adolescents now suffers from hearing loss -- a 30% jump from just two decades ago. The loss is mild, but it means more teens are hearing only about as well as a typical 40- to 60-year-old.
Playing music too loudly is partly to blame, experts believe. To avoid damage to your hearing, keep these numbers in mind:
- 60 : You can listen all day if you keep the volume at 60% of the max
- 80 for 90 : You can boost the volume to 80% for 90 minutes a day
- 100 for 5 : If you want to crank up the volume as high as it'll go, keep it short -- just 5 minutes a day
That new cherry-red shirt you just purchased is fantastic, but just think how faded the color will look after the shirt has been washed a few times. Add a teaspoon of pepper to the wash load. Pepper keeps bright colors bright and prevents them from running too.It's worth a try, I'd say. Click on the link above for other pepper tips!
...it is easier to locate the fire door in a smoke filled room if this white noise generator is squawking at you rather than ringing a bell.
Okay, several days later and this information is still rolling around my head (there's not much to impede it) when my cellphone rang. I couldn't quite locate it—you know how that is sometimes, you put it down somewhere and then forget where, it sounds like it's everywhere. Guess what, I thought about that fire alarm back in England. So, I got one of the interns at work to make me a ring tone which was just pulses of white noise. We put it on my phone then got someone to hide it. We called the number and were able to pinpoint the phone's location exactly.
So, the tip is: make a white noise ring tone for calls you don't want to miss (boss, mom or dad). Something like this works pretty well. Not only is the phone more easily locatable but the sound carries farther and is instantly recognizable as your phone. It's a little antisocial I guess but so am I.
According to [the weblog] DIY Life, mosquitoes are repelled by soap solutions (hence their disdain for dryer sheets), and a bit of soap suds will do a good job of shooing them away... Some blogs recommend adding a bit of lemongrass oil to your bubble mixture for more powerful repelling.
Route4me.com lets you type in up to ten errands and their associated addresses. The website will calculate the optimal route, with driving directions.
