Notabilia

Miscellaneous

Nifty Knacks

26 through 50

26. For soft hands.
    The skin on your hands will respond better to moisturising treatment if you rub cream into them before putting on your rubber gloves when you do the washing up. The warmth of the water helps the moisturising cream penetrate.

27. Getting rid of unpleasant smells.
    Don't throw coffee dregs away. It's a known fact that coffee dregs get rid of drainpipe smells. Simply sprinkle a couple of dessertspoonfuls down the plughole (don't worry, it won't block the pipes) and then flush down with plenty of water until all the coffee dregs have disappeared.

28. Getting a good point on your eye pencil.
    Leave your eye pencil in the fridge overnight before you sharpen it. The low temperature hardens it, making it easier to get a fine point.

29. Repelling moths.
    Commercially available moth repellents are, of course, a great help. But you can also put nutmeg in your drawers and wardrobes. Moths hate it, but your clothes will smell lovely.

30. Sparkling clean serving dishes.
    With prolonged use transparent glass serving dishes eventually stain and dark patches form on the sides. Get rid of the patches by soaking the dishes overnight in a weak solution of bleach and salt. Finish off by rubbing with a blade.

31. Shiny clean gas rings.
    Gas rings get blackened in time and no amount of rubbing seems to do any good. You can make them look new again by rubbing them with vinegar. If they still look dirty, soak them in vinegar for a few hours then rinse and dry.

32. When children keep losing their gloves.
    How many more children's gloves are going to end up without their pairs this winter? So that your children don't leave their gloves in their desks at school or at a friend's house, try this. Thread a length of tape up one coat sleeve and down the other and then sew one glove to each end.

33. Tea for ferns.
    Tea is as good a fertilizer for ferns as coffee is for geraniums. Boil a tea bag, let the tea cool down and then water your ferns with the beverage.

34. For relief from colds.
    Put a little lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a dessertspoonful of glucose into 600 ml of mineral water. Drink some of this every hour.

35. To bring down a high temperature.
    Put some lemon and a teaspoonful of honey (which has nautral antibiotic properties) into a little hot whisky.

36. Steam relief.
    Hold your head over a bowl of very hot water. Drape a towel over your head and the bowl to prevent the steam from escaping, and inhale the vapour for thirty minutes. Repeat an hour later and another hour after that. If the cold symptoms still persist, repeat the process every morning and evening.

37. Clear bathroom mirrors.
    You'll have no more misty mirrors in the bathroom if you rub them with a cloth impregnated with a few drops of washing-up liquid. A wipe over with a clean dry cloth will then be enough to keep your mirrors clean and shining.

38. For burnt saucepans.
    Boiling bleach in a burnt saucepan will soon clean it up.

39. A new lease of life for polish.
    We often forget to put the caps back on polish and it goes hard. Add a few drops of warm milk to the polish to make it soft and creamy again. Leave overnight before using.

40. Easy opening.
    You don't need Superman in the house to open bottles for you. Run some hot water over the lid for a few minutes and then unscrew it wearing rubber gloves so you can get a good grip.

41. When the iron sticks.
    If the base of your iron sticks, rub it with a piece of thin cloth with grated wax in it while the iron is still warm. Then buff with a soft duster.

42. To sharpen your scissors.
    Sharpen your scissors by "cutting" the neck of a glass bottle. An equally effective alternative method is to cut lots of tiny pieces off a length of steel wire.

43. Furniture marks on the carpet.
    So you've moved the furniture around. But how can you get rid of the flattened pile marks the table legs have left on the carpet? Hold your steam iron about 5 centimetres above the mark and release some steam. Then give the flattened pile a good, hard rub.

44. Repel flies.
    Pale shades of blue and green repel flies. Flies also hate the smell of warm vinegar.

45. Shiny mirrors.
    Cut a potato in half and rub the mirror with the cut side. Then wipe with a cloth dipped in diluted spirits (5.30 ounces to 1 litre of water). All that remains is for you to buff the mirror with a dry cloth.

46. Cleaning black silk.
    Boil ivy leaves until they form a pulp. Use this pulp to clean black silk.

47. Polished floors.
    Spread damp coffee dregs on the floor and then rub with a woollen cloth. The floor will shine.

48. Starch for cotton.
    Give fine cotton a starched finish by rinsing it in water that has been used to boil rice in.

49. Trouser creases.
    Trouser creases will last longer if you rub a little paraffin wax inside the creases before pressing them.

50. Boiling eggs.
    Drop two spent matches in the water when you boil eggs to stop the shells cracking while they are boiling.