Notabilia

Miscellaneous

Nifty Knacks

701 through 725

701. Make washing kitchen utensils easy.
     When you are cooking, fill the kitchen sink with hot water and a little washing up liquid. Put all used saucepans and utensils in the sink and they will be much easier to wash when you have finished.

702. Don't cram drawers.
     You certainly do not need two drawers full of empty bags or two shelves full of jars. Only keep as many things as you may need.

703. Cleaning crystal.
     Wash objects made of crystal in a solution of one part white vinegar to three parts hot water. Allow to dry naturally.

704. Bring order to kitchen utensils.
     Arrange kitchen utensils and cooking ingredients on your shelves according to frequency of use. Keep those you use most often at the front and those used less often at the back.

705. Bring order to small objects.
     Put an ice cube tray in a drawer and use it to keep elastic bands, drawing pins, nails, toothpicks and such like tidy.

706. Removing sticky labels.
     Most sticky labels come off with a drop of baby oil. Put baby oil on the sticky label, let it soak for a few minutes and then ease off with a spoon, or a wooden or plastic spatula.

707. Cleaning windows.
     The best thing to use for cleaning windows is newspaper. The ink on the newspaper polishes the glass. Use pages with lots of writing on them!

708. Clean oven.
     If you line the oven with aluminium foil, you will not have to clean it whenever food splashes in it.

709. Clean keyboard.
     When cleaning your computer keyboard, first of all turn it up-side down and shake it. Then clean the spaces between the keys with a soft paintbrush. If the keys are dirty, clean them one by one using just a drop of white spirits on kitchen paper.

710. Get rid of unpleasant smells.
     To get rid of unpleasant smells, put a cup of vinegar and a few drops of essential oil of peppermint in a plant sprayer and spray the room.

711. No marks on glassware.
     To get marks off glassware, try soaking it for a while in a solution of one part salt dissolved in eight parts of white vinegar.

712. Look after your sponges.
     The best way to wash sponges and keep them in good condition is to soak them regularly in salty water. Rinse afterwards with plenty of clean water.

713. No smells from the sink.
     Get rid of unpleasant smells from the kitchen sink by putting a cup of salt down the plughole once a month and then pouring a large saucepanful of boiling water down it.

714. No smells in the oven.
     Put orange and lemon peel in the oven and bake it for a little while to counteract oven smells.

715. Candle grease marks.
     To get candle grease off furniture, first soften it with hot air from the hair dryer and then rub the surface of the furniture with a soft cloth while still blowing hot air on it with the hair dryer. Then polish the furniture as usual.

716. Protect your freezer.
     Line the drawers of your freezer with aluminium foil. That way, if anything gets spilt in the freezer, you will not need to wash the whole drawer; simply change the foil.

717. Clean iron.
     Clean the base of your iron by rubbing it with a damp cloth dipped in salt.

718. Bottles without label marks.
     Remove labels and the marks they leave on glass bottles by wrapping the bottle in a cloth soaked in warm vinegar and leaving it for a while. Repeat if necessary.

719. Revive your salad plants.
     Revive wilting salad plants by putting them in a bowl full of water with a few drops of lemon juice in it. Leave in the fridge for an hour.

720. Clothes back from the cleaner's.
     When you get clothes back from the cleaner's, do not leave them wrapped in the polythene bags. They may smell nasty when you want to wear them.

721. Fragrant drawer liners.
     Bring fragrance to your drawers. Cut a piece of wallpaper to size and impregnate it with some of your favourite perfume. Line your drawers with it.

722. Plastic containers without smells.
     Get rid of smells from plastic containers. Wash them using washing up liquid, dry well and then leave them in the freezer for 48 hours.

723. Scale free coffee maker and electric jug.
     Remove limescale from your coffee maker or electric jug without using chemicals. Boil a solution of one part water to one part vinegar in them.

724. Sweep dust away.
     Dampen your broom before you use it. That way it will pick up more dust.

725. Smell free microwave oven.
     To get rid of smells in the microwave oven, put a few drops of lemon juice in a bowl of water. Put the bowl in the oven and heat for thirty seconds.
     Equally effective is a bowl of water with some vanilla essence in it, also heated for 30 seconds.

05-23-2004