Please keep this an information-only thread. It's frustrating to look for something through conversations.

Here are some of my own favourite hints for the home:

* If your soup is too salty, add a sliced potato and simmer until the potato is tender. Remove the potato and discard. This really does work!

* When cutting onions and garlic, run your hands including between fingers around the kitchen sink. The stainless steel removes smells.

* If you have a roast with bones, make a stock. In a large saucepan, boil up the bones with a carrot, onion, corm of garlic (no need to peel individual cloves) and boquet garni (bunch of fresh mixed herbs). Simmer about 4 hours ensuring it doesn't boil dry. Put into containers in the freezer and use for soups, casseroles and risottos.

* Sprinkle bi-carb soda on the bottom of your oven. This reduces smells and absorbs spills.

* To clean your oven, spray with vinegar while it's warm, dust with bi-carb and use an old cloth to wipe it all away. Put the oven racks in the dishwasher on hottest temp.

* Rangehood mesh and the grill thingys from your gas stove can also be put in the dishwasher. These sorts of things are best to be followed with a cleaning cycle on the washer.

* Add a couple of drops of lavender oil and 1/4C white vinegar to the fabric softener part of your washing machine. It acts as a fabric softener without the buildup.

* It's a pain, but thoroughly clean out your pantry at least twice a year. You'd be surprised what's lurking back there!

* Instead of a big bin in the kitchen, opt for one of those tiny ones. Just use the baggies you put your fruit and vege in and take it out every night. Helps to reduce pests.

*Cockroaches and mice are attracted to the glue in paper packets. If possible, transfer all paper packet items into plastic or glass jars with well-fitting lids.

* Sprinkle bi-carb over the carpet half an hour before you vacuum. Helps neutralise smells.

* Sprinkle some tea-tree oil on a tissue and suck it up the vacuum cleaner to make that smell nicer all over.

* If there is a nasty mess (egg, oil, vomit etc), sprinkle over it with clay based clumping cat litter and brush it up. Mop as normal.

* If a child or pet urinates on the carpet, soak with white vinegar and blot away with an old towel. When dry enough, sprinkle with bi-carb and vacuum up when completely dry.

* Light stains on carpet can be zapped somewhat using general clothing stain remover.

Uh... I don't see an 'all of the above'.


Bi Carb can be used to clean the oven by mixing it with water to a paste and leaving it on the bottom for a few days. (Kept moist, it actually soaks the baked on stuff off so it can be scooped and wiped clean.)

I put it down the sink hole to to prevent smelliness and blockage. If it's really bad I leave it for a few hours or overnight then follow with boiling water.


Also I live on sandwiches and one pot dinners to reduce dishes!

Hmm:

1. Clean your house EVERYDAY. You'd be surprised how easy it is to clean if you do it every day without fail. I know it sounds like a 'duh' thing to say, but you'd be surprised.

2. Don't overload your washer in order to clean faster. The washer will NOT thank you for it. (I know, another DUH moment, but yeah...)

3. For me at least, paint can be a handy little thing to keep at all times for both touch ups and "Mommy, look at the pretty picture I made you...on the wall."

4. Ghetto as hell, but never under-estimate the power of duct tape for quick fixes. It comes in black, don't you know!

5. Don't believe that a jack of all trades mentality will magically fix tough breaks in your home. Sometimes- professionals ARE needed....

(And if someone has cats who has a self-cleaning liter box, will someone please pm me and tell me how well those work because I'm thinking about buying one!)

yeah, that's all I have. No great cleaning tips from me, sorry...

Those self cleaning litter boxes won't take care of the smell like scooping daily does. Also, get a good clumping litter or even those crystal litters. I love those crystal litters! It's like you don't even have a cat box. They are expensive, but worth it in my experience. We're getting another cat soon(finally!) and I'm actually ecstatic about buying things like cat food and litter again. ^_^

No matter what DON'T let anyone make dishwater and leave dishes in it. I learned this in childhood, but the cousins did not. It creates greasy, slimy water that no one would touch, including me.

I'd like to add tie-rips (hopefully the proper name) to number 4. You'd be amazed what you can fix with duct tape and tie-rips. Hell, I fixed my bike with tie-rips just yesterday. Does that makes me ghetto as hell, too?

Also, I always keep a spray bottle with some detergent mixed with water at hand. I you spill something it comes handy in the cleaning, and it's also handy for little chores.

I also use soda (bi carb soda, I suppose) to clean out the washer. Put in in the thing you put the detergent in, and let it run empty on the hottest temperature.

At the moment it's tidying... I moved back in with my parents and I still haven't unpacked. I moved back in March Don't hurt me!

Wonderful post!

For more information on stockmaking and the wonderful nutritional benefits of stock check out "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, Ph.D.

I make chicken stock from scratch every week. Its a must in a cooks repetoire.

I'm sure you all probably know this, but a little bowl of Baking Soda in the fridge helps with smells...Kind of adds onto the carpet tip.
I learn things obliviously.

To absorb moisture from your cupboards/wardrobes: poke holes into the lid of a cheap plastic container (I use the ones I get my Chinese food in) and fill the container with cat litter crystals. Put the hole-riddled lid on nice and tight and leave in the cupboard. When the crystals have become a bit moist, put them out in the sun to dry and re-use. I love finding cheap alternatives that are just as good

If your cooker or dishwasher gets borked in some way, look on the internet for how-to guides on fixing stuff (service manuals etc.) I found how to dismantle the outlet pump on my brand of dishwasher. After a good clean out, everything was working fine again.

Removing Cadle Wax from fabric:

You will need a brown paper bag, an iron and an old towel.

Heat your iron to Medium. Place the paper bag over the wax and the towel on top of the bag. Iron over the spot for about 10 seconds. Lift the bag and check the wax. If it isn't all absorbed into the bag, move the bag so there is a clean spot over the remaining wax and re-iron. Continue doing this until all the wax has been absorbed by the bag.

Note: Although the wax may all be gone, any color or oil that was in the wax may remain in your fabric. If you're not sure whether the wax is really gone, leave it to cool for about 30 minutes. If you come back and find that the spot is still crunchy, you still have wax. Just repeat the above steps till it's all gone, then use a spot cleaner to remove the dyes or oil that may be left behind.

~spidey

Touching up nicks on anything black:

I swear by permanent marker pens (Magic Marker here in the US). I bought a used rocking chair with a black finish that had nicks in it. The black marker worked really well. Same with black shoes with a scuff, black book bindings with little tears, etc. I even used it on a black picture frame that had a little nick in it; the nick is virtually invisible.

While I don't have time to clean the whole place every day, I do a small part at a time each day. So cleaning does get done and it seems less overwhelming.

Yah. I saw lots of evidence of that. Perhaps you were being distracted?

Oh, why are US washers and dryers so effing' expensive and bloody hideous? Poor product design makes them look cheap and nasty; outsize playskool controls, sheet metal monstrosities, and... and... who the hell uses top loaders in this day and age? What the f*ck is this anyway? Seeing such a thing, to know someone thought this was good (its worse actually seeing it.) *facepalm* I concede it my be very practical, but why should it look like a refugee from a 50's sci-fi robot flick?

I think I should have put this on the ranty peeve thread.