Household Hints - Eat Your Parsley for Fresher Breath

That cute sprig of parsley on your plate while dining out at a restaurant isn't just for looks - it'll naturally freshen your breath! It's especially helpful to clean up your breath if you've eaten a meal loaded with garlic or onions. So, leave that parsley for last, and chew on it for fresher breath, naturally.

Household Hints - Keep Brown Sugar Soft

Susan sent in another tip to keep brown sugar soft, or to get it soft again once it's gotten hard. She wrote: "to soften brown sugar or rather to keep it soft store with a big marshmallow on top of the brown sugar."

Remember, you can also get your brown sugar soft again or keep it soft by placing a small piece of bread on the top, or a slice of apple.

Household Hints - Beauty - Beer as a Hair Conditioner

It's true - beer really does work to condition your hair! Use it as a final rinse to add extra shine and a boost of healthy body.

Household Hints: Removing Melted Wax from Glass Candleholders

We love the ambience created by burning candles, but once those candles are burnt the wax can be hard to remove. Try putting your glass candleholder into the freezer for a few hours. Using this method, I've been able to remove even really old melted wax. It should pop right out, or use a wooden skewer or butter knife to edge it out. If the wax is very stubborn, let the holder sit in the freezer overnight.

Household Hints - Pistachio Nuts - Recycled Nuts Ideas

Recycle those old nut shells, including pistachios, walnuts, peanuts and other nuts. Once you're done eating the delicious nuts, break them up and use to line plant pots or use as mulch for your garden! (A great tip I just saw last night on the Food Network -- Unwrapped)

Household Hints - Kitchen Hints - Opening Tight Jar Lids

Tight jar lids got you down? Try a few of these helpful household hints to open a tight jar lid:

- My favorite is to tap along the edges of the jar lid with a butter knife. It seems to break the seal, and then you can easily open the jar.

- Wear a pair of rubber gloves! The extra grip will make loosening a tight jar easy!

- Run the jar lid under hot water...again, this seems to help loosen the tight seal.

- Use a Jar opener to open the jar. There are specialty jar openers available that make opening tight jars a breeze. Great gift for anyone with arthritis, too. Here are just two available on the market:








Do you have any other ideas to share on how to open a tight jar lid? If you do, please post a comment!

Household Hints - Cleaning - Sweeping Tips

Here's a handy hint to help with your household sweeping...

Spray a little furniture polish on the bottom of your brooms bristles. It'll make it easier to sweep stuff up, and dirt, pet hair and other gunk won't as easily accumulate on the bottom!

Household Hints - Saving - Change Jar to Save Money

Here's an easy way to let your pennies, dimes and quarters accumulate into larger savings! Have a family change jar, where every member of the family dumps their extra change every week or so. Have the kids roll up the coins, and take the coin rolls to the bank. Use the extra money for savings, or towards a family vacation or special dinner out. It's a great way to teach kids (and adults too!) how small savings can really add up over time.

Household Hints: Lampe Berger Lamps Remove Stubborn Household Odors

Lingering, stubborn household odors such as cooking odors, pet odors or smoke can really be frustrating to remove with any success. My favorite way to remove these types of odors is by using a Lampe Berger fragrance lamp. This lamp, complete with a catalytic burner is briefly lit and then left to 'eat up' odor molecules in your home! It was originally developed for hospitals in France, and along with bad odors also kills 67% of airborne bacteria.

I have one, and my current scent is a wonderful Spiced Pumpkin oil. You can get lots of different scented fuels for the lamps (and you must use one of the Lampe Berger oils - not just any alcohol blend will do). Some of the most popular scents are:

- Neutral - if you don't want to add scent at all, just want to take bad odors out
- Eucalyptus - a fresh, green scent, perfect for bathrooms and nurseries
- Creme Brulee - a rich, warm vanilla scent (perfect for the kitchen or any other room!)
- Grapefruit Passion - very light, grapefruit citrus scent. One of my favorites.
- Green Apple - another light fruity scent that is very popular
- Lavender Fields - a really pretty lavender scent, smells like real lavender essential oil

and many more!

Natural Way to Keep Drains Running Smoothly

A great way to prevent nasty clogs in drains is to pour a kettle full of boiling hot water down the drain about once or twice a month. This natural alternative will help keep your drains running smoothly - and thus prevent nasty old clogs!

Uses for Fabric Softener (Bounce) Sheets - Prevent Thread from Tangling

Use a fabric softener sheet to keep your thread from tangling! Before you start to sew, rub the Bounce sheet along the thread - you'll find it much easier to work with.

Household Hints - Microwave your Dishcloths to keep them clean (and no more stinky dishcloths!)

Keeping your dishcloth clean, fresh and sanitized makes your whole kitchen smell a lot nicer. (Isn't the smell of a musty dishcloth just AWFUL?) Here are two of my favorite ways to keep the dishcloths clean:

1. Just clean the dishcloth in the dishwasher! All I do is leverage a bowl of cup against the dishcloth on the top shelf of the dishwasher and let it run as usual. Because the dishwasher gets so incredibly hot, it will completely clean and sanitize your kitchen cloth.
2. Or...a few people have now told me to try cleaning the dishcloth in the microwave. Apparently you can put a thoroughly moistened dishcloth right into the microwave and heat on high for about 30 seconds or so. Be careful not to burn yourself when you take the dish cloth out again! Or...how about killing two cleaning chores with one stone? Try popping the above mentioned dishcloth in the microwave for 30 seconds or so, and then just let it sit in there for about ten minutes. Your dishcloth will get cleaned AND all of the accumulated steam inside the microwave will make it easy to clean - just wipe that dishcloth around the interior of the microwave and you've got a gorgeous, lovely, clean microwave now!

Household Hints - Haircare - Easy Homemade Conditioning Spray

From my Kitchen Crafts 'n' More Newsletter back in 2001!

Easy Conditioning Spray
Here's a super-simple idea that I like to use occasionally. When even
regular conditioning isn't enough, you can add a few tablespoons of
good hair conditioner to a spray bottle. Fill the bottle with water,
and shake well to combine. You can then use this as a leave-in
conditioner that will make your hair feel great.

Household Hints - Baking Soda Uses - For Bee and Wasp Sting Relief

Here's an email I just received from Renee...

Hi,

Here's something you might consider adding in your Baking Soda Database.

For bee and wasp stings, make a thick paste and apply. Stops the stinging almost immediately.

I'm told it works for ant bites too but haven't tried it myself.

Love your website! Renée :-)

Household Hints - Free Sewing Tips - Sewing on Buttons

Here's a handy tip on getting your buttons to stay on longer. The trick is to use nylon fishing line to sew the buttons on to the garment! It is far stronger than regular thread, and will keep your buttons securely attached to your clothes for a lot longer. Meaning: less buttons to sew on later!

Household Hints - How to get T-shirts and other clothes SUPER White and Clean - Laundry Tips

This one was submitted by Carol in my Kitchen Crafts 'n' More Newsletter way back in 2001.

Add 1/2 cup 20 mule team borax along with bleach and laundry detergent to keep white things white. Of course remember Hot water with whites whenever you're washing.

Household Hints - Removing Odors and Stains from Carpets

1 bottle hydrogen peroxice
1 T. baking soda
1 T. dish soap

Mix together, put on area where smell is. I rub it with a scrub brush and then blot with a towel.So far, I have had a great experience with it. And I used it on bright blue carpet and avocado green carpet, no problem.

Thanks to Laura for sending in this great tip on removing carpet stains and odors! For more natural cleaner recipes, visit http://www.happyslob.com

Household Hints - Cleaning - Microfiber Cloths to Dust

Use microfiber cloths for dusting and you don't even need furniture polish! They're also great for wiping fingerprints off stainless appliances as well as cleaning mirrors and eyeglasses.

Submitted by Laura

Household Hints - How to Clean CDs - Using Windex to Clean CDs

My sister-in-law uses windex to clean the DVD's and CD's.
Submitted by Charles