Your own tried-and-true household tips

Ever tried to clean dried-on, baked-on bird poop from your car? I heard about this years ago & I couldn't believe how well it works. Neither can friends I've done it for:
Soak a tissue or paper towel with water & apply it on the poop. Let it sit for 5 minutes. If the paper dries, re-wet it but don't move it.
It will wipe right off.
 

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Gaer said:
I put this on another thread but few saw it.

Spray WD-40 on a paper towel.
Wipe it on one of your headlights.
Stand back enough to see both headlights.
Say "Holy Crap!"
Wipe it on the other headlight.
Click to expand...
OMG, Holy Crap is right….maybe even DOUBLE Holy Crap!
Thanks for the tip, Gaer!!!!
 

Pour a bottle (not the can's) of COKE (Pepsi will not work) in your toilet let it sit for 1 hr. Then use a brush & it's sparkling clean. It saves my septic tank also from complex chemicals.
While doing this, think of what it's doing to your insides.
 
Lizzie00 said:
OMG, Holy Crap is right….maybe even DOUBLE Holy Crap!
Thanks for the tip, Gaer!!!!
Click to expand...
The oil temporarily fills in the tiny scratches dulling plastic headlight lenses. That's why it works. After a while - or a couple of rainstorms or carwashes- the oil disappears and the headlights are dull again. It sure does work well though and is easy enough to do.
 
I had some blackish spots in the bottom of my toilet, scrubbed with ajax, brillo, etc., assumed it was mold. I don't like using chemical cleaners and past experience with them were not good. I shut off the water valve behind the toilet and cut off the water, flushed so the bowl was empty. I put a small box of baking soda with some white vinegar in the hole area, let it sit for around an hour. Swished with toilet brush and then opened valve and did a flush with water. Great improvement, just a couple of very tiny spots remained, but the toilet is old, came with the house, and I assume their are some chips in the finish.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I had some blackish spots in the bottom of my toilet, scrubbed with ajax, brillo, etc., assumed it was mold. I don't like using chemical cleaners and past experience with them were not good. I shut off the water valve behind the toilet and cut off the water, flushed so the bowl was empty. I put a small box of baking soda with some white vinegar in the hole area, let it sit for around an hour. Swished with toilet brush and then opened valve and did a flush with water. Great improvement, just a couple of very tiny spots remained, but the toilet is old, came with the house, and I assume their are some chips in the finish.
Click to expand...
Baking Soda and Vinegar also good for clearing drain clogs. Unless you've dropped something totally solid down it. If you put a quarter cup or so of each down sinks drains once a week it keeps them clear.
 
What I like to do to make the headlights on my cars and truck clear is to spray Off insect repellent on them or any insect repellent on them that had DEET listed as an ingredient in it. I clean the headlight an apply the repellent with DEET in it to the headlight. Only do this if the temperature is between 60 and 80 degrees for if you apply it when it is very hot outside it melts the plastic and becomes more difficult to work with. Apply the repellent to the headlight and wait at least one minute to five minutes then use paper towells to rub the insect repellent off . It could take several paper towells to take off the oily insect reppelent with the outer layer of plastic that the DEET has dissolved. Then I wash the headlight withe soapy wter a few times and let it dry for a few hours. Then I take some car wax and polish the headlight with it. My experience this treatment has lasted from 6 months to 9 months to 1 year for it might depend on the type of plastic th headlam cover it is made of.

For the other light covers like the side lights, turn signal lights, brake lights I like to use liquid super glue that dries instantly. The light covers that have those spider cracks and chips I connect the tip of the super glue to the cracks and gently fill the cracks with super glue. My experience it that this repar has lasted for many years.

For the windshield cracks I have tried the superglue method with small sucess. I would say 3 times it workes and 7 times it did not work.
 
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My friend uses cornstarch to kill roaches. They eat it and it turns to swollen goo. I use Bengal Roach spray once every couple years. Just spray it in cabinets or anywhere you think they inhabit. It is not for spraying on them like Raid even though it will kill them. It is the best thing I have ever used.
 
If you must wash Venetian blinds, fill a bathtub with hot water and add Cascade. Soak the blinds for awhile. They will just have to be rinsed and hung to dry. I used to put in a lot of Cascade. Now I am over the washing blinds business. Didn't like hanging them over the shower curtain rod, and didn't have a fence to hang them outside. Some people use Dawn and vinegar, but that's more recent than when I did Spring and Fall cleaning,
 
Aunt Bea said:
Using ammonia to clean years of accumulated baked-on gunk and grime from casseroles, baking pans, grill parts, etc...

Toss the dirty items into a plastic bag dump in a half cup of ammonia and seal the bag. Wait for 24-48 hours wash the items in hot sudsy water and watch the gunk slide right off.

I used that trick to clean several Pyrex items that I was too embarrassed to donate to the local thrift shop. After I cleaned them I held back a pie plate and a brownie pan because they looked so nice!
Click to expand...
We just tried this on an old gunky Pyrex casserole dish. It worked GREAT! Thanks for the tip. :D
 
Aunt Bea said:
Using ammonia to clean years of accumulated baked-on gunk and grime from casseroles, baking pans, grill parts, etc...

Toss the dirty items into a plastic bag dump in a half cup of ammonia and seal the bag. Wait for 24-48 hours wash the items in hot sudsy water and watch the gunk slide right off.

I used that trick to clean several Pyrex items that I was too embarrassed to donate to the local thrift shop. After I cleaned them I held back a pie plate and a brownie pan because they looked so nice!
Click to expand...
It bears repeating...never, ever, combine bleach and ammonia or use either in a room where the other is being used.

It creates a gas that can (and will) kill.
 
@Lawrence Why mess around with super glue on windshield cracks or chips? In some states, windshield replacement has no deductible no matter what your comprehensive deductible is. Windshield repair for chips and cracks less than 8" is also covered by comprehensive almost always at no charge, so if you don't live in one of those "free" states, get them repaired by an auto glass repair/replacement shop.

One thing to keep in mind, and this is important, is that if a chip or crack is in your line of vision while driving, it cannot be repaired because it will distort your vision when hit by sunshine or an oncoming car's headlights.
 
Gaer said:
I put this on another thread but few saw it.

Spray WD-40 on a paper towel.
Wipe it on one of your headlights.
Stand back enough to see both headlights.
Say "Holy Crap!"
Wipe it on the other headlight.
Click to expand...
@Gaer I can't live without WD-40. Works well on the shower doors and track.
I save plastic containers and it takes all the remaining glue off after the paper label is soaked off.
I love it so much I'm thinking of drinking it to lubricate my joints.
 
Another one that bears repeating: never, ever try to replace the bulb in your microwave without unplugging it first!

When I was still cube farming before I retired the first time, a workmate took a vacay day to deep clean her kitchen, including replacing the bulb in her microwave. She was electrocuted. Now, this was more than 30 years ago and one hopes that microwave design engineers have made improvements since then, but just in case...unplug it first, change bulb, plug it back in.
 
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Ruth n Jersey said:
@Gaer I can't live without WD-40. Works well on the shower doors and track.
I save plastic containers and it takes all the remaining glue off after the paper label is soaked off.
I love it so much I'm thinking of drinking it to lubricate my joints.
Click to expand...

Got my handy can of WD-40 out this morning and sprayed my doggy stroller wheels.... I use the stroller 2-3 times a day for our walks, and got tired of squeaky wheels... worked like a charm.
 

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