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WebLady
01-25-2008, 02:57 PM
I have seen this a few places online; not sure if they are all true, but I thought I'd share. There were some cooking/food related ones I took out; they will be in the OW Recipe ebook ;)

DID YOU KNOW?

-Newspaper weeds away-
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet
newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

-Broken Glass-
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you
can't see easily.

-No More Mosquitoes-
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

-Squirrel Away-
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with
cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the
squirrels won't come near it.

-Flexible vacuum-
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an
empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be
bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

-Reducing Static Cling-
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a
clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when
wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! -- static
is gone.

-Foggy Windshield-
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove
box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better
than a cloth!

-Reopening envelope-
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include
something inside , just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an
hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

-Conditioner's other use-
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than
shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way
to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it
in your hair...

-Get Rid of Ants-
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
"home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so,
especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about
pets or small children being harmed!

-INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS-
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things
around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and
he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean.
(I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He
told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to
the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh
material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like.
well,...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through
it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh
that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's
there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and
static free -- that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy
when you take them out of the box, well t his stuff builds up on your
clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer
units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said
the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep
your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot
soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six
months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!
How about that!?! Learn something new everyday!

WebLady
01-25-2008, 08:05 PM
No comments; anyone :gurn:

EarlyBird
01-25-2008, 08:09 PM
my grandma used to use the newspaper thing and it actually works :)
ihave also heard the cornmeal thing

sweetvenus
01-25-2008, 08:10 PM
I'm going to have to try the dryer sheet thing this summer. Mosquitos love me.

WebLady
01-25-2008, 08:15 PM
Yay; comments :geek:

I'm going to have to try the dryer sheet thing this summer. Mosquitos love me.
I am gonna try that one too; I hate mosquitoes, but they seem to love me too. I don't really understand how this can work, but I will try it ;)

I have used conditioner to shave my legs before, it works pretty good. But I just use body wash these days.

SerendipityCrafts
01-25-2008, 08:24 PM
Gotta try this one!
-No More Mosquitoes-
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

I heard that if you clean your hair brush and put the loose hair around your plants, or bury it with tulip bulbs - this too, will keep the squirrels away.
-Squirrel Away-
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with
cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the
squirrels won't come near it.

If you rub down with a dryer sheet, that will work too
-Reducing Static Cling-
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a
clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when
wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! -- static
is gone.

I want to try this one too :)
-Foggy Windshield-
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove
box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better
than a cloth!

Ummmmm I use shampoo or body wash
-Conditioner's other use-
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than
shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way
to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it
in your hair...

Planning to try this one in the spring. I have heard chalk works too (you can buy it in powdered form at the hardware store)
-Get Rid of Ants-
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
"home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so,
especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about
pets or small children being harmed!

Thanks!

TangoWedding
01-25-2008, 08:26 PM
I almost always use conditioner for my legs. It works great! :D


-Get Rid of Ants-
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
"home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so,
especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about
pets or small children being harmed!


I'm all about this one! I hate putting poison down...especially with a dog who will eat anything that sits still long enough.

Too bad this doesn't work for spiders. Last year we had a gazillion coming into the house! Gak!!!

katrina7875
01-25-2008, 10:07 PM
The dryer sheets do not keep away mosquitoes. I used to work at a girl scout camp and have tried that trick and it doesn't work. I used to hang dryer sheets all around my bed and I'd still have mosquito bites in the morning. I'd also tie a dryer sheet to my hat and hang them off my belt loops and that didn't work either.

tootsie
01-27-2008, 01:59 PM
Cinnamon keeps ants away too.

ikkin510
01-27-2008, 02:10 PM
Great helpful hints! I'm allergic to most bug sprays and killers so I have been wondering what to try when I see ants. Now Steve sprays the house and I have to leave for a day or so. I'll have to try some of this stuff out!

WebLady
01-27-2008, 02:41 PM
Cinnamon keeps ants away too.
Really?! I would have thought with it being a little sweet it would attract them.

Kirby
01-27-2008, 04:16 PM
Great tips! I found the dryer thing interesting. We are getting a brand new dryer next week and I am big on dryer sheets, so I will keep that in mind!

dawsmi
01-27-2008, 04:44 PM
I have tried the dryer sheet for misquitos too but I found that it attracted the misquitos more!! I ended up with more bites that way!! But I should really try the rest of the tips!! Thanks!!

tootsie
01-27-2008, 04:54 PM
Really?! I would have thought with it being a little sweet it would attract them.

Yep, we had ants in our kitchen that were coming from the window, so I looked online and found that. I tried it and it did work, but I didn't like having cinnamon on my window sill, so we caulked the window so the ants couldn't get through. :)

Smashingpennies
01-27-2008, 05:08 PM
Borax works for ants and roaches, Diatmatioues earth (I am not sure if I spelled that right) works wonders on ants exspecially fire ants. The DE you can get at most health food stores or find it online.

I stopped using dryer sheets and just use liquid fabric softener, both my OB and regualr doctor said they have been seeing an increase in Yeast infections due to the fabric sheets.

My mom got a book for Christmas called the no work garden and it says to do the wet newspaper thing. We tried it growing up with no luck, but I think our dogs were going around and digging the newspaper up and stuff.

I havn't found much of anything that works against the pesty mosquiteos

prjohnson85
02-02-2008, 07:56 PM
There's a skin lotion called Sarna that does a better job than most insect repellants, as far as the mosquitos go. I discovered that diatomaceous earth stuff about 4 years ago and it is AWESOME - at the time my son was 3 and I wanted something that was safe around him but I had SO many bugs living next to a farm. Last year I got this bright idea, went and bought a couple bigger bags, and "surrounded" my house about 40' out, made a perimeter - and darn if it didn't seem to knock the bugs down pretty well! It's like powder to a human (or a baby, or an animal) - but to an insect it's like shards of glass. Only thing is you have to be SURE not to sprinkle it on any flowers, not even dandelions and such - so you don't kill the bees. We're already having problems because there aren't enough bees.:worm:

Parhelion
02-03-2008, 02:23 PM
Deviating a bit from mosquitoes (ick...!) here's a few tips for indoor rodent problems:

Sonic repellant devices (like Riddex) work to a certain degree, but any sort of soft furnishings (i.e. a couch) will lessen the effectiveness. It's best to use these in pairs, two per room. It can get expensive, but they have the added benefit of deterring spiders as well.

If you're like me and own any sort of rodent as a pet, these are not a good idea. (unless you want your hamster to go ballistic)

Conventional mousetraps are somewhat hit-and-miss. Peanut butter on the trigger seems to work best, though for even better results tie a piece of thread around the peanut butter and the trigger. It'll get stuck in the mouse's teeth and...well...snap. :gurn: I haven't tried other types of traps yet and have heard mixed reviews.

If you actually see a moue running around, watch it carefully to see where it goes. Finding their holes is the perfect way to stop them. Just plug said holes with steel wool or a crumpled up piece of aluminum foil.

rainbowtreat
02-03-2008, 03:20 PM
I have always used contitioner to shave my legs. Works perfect for me. I will have to try the cornmeal for ants. We get them come spring and summer in our kitchen.

Nekochanpurr
02-03-2008, 10:02 PM
I use boy shaving cream to shave my legs. =D I'd rather pay .99 cents than like $2.50!

Rainbow Brite
02-05-2008, 02:25 PM
You have to rub the drier sheets on your skin for them to repel mosquitoes :)