[Spice]

Ah, alhamdulilah.

My oldest brother is always making sure everyone is good and happy. Its so kind, because whenever he sees that I'm too tired to clean up after the others, he takes matters into his own hands and starts assigning all three of them duties, things that normally I would do on my own. And they have to obey him too, because he's the oldest, and our parents have instilled within us the whole 'respect the elders' thing to an extreme. But I'm glad they did.

Everyone should have an older brother like mine
(insert MashAllah)

[wheelworks]

Originally Posted by Spice

veryone should have an older brother like mine
(insert MashAllah)

He does sound a bit bossy haha

[zakk]

Weird Uses For Foods:

The Peanut Butter Tip: To get gum out of a carpet, scrape up what you can, using an ice cub to stiffen it if necessary. Then rub a small glob of peanut butter into the fibers, and wipe up the whole mess with a cloth. To get rid of any left-behind PB, just dab it up with a mixture of 1 tsp of dishwashing liquid in 1 cup of lukewarm water.

PEPPER

Everyone knows Clorox's catchy ditty about keeping clothes bright, but all you need is pepper. Add a teaspoon of pepper to the wash before you add in your clothes and it will keep the colors from fading.


WHITE VINEGAR

Deodorant stains can ruin a perfectly good shirt. Save your whites by spraying white vinegar (no need to mix with water) onto the underarm areas. Then you can wash per usual.

SUGAR

At your next BBQ don't spend money on anti-pest candles that never work. Simmer 2 cups of milk, a 1/4 pound of sugar and 2 oz. of ground black pepper for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the mixture into bowls and put them where the flies will be attracted to them and then drown. You can also place around the house. No more buzzzzzing at the windows.

ODA

Next time your drain is clogged and you don't have time to run to the store for some Drain-O just look in your fridge! A 2-liter bottle of soda will do the trick. Just pour it down to clobber the clog.


SHORTENING

For a natural solution to diaper rash, try coating the area with a thin layer of shortening. It will act as a moisturizer.



SALT

Grease stains can be a huge pain when it comes to doing laundry. Before you wash, work a generous amount of table salt into the stain and then launder as usual.

POTATOES

Too much to drink last night and now you have puffy eyes? Apply a thin slice of cold potato to your eyes and leave on for five minutes. Then splash with cool water, put on your makeup (or just some moisturizer -- this means you, too, guys!) and head to work!

ORANGES

Don't you hate it when you have to start a fire and little bits of newspaper are flying everywhere? Next time, air-dry orange peels, which contain flammable oils that burn longer, and use those instead of the paper. The delicious smell is a bonus.


OLIVE OIL

Does it seem like nothing is working for your bad skin? Use 4 tablespoons of salt and 3 tablespoons of olive oil to create a paste. Leave it on your face for 2 minutes and rinse with warm water. Then wash your face as normal. Use every day for a week and then cut back to 3 days a week and you should notice an improvement.


MUSTARD

It may make you smell like a hot dog, but rubbing a thin layer of mustard over your chest and covering with a hot towel can relieve a stuffy head and chest.

MILK

Oh no! You forgot to put the cap on your pen and now there is ink seeping into your shirt. No worries -- just grab some milk and soak the area. Depending on the type of ink, this process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. Patience is a virtue.

MAYONNAISE

It's one thing when your child draws on the wall with crayons, it's quite another when it comes to your wood furniture. Rub some mayonnaise on the crayon mark and let it soak for ten minutes. Then take a damp cloth and wipeaway the mayo AND the crayon!

LEMONS

Dandruff can be an embarrassing health problem, but the special shampoo often smells yucky. Try massaging 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into your scalp and rinsing with warm water. Follow with a leave-in rinse of 1 teaspoon lemonjuice in 1 cup of warm water. Use this daily until your scalp is healed.

FLOUR

You have an ant problem but are worried about the poisonous ant traps around your pets. Just sprinkle flour wherever you see ants entering the house and along the pantry shelves, since they are most likely after your food.


CORN STARCH

Your child just learned how to tie their shoes and the knots are impossible to undo. Stay calm and sprinkle a little cornstarch on the laces to help you work out the knot.

CASTOR OIL

While most of us associate castor oil with constipation or childbirth, did you know it can also help get rid of pesky moles in your yard? Just mix a 1/2 cup of castor oil with two gallons of water and pour the mixture down the mole(s) hole(s). Don't worry, the solution is animal friendly and they will likely relocate.

BUTTER

A jewelry box can help you organize, but sometimes those thin-chained necklaces just want to get tangled and you can't stop them! Rub some butter into the knot and lay on a flat surface. Then take a sewing needle to untangle. When finished just run under hot water to rinse off the butter.


BREAD

Next time you drop a wine glass or break a plate, grab a slice of bread to help you clean up. After you pick up the larger pieces, press the bread over the area and it will pick up all the itty bitty pieces you can't see. Bread can also help clean fingerprints off walls and wallpaper. Just rub and voila!

BANANAS

Before you throw your banana peel in the compost pile, remove any stringy pulp and use the peel as a buffer. This works with silverware as well as leather shoes and leather furniture. Just rub the peel over the object and buffwith a soft cloth. Be sure to test a small section of your furniture first!


APPLES

Sick of waiting for your green tomatoes to ripen on the windowsill? Stick up to five tomatoes in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple and seal for a few days. This will speed up the ripening process.

[zzze]

assalamu alaykum

rub peanut butter into the carpet??! Yeah i'll try that when i see photographic evidence that i won't ruin my ''iranian'' rug.

[heba]

lysol wipes are awesome for doin a quick cleanup of the bathroom

swiffers rock my life

mixing bleach with your dishsoap and water will make the fish/egg/chicken/meat smell go away in your dishes. (your hands will get dry and nasty and stinky, but at least theres no nasty food smell left behind )

[shadha]

Next time your drain is clogged and you don't have time to run to the store for some Drain-O just look in your fridge! A 2-liter bottle of soda will do the trick. Just pour it down to clobber the clog.

Sad that we continue to drink that crap.


shadha-

[Ameerah]

Originally Posted by heba

mixing bleach with your dishsoap and water will make the fish/egg/chicken/meat smell go away in your dishes. (your hands will get dry and nasty and stinky, but at least theres no nasty food smell left behind )

Wow, don't use bleach with your bare hands!

I find mixing your dishwashing liquid with a teaspoon or two with some clothes washing powder on your sponge/scourer gets rid of meat/raw egg smell too. If you use tablets instead of powder, you can just crush a tablet.

Here are two things that no household should go without:





A Dustbuster and some Cif wipes. They always help make the house look like you've just had a huuuge clean.

For thorough cleaning days, I love my Dyson.

[Pushpa]

Has anybody ever heard of or used Soapnuts natural soap from soapnut shells @ Go Green Online Shop

[Asvi]

any ideas/suggestions on how to clean tub/shower?

[Spice]

Originally Posted by Asvi

any ideas/suggestions on how to clean tub/shower?

I use vim for the tub/shower. It works wonders and smells faintworthy

Re-edit: For heba and anyone else: If you're using the right kind of detergent you should not have to add anything else to it for great results. What detergent are you using?
Also, I think the key is to soak the dishes/pots/pans for a few minutes in warm water before you begin to wash. This way 1) you'd have to scrub less 2) less use of detergent 3) it saves a lot of time! For the larger pots which are left with a layer of food stuck to the bottom (which shouldn’t happen in the first place if you’re stirring consistently) I usually use those metal scrubbies to scrub off the layer of food, and then re-soap and rinse with a regular sponge.

[onetspvanilla]

i LOVE method cleaners. non-toxic, non-hazerdous and smells so nice. and because i'm not afraid of chemicals anymore (stuff like vim/fantastic/bleach literally give me a headache and dizzy spells) i'm more inclined to clean way more frequently then i did. lol trust me, that's a good thing.
i use the all-purpose cleaner in cucumber... sooo good! when i stock up next, i think i'll try pink grapefruit and peppermint vanilla. i also wanna get my mom this detox kit.. and maybe one for myself
anyway, if anyone's tried their other products, let me know!

[Spice]

Ok, Mr. Cleans Magic Eraser is entirely under-rated.
It gets rid of pencil/crayon marks from most surfaces, and is mildew's worst enemy.
I use it mostly for the kitchen cabinets and doors/doorknobs and it rinses them all clean. The best part of it though is that it doesnt leave behind a mess.
However, I must add that it runs out pretty fast, so stock up!

[Timbit]

It's a wonder how much you can get babies to do for you when you just call them your "special helper" and coo at them about how good they are for helping you so much. I got the kid to practically clean my room yesterday. Okay, not really... but I got him to do all the important things like crawl all the way under my bed to take everything out. Muahahhahaha.

And he kept going "Okay, what else should I do now? What else can I do to help you?"
I've also instilled a love for doing dishes in him. So he's shaping up to be quite the good little serf. Child labour zindabad.

[Bruinrab]

Originally Posted by Timbit

Child labour zindabad.

But they learn. And they stop being so helpful.

[Timbit]

Originally Posted by Bruinrab

But they learn. And they stop being so helpful.

Dammit. I hope not!

He likes making chai and coffee too. And he asks to help sweep and mop and vacuum and all that. He's such a sweetheart.