If you use a broom around the inside of your home, you know how dust and hair tend to attach to the individual whisks of the broom while the heavier objects will move in the direction that you sweep the broom. (I tend to lose a lot of hair and thankfully, I have a thick head of hair so it’s not noticeable!) I’ve always had to stop sweeping to bring the broom up so I can use my hand to pick it off, until I learned an inexpensive and valuable way to clean my broom without dirtying my hands. If you don’t already have one, buy a (Dollar Tree value) long comb with medium space between its teeth. You can use it to comb the dust and hair off of the broom. Even better, glue the comb to your dustpan, with the middle of the comb handle flush against the dustpan handle, and simply sweep the bottom of your broom between the teeth as needed. I can’t imagine not having a dustpan; mine even has an upright handle attached to it so that I don’t have to bend over in order to hold it in place.
I have (fortunately) not had need to try this hack, but if I do find a need, this is the first thing I’ll try. Allegedly, a paste made of meat tenderizer and water, when applied, rubbed gently on the area, then allowed to sit until the paste is dry, is excellent for removing blood stains from cloth/fiber items. Of course, I’d recommend caution when using on fine fabrics or dry-clean only items.
Most flying household insects do not like the smell of cinnamon. I have a window in my kitchen above the sink where I like to raise up the window when there is a breeze. I end up with a few flies and what appear to be tiny fruit flies that manage to get in through the screen when that window is open. After reading this hack, I took several cinnamon sticks and broke them into pieces and put the pieces along the windowsill. I still get one of those tiny insects now and then, but I haven’t had a fly appear in over a month!
A few words about fabric softeners when doing laundry: Most of us who use laundry softeners have probably switched over to dryer sheets for the sheer convenience. No more having to “time it right” to get to the washer to add liquid fabric softener at the rinsing cycle. But whatever way you add fabric softener to your laundry routine, this fact applies – NEVER use any kind of fabric softeners when you are washing bath linens! I know, that sounds counter-intuitive, because we especially want our bath towels to feel soft and fluffy, but do you know how these softeners make that happen? Fabric softeners work by depositing a layer of electrically charged chemical compounds on fabric. This coating causes the fibers on clothes to fluff up, thus making fabric feel softer and gentler on the skin. They also neutralize electric charge, which is what makes your clothes shock you or cling together. When you’ve used fabric softener on towels and the fibers have fluffed up, as intended, the chemical residue also ‘nests’ between the fibers of the threads that make up the towel. That residue makes the towel become less absorbent because the water you are wiping off doesn’t have those microscopic spaces and the untreated fibers to absorb the liquid. You remove some of the towel’s wicking ability to absorb moisture. (By the way, the same applies for workout clothes that you WANT to absorb your sweat!) Now, anyone in the lodging industry will absolutely use fabric softener for all of its linens, because guests are going to notice a rough towel while they will never notice its absorbency rate. And I haven’t really noticed that my towels are any less soft since I stopped using dryer sheets on them. Hey, maybe you don’t care about absorbency, but this also affects your kitchen linens, and absorbency is key for them.
And I’ll leave you with this, though it qualifies as a kitchen hack… When was the last time you sifted the salt from the rice in your salt shaker and replaced the rice with some fresh pieces? If your answer is, “Gosh, I don’t know”, then the next time you need to add salt, take the time and do it. We take those rice granules for granted!
Any good hacks around the house you care to share?
Ramblings and Ruminations 