So who was listening and reading the various media reports of the latest book from the Irish Countrywomen’s Association? It sounds a fascinating read… and should probably be on everyone’s wish list for Christmas.
It got me thinking to things I do here, that I’ve picked up over time and I’ve completely forgotten where they came from. Sometimes I wonder who used these tips the first time around. Like who decided to clean jewellery using Coca Cola? Why?
So here goes….
- Yes, Coca Cola will clean your jewellery. I’m not sure how the purists and jewellers will feel…. but if you have Coca Cola in your house…. pop some in a saucepan, pop in your grimy rings, boil for 10/15 minutes – and watch them sparkle. I’ve also been told that it makes a great toilet cleaner but I’ve never tried that – a step too far!!!!
- Checking eggs for freshness. This is one I have to implement regularly when the hens decide to go hide their eggs from me! Fill a glass bowl or jug with cold water, please your egg into the bowl…. if it sinks it is fresh. If it spins or floats – dispose of judiciously (it might stink to high heaven!
- Breadsoda. I constantly worry that the house might smell of dogs….. we have two, but seriously a smelly dog house is not a good thing. So I regularly sprinkle rugs and carpets with bread soda before I hoover (vacuum) and it seems to dispel the smell. The day I spilt milk in the car, I nearly died, but tried the old bread soda trick and it worked. If you’ve ever spilt milk in the car, you will know how relieved I was…. is there anything as bad???
- Vinegar. Yes, just plain old distilled white vinegar…. the best thing ever! Use it slightly diluted as a cleaner/disinfectant in your kitchen. Spray it onto any stainless steel surfaces and just wipe with some kitchen paper – look at that sheen.
- Cleaning the glass door of your stove. Yep… it’s self-cleaning? Yea, right! Who else has been told that? It kind of works but not totally – so our solution? A piece of damp newspaper, dipped in the the ash from your fire, and rub it on the glass…and hey presto! your glass is clean.
- Getting your bread to rise. So who out there has the perfect temperature in their kitchen for getting your bread to rise? Have you used the hot press? I have. Well let me share this little gem of a tip with you…. this is one that was shared with us by one of our AirBnB guests (thanks Shelly!)….. turn the light on in your oven and put your bread in there to rise. Honestly, we’ve done the test. Just having the light on brings the temperature up to 22 to 23 deg. perfect for activating the yeast!!!
So there are our top 6 tips.
Have you got any household tips you’ve picked up along the way?
A domestic goddess for sure Margaret Alfie must be delighted with ya!!
Sure he’s a bit of a god himself…. one or two of those tips are his! 🙂
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thank you!
Some great tips there and can vouch for the baking soda. After spilling 30 pints of whey in the boot of my car, it was the baking soda that stopped the smell! We also clean the stove fire with the newspaper and use distiller vinegar for lots, including cleaning all the windows!
My Mum swore by damp newspaper for cleaning windows! When we had a coastal-based office vinegar and newspaper was the only thing to shift the salt off the windows!
Bread soda in fridge in a small open tub gets rid of the smelly cheese smell or any other smelly smells.
Hey, that’s another good one…. although I love the smell of smelly cheese 🙂
The other day I needed something to clean a stainlees steel Barbeque plate with food stuck all over.. We were out with friends so didn’t have any detergent etc to lift off the burnt on food or the grease. Good old Coka Cola did the trick quickly and easily! Amazing and I still drink this stuff occasionally…mind you I’m now no longer sure that I should!
Amazing the power of the stuff??????
Margaret