Random Clothes Tips from Household Magic Daily Tips

Wow-kind of a verbose name for a website but Household Magic Daily Tips has had some good ones for clothes and stains.  I haven't tried these yet but the tips look promising.

1.  Deodorant smudge on your dark shirt?   Use a clean pair of nylons/pantyhose to wipe it off.

2.  Trouble keeping that while shirt, white? In a basin of just boiled water, add the juice of one small lemon.  Soak the shirt for at least 30 minutes, then launder as usual.

3.  Need to remove grass stains?  Cover stains with rubbing alcohol and soak for 10 to 15 minutes.  Rinse out the alcohol and wash.

4.  Don't want to use dryer sheets but still want to eliminate static cling?  Crumble up a piece of tin foil and throw it in the dryer with wet clothes.  Be careful not to put in with delicates (sheer silk garments) or anything that can be snagged easily.

5.  One of the biggest causes of stains in my house is from chocolate.  Make a paste with borax powder and water or with meat tenderizer and water, rub it into the stain and let it sit for an hour, rub off the past and launder garment.  I don't have either of these in the house, but may start stocking up.

6.  Grease stains?  Now the ladies at Household Magic Daily Tips say to use salt on grease stains on a sofa, but don't see why it wouldn't work on clothes too.  Rub table salt onto the stain and let stand for a half hour to absorb the grease and then brush off.  Have to be careful with delicate fabrics.  I have also used corn starch on grease stains and that works too.

One last interesting tip they provide--use unwaxed dental floss to sew on buttons--it is stronger than cotton thread.

Hodge Podge..or random interesting tips I have picked up in the last week

Hi All:

Didn't have one topic to go with today so I am going to give a few few quick and dirty tips I've picked up in the last week or so.

1. Red wine stained your favorite blouse?  Use more wine!  White wine that is.   Pour white wine over the stain and through the cloth of the garment (think of the garment as a sieve, if you have trouble picturing it). Then run it through the wash and the stain should come right out in the cycle. Courtesy of The Domestic CEO by way of the Learnvest.com.

Matthew Petty/flickr

Pinned via the Web

2. Binder clips.  Not just for paper any more.  I have used them to clip open chip bags but others have used them to keep cords on their desk tidy and others have used them as "book ends" to stop bottles from rolling around in the fridge.  This is from an article on grandparents.com, 10 Organizing Ideas That Will Change Your Life.  Not sure about that, but they are good ideas.

3.  Keep your recycling bin near the front door so you can dump the junk mail as soon as you pick it up from the mail box.  This came from the same article. Thought this was excellent.  I end up with pieces of junk mail and fliers cluttering my counter until they find their way to the building recycling dumpster.

4.  And, for those who still send holiday cards, first, thank you.  Second, there is a site called CardsThatGive.org.  There are billions of dollars a year spent on holiday cards.  This site has more than 150 organizations which are selling cards to aid their organization. Some of the organizations include: the Art Institute of Chicago, National Wildlife Federation, and the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee.  From Real Simple.

Oh My Aching...

Courtesy of doctoroz.com



...you can fill in the blank...sitting too long, sleeping wrong, I once pinched a back nerve throwing a piece of paper in the trash can. There are so many reasons aches and pains. The Dr. Oz Show had a great segment on natural cures for aches and pains. With all the issues of taking too much OTC pain relievers (acetaminophen, ibuprofen), kidney issues, hearing loss, ringing in the ears.  For those who prefer video, the first five points are captured on video in two parts on the site: Part 1  Part 2

1. Vitamin B12:  It helps with back pain.  Taking it daily, helps thicken the coating around your nerves.  Take 1-2 mg a day.

2. Capsaicin:  This is the substance in chili peppers that makes them spicy.  It also comes in a cream.   It blocks the nerve pain impulse.  You can rub this on your back and neck muscles three times a day.  A bonus use for this substance is it also comes in a nasal spray bottle and you can use it like nose spray to get rid of headaches.

3.  Boswellia Extract: It is an herbal extract that comes from a flower.  It is also called "Indian Frankincense".  It reduces joint pain because it minimizes cartilage damage.  300 mg a day is ideal.  The concentration should be at least 40% concentration to work on the pain and increase mobility.  You should be able to find this at a health food store.

4.  Powdered Ginger:  Many people already have this in their cupboard.  You can mix it with hot water or lemonade.  It reduces inflammation at the joint site.  1/2 teaspoon a couple times of day.  Or, if you want to use capsules1-4 grams a day.

5. Arnica:  Good for intense pain.  It comes in a gel and made from a flower.  It can be found in health food stores.  Good for stiffness and sore muscles.  Also reported to be helpful with arthritis.   Use three times a day and make sure you don't put it on broken skin.

The next two are actual motions or movements. At the risk of being unclear I am going to take the verbage directly from the article.

6.  "Full-Body Pain Preventer: Pelvic Power Tilt
This simple move stops pain before it starts, by taking a whole-body approach. When one part of your body hurts, the rest of it compensates by taking on additional muscular stress and strain, leading to even more pain and creating a vicious cycle. The pelvic power tilt stabilizes and strengthens your whole body by targeting your core.

Simply lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Pull your belly button in toward your spine and hollow it out. Then lift your pelvis slightly off the floor – only an inch – then slowly lower back down, repeating 20 times.

This easy move can be done anytime, anywhere around the house. Do it 2 to 3 times a week to protect your entire body from pain."  Video of technique can be found here.

7.  "Pain Reset: Positional Release Therapy
Before you endure another day with spasms or sore muscles, shut down your pain in 90 seconds or less with positional release therapy.

This technique is strong enough to get rid of your pain, but gentle enough to be used in any age group, and only needs to be done once a week. It’s a low-risk way to reset the body by positioning the body in a strain-counter strain method, alleviating any type of pain from your neck, elbow, leg, arthritis pain, or even menstrual cramps.

Find the tender point that hurts the most. Then, take a pencil and use the eraser end to press down on the tender point for about 90 seconds. As you press down, rotate the eraser to work out the muscle while simultaneously relaxing the area by taking deep breaths.

Positional release therapy breaks the pattern of pain in the muscle, melting away tightness. When you hold the eraser down on the spot, it signals your nerves to relax that spasm of pain, providing the instant relief your body needs." Video of this technique can be found here.

The article goes on to say that through yoga practice and core strengthening exercises (Pilates, anyone?), you can help prevent many aches and pains.

Microwave Popcorn Without All the Gook

I love popcorn. But, I read all this stuff about the microwave popcorn, what it had in it (hydrogenated fat, artificial colors and flavors and recently there was something called "popcorn lung" in the news -- a man who worked in a factory that produced microwave popcorn and developed problems breathing from all the chemicals he inhaled from the chemicals in the popcorn bag.  A while back, I bought myself a microwave popcorn popper, in which I could just put popcorn kernels, throw it in the microwave and they would pop without all the gunk that comes with the microwavable stuff.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a segment on Rachel Ray's show. Rachel Beller, the nutritionist from the Biggest Loser was on. She showed us all what it looked like inside of a bag of microwave popcorn.   You use popcorn kernels and put them in a brown paper bag!  It's the heat that pops them. So, here is how you do it.

1. Put a 1/4 cup of kernels into a brown paper bag. 
2. To close, fold over the top two times.
3. Put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes.  Listen for the the popping to slow down just like you would for the microwave stuff to tell when its done.
4.  If you want to season, spray with some natural oil spray (she used oil she put in a sprayer, like a Misto) and season with some garlic salt, or cinnamon sugar, or even plain salt.

I still have my bowl, which works just fine, but I would be interested in hearing how this works for people if anyone is interested in trying it.  Not only is this better for you, it is cheaper, about 35 cents to do the above.

Rachel Beller had some other tips for more healthful eating, you can click here.

Quick one for the weekend!

Hi All: Thought this might be a nice one for the weekend. If your here in Chicago the weather is supposed to be kind of rainy. For those who may be going passed Red Box kiosks, here are some codes for movies. Information will go in the following order: Promotional/Coupon Code (all caps), Restrictions (if any), Expiration.

1. DVDONME, Unknown
2. BREAKROOM,Unknown
3. DVDATWAG,Only at Walgreens,Unknown
4. DVDKROG, Only at Kroger stores,Unknown
5. DVDATWEG,Only at Wegman locations,Unknown
6. DVDATMAC,Only at McDonald's Restaurants, Unknown
7. DRIVEIN, Only at Sonic locations,Unknown
8. N6TRWTV, Blu-ray movies for $0.50 per night,Unknown
9. 4J63HM5, Unknown
10.MZJRQKVD3,Unknown
11.7MWW6JHN,Unknown
12.COOL3, Unknown

  . . . . Enjoy!

P.S. If you are near a Blockbuster kiosk, you can go to http://www.blockbusterkiosk.com/ for coupons and codes.

Short But Very Cool Post

Hi all-

My sister sent me the link to this You Tube video.  I guess if you are going to drink water from the water bottles you buy, its good to have another use for them.....

Finally---Vinegar Part III

It's taken a little longer than I thought--but here is part III of Uses for Vinegar from the All You article.  I found out one of my readers tried the vinegar to kill weeds on her deck.  So nice to give useful information.  : )   And, remember these are  all using white vinegar unless otherwise stated.  Here we go with the last installment...

1.  Erase crayon.  Dip a toothbrush in vinegar and gently scrub. The vinegar will break down the wax without doing damage to the wall.

2.  Renew a loofah.  Get rid of soap residue by  soaking it in equal parts vinegar and water.

3.  Sticky stuff from stickers.  Apply vinegar to  the gunk and let it sit for a few minutes and the stick stuff should come right up.  Works on the stick stuff on scissors too.

4.  Prepping the grill.  This one is a little late in the season, but those who have charcoal grills. Spray vinegar on balled up aluminum foil and scrub the grate thoroughly.

5.  Restore shower shower pressure.  Soak the shower head in a 1/2 cup of vinegar and a quart of water for 15 minutes and the mineral deposits will dissolve right off.

6.  Unclogging a drain.  This is one of my favorites and it looks a little like a science project.  Pour 1 cup of baking soda and follow with 1 cup of vinegar.  The products will bubble and foam and then wash it all down with a pot of boiling water.

There a bunch of other ideas in the article but these were the highlights.  Hope some of these work for you and go to All You to for other ideas with vinegar.