WOW, what a list, Sylvia. Don't think I can add anything to it.

Sylvia, thanks. You not only gave helpful hints, you gave me something to do. I printed them out now I'm pasting them in my folder.
Thank you
jolana

Sylvia great tips, I've got a big problem with ant's and I'm going to put out some corn meal ASAP.
Only tip I can add is how to make cheap gardening stakes, I use wire clothes hangers, I cut the j hook off at the bottom of the twist, then straighten hanger out with a pair of pliers, then I bend one end of the hanger about 1 1/2 to 2 inches from the top making a hook to hold the stem. Maybe I should bring one to show how it's done at the swap?

I finally remembered one I use. Vinager instead of expensive Enzimes (Nature's Miracle) for accidents from dog or cats. I had an in-home inspection to get one of my puppies and the lady couldn't believe I had so many animals and no animal smell.It really works.PJ

When making potato salad, boil your eggs and potatoes in the same pot. I thought everyone did this, until my ex DIL commented on it years ago.

When fixing hamburgers for very little ones, spread the meat on both sides of a burn and put on the grill. The "meat" will be cooked to the bun and won't slide out.

Any oil, mayo or whatever applied to the hair at night and then washed out in the am will kill lice. Use dawn dishsoap to wash it out. Tally HO!

Hair conditioner can also be used on the body...pour a bit in your hands & rub into your skin. Leave on a few seconds; a quick rinse leaves your skin oh so smooth.

One of the most expensive Spa's used to make their own tanning lotion with hair conditioner & strong tea...not that I ever had the big bucks to go, but a friend did & shared the "recipe."

Suzi (who loves helpful hints)

When making homemade mashed potatoes add mayonnaise along with milk, butter, and other ingredients it makes them SO fluffy and creamy! use however much u want to make it as creamy and deklicous as you want! I thought this is how everyone made their taters until i tasted someones mashed taters with just butter and milk! lets just say they were awful!

To find the freshest loaf of bread look at the color of the twist tie! the xchart goes like this:
if stocked on...
Monday=Blue
Tuesday=Green
Thursday=Red\Friday=White
Saturday=Yellow!

~LiLKCBabe

Ten Alternative uses for Bananas By DIY Maven
People are using bananas to make some weird stuff, let me tell you. But, in the interest of spreading the knowledge, from the not-so-odd to the head scratchers, here goes:

10. Aphid deflector: Burying dried or cut-up bananas peels a few inches deep around the base of your rosebushes to detract aphids.

9. Fertilizer: Potassium rich, bananas are great for us as well as our gardens. Dry out leftover peels over the winter months. In the spring grind them up with a food processor or blender and use them as mulch when transplanting new plants or seedlings to give them a boost. Dont feel like drying out and processing the peels? No worries; just bury them in your compost pile.

8. Butterfly and bird charmer: Most people I know either throw away overripe bananas or make banana bread out of them. An alternative to these might be to place the blackened Ânanners on a raised platform out in your yard. ItÂll attract birds and butterfliesÂas well as bees and wasps, thus the raised platform.

7. Face mask: Mash up a medium-sized banana, OR combine 1/4 cup plain yogurt, 2 tablespoons honey and 1 medium-sized banana, OR combine 1 egg yolk, 2 tsp. almond oil and 1 medium-sized banana. Apply one of these mixtures to your face and neck and leave on for 20 minutes. Wash off with cool water and pat dry.

6. Leather polish: Use the inside of a de-stringed banana peel for a quick shoe shine. Finish up with a buff using a soft cloth or paper towel. The same technique is said to work for silver too.

5. Roast Tenderizer: Toss a peeled Ânanner into the pan the next time you think your roast might turn out a little tough.

4. Houseplant cleaner: Wipe your houseplant leaves down with the inside of a banana peel to remove dirt and leave a shine.

3. Ointment: Rubbing scrapped knees with the inside of a banana peel will help promote healing.

2. Wart Curative: Got a wart? Rub it with the inside of a banana peel. The potassium-rich peel is supposed to get rid of the wart.

1. Teeth whitener: Liam McGinlay says heÂs been using the inside of banana peels on a daily basis to whiten his teeth for the past two years. He rubs the peels in a circular motion across his teeth for about 2 minutes. He says the effects should be seen in as little as 2 weeks.

Use Pine Sol to remove ink stains from clothes. Pour a few drops on the stain and rub it in, the stain will dissolve.

If you have a lot of minerals in your tap water, use vinegar to dissolve buildup around sinks and fixtures. I also recycle the filters for my cool mist humidifier by soaking them in a cup of vinegar after each use to remove mineral salts buildup.

Cheryl

Here's another one: Moth balls in a sock under the hood of any vehicle parked outdoors will repel squirrels, rats and other rodents that get in there and chew the coating off wires and hoses. Cost me over $400 in repairs to Big Red and the guy told me that he'd seen a rash of similar damages to vehicles that were regularly parked outside.

DH doesn't like the smell either so he stays away from my truck too. Unexpected benefit!!

I also put a sock of mothballs in my potting shed to keep the rats out of there. So far this winter I haven't seen any sign of rats or mice so I guess it's working. Cheryl

"DH doesn't like the smell either so he stays away from my truck too. Unexpected benefit!!"

snork!

Aloevera juice is a very well known natural remedy to control heartburn.

I love the idea of using the hair conditioner for shaving legs. I need to try that one.

My husband has used dryer sheets in his pockets when he is out camping and it does work to keep the mosquitoes away.

Baby oil is great to remove the oil sludge from your skin that you sometimes get down at the beach (and most of us are avoiding many beaches along the Gulf for that very reason!) We found this out last summer when we were down by Corpus Christi and one of my boys had it on his legs.

Brunettes - Use soy sauce as a rinse in your hair to enrich the natural color. Comb it through your hair and let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse.

I need to add this list of helpful hints link to my favorites so I can pop back and refer to it later. Thanks everyone for posting these great ideas!

I would also like to add, as a preventative measure against lice. Put tea tree oil in your child hair after cleaning, use a dime size amount and work it through damp hair. My girls loved the smell & there hair looked beautiful the next day.

This thread is so old I'd forgotten a lot of the tips, & I bet y'all have some new ones to add, too!

OMG, reading the names on this list......where is everyone???? I hope they aren't ill, that was the only thing that kept me away, well that and a weirdo , lol

Well, the list is 900 miles long, so everyone may be "tipped" & "hinted" out!

but we can't remember everything, so it's good to re-read this & similar hints.

I took a vacation and my husband took in a stray itty bitty kitten that someone dropped off. It and my cats are riddled with fleas. The house is swamped with the nasty things.. I am Dawn soaping it on everything moving or not moving , but NOW I think I better oil and dawn soap my own head . This is so YUCKY and we have never had fleas before. I am making it up as I go.

Sympathies to you, girl. We had some success with DE sprinkled on the carpet and vacuumed the next day and repeated for 4 weeks. Everything washable needs to be laundered.

You need to think about treating the cats with Frontline or Advantage II.

Oh yuck, but what a sweet man your dh is. Another thing you can do is turn on a nighlight and put a pan of water under it. The fleas jump to the light and land in the water and drown. Google it to see if you put anything else in the water.

We adopted a cat from the animal shelter once, and it was covered with fleas. The vet had a spray that he used on it, and no more fleas. You may have to fog or bomb your house to get them under control if you have it bad.