Home & Garden Handy Home Hints

[Chief]

What smart tricks have you invented lately to help tackle household tasks?


I just had to clean up tape residue from some tape that had been holding in place an interior piece of the door of my White Kluger.

The stuff had gone gloopy and just smeared instead of wiping off. Then smeared on anything that you touched afterwards.

To make it non-sticky I made a paste of bicarb soda and water, and rubbed that into the glue.

That made the residue completely unsticky, and also absorbed those nasty refrigerator odours that any car owner will recognise.

 

[edgie]

What kind of Kluger chief?

 

[raskolnikov]

A friend of mine had a Kluger and got the number plate "Freddy" (Kreguer).

 

[Chief]

What kind of Kluger chief?

The white kind.

 

[Plugger35]

I will ask my cleaner when she is at my place next week but she told me that bicarb soda and vinegar is good for cleaning toilets.

 

[raskolnikov]

I will ask my cleaner when she is at my place next week but she told me that bicarb soda and vinegar is good for cleaning toilets.

That's what I use. Good for sinks too.

 

[Shell]

How do you clean a bath properly please. Like I want it to be so bright white you need sunglasses to look at it

 

[the_interloper]

The white kind.

Pauline Hanson likes this

 

[jim boy]

The white kind.

This your car? You might need something a bit more than bicarb

 

[PoppedCorn]

How do you clean a bath properly please. Like I want it to be so bright white you need sunglasses to look at it

porcelain?
Mix baking soda with water to form a paste, apply it to the tub, let it sit for 15-20 minutes before scrubbing with a soft sponge or cloth.

if not try vinegar and equal parts warm water, same instructions

 

[Billy ray]

sprinkle bicarb on a damp scourer sponge and wipe your shower screens to remove hard water stains

 

[Gough]

Dropped a litre bottle of olive oil onto the floor which obviously broke and I remembered an old pub cleaner who told me the best thing for oil on the floor is washing up liquid because the degreasing agent in it for the for the pans works just as well on the floor. Came up a treat and smells like apples.

 

[74561347]

 

[Pacman77]

For laundry, add borax and washing soda.. both are natural boosters with their own properties which means you can use less of the more expensive commercial products. Borax is very good for odour removal and washing soda for stains, grease and oils. For heavily soiled clothes, I pre soak them in a strong solution of washing soda and warm water overnight, rinse them off then throw into the washing machine.

In the kitchen, to remove burnt deposits on ceramic and glass cookware simply fill the dish with hot water and add a couple of spoonfuls of washing soda then let it sit for a few hours or even overnight. Once done, the deposits should wipe straight off with a paper towel and no harsh scrubbing required. Wouldn't recommend using this on teflon coated surfaces for obvious reasons.

For those who are not aware - baking soda (sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3) and washing soda (sodium carbonate Na2CO3) are not the same thing, washing soda is lethal if ingested in large amounts, not to mention with a ph of 11 it will do more than just clean your insides out.

When using powerful cleaners - be it acidic or caustic/alkaline , it pays to understand a bit of chemistry just in case of an emergency. Fast acting oven cleaning sprays or caustic soda can be devastating on exposed skin as I once found out from a split glove.. in that situation I doused the burnt skin with vinegar and water which didn't repair the damage, but chemically neutralized the caustic burn from going deeper.

 

[the_interloper]

Putting your pants on one leg at a time is way easier.

 

[raskolnikov]

Dropped a litre bottle of olive oil onto the floor which obviously broke and I remembered an old pub cleaner who told me the best thing for oil on the floor is washing up liquid because the degreasing agent in it for the for the pans works just as well on the floor. Came up a treat and smells like apples.

I always put some dishwashing liquid in the bucket when doing my floors. I use a combo of dishwashing liquid, methylated spirits and eucalyptus oil for my polished floorboards.

 

[Chief]

Putting your pants on one leg at a time is way easier.

Ease the process with a liberal coating of bicarb soda and olive oil.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Dropped a litre bottle of olive oil onto the floor which obviously broke and I remembered an old pub cleaner who told me the best thing for oil on the floor is washing up liquid because the degreasing agent in it for the for the pans works just as well on the floor. Came up a treat and smells like apples.

What kind of floor ?

You can get rid of old fatty oil by putting tin foil in the sink and make a groove where the plug goes then pour in the groove.Wait till it goes hard then wrap into a ball and put in bin.

 

[Billy ray]

I pour leftover oil or fat into a container i put in freezer. Freezes solid. Bin night i pop it out like an ice cube into the bin

 

[HairyO]

Not quite a smart trick but no idea where else to put this. I got an email from AGL saying my controlled load timing (hot water service, etc.) will change from overnight to during the day. The email claimed there would be no extra cost.

Except there is an extra cost. During the summer months the daytime rate is significantly higher. So for me it jumps from 26c/kwh to 36c/kwh. So my hot water service cost would go up 40%.

Its fine for people on solar because energy is free during the day in summer, but for half the country they are yet again being screwed because of the ridiculous money being gifted to rich people to still solar on their roof.

So check your emails and contact your energy provider and say no to this.

 

[rocker_oz33]

The solar scheme nothing like what it used too.

We are still getting money back .tho.
But Mrs R dad was complaining what he getting back.

During a cloudy less sun day Mrs R I'm not allowed to use the oven...

 

[Mofra]

Spray a mixture of water and dishwashing liquid after you silicone a gap and the silicone won't stick to the surface when you smooth it/clean it.

Use match sticks inserted into the wood to make a hole "smaller" to drill screws into it and it will hold more firmly.

You can quickly recharge your mobile phone in the microwave.

 

[Pacman77]

Spray a mixture of water and dishwashing liquid after you silicone a gap and the silicone won't stick to the surface when you smooth it/clean it.

Use match sticks inserted into the wood to make a hole "smaller" to drill screws into it and it will hold more firmly.

You can quickly recharge your mobile phone in the microwave.

First 2 i'm quite familiar with.. but the 3rd????? i'll give it a go when they shut down the 4g network!

 

[CD Xbow]

DIY Garden Sculptures

I've been experimenting with using premixed acrylic cement render over polystyrene foam core for making garden statues, in fact any sort of statues. Foam can be cut, carved or stuck together for complex shapes. Make sure you use glues friendly to polystyrene, standard liquid nails is not suitable. The great thing about it is you can ditch the foam and use just about anything - old toys, pots, showroom dummies, 3D printed parts etc.

Cement render can be filed, carved, cut, sanded, molded, built up it layers. Need to wear a mask if making dust.

I've done a garden statue of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love (and war!) About 60% human size. I used the Burney Relief as my model, it's from about 1800 BC. Mine is free standing and I had to sculpt her back. I wasted a lot of time enjoying making her buttocks only to find her wings covered most of them.

​

Mostly polystyrene foam core, rendered with acrylic cement render. Hand and feet 3D printed, then rendered. She is actually Mk II, the first had hands and feet carved from polystyrene and the digits kept breaking off. You need a cross section of a couple of cms for longer, thin parts, less than that and they break readily. Time for a different material.

It is recorded Gilgamesh fiercely rejects Ishtar for marriage and she is enraged and gets her father Anu to punish Gilgamesh by killing his best friend. She should have a thread on the crime board.

 

[Pacman77]

DIY Garden Sculptures

I've been experimenting with using premixed acrylic cement render over polystyrene foam core for making garden statues, in fact any sort of statues. Foam can be cut, carved or stuck together for complex shapes. Make sure you use glues friendly to polystyrene, standard liquid nails is not suitable. The great thing about it is you can ditch the foam and use just about anything - old toys, pots, showroom dummies, 3D printed parts etc.

Cement render can be filed, carved, cut, sanded, molded, built up it layers. Need to wear a mask if making dust.

I've done a garden statue of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love (and war!) About 60% human size. I used the Burney Relief as my model, it's from about 1800 BC. Mine is free standing and I had to sculpt her back. I wasted a lot of time enjoying making her buttocks only to find her wings covered most of them.

View attachment 2405047​

Mostly polystyrene foam core, rendered with acrylic cement render. Hand and feet 3D printed, then rendered. She is actually Mk II, the first had hands and feet carved from polystyrene and the digits kept breaking off. You need a cross section of a couple of cms for longer, thin parts, less than that and they break readily. Time for a different material.

It is recorded Gilgamesh fiercely rejects Ishtar for marriage and she is enraged and gets her father Anu to punish Gilgamesh by killing his best friend. She should have a thread on the crime board.

how does it hold up outdoors? Have you tried using flexi point compound in the mixture to stop cracking? Not sure if it's compatible with the acrylic cement.. but it's just a thought.