HH and DIY tips

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Sock It To Your Miniblinds Place an old tube sock over your hand and spray it with dusting spray. Wipe each miniblind slat from left to right on the top side and reverse on the bottom side to ensure you get all the dust.

If Your Aluminum Kettle Has Turned Black Clean it by filling with water and adding 2 tablespoons cream of tartar (for each quart of water). Boil for approximately 20 minutes and allow to stand until the water is cold. Use a plastic scrub pad to finish up, rinse and it should be ready to use.

Bubbles Disappearing in Bubble Bath? If those wonderful soothing bubbles don't seem to last long enough in your bath, give this hint a try: Soak in the bubbles first for as long as it takes to relax, then use soap for finishing up because soap will cause bubbles to disappear.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Many building materials can be recycled and as dump fees increase, recycling becomes an even more attractive option for homeowners. Paint cans including aerosols can be recycled. Drywall can be recycled. Certain types of nylon carpet can be recycled. Wood (except for pressure treated) can be burned for fuel or shredded for mulch. As a matter-of-fact, very little we throw out needs to go into the landfill. Call your local recycling center for information on what can and cannot be recycled.

Leftovers

There is always leftover parts pieces and materials from home repairs and remodeling. Keeping these things on hand saves trips to the hardware or home center but after a while things start to pile up. Before you decide to pitch it all, consider donating it to a local nonprofit. Habitat for Humanity and similar organizations can put to good use excess building materials. If donation isn't an option, sort things for recycling.

- Stephen Corwin

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Answers

Hubby is a tightwad. :) I like that in him.

Recycle

When we moved into the house, he kept the wood that was the frame for the small greenhouse I had at the old rental house. The wood was weathered beautiful, and he wondered what to use it for.

We needed a wine rack something bad, cause we couldn't keep up with where a specific type of wine was. (Heck, I couldn't even locate a bottle of my favorite!) Anyway, in the washroom, he constructed a beautiful frame that is very sturdy from the wood. He lightly sanded it to take off some of the weathering, but the overall look is great. While I wouldn't display this rack in my livingroom, it is great for the mass storage of wine. We used PVC pipe cut into 2' sections at the old house in a closet for wine storage. He stacked them all in the rack, and we loaded it up all by year and flavor. I can locate my favs quickly, plus it allows us an easy visual as to what is starting to run low so that we can start more.

So far, we have about 9 cases loaded into the rack, and we think it will hold about 9 more.

Don't worry, I don't drink it all, as we give a bunch away.

apoc

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002


Apoc, I am a big fan of PVC pipes, i am making all kinds of things with it, I 'd love to see a picture of the wine rack, if you can.

I am making a 7 foot Kat fence, that angles all with the PVC,,I will do pictures when it works, so far, I have tried 2 other types of containment..and Kitties ARE HARD to contain!

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002


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