Handy Hints for Wednesday ~ 2
Last week I had a good response to the tips I gave. I was pleased to see some put into action. So today I bring you some more.
With the dark colder evenings, the thought of a warm fire gladdens the heart. Pine cones are a simple form of kindling to start a real fire. They heat up quickly and burn for a long time.
To clean a microwave oven, add four tablespoons of lemon juice to one cup water in a microwave-safe, four-cup bowl. Boil for five minutes in the microwave, allowing the steam to condense on the inside walls of the oven. Then wipe them with a soft cloth.
To get more juice from lemons, halve them, heat on high in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds, then squeeze.
Use lemon juice to bleach and soften grubby elbows: place a few drops of baby oil into two lemon halves. Stick elbows in the lemon, tape in place and leave on for 30 minutes.
To clean a stainless steel sink, put the stopper in the sink with 2 denture cleaning tablets and half fill with water, leave for several hours or overnight and the next day it should be sparkling. Then use the water to clean the draining board too. Obviously it doesn’t harm sink (as tested for teeth!) Also, it’s not an irritant like bleach.
I use the last method to clean teapots with a build-up of tannin. One tablet is sufficient and I fill the pot with boiling water and leave overnight.
Primal Sneeze said,
November 19, 2008 at 9:43 am
I’m going to try the sink one tonight.
(Have to get the tablets first … Thank the gods for self-service checkouts).
Grannymar said,
November 19, 2008 at 9:46 am
Hey Sneezy,
Have you no neighbour you could borrow them from?
chrisb said,
November 19, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I’m going to give the sink one a try as I’m always ruining cotton clothes with bleach stains!
kenju said,
November 19, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Denture cleanser works for vases, too. I’ll try it on my sink. I wonder if it would work on the porcelain bathroom sinks, where I have a bit of copper stain?
steph said,
November 19, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Grannymar,
I love all this week’s handy hints but… and it’s a very big BUT…
I can’t get my head around the idea of walking around with lemon halves strapped to my elbows!
Are you having us on
Darlene said,
November 19, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Great hints. I especially like the one for cleaning a stainless steel sink and mine gets a film from the calcium deposit in our hard water. Now to buy denture tablets because, thank God, teeth are one part of my body that are wearing out slower than other parts.
Grannymar said,
November 19, 2008 at 5:55 pm
@ChrisB - It worked on my 38 year old sink!
@Judy - Thanks for the tip about the vases. All I ever used to clean my porcelain bathroom ware was wash-up liquid for dishes, or diluted vinegar! I’d be inclined to try vinegar.
@Steph - Did you not know - they are the latest in ‘fashion’
Surely you spend more than 30 mins doing housework! 
Grannymar said,
November 19, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Darlene
I wonder will the sale of denture tablets shoot up today?
Magpie11 said,
November 19, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I can imagine someone walking around with half lemons over their ears to keep out noise … but elbows?
On 2nd thoughts….large grapefruit shells might make good kneeling pads:-) so lemons might work as elbow pads….
My mother aslways rolled her lemons around and around on the table top before squeezing tham for the same purpose!
Grannymar said,
November 19, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Magpie
I wonder…. would large grapefruit shells get rid of housewives knee?
Starlet Cleaning said,
December 28, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Lemon juice is also a very good natural cleaning agent for tackling limescale. Soak a paper towel in lemon juice and wrap around bathroom or kitchen taps for about an hour. Wash off and repeat if required.