CLEVER USES FOR TOOTHPASTE

Toothpaste, it’s not just for shining those pearly whites. Here are a few other uses for toothpaste.

· If one of your kids gets hold of a crayon and mistakes your wall for a coloring book, attack it with some toothpaste on a rag. The gritty texture of the toothpaste will cut through the waxy residue.

· Toothpaste is a much more wall-friendly way to hang posters in your teen’s room than using tape. Apply a dab of toothpaste to the corners of the poster and position in place. When it’s time to change out the poster for the next band du jour, peel off the poster and wash away the toothpaste residue with a damp cloth.

· Most colleges require a deposit for dorm rooms, just in case your darlings do damage. If they’ve put holes in the wall from nailing up pictures and other items, use toothpaste as a calk to plug up those holes and avoid losing your deposit.

· Toothpaste also makes a great jewelry polish. Use a soft brush or your fingers and rinse your baubles in warm water. One caveat: don’t try this on delicate jewelry or pearls!

· Were you cooking with garlic and now can’t get the smell out of your fingers? Lather up your hands with some toothpaste to eliminate the odor.

· Mint toothpaste is an excellent way to soothe the itch of a bug bite. Apply a small amount directly to the bite for relief.

MONEY MATTERS WITH SHEILA--STAIN REMOVAL

Removing Deodorant Stains

Over the course of your lifetime, how many shirts have you tossed due to unsightly underarm deodorant stains? Too many, right? Next time, before you discard that top, try this trick:

Sponge some white vinegar on the stain. Leave for thirty minutes. Then, using a detergent with bleach alternative, wash the blouse in water as hot as is safe for the fabric. 

MONEY MATTERS WITH SHEILA--DON'T TOSS THAT CARPET!

Uh-oh!
(Photo by Simona Nováková)

Last week Janice offered some advice for preventing cat hairballs. Keeping with the pet theme, let’s talk today about that other pet problem that has plagued all us pet owners from time to time—accidents. It’s bad enough when Puss in Boots or Snoopy piddles on the linoleum, but it’s ten times worse when the accident occurs on carpeting. A hundred times worse when it’s wall-to-wall carpeting because the urine seeps down into the padding. Shampoo as much as you want, you’re not going to get that smell out once it’s trapped in the carpet padding. Many a homeowner has had to replace carpeting thanks to her pet’s lack of bladder control. But wait! Before you spend hundreds of dollars on new carpeting, try this trick:

Fill a syringe with white vinegar, and inject the vinegar through the carpet into the carpet pad. Make sure you hit all the smelly areas. The vinegar should neutralize the urine, eliminate the odor, and save you from having to replace your carpet. Unless that carpet is  orange shag from the 1970's. In that case, you might want to go ahead and replace it. ;-)