Sherri's Helpful Hints

More Household Hints

Rust Stains
Cover the rust stain with lemon juice followed by salt. Let it dry for an hour, preferably in the sun. Rinse and wash.

Scratches
To cover scratches on dark wood furniture, make a thick paste of instant coffee and a little water. Rub it into the nicks and scratches.

Screws
To help screws screw in more easily, push them into a bar of hand soap before inserting.

If screws become loose and is no longer holding firm, saturate a cotton ball with Elmer's glue. Push the entire cotton ball into the hole. Allow dry at least 24 hours and reinsert the screw gently with a screw driver.

To prevent screws from coming loose, put a drop or two of clear nail polish into the hole before you finish tightening the screw.

Security
Find an old standard or oversized hardcover book. Cut out about a 6-inch x 4" hole in the pages, leaving facing pages front and back. Hide whatever you want in the book, and put it back on the bookshelf.

Shelf liner
Leave a 1-inch square of backing on each corner of Con-tact paper. The paper will lie flat, and it will be easier to remove when you want to change it.

Shoes
If you're at the office and discover that your shoes need a shine. Rub in a bit of hand cream and buff with a tissue.

Shower Doors
To clean glass shower doors, wipe them clean with any furniture polish that has lemon oil. If the film is extremely heavy, use a steel wool pad soaked in dishwashing liquid to make the glass sparkle.

Shower Heads
To clean mineral deposits, boil the shower head once a month in a mild solution of white vinegar and water.

Shower Stalls
To remove heavy shower stall film rub lightly with a plain piece of dry fine steel wool (not the soap-filled variety). Try a patch first to be sure it isn't scratching the tile. If it is, you should use a finer piece of steel wool. As you scour the tile, you will see the scum coming right off. Wash down after the job is completed.

Silver Polish
Use the inside skin of a banana.

If silver polish dries out, add some warm water and stir until creamy. It will work like new.

Use a pipe cleaner dipped in silver polish to remove tarnish from between silver fork tines.

Sinks
To clean a stainless steel sink, make a thick paste of baking soda and water. Leave it on the stains for about 3 hours. Buff the entire sink in the paste with a damp cloth, then rinse.

Use a sponge soaked with vinegar to give stainless steel sinks a shine.

Remove water spots from stainless steel sinks by wiping the sink with a couple of drops of cooking oil on a paper towel.

Snow Shovels
Spray nonstick vegetable spray on the snow shovel and the snow will slide off it easily.

Soap Dish
Use a sponge (and it's washable).

Stains
To remove stains from polyester clothing, rub in a little white toothpaste, then rinse the garment.

To remove stains from wooden furniture, rub toothpaste into the stain, then wipe it off.

Sterling Silver
After cleaning and drying thoroughly, wrap sterling silver in foil, then in a tea towel. Store in a cardboard box. This will keep it sparkling.

Storage
Use a strong glue to glue small jars to the insides of cabinet doors. Then use the jars to store whatever small items you like. Screw the lid on after filling.

To store magazines, cut down a detergent box.

Studs
To find studs in the wall, start from the corner and tap lightly with a hammer. The wall will sound hollow between studs. Most studs are placed 16 to 24 inches apart. When one is located, the rest are easy to find.

Swimming Pools
To avoid slips on the ladder, apply adhesive-backed rubber flowers made for bathtubs.

Throw Rugs
To prevent them from bunching up, put double-edged masking tape on the corners of the under-surface of the rugs.

Toilet Bowl
To remove stains, use regular laundry bleach. If stains are above the water level, soak paper towels in the bleach and plaster them over the stain (just don't flush the paper towels).

Tool Boxes
To keep rust out, slip a piece of charcoal or chalk or a moth ball into the toolbox.

Tools
Clean tools with a little steel wool to remove any rust that may be on them. Then coat them with a thin layer of petroleum jelly. They will never rust again.

Utensils
Drop used fabric-softener paper into the sink with utensils caked with baked-on food. Fill with water and let sit for one hour.

Vases
Clean vases with narrow necks by dampening the inside of the base with water and adding toilet bowl cleaner. Let stand for 10 minutes and stains will disappear.

Vinyl Tiles
For loose vinyl tiles, place a slightly damp cloth over the loose tile. Set iron on "hot" and "iron" the loose tile. The tile adhesive will soon soften. Remove the cloth, lay a dry rag over the tile, and set a pile of heavy books on the tile for about 3 hours.

Wallpaper
If a small area is coming loose, apply a think coating of rubber cement to both the back of the paper and to the wall surface.

Wicker Furniture
Clean wicker furniture by spraying dusting or furniture polish onto an inexpensive paintbrush. It gets to all the hard-to-reach dust specks, and it takes a lot less time.

Windows
Small holes can be repaired by using a little clear nail polish to seal the hole. It will be almost invisible.