Use vinegar to clean instead of chemicals
We have enough chemicals in our lives. You can cut a few out by reaching for the vinegar.
A solution of half white distilled vinegar and half water in a spray bottle was all that was recommended by installers to keep my new glass shower enclosure clean.
And you know what?
It works.
Here are some more tips to try with vinegar:
• Fabric softener: This works, and your clothes won’t smell like vinegar, either. Vinegar is a go-to in the garment trade for giving cottons a worn and vintage softness. One cup in the rinse load is all you need.
• Unclog the coffee pot: If mineral deposits are clogging up your coffee pot and slowing down the brew cycle, run a few cycles with vinegar. Note: Take the pot outside before you brew or it will stink up the entire house. I run it through twice, outdoors with a paper filter to catch the calcium deposits. Run a rinse cycle with water.
• Remove pet smells: If you ever have the opportunity to get old flooring or carpet up, mop your foundation with vinegar to remove pet smells that may still linger in the subfloor and continue to reek even with new flooring.
• Shine pennies: Here’s a fun one for the kids. Shine up pennies like new by soaking them for a few hours or overnight in distilled vinegar. Rinse, then dry.
• Acidify your soil: Acid-loving plants like blueberries, Japanese maples and hydrangeas can benefit from a weak solution of vinegar applied to the soil. The website Vinegartips.com recommends 1 cup of vinegar to 2 gallons of water. Drench the soil with this solution once a year.
— Cindy Mcnatt
Orange County Register
Hints from Heloise:
Most appliance books can be found online
Stan in California writes: In a previous column, a reader suggested leaving the operating instructions to appliances when you move. Here is a hint if you have no idea how to work an appliance and no instruction manual: Most major appliances have a label with the make and model number somewhere on the back or bottom. I have had this problem before, and found that you can go online and find everything from quick tips to full brochures that are free to download. Just go to the manufacturer’s website and look for your model number.
Gina I. in Virginia writes: To remove photographs stuck in a peel-and-stick-type album, try dental floss. Carefully place waxed floss under a corner of the picture and gently “saw” toward the opposite corner. It works great!
— King Features
Barnes & Noble offers free books to students
Once again, Barnes and Noble is offering free books to students who complete a reading log during the summer months.
To participate, students should print the reading log found at the bookseller’s website and read eight books before Sept. 2.
Once this has been completed, students will receive a free book from a pre-determined list.
For more information, visit www.barnesandnoble.com.
— Nicole Paitsel
Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)