Do you know these quick, inexpensive and easy home improvement tips? Most take less than 15 minutes.
1. Get rid of bath tub stains. Mix equal parts of tarter sauce and baking soda and combine with enough lemon juice to make a paste. Rub stain with a cloth. Wait an hour, then rinse off. Use any remaining mixture on your fried shrimp.
2. Clean a crystal chandelier. Mix 1 part vinegar and 3 parts distilled water. Wet a pair of cotton cloth gloves and use them to wipe the crystal pieces (chandelier should be cool). Now replace with dry gloves and wipe off the liquid. Gee, I used to spray them with Windex and just let ‘em drip dry. Oh, well.. live and learn.
3 . Peeling wallpaper fix. We’ve all seen this, usually at the seems. Use a knife or plastic spatula to spread wallpaper paste on a piece of white writing paper. Slip the writing paper under the peeled piece and press the wallpaper against the wall, slipping out the writing paper as you do so. Smooth with a cloth to remove any air bubbles. Now that wood paneling wall paper looks like the real thing.
4. Cleaning dirty decanters. Fill decanter halfway with hot water. Add a few drops of dishwasher liquid, 2 tablespoons white vinegar and a cup of uncooked rice. Swirl it all around to remove the residue. Pour out and rinse with hot water. Air-dry. Or just toss that dirty old thing away. More home vinegar uses here.
5. Unstick sliding windows. Spray silicone spray lubricant on a cloth and apply to the rails. Works on metal, plastic and wood. Slick.
6. Remove linoleum scuff marks. Rub the scuff with toothpaste and wipe with cloth or use an eraser. (Use toothpaste to fill the picture holes in stucco walls too). You can also spray WD-40 on the scuff mark. Just make sure you degrease the area to prevent a slip and fall case filed against you. After removing the scuff, ask yourself why you still have linoleum.
7. Remove paste on bath decals. You know the ones in the shower stall or bath, often in the shape of flowers. Spray on WD-40 to loosen the sides. Then getter under there with a spatula or use your credit card (thankful you didn’t have to pay someone).
8. Silence squeaky doors. Simply apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly to the hinge. Wait til after Halloween.
9. Fix a jammed garbage disposal. Do not use a chemical drain cleaner (or your hands). Watch video here. I have been successful just turning a broom handle in the drain. Or sometimes it’s as easy as pushing the red reset button at the bottom of the unit.
10. The green way to unclog a drain. Save the Liquid Plumber expense– just add vinegar and baking soda and cover for 15 minutes. The baking soda and vinegar will have a chemical reaction and blow up your sink, unclogging it. Just kidding. The clog will dissolve. Rinse with hot water. Repeat if necessary.
Bonus: Stain Removal Guide
Marketing Tip: Real estate agents and brokers can supplement calendar and magnet mailings with a How To Guide, a restaurant guide or any useful reference guide. These are more likely to be kept and used in the home– with your smiling face attached to it.
Sources: Real Simple; Heloise; eHow (our favorite how-to website. Include it on your sidebar and your readers will thank you)
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Technorati Tags: household repair, home improvement, dyi, how to, tips, real estate
I use number 10 all the time, works great. But, sometimes I have to do it twice. Thanks for the other tips.
Great homeimprovement answers to critical questions.
Thanks for the tips. I like them because they’re really simple, and anybody can use them. The first one is especially meaningful, because I do love shrimp!
Brian Wilson, Zolve.com
Nice list. Sometimes the easier, cheaper solutions really are just as effective (or more so).
Love it! They work and are simple to do. Good, timely post.
Thanks!
Hydrogen peroxide works great for getting out carpet stains. Apply slowly with a Q tip.
I must say that you these tips show that you made a lot of research towards home repair and anybody who will use these tips and trick for his home improvement will surely save his or her money and get the best results.
Great list of very handy tips!
Nothing annoys me more than a squeaky door!! aarrgh! haha
It’s amazing how well bicarb of soda and lemon juice work on so many cleaning jobs around the home. There just isn’t any real need for using chemical cleaners which are linked to asthma anyway.
Thanks for the tip, April. Can you use artificial lemon juice? The real things are very expensive on the east coast.