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1. Are your oven racks too hard too clean? They dont have to be anymore. Soak racks in bath tub. Fill the tub with hot water, add dishwashing detergent and and a little white vinegar. Soak for about an hour. Rinse and presto.

2. Blender need scrubbing? Instead of scrubbing, try this. Fill the blender about 1/2 way with very hot water and add a generous amount of dishwashing liquid. Before turning it on, throw in a couple of medium sized ice cubes, to dislodge any insistent pieces of food.

3. Ashtrays needn't be a cleaning problem. For all ashtrays (except glass or crystal ones) coat the surface with your favorite furniture polish. The protective coating will allow burns and ash build-up to just rinse out.

4. Bleach is good for more than just clothes. Try it on your vinyl floors. You will be suprised how bleach removes stains from it.

5. Does you dresser drawers stick? If they tug back everytime you pull on them, rub a bar of ordinary hand soap on the runners, and they'll move smoothly.

6. Here is a way to make your saw easier to use. A little kerosene on the blade of your hand saw will act as a lubricant and minimize the time you spend on tight cuts.

7. Is your bathtub discolored? It may be from hard water stains. Try covering the tub in paper towels, soaking them in full strength vinegar a couple of hours and you tub will look good as new.

8. Is your shower head clogged? Tiny mineral deposits can easily clog the head. Try boiling it once a month in a solution of white vinegar and water.

9. Ever wonder how to clean your filmy glass shower doors? Try wiping them clean with any furniture polish that has lemon oil. If the film is real heavy, use a steel-wool pad soaked in dishwashing liquid to make the glass sparkle.

10. Got rusty tools? Chances are you just don't use them enough. After cleaning them with a little steel wool, try coating them with a thin topping of petrolium jelly, and they'll never rust again.

11. Do your windows rattle? Most old windows do. If yours rattle, here's a quick hint that'll stop all the racket. Just lightly glue ordinary foot "corn pads" to the frames, and they will be alot quieter.

12. Want your screws to screw in easier? Tired of struggling with screws that don't want to screw in? Push your screws into a bar of hand soap first, before inserting.

13. Are your throw rugs a mess? Between washings, spruce up your rugs by tossing them into the dryer, on a no heat setting. The dirt will fly out of them, and you'll never beat another rug again.

14. Do you have scratches on your furniture? Just make up a thick paste of your favorite instant coffee and a little water, and rub it into the nicks and scratches on your dark wood furniture. Your furniture will look new and beautiful.

15. Did your frost free freezer get dirty? Just because it doesn't ice up doesn't mean it doesn;t get dirty or collect odors. Mix a 1/2 cup of isopropyl alcohol with a dishpan full of lukewarm water. The alcohol will loosen any icy matter and sponge away dirt and odors. But best of all, alcohol evaporates very fast, so you don't have to dry.

16. Want to know how to keep your painted cement floors from peeling? Before you paint them, try this. Pour a bottle of white vinegar in a bucket and "paint" your floors with it first. After the vinegar dries, apply a coat of paint. This will work on most metal surfaces too.

17. Try this to paint your old wrought iron furniture. All those little details will ruin a brush, but from now on just use an old kitchen sponge and dab the paint on.

18. Does your throw rugs bunch up or won't stay on floor? Try double-edged masking tape on on the corners of the undersurface of your rugs. It will keep those throws in place.

19. Painting tips- Ever had those loose bristles on your paint bursh stick to the wall and ruin your paint job?
Just run an old hair comb thru the brush before you use it. It'll rid the stray *hairs* and assure a spotless paint job.

20. Cleaning wicker? Try spraying your favorite dusting or furniture polish onto an inexpensive paint brush.
It'll easily get those hard-to-reach dust specks and best of all, it'll take less time.

21. Cleaning the oven is no fun- Just sponge on a generous amount of household ammonia before you go to bed,
and close the oven door. The next morning, let the oven air out, and then wipe it clean with no fuss or mess.

22. Is your brick fireplace discolored? Usually this discoloring is caused by smoke and soot and the heat of the fire
literally bakes it on. Simple to clean! Just use a spray-on oven cleaner. Your bricks will be clean again in no time.

23. Have aluminum lawn furniture? Just coat the aluminum with paste wax, the kind you use on your car, at the beginning of every season. It wont pit or scar, and it will look newer longer.

24. Fingerprints on wood furniture? After waxing a wood surface, rub a little corn starch into the surface. It'll remove any excess wax and keep your surface from showing prints and smudges.

25. Musty smelling storage drawers? Try placing an old, shallow dish filled with baking soda at the rear of the drawer. The baking soda will absorb those odors, and keep your drawers smelling fresh. Baking soda will work in closets too.And in your refridgerator.

26. Dirty dishwasher? What to do? Well, once more, simple powdered laundry bleach is the solution. Just use it instead of your dishwasher detergent in an empty machine. Not only will it clean away stains, but it will disinfect too.

27. Has your refridgerator lost its shine? Ordinary washings and scrubbings may get it clean, but they'll leave a dull finish. Try washing it in a mild solution of vinegar and water. Apply it with an old, soft cloth rag, such as a discarded t-shirt. It'll cut the grease, and shine the surface.

28. Is your kitchen sink rust stained? If you have a steel sink, it's easy to gather rust stains.
Scrubbing may not be the answer. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water, leaving it on the stains while you go shopping. When you return, buff the entire sink in the paste with a damp cloth, and then rinse. Your stains will be gone.

29. Stove top dull from cleaning and scrubbing? Try a little liquid car polish and a damp cloth to brighten the enamel or metal. It'll also help the food and grease to come off more easily.

30. Polishing chrome can be easy. Just take a small sheet of aluminum foil. Turn the shiniest inside out. Dampen the chrome with water and polish with the foil. As you *polish* the chrome with the tin-foil, it'll turn black. But your chrome will shine like it did when it was new.

31. Wondering how to clean wood shavings off your file or rasp? A little masking tape will work wonders. Just cover the length of the file, press, and pull of those shavings.It's easy as one, two, three.

32. Here's a way to prevent lime deposits from building up in your humidifier. Just drop an old copper scouring pad into the water container.

33. Cleaning venetian blinds? Hang in shower, turn on the water, and let the shower do the work.
No more hours of work or painful cuts, and best of all, you can even let them drip dry.

34. Does your locks stick? Almost nothing is more frustrating than a lock that sticks. Just dust a little talcum powder into the sticking to loosen it.

35. Dull razor blades? Try sharpening it on the striking edge of an old match book cover.

36. Have small holes in your windows? If you have tiny holes in your window panes, and were considering
replacing the whole piece of glass, think again. Alittle clear nail polish will seal the hole, and will be almost invisible.

37. Wondering how to keep screws from coming loose? Put a little drop of clear nail polish into the hole before you
finish tightening the screw, and you'll never have to worry about that screw popping loose.

38. Is your toilet bowl stained and ugly? Get rid of those stains with regular laundry bleach. If the stains are
on the side of bowl above water level, simply soak paper towels in the bleach and plaster them over the stain.

39. Don't let lint get you down when you clean your glass top tables. Just add a capful of any fabric softener to a bucket of warm, clear water. After you wash the glass, rinse them with this mixture, they will be sparkling and lint free. This works on plexi glass too.

40. Messy fireplace? Use a plant mister to dampen the ashes before you sweep them out. It will keep them ashes from flying all around you room.

41. Cleaning out door grill? Just place grill in a large plastic garbage can and cover it generously with industrial strength detergent. Fill the can with water, and soak overnight, Almost all the baked-on dirt will hose right off when you rinse it.

42. Ice cubes stick together? Dump cubes into a brown paper bag before sticking them in freezer, and you're guaranteed not to get stuck with an iceberg.

43. Keep your cakes *hole* free. After you've finished mixing up the batter for your cake, just run a knife thru your batter. It will get out the air holes.

44. Love popcorn? Keep the kernals cold in your frig until just before your ready to throw them in the hot oil.
This will eliminate almost all the uncooked kernals.

45. Everyone loves chicken soup... But in this hectic world, who has time to make it the old fashioned way.
What's more who has time to clean up all the mess during the cooking. Well, you dont have too. And with almost no cleanup. Just put your whole chicken, vegetables, herbs, spices, whatever, into a disposable chesecloth bag. All the goodness will strain out through the pourous cloth, and the messy glop will stay in, and be easily taken care of at cleanup time.

46. Cleaning brass? Coat your freshly polished brass with a little wood finishing oil, say, tung oil.
It'll make the shine last 3 times as long. NOTE: Don't fret how to clean the oil back off your brass, a little paint thinner on a soft, cotton cloth wiped over the surface of the brass removes the oil. Afterwards, you're ready to poilsh it, oil it, and sit back for another couple of months.

47. Typewriter keys smudged and dirty? A little nail polish remover and an old toothbrush are the perfect cleaning duo to keep those keys tapping.

48. Hanging plants are an attractive plus to any room. However, if you're like us, you probably don't like the clunky chains, rope, or macrame necessary to hang those little green beauties. Well, we've got a solution. Nylon fishing line is strong enough to support even large plants and best of all, it's clear.

49. Lost contact lenses: Make the room as dark as possible, and then shine a flashlight over the floor. The lens will glow.

50. How to get kids (and some grown-ups) to take nasty tasting pills ot liquid medicine: Suck on an ice cube to numb the tastebuds. Medicines will become practically tasteless.

51. Safety first! Try this when discarding dry cleaner plastic bags. Tie them in knots before you put them in the garbage. Make sure small animals and children can't entangle themselves.

52. How to bathe small babies in large bathtubs: Place a plastic clothes basket in the tub. Water will be able to flow in and out of the basket and baby will feel more secure.

53. Do away with expensive commercial handwipes. Simply mix three caps of baby shampoo with a spray bottle full of water. It works just as well, and costs less.

54. Going on a long trip with small infants? Instead of packing or stopping to buy fresh milk, simply pack dry milk crystals in a plastic bag. When feeding time comes around, mix 1/3 bottle of crystals with water filled to the 8 oz. line on bottle.

55. Woops! There goes baby... To prevent loss of child from high-chair, simply apply textured appliques (the kind you used in bathtubs will do) to the chair back of the seat.

56. How to change the pleat in your slacks. Dip a cloth in solution of 1/4 cup white vinegar and 2 cups water. Wring thoroughly and cover old pleat. Press with low setting on steam iron.

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