Multitaskers Part 3- The incredible, edible lemon!

Sure, they are awesome to feed to a little kid to watch them make that cute pucker face or to garnish a fresh glass of iced tea, but did you know how many ways you can clean with a lemon? Here is some of the ways you can get more bang for your buck out of a couple of lemons!

1. Delicate fabrics? Soak delicate fabrics in lemon juice for a mild bleaching effect that wont damage fabrics.
2. Dingy white socks? Take 2 lemon halves and put them in a pot of boiling water with the socks to get them super white again!
3. Mildew on clothes? Make an equal parts paste with lemon juice and salt and rub on mildew stains on clothes, let sit, rinse, then launder as usual.
4. Ants in the kitchen? Add the juice of 1 lemon to a gallon bucket of mop water to keep them away. This mixture will also keep cockroaches and fleas at bay also!
5. Got a fireplace? To make your fire smell as good as it sounds throw some lemon peels onto the burning logs.
6. Smelly humidifier? If your humidifier has taken on a funky smell lately you can deodorize it by pouring 3 to 4 teaspoonfuls of lemon juice into the water.
7. Yucky toilet stains? Mix equal parts lemon juice to borax to clean and shine up your toilet. Just swish with a toilet brush then flush, it will also leave a clean citrus smell behind!
8. Water spots on doors? You can easily remove water spots on the metal parts of a shower door with lemon juice! I tried this all over the door but did not like the effects on the glass part so I left it to the metal parts only.
9. Marble stains? If you have beverage stains on marble they can normally be easily removed by rubbing the spots with lemon juice.
10. Chrome looking dull? If your chrome needs shined back to its original sparkle then simply rub it with the inside of a lemon rind.

Bounus Health and Beauty uses To make the luxurious exfoliating scrubs that you find in stores try this the next time you’re in the shower; take the cut half of a lemon and dip in a small container of sugar. Rub on places like your elbows and knees, or anywhere that you develop a dry skin to sloth off dead skin. You could even add baby oil to this concoction to keep skin moisturized and baby smooth! Note; when using lemon on the skin be aware of any small cuts or scrapes you may have since the lemon juice will burn these areas, as well as using baby oil in a shower can cause the shower floor to get slippery quick!

You will notice on these multitasker cleaners that the most they ever need combined with for cleaning is another multitasker or maybe water. This makes them  ideal because 1)you have everything you need on hand to clean a tricky stain without getting an expensive cleaner 2) You are saving a considerable amount of money using items you already have on hand 3) You are helping the environment cause you are not introducing more chemicals into the earth and these items are biodegradable, as well as reducing your carbon footprint because you’re not running out to the store for more cleaners, which in turn reduces your gas consumption. It may just be a little bit in savings at first but the more you make your own cleaners and solutions from these the more it will definitely add up!

Have a great week everyone!

Jessi

The Many Uses for Dryer Sheets

I thought i’d start off the tips with one of my favorite multitaskers, the dryer sheet. Most items I use are multitaskers because, in the immortal words of Alton Brown, “The only unitasker that is in my kitchen is a fire extinguisher!” you just have to love a man that knows his way around a kitchen!

1. Bugs biting you? Stick a dryer sheet in your back pocket and the little critters will stay away.

2. Skirt having static cling issues? Rub a dryer sheet over your pantie hose or inside of skirt to keep static at bay.

3. Still scrubbing the pan from yesterdays meatloaf? Add hot water and a single dryer sheet to the pan and let soak for a half an hour. Rinse pan and easily wipe away remaining spots.

4. TV looking a little fuzzy? Used dryer sheets are great to clean TV and computer screens due to them being soft and they are antistatic, which will have the screens repelling dusts instead of attracting it.

5. Don’t have time for that much needed shoe shine? A used dryer sheet will leave a nice high shine on your shoes after you buff with one

6. Out of dryer sheets and need to dry another load now? People have successfully used dryer sheets up to 3 times with good results! This means you can either cut your dryer sheets in half to double the amount, or store used sheets for their repeat performance. Hint: Use an empty tissue box to stash used sheets in for easy access (and they’re pretty!) an empty baby wipe container works nice also!

7.  Vehicle dashboards looking a little dusty? Use a dryer sheet to clean your dashboard and take advantage of those antistatic properties again. You can use this to get rid of static buildup on the cars cloth interior also. As a bonus, stashing it under a seat or in your sun visor will smell great too!

8.An easier way to clean mini blinds? Use a slightly damp dryer sheet to remove dust and dirt from mini blinds easily.

9. Dust pan not cooperating with you? Rub the inside of your dust pan with a dryer sheet so dirt slides off easily into the garbage can when you are done.

10. Aren’t dryer sheets SEW wonderful? I do not quilt but I have been told by more than one person who does that dryer sheets make a great interfacing when appliqueing a quilt due to them being lightweight and smelling great.

11. Smelly feet, smelly feet, what are they feeding you? Hubby’s boots got a serious case of odor? Then stick a dryer sheet down each boot or shoe and let sit overnight to refresh shoes in between washings. This wont kill the bacteria that causes the odors but it will lessen and mask the odor till you can properly treat them.

12. Love to cross stitch but hate knotted thread? Running your needle and embroidery floss through a dryer sheet will keep the thread from knotting on you while cross stitching.

13. Need a quick way to make the house smell good? Put a dryer sheet in your vacuum cleaner bag  and it will give off the sheets scent as you vacuum due to the heat and air movement.

14. And last but definitely not least- Stash sheets in clothes drawers to give your clothes that just washed scent.

Oh, did I mention you could use them in your dryer too?

If you have any uses you want to add to the list go right ahead!