Red Wine on the carpet/clothes/couch:
Removing the 'sticky' stuff left by labels on jars:
Remove as much as you can with hot water, leaving only the clear glue. Take a generous amount of baking soda (spoon it on to cover the glue) and with wet hands make it a paste and rub the heck out of it and it will dissolve away. It may take a few goes depending on how stubborn the glue is or how long the label has been on there.
Pour white wine (preferably something cheap and nasty someone has left at your house or given you) onto the area, this will neutralise it and turn it mostly clear. Then pour on a heap of water (completely soak it) and soak up with an old towel. repeat with the water until it has gone- failing this, call you local carpet cleaner (send the invoice to the idiot that spilled it).
~Remember water will not set the stain, however some commercial carpet cleaners actually make it harder for the professionals to get out later!
Removing the 'sticky' stuff left by labels on jars:
Removing ink from clothes:
Left a leaking pen in a shirt pocket? Ink can be removed from clothes, but act fast! Immediately saturate with milk, soak it up with a rag, apply more, rub well, and in a few minutes the ink will disappear.
Cleaning sterling silver:
Sterling silver contains copper, so it will naturally tarnish over time.You can buy silver dips and polishes but this is easy and cheap as chips! All you need is baking soda, hot water and tin foil.
This is how:
Line a vessel large enough to hold your tarnished silver with tin foil. You can use a dish or a porcelain sink (not metal). Place the tarnished sterling silver on top of the foil. Sprinkle baking soda over the sterling silver. Pour boiling water into the vessel. Allow the sterling silver to soak for a while until the tarnish begins to float off the piece. Turn the piece over so that the foil touches multiple sides. Soak again. Rinse the baking soda off in fresh water when you are pleased with the polish.
For REALLY stubborn dirty silver (like my jewellery that gets worn farming and is filthy) white toothpaste is also a great cleaner- if The Farmer annoys me I threaten to clean my silver with his toothbrush!
Tea stains in cups:
Dip your fingers in water and then rub salt and baking soda (sometimes just salt will work, depending on how stubborn the stain is) on the stain. Rinse out and it will be as white as the day you bought it!
Lots of scarves to store:
Use a wire coat hanger (a sturdy one) and hang rings that are used for shower curtains on it. Push each scarf through it's own ring. This way each scarf can be located and separated easily.
Fruit flies in the kitchen:
To deter these little blighter's, put a jar of apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish-washing liquid in it on your windowsill. they will stay away from this brew.
To revive old paint brushes:
Soak the paint brush in hot vinegar for 30 minutes and then wash out with hot soapy water- good as new.
To keep the paint off the edge of the paint tin:
Get a large rubber band and put it around the tin so that it goes across the middle of the top, use the band to scrap your brush on instead of the edge.
To remove scratches on wood:
Rub a walnut over the scratch and the mark will go away.
To stop your wrapping paper unrolling:
Get a toilet roll and cut it open lengthways. Slide this around the paper like a cuff and it will stop your paper unrolling, one a t each end of a tall roll will also stop curly corners.
Jandal blow out:
Put a bread bag tag over the toggle on the underside of your jandle to stop it pulling through the hole.
To get your shower head clean and free of residue:
To get the built up residue off the shower head, fill a small bag with white vinegar and tie it over the shower head. Leave it over night and it will be clean with no scrubbinf required!
To stop a pot from boiling over:
Simply place a wooden spoon across the top and it will pop the bubbles and stop it boiling over.
To store all your old cords/wires.chargers etc:
Place old toilet rolls into a box on their end (jam them in tight so they son't fall over- a shoe box will fit four across and about ten lengthways) and put each cord in its own roll, that way they dont get all tangled.