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Great idea Margaret

This is not so much a household tip as a cookery one. if you open a bottle of wine and dont finish it, you could freeze it in an ice cube tray. Then when your recepie calls for wine or if you need wine for stock etc. you always have it. It's a good idea because it means you dont have to open a bottle of wine every time.

To keep beetroot and cabbage red while cooking, add lemon juice or vinegar to the water.

Good idea about freezing left over wine Margaret, going to do that with left overs in my fridge. Tip for descaling electric kettles is to use vinegar, put a small amount of vinegar into your kettle, with some water (not too much as it tends to froth up, best to watch it) bring to the boil, leave for a while, tip out and rinse, and kettle should be free from scale.

Regards to all

Joan.

Great ideas coming from this thread.

Here are a couple from me!

When you need soft butter quickly…. If your butter is frozen or very solid, grate it.

 

To remove coffee or tea stains from cups, fill with very hot water and a splash of white vinegar. Leave to stand for at least 20 minutes, or overnight.

Half a lemon stored in your fridge will help cotrol and eliminate smells.

May daughter gave me a present of a beutiful leather bag for Christmas. I left a bottle of water in the bag ysterday which leaked and caused a huge stain. It has ruined the bag. Left it to dry out last night but it hasn't made much of a difference. Just hoping that somebody may have some tips on how to repair the damage if that's possible?

Thanks

Hi Kathryn

As a suggestion you could try contacting the manufacturer - they might have some ideas. Hopefully the stain will fade in time.

Another good cleaning tip...put equal amounts of washing soda and vinegar into bowl and leave overnight....leaves it sparkling and no harsh chemicals going into the water table..

A ps to my previous comment/tip!! the "bowl" I refer to is a toilet bowl !!

Lovilly, so glad you added your PS... I was trying to figure out what the bowl was. Thanks for the giggle !

I suffer greatly from tears when I'm peeling onions. I read somewhere that certain onions are worse than others and that if you are peeling a quantity it saves time and tears to submerge them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Apparently smaller onions are worse as they have a stronger aroma.

Hi

Does anybody have any tips on how to remove stubborn burnt on stains from a cooker? I've tried all the hob cleaners etc but none of them seem to work.

Thanks

Hi, I would be very interested to hear solutions to this problem too, as I burnt something on the cooker just 3 days ago. In the past I have found the following cleaner very good..Easy-Do Hobcare..Ceramic & Halogen Hob Cleaner Conditioner...(it has a dark green label)..I buy it in Woodies..I am just reading the back of that bottle and I see they have a product for burnt on deposits, it called..Easy-Do Power Cleanser. We might give it a try.

My wife has told me that a thick paste of baking soda and water will remove stubborn stains from cookers. Can't say I've tried it but she seems to be an expert in such matters. I'm only good at causing the stains!

Hi Margaret, Just thought I would let you know I got the Easy Do Hobcare -Power Cleanser- for the stain on the cooker top and found it worked a treat. I got it in Woodies Lucan but just to let you know they only had two in stock, and, looking back, I remember that I tried there a number of times before and they had a very small stock of this brand so you might have to try a few times to get it there. Not sure what part of the country you are. Michael, I am sure your wife's solution works very well too, its just I am lazy and took the easy option.

Thanks Martina

I will give it a shot. I will try Woodies in Tralee which would be my local branch. Margaret.

Love this idea for household tips!

Am afraid I have none at the moment but rather am looking for help! My gorgeous 2 year old granddaughter visits me regularly but has a bad habit of putting her tiny (usually grubby!) hands all over the screen of our flat screen TV as she points out different things. Has anybody got any tips on how to remove the fingermarks. They look terrible. Have tried removing them with a plain dry cloth which doesn't really work. Wondering if there is any special cleaner I could buy.

Thanks

Kathryn

HI Kathryn, When I saw your post I Googled your problem, and what seems to be coming back is that it is very important that you read the manufacturers instructions. So, if you still have the booklet, maybe it will help. Apparently you have to be very careful what you use on tv screens nowadays. Good Luck!

Thanks Martina

That's kind of you. The manufacturer's booklet is gone ages ago - like a lot of things in our house they just disappear! I know that you have to be very careful. I was thinking of using a special spray that we have for cleaning the computer screen but I might just try to see if there are any guidelines on the manufacturer's website on cleaning before I do anything.

Thanks again

Kathryn

SWITCH OFF TV MIX EQUAL AMOUNTS OF WHITE VINEGAR AND DISTILLED WATER BARELY DAMPEN A CLEAN COTTON CLOTH AND GENTLY WIPE SCREEN

Thanks Nimbles

I'll give it a go and let you know how it goes!