What tip have you heard about and been incredulous when it actually works?

[hiredandsqueak]

I saw on Twitter that filling a ziplock bag with water and a few coins and hanging it in a doorway/placing it on the doorstep will keep flies out. It seemed such a bizarre suggestion that I thought I would try it and can confirm it works. I've also hung one near the bins and there hasn't been any flies around for a week.
Are there any other tips that I should know?

• Majestik

@Shannith I’m going to give that equestrian yoga a try. I’ve got a big Irish draught, he has such a big movement, often sideways , a better core will really help me.

@Polkadotties it's really good. I could not do the core exercises at all for the first few weeks, I just made a general stab at them. No one is more surprised than me that I can do them now. Ish.

I'd never have said that stiff hips and weak lower back muscles were my issue but the difference is astounding. I do it every other day religiously.

Mines a Welsh D mare - also fond of unasked for lateral movements.

My instructor, who competes at medium dressage and is a proper rider asked me to send her the link as she could not believe the difference. I.e. you've stopped falling off, what on earth have you been doing

Fascinating thread.

@Shannith sounds really promising!

My lad is very wide, proper ID barrel. I have issues with a weaker left leg, I grip with the knee which in turn draws up my ankle and my foot isn’t as secure as it should be. I’ve done lots of on the horse exercises, standing in stirrups etc but some off the horse stuff I think will be really beneficial

Too tired to read so place markinv

The conditioner tip reminded me of another one.

When you wash your hair, squeeze all the water out of it after you shampoo (for best results dry with a hand towel) before you condition. The conditioner doesn't work as well on wet hair as the water is keeping the cuticles shut.

Obviously not for those who wash their hair every single day, but I only wash mine once or twice a week. It's super smooth and shiny now that I'm aware of this tip.

@londonscalling from bitter experience; very cheap thick conditioner on slightly damp hair for combing. Nitty gritty comb was unbeatable. Ten drops each of neem, star anise and ylang ylang oils diluted with water in a small spray bottle. Coat hair overnight as a treatment. Supposedly neem is toxic to the blighters. Then spritz each morning to repel them. Forever... Worked for us after months of clearing and reinfestation. What also works is every parent in your circle being equally diligent and vigilant! Which was not the case at our school sadly.

@GellerYeller @Destroyedpeople thanks. I'm willing to give anything a try!!!!

After soaking some whites in bio powder some have gone all yellow tinged, any chance of repairing them?
One brand new Fred Perry T-shirt (that DS helpfully put a mud stain on hence the soaking of a brand new T-shirt) and my Levi’s T-shirt with a red logo.

To get the smell of garlic off your hands, don't put soap or anything on, don't touch your hands at all, just let run water over them. God knows why it works when i've spent days stinking of garlic before, but it does!

HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime

You can do the same with a 'wild patch' I have a useless bit of garden where the bins are, it's about 2m x 0.5m and has weeds, a tree that died (a small one) etc etc and it's a home to hedgehogs, ladybirds and who knows what else.

Any tips for burned on black stuff on the bottom of an oven? Should I put a cat in it?

No, contact a professional, it's not cheap but a nice person comes round, cleans it until it is like new and then goes away for a year.

To get the smell of garlic off your hands, don't put soap or anything on, don't touch your hands at all, just let run water over them.

This is interesting. I've got one of those stainless steel "soap" bars

Any tips for burned on black stuff on the bottom of an oven? Should I put a cat in it?

😂🐈

I thought that was prob the answer @sashh. I was hoping for an amazing banana-related answer.

@Polkadotties I have the same issue with my right leg. One of the positions she does is a lunge with your back foot down and pressing up (it will make sense when you watch it)

In fact all the lunge ones are the game changing bits. You end up with open hips, stronger legs and core muscles by stealth (my stomach got stronger get even before I could do the specific core exercises)

Also a foot stretch that's in her runners one where you stand and put your foot back and down - so the opposite of how it is in the stirrup is good. Seems counterintuitive but helps me feel how tight I am that way (I always feel like I should be stretching my hamstrings but this is more effective.

Also, more in the spirit of the thread the coins in water really does work to keep flies at bay!!

Years ago a patient told me to leave my washing machine door open to stop the seal going mouldy.
This is the first machine which I tried it on and I have religiously left it open for just over 4 years. No mould!
The drawer on the other hand is disgusting because I can’t get the bloody thing out!

@londonscalling very best of luck to you! Doesn't smell great but worth a try. We found that over the voucher treatments are just silicone to smother them. Supposedly lice have evolved to resist the old fashioned insecticide types available when we were young. Yuk eh?!

@Shannith I cant find your equestrian yoga tip (been back several pages now) it sounds amazing! Could you re post for me please?

Coffee grounds also get rid of garlic/onion smell.

My carer/friend used to make soap but hasn't for a while, he made some 'cooks coffee soap' that worked really well.

Tip from the hospice when my mum was ill, you can put plastic bags in the washer.

My dad used ot bring my mum's night dresses home in a carrier bag and just put the lot in the washer.

If you have a younger child and receive the wet carrier bag from nursery / primary just stick the bag containing clothes into the wash.

Apparently, if you have a medium/dark skin tone and have very dark circles that are so bad that concealer won’t work, you can put red/orange lipstick over the circles then put concealer over that and it works really well.

YOu can get primers in green, white and a strange pink colour, depending on your skin tone you use them to even out the colour before applying foundation.

If you do wear make up put concealer on AFTER the foundation.

I taught at an international college were some of the students, mainly the ones from various African countries, swore by using kerosene to get rid of nits, I'm still not sure I believe them and surely you don't want a flammable child.

drawer on the other hand is disgusting because I can’t get the bloody thing out!

For some of them it's ludicrously tricky to depress that switch to remove them! I flat sit every year for friends when they're visiting family and one of the things I always do is clean the detergent drawer as they can't manage to remove it. (Yes, it's full of black slime mould.)

I regularly use the lowest setting of a water jet (I have a pump and a separate gun) on my detergent drawer to keep the twiddly bits on it clear. But even a water gun can't keep the scale from setting into the water spray outlets above a detergent drawer in hard water areas. (And that's with a water softener and regular cleaning cycles.)

A cut up lemon in the fridge gets rid of food smells

I taught at an international college were some of the students, mainly the ones from various African countries, swore by using kerosene to get rid of nits, I'm still not sure I believe them and surely you don't want a flammable child. I read a book set in the past in New Zealand and Australia where they used paraffin. It might have been The Thornbirds.

I love this thread, so far I've cleaned some silver jewellery, used a 2p coin on limescale and put coppers in a bag of water by the back door.

I've finally thought of a couple to add...

When cleaning windows, glass, chrome etc, dry off with a muslin cloth for a no smear finish.

If you have an open bag of salad, prolong its fridge life by putting a piece of damp kitchen towel in the bag (that one is courtesy of my mother in law).

@Destroyedpeople I don't have house plants but my parents used to when away from home just run some cold water into the bath and stick the plants in it (they were in pots with holes in bottom anyway) for the duration. Army family and didn't always have someone we knew/trusted not to be nosy to come in and water for us