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?

I used to do that for the 6 weeks holiday with my classroom plants, in the sink not the bath obviously. I would come back in September and they'd be more lush than ever.

@SummerPoppies you don't need as much as a pint! I've been having issues with my washer and engineer and on here said like 50mls or so is plenty!

@Londonscalling - re nits are you also hot washing all bedding, towels, coats, any hats etc? You really need to in order to properly get rid. My dd has long hair but thankfully we only had to deal with nits once but my god it took a lot of work to get rid of that one infestation! Regular and thorough treating and combing and all the washing I've mentioned took a good couple weeks to properly be rid! Little bastards are resilient little fuckers now!

Both parents VERY green fingered which unfortunately only my sister has inherited, bro and I are completely hopeless! I can barely keep a cactus alive!! Even cut flowers don't last long with me! No idea what I do wrong I follow ALL the tips and parents have given me HUNDREDS of cuttings over the years, they have one particular plant they were given as a wedding present almost 50 years ago which is still going strong and has survived almost 30 house moves!

@Vodkacranberryplease here you go

Did some poles today with the mare. She looooves poles and gets very forward and it was just fun rather than hair raising.

Well putting Vicks on your feet in bed to stop coughing doesn't work. I have a cold at present with a really dry tickly cough that is driving me mad.. Have tried the Vicks 2 nights in a row and it made no difference at all

I think this works better for a chesty cough.

For a dry ticklish cough, hot water, lemon and honey (a dash of whisky can help too! ) is quite effective.
Also, often dry coughs are the result of dripping from your nose during a cold - basically, you don't realise it but you have a throat coated with snot. A good mouth wash can help because it clears the snot. Salt and warm water or Corsodyl are okay. But I think Oraldene is better (admittedly, that's not a old school tip as much if you're using Oraldene but... it helps).

Another NOT old school one for ovens is Oven Mate from Lakeland. If it's bad, spread it on and leave overnight before cleaning the next day. It really is like magic.

Extend the life of exercise clothes by adding a tablespoon or two of bicarb when you wash them - helps to slow the speed at which the sweat smell is so seeped in there is nothing you can do about it.

If you get grease on your clothes, IMMEDIATELY wet the area thoroughly with HOT water (very hot). Grease stains set once they cool, the hot water stops that. Can then be washed as normal usually, or use a stain remover (and I love the fairy idea here instead of Vanish or whatever - going to try that. Makes total sense).

Ditto, red wine is a lot simpler than people think. As SOON AS THE STAIN happens, the trick is to prevent it setting and drying. Completely soak the area with cold plain water. If it's clothing, just whip it off, run under cold tap then throw straight into a sink full of water. If a carpet or whatever, be extremely generous - carpets can dry.

For clothes, leave them soaking until you wash them (ie don't let even the diluted wine dry). For carpets, soak up the very weak diluted red wine then use whatever your usual preferred cleaning/stain removal process is. But if you get it fast enough, you won't need anything except the water.

@Needhelp101

Does anyone know if anything can remove superglue from white laminated kitchen cabinets? (DS glued batteries to them for handles after seeing it on YouTube 🤔🙄)

Nail polish remover which contains acetone. Acetone's the solvent for cynaoacrylate (superglue).

I have a little kit of solvents - turpentine, methlyated spirit, acetone, and so on. Use a cotton bud to test, but one or the other of them will work for pretty much everything.

Any tips for removing mouldy/fousty smells from a storage unit that I have to store soft furnishings in? I'll bag them up but won't be able to bag up my sofa 🙈

Any tips for moths? Does the pennies in a bag work for them?

I've tried the 2p. I used it on the chrome taps, then on the enamel sink, flat on the plastic bath and gently on the shower seal (rubber). It works on all of them!

I've just tried cleaning my oven door glass with a dishwasher tablet. It worked brilliantly, thank you to whoever posted that tip.

I told my mum about the trick with the coins in the bag for flies. They’ve put one in their conservatory which seems to get loads of flies and since then hardly any.

The trick with the fabric softener and washing up liquid for the windows didn’t work though.

@WelshMoth You can get sofa bags from amazon. We had them and also for a mattress which we stored in our garage for 18 months.

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).

This does work.

We defrost the freezer by putting the wallpaper steamer in it. Does the job in approx 10 mins

I've tried the coin and bag of water trick, tied it to the back door handle and have had the door open most days. Seems to work, only had one fly in.

When reviewing someone else's work, never sit down with a pen. It changes your mindset. Just read it through a couple of times and talk it through with the writer.

@Hopeisnotastrategy

A small tot of brandy gets rid of period cramps in five minutes flat. wish I'd learned that twenty years earlier than I did.

My mum was a GP, and prescribed gin (plus painkillers and a hot water bottle) for period pain. Brandy for an upset stomach and whisky for colds.

Yes, brandy does work on a poorly stomach. Watered down with some flat tonic or lemonade. @Tilia

Lavender essentials oil helps. A good quality one.
I’m in the process of Trialling every product going from Robert dyas for carpet moths. I think they high a quick turn over so unless I spray almost weekly the buggers (and their larvae 🤢) keep appearing.

A small tot of brandy gets rid of period cramps in five minutes flat. wish I'd learned that twenty years earlier than I did.
Bit more time-consuming, but an orgasm will have the same effect

Garlic gets rid of warts - the easiest way to do it is buy a tube of garlic puree and put a sticking plaster over the area afterwards to keep it on the skin.

I'm not entirely convinced that hair learns to be less greasy if you don't wash it / only use water. During lockdown I tried a friend's tip to not wash my hair AT ALL for 30 days. It was shiny but absolutely coated in grease, which didn't magically disappear. However, I had almost convinced myself it looked ok. Until I did wash it after the 30 days and was struck by the difference it made (I took before and after photos!) However this 30-day hiatus from any form of washing does seem to have increased the days I can go without washing now, from 1-2 to 3-4.

To get rid of stitch while running - stop, reach up as high as you can while taking a huge, deep breath in, as big as you can manage. Then fold forward and try to touch your toes while blowing out the breath until your lungs are completely empty. Stand up carefully just in case you've gone light headed.

Stitch should be gone. If it's not, repeat the process. I've had runners on my clubs c25k courses tell me I'm magical after fixing their stitch with that trick.

Tapping the lids of jars does work; I prefer to upturn the jar and bang it on the counter - freaks dh out AND it works!

Shall be trying the hot water on weeds one this week. We usually are there on hands that knees scraping them after I have burnt them with my Devil Machine (which is fun but slow!).

Tried the 2p and bag of coins tips and both worked a treat so thank you.
I can't find the tip for cleaning silver jewellery, can someone remind me please?
My top top is using wall erasers on any mark on your emulsion, never failed me yet! Buy a cheap block on amazon and tear off a small piece as and when you need it. Works on exploded smoothie stains, cooking splats, pen, bike tyre/chain, hair oil, make up etc etc

@juicy0
The "cleaning silver" tip is to put tin foil in a basin/bowl, add soda crystals and put in your silver jewellery/ silver whatever and then add boiling water.

I bought some from Ali express the other year, didn't look at the pack size too closely so when 1500 of these arrived... Glad they do work but I’ve got many many months supply!

it may have been an insomnia driven purchase hence not realising