Good GOD Mumsnet tips actually work!

[stinkingbishop]

1. Have smeared the twins' cradle cap liberally with rapeseed oil, left, combed through, left Dentinox on in the bath for ten mins, rinsed through, and it all came off in big satisfying clumps. I got a bizarre amount of pleasure from this.

1. I bit the bullet and got Plumbs round to reupholster my awkwardly shaped sofa and it's gorgeous! And the covers are just about less tricky to take on and off than a sleeping bag is to put back in its bag IYKWIM and they're machine washable. I, embarrassingly, may have punched the air. I need to get out more.

1. Storing complete bedding sets inside one of the pillow cases has led to uncrumpled sheets and duvets that MATCH.

1. Tomatoes out of the fridge are sweet and juicy.

I is DELIGHTED with the MN service. Please continue revolutionising my life .

sorry - that should read "solid powder lump"

Yep. Tomatoes in the fruit bowl. Being a - you know - fruit.

I only just discovered the nude bra thing too, worry not! It does look OAP like, but presumably you're not going to be flashing it...

Papaguacanana is THE failsafe weaning gloop. Avocado/papaya/banana. Apparently they all originally came from the rubber tree which is why they go well together.

And here's my ultimate secret to happiness. When driving, take a bar of chocolate with you. You can have one square if you have to stop at a traffic light. And only then. So, light's on green - great, you sail through. Light's on red - great, eat chocolate. Win, win .

It's a red bra under a white t shirt.

My tip if you have young DC who sometimes wet the bed / vomit.

Put 2 thick or 3 thin mattress covers over the mattress, then 3 sheets over those.

Put 2 pillow covers over the pillow (alternating which end you put them on, so both ends well covered) and then 3 pillow covers (alternating again.

Put 3 duvet covers on the duvet.

Week in / week out, you only have to remove the top layer for washing.

When the inevitable body fluid deluge comes, you remove as many layers as necessary - go one layer beyond (i.e. I also remove the first layer that seems dry/clean, just to be sure.)

That way you never have a soiled mattress/pillow/duvet which are a lot more pain to try and get clean. And, it saves on bedding storage. Makes the bed nice and soft and comfy for DC too.

Anyone have any tips on how to get round magnets out of a radiator with a grill on top? We have a radiator under the magnetic blackboard in the kitchen, and there are about 15 magnets in there winking at me, grr!

Does anyone have a magic solution for cleaning highchair straps? The woven fabric kind. I've only had it 2 weeks and already looks grim.

Some good shortcuts:
Bake bacon in the oven for perfect crispness. I live a flat oven tray with foil, lay out streaky rashers. Put in oven, turn on to 200, leave for 15-25 mins depending on thickness. Don't preheat oven.

To make egg she'll easier to peel need to drain fully, entirely immerse eggs in cold water, then chuck that water and refill pan with great cold water for the final cool.

Also you probably all know this, but DH didn't. Larger duvet covers (not worth bothering with single) are easier to put on inside out. Have duvet cover inside out. Put hands inside and then grab duvet corners, flick cover over the duvet.

Line not live. I don't live bacon.

Stinkingbishop I've been reading all these tips-but your chocolate whilst driving sounds very appealing to me

DIY cleaning wipes - mix 1 cup of hot water with 1tsp Flash in an appropriate size cylindrical tub, ideally with an air tight lid. Cut a roll of Plenty in half & carefully remove the cardboard centre. Place Plenty in the tub & leave to soak. Once it's cooled & the top of the Plenty is wet you can start removing the wipes from the centre as & when you need them. Much cheaper than buying cleaning wipes & makes a quick wipe around a bit simpler! You could add a few drops of essential oil too - I use tea tree.

It's also possible to make baby wipes with the same method - 1tbsp of coconut oil instead of the Flash & 10 drops of essential oil - I use a mix of tea tree, chamomile, calendula & lavender. Much nicer smell than shop bought & a bit wetter too so makes it easier to clean up more dried on poo!

If you've got chrome fittings on the toilet seat and lid, a bit of Bar Keepers Friend on a damp toothbrush bringe them up like new. Then smear a little vaseline over all the chrome, wipe off excess with loo roll and they stay clean for much longer.

Bar Keepers Friend is also brilliant for cleaning round the door seals of the dishwasher, in fact it's brilliant for just about any gunky surfaces (not enamel though as it's acidic). Also brilliant for oven door glass.

Magic Eraser block by JML - cleans grubby marks off hard surfaces - it's brilliant for fingerprints on paintwork, stainless steel sinks, taps, a little miracle it is.

Shrunk jumpers - this only works up to a point and not sure if you can even get them any more, but soaking a shrunk jumper in a solution made of the enzyme tablets for contact lenses does make a difference, it's the enzymes.

A couple of points about previous tips - washing machine maintenance wash, there's no point using bio washing powder on the hottest setting as anything above 40 kills the enzymes. Vinegar or bleach (not together) works well. Washing powder tablets keep the drawer sparkiing - ours looks like new 5 year on, I use 1 tab instead of the specififed 2 to save money. Also if you can leave the door open whn not in use it prevents it going musty in the drum.

I tried lavender oil in the vacuum bag and it smelled horrible after a few days, like dusty mouldy lavender (and I love lavender).

Oh and the Veet down the plughole didn't work for me, but I might try it again.

Buy cheapo denture cleaning tablets and put one down the plughole every so often - result = sparkly pipes

If you really can't stand a nude bra then a soft peachy coloured one has the same effect under white clothes.

Um, what's wrong with a nude bra?

Oh and re the cheese sauce. I've never done it in a microwave. but I hate it made with cornflour and have always been a firm adherent to the traditional method. However DH has recently introduced me to Delia's quick method, and it is brilliant for quick weekday meals. It might work in a pyrex jug in the microwave, I do it in a pan.

40g butter
25g plain flour
1tsp dijon mustard
425mL cold milk

Put it all in a pan together (I stick the pan on the digital scales and weigh everything straight in), put on a medium heat and keep stirring till it comes through the boil, keep going for another minute or so, add grated cheese. No lumps, perfect every time, only take 5 mins.

You can't beat the traditional one with the milk infused with onion, peppercorns, bayleaves and nutmeg though if you've got more time.

Reading through the "shrunk jumpers" tips as DM who has been staying has managed to put the mohair throw in the machine with the cotton sheets and it's felted.

If you drop a raw egg on the floor, cover it completely with cheap table salt.

The salt "cooks" the egg, so rather than slipping and slopping runny egg all over the place, you can lift it all away in one lump

To slice a fresh loaf of bread, turn it upside down so you don't squash the loaf whilst cutting.

I used to clean woven high chair straps as follows.

Have some hot water and fairy liquid in a bowl. Need a nail brush and tea towel/towel.

Put folded up towel in palm of left hand. Lay section of strap over and hold down with left thumb. Scrub strap with nail brush.

Just cleaned my oven door with a dishwasher tablet!!

Plenty of cheap (coconut is good) conditioner Countess.

The nude bra thing, someone said upthread they were 'grannyish' I think?

Sorry haven't read all the thread (will later) so apologies if already mentioned but ...
Vinegar down a really limescaley loo (house I moved into) -
I plunged the water down with a loo brush, put loads of white vinegar (5L from cash or carry/chinese supermarket - or even better ask your local chippy if they buy concentrated condiment and will get you 5L of white - dilute 1:16 for normal vinegar strength) and pour boiling water into the water/vinegar (middle - not on the porcelain in case it cracks) - left for a few hours and huge big chunks of limescale fell off - took a while for them to flush away (could have been keen and fished them out I guess) -extremely satisfying
I use old wallpaper for the top of the kitchen cupboards - and for the tops of the doors/ bits you miss/ greasy extractors - a damp cloth dipped in bicarb, wiped then rinsed gets rid of greasy/dusty gunk better than anything else I have ever tried...

Never buy white socks for DCs - unless you view them as disposable!

Always try & buy patterned underwear or socks for DCs - even if it is just heels & toes etc - and never the same pattern for new ones - especially if you have different sized children of same sex - makes matching and sorting them easier...

If you do get plain socks sew a small coloured dot on them, preferably on the inside top band if double (can see when paired) but can do the soles - different colours for different family members and different colours for new sets. Takes a few minutes to do a new pack and then saves you hours of size matching...

Magnets down the radiator - you might be able to get the grill off - probably have screw on the sides you need to undo and take the sides off - might get away with just doing one (might struggle to get to screw next to the thermostat) - top grill held on with plastic type twist screws...
Don't try to take the top off before you do the sides - I have damaged one of mine trying to do that Then a stick to push them down...

Oh and to get the dust out of a radiator - put a cloth underneath and use a hairdryer to blow it out the bottom! ...

For magnets down the radiator...get a really strong magnet???

Thanks Deux I will give that a go. I was thinking I might have to take them off which looks a huge faff.