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 .

We have a superking bed and use to put our duvet cover on. It is really easy with 2 people, but one person can do it alone too.

breathe that looks very interesting. We would change our sheets far more often if it weren't such a chore to get the cover back on the duvet.

For the greenfingered - all of these are amazing HERE

When reheating food in the microwave, arrange it in a doughnut shape - with a hole in the middle - and your food will heat evenly all over.

Mummyabroad, what kind of vinegar do you use? Have cushions dc has been sick on and they still smell!

Just remembered another one - a cheap plastic nit comb might be useless for head lice - but they are useful for getting fluff, hair, grass etc out of the vecro on DC's shoes...

If you wear shirts with proper collars that get grimy, but a cheap shampoo and rub in before putting in the machine. Gets them a lot cleaner even on coloured shirts.

Buy a second pair of those scrubby gloves you use for exfoliating and use one to clean the bath. I wear latex gloves underneath because my hands are really sensitive but it's not necessary so long as you wash your hands well afterwards.

Buy coconut oil and whip using an electric mixer. It's more moussey and much easier to use whether you're cooking with it (where I guess you'd use less as well) or whipping up with some soft brown sugar for the best body scrub ever.

Use lanacane anti chaffing gel as primer for makeup, apparently very similar ingredients as the more expensive ones, works brilliantly and is on £6ish a tube!
I know there has been a thread on this recently, but reverse hair washing, conditioner first, then shampoo, leaves hair cleaner for longer!

I tried the reverse hair washing- didn't work for me at all. I think it's a bit marmite and would not advise trying it before any important events....

Definitely second the Lanacane tip - it does work (tho' be prepared for strange looks from the chemist when you buy several tubes to give to friends

I spent a fortune at the hairdressers for years straightening my frizzy hair to make it smooth, then discovered that if I wash and leave copious amounts of conditioner it, it dries curly and shiny rather than frizzy, and people say I look a lot younger. Darn it, those wasted years...

I've tried leaving a bit of conditioner in mine and it makes it look lanky and greasy .

WKWTTG - yes it does sometimes do that. I quite like the uncertainty of the gorgeous days versus the rubbish days .

If a nail varnish has gone all thick and gloopy, add a couple drops of nail varnish remover and give it a good shake. Voila! Perfectly useable nail varnish once more.

That's the story of my hair anyway MrsLiz - you never know what it's going to look like in the morning, completely unpredictable. And just occasionally fabulous!

oh yes - looks amazing when you are just sitting home of an evening and the n rubbish when you are on a posh night out...

I can thoroughly recommend Kilrock brush on gel mould cleaner for the washing machine drawer. Bought some from John Lewis yest and tried it today. The drawer looks like new! And all the holes and cracks inside the drawer cavity itself are pretty much clean.

It's never looked as clean in it's 10 years of life!

Can also vouch for the dishwasher tablet on the oven. Tried. Works! Sparkly glass oven door.

msrisotto I like the loo roll seed tape.

And I have to admit I have just lit some spaghetti! Loony!

washing walls before decorating - spray the walls with dilute sugar soap and leave for a bit before wiping off (a short bit - don't let it dry) - worked well for my mother's flat, which was very nicotine-stained (watch out for carpets, and for electrical switches, obv.)

To save your poor hands from squeezing repeatedly to spray, get one of those garden pressure sprayers (about £12 from B&Q or similar) - you can just drift around pointing it at the wall, no squeezing the handle required

Garden pressure sprayer also good with water and vinegar or whatever you use if you are cleaning large areas of glass (conservatories, large windows etc)

Big blob of Immac down your hairy plughole before you go to bed.

(Does that sound rude?)

This one might have been done... ALWAYS use scissors to cut pizza/spring onions/chorizo/bacon rind/sausages etc... It's much much quicker and easier than using a knife.

Use very cheap pan-scrubbers/scourers GENTLY to exfoliate your face - a very experienced beautician told me this once, I tried it and ot works and saves a lot of money

Soda Crystals make EVERYTHING cleaner - roasting tins/loads of laundry/floors/hobs etc

To make lipstick last, after the first coat, dab your lips with a tissue, brush or pat some powder on, add another layer - works everytime

Oooh yes, OLIVE OIL works wonders on dandruff/cradle cap/hard skin on feet & elbows - no need for expensive lotions and potions. And ALMOND OIL (about £1.50 from pharmacies) is also amazing on nails/face/elbows and feet. (Olive oil probably works very well as a facial oil too - just never tried it)

I haven't. Rtftyet but I' m off to bed so posting this before I forget : white vinegar instead of fabric softened when washing dogs' bedding makes it come out of the machine smelling like it's never been used - instead of just smelling like wet dog.

To clean silver, don't polish it with abrasive cleaners (nor toothpaste), that just gradually removes the surface. Use a bit of applied chemistry - get the tarnish to migrate to another element that is IIRC further down the periodic table of the elements - aluminium. Line a bowl with aluminium foil. Fill with boiling water. Add salt (sodium chloride) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to the water, a teaspoon or so of each. Drop in your silver objects, make sure they touch the foil. Give it a few minutes, watch the tarnish migrate to the aluminium. Take out, rinse off, pat dry. Brilliant! Because it's in liquid, it gets to all the little crooks and nannies too. When dry, wipe with a cloth with a tiny bit of oil, this helps stop contact with the sulphorous gases in the air that are what the tarnish is made from.