Life Hacks

Most people know of different little things to make life a little easier or better. Well, I've decided to share some of my own little "life hacks" that I've learned over the years. :)
Here they are:


Yellow mustard works great on burns.

Black pepper on a cut or scrape will stop the bleeding. It will sting some at first, but it works as a great coagulant!

Dryer sheets make great mosquito repellents- just take one and rub it on your exposed skin and voila! No skeeter bites!

However, if you DO get skeeter (okay, MOSQUITO, for those of you not from the Southern U.S.. lol) bites, or even manage to get into some poison ivy or poison oak; get a clean & empty baby food jar (or even a small pimento jar, which is what I use), add about 1tbsp. of baking soda, and just enough white vinegar to make a good paste. Warning though, the vinegar will make the baking soda foam up a lot, depending on how much vinegar you add. Stir the mixture. Dip a q-tip into the jar of the mixture, and rub over the affected area, and enjoy the lack of itchiness! You can keep using this mixture over and over just by adding more vinegar. If it dries out between uses, just add a little more vinegar (and baking soda if necessary) and stir.

White toothpaste makes a great polish for tarnished sterling silver. Put a small amount of toothpaste on the silver (use your best judgement on the amount. Because it depends on how big of a piece you're polishing, on how much you'll need). Rub the toothpaste all over whatever you're polishing. Using a clean, old, soft cloth (a durable paper towel works, too), polish the object. You should see some black marks (tarnish) on the cloth or paper towel. When you no longer see the black coming off, your object should be more shiny. Once this happens, rinse your object, and wipe it down good with a clean cloth or paper towel.

Orgonite works good on minor pains like headaches and other minor aches (at least it does mine). Do a Google search for orgonite. This stuff has some good uses.

Coffee stains in your glass coffee pot (a.k.a. carafe)? Put a small amount of ice cubes (about 6 or so, depending on the size of the cubes. If it's small cubes like from a bag of ice, then use about 6. If it's larger ones from an ice tray, about 3 should do the trick), a tablespoon or so of salt, and some lemon juice, into the carafe. Gently swirl the carafe around enough to get the contents swirling around inside. Do this for a couple or few minutes. This will scrub the stains right out, and freshen your carafe at the same time. When it looks like the carafe looks like it's clear of stains, just pour the contents out into the kitchen sink (if not, add more ice if necessary, and keep swirling). Voila! A clean carafe! I learned that trick when I worked at Waffle House as a waitress years ago. And I've been doing it ever since. It works great! Just be careful though, if you swirl the ice in it for too long, your carafe will freeze up from the ice and salt, (I've done it. lol). Once you're done, just rinse the carafe out with cool water (don't use warm or hot water, because this could crack or shatter your carafe) and let it air dry.

Flea problem? Take a shallow pan and fill it with water and a little bit of dish soap (lemon-scented works best, but I think just about any kind will do), place it on the floor in the problem area, and put a lamp next to it. The light will attract the fleas to the pan, and when they jump into the pan, they can't get back out. They end up drowning. And believe me, this works really well! It's good for catching other bugs as well. And, it's more earth-friendly (and less offensive scent-wise) than bug sprays. Plus, you don't have to worry about all those awful chemicals getting on things. Just make sure you don't put the pan directly in a high to moderate traffic area of your home, or it's liable to get spilled. lol It may take a few hours or so to work, but given a little time, it will.

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If you have any life hacks you'd like to share, just post them in the comments below. :)