Your Lesser Known Tips

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

We used to buy Tylex brand mold and mildew remover for use in our bathroom. Seeing that the ingredients were 2.4% sodium hypochlorite, and 97.6% Inert ingredients, I decided to save a bunch and mix our own into the used Tylex spray bottle. Sodium hypochlorite is the same thing as laundry bleach, e.g. Chlorox. So I just nearly fill the empty bottle with water and top it off with bleach. I don't fret too much about concentration.

Tylex evidently has a perfume in it. Surprisingly, the perfume smell persists in the in the refilled bottle.

Now those bottles are not high quality. The manufacturer only needs it to last a short time. The sprayer mechanism gets stuck once you've refilled it a couple times. My spouse has figured out how to re-set the sprayer, though. Sorry I'm not able to explain how to do that, but I suppose someone else could figure it out if motivated.

Anyway, it's much cheaper to dilute the sodium hypochlorite

[briandownie]

So many good ideas here I just couldn't read them all so please excuse me if I repeat some.

I'm a gardener by hobby so here's how I save money.

For sturdy plant tags cut up old pvc or vinyl mini blinds into 4 inch pieces and write on them with a permanent marker. You can even buy a small mini blind at a thrift store for about three bucks and they come in lots of great colors.

Cut up old panty hose and use for stretchable plant ties.

Use bamboo cooking skewers to support small plants.

Use small individual size yogurt containers to start seedlings. Just drill a small hole for drainage.

Make your own watering can by poking a series of small holes in a pop bottle just below the lid in a circle about the size of a dime. This is a great way to water small tender seedlings with a gentle rain. Just pick a pop bottle you can handle. The small ones are awesome for gardening with kids.

Instead of buying small peat pots use old egg cartons to start plants that don't like to be transplanted.

Make your own bug spray. One tsp. lemon dishsoap, one tsp. mineral oil and one tsp. rubbing alcohol mixed with a litre of water. Spray the top and underside of leaves.

Need something stronger, soak old ciggy butts in water, strain and dilute one tsp. to one litre of water to make a nicotine spray that bugs hate. Test a small area because it can burn tender leaves.

Spray thrips and mealy bug with straight water and keep doing it until they leave. They hate being wet.

Use old spoons and forks when potting small plants.

Make your own cloche by cutting the bottom of of a large pop bottle to protect small plants from the cold. Just push them into the ground or around a small pot and don't forget to take the top off for ventilation, the cloche acts like a mini green house and can over heat really fast in the sun.

Hope the gardeners among us can use some of these ideas.

Brian

[biff]

Great tips thanks!

Originally Posted by briandownie

So many good ideas here I just couldn't read them all so please excuse me if I repeat some.

I'm a gardener by hobby so here's how I save money.

For sturdy plant tags cut up old pvc or vinyl mini blinds into 4 inch pieces and write on them with a permanent marker. You can even buy a small mini blind at a thrift store for about three bucks and they come in lots of great colors.

Cut up old panty hose and use for stretchable plant ties.

Use bamboo cooking skewers to support small plants.

Use small individual size yogurt containers to start seedlings. Just drill a small hole for drainage.

Make your own watering can by poking a series of small holes in a pop bottle just below the lid in a circle about the size of a dime. This is a great way to water small tender seedlings with a gentle rain. Just pick a pop bottle you can handle. The small ones are awesome for gardening with kids.

Instead of buying small peat pots use old egg cartons to start plants that don't like to be transplanted.

Make your own bug spray. One tsp. lemon dishsoap, one tsp. mineral oil and one tsp. rubbing alcohol mixed with a litre of water. Spray the top and underside of leaves.

Need something stronger, soak old ciggy butts in water, strain and dilute one tsp. to one litre of water to make a nicotine spray that bugs hate. Test a small area because it can burn tender leaves.

Spray thrips and mealy bug with straight water and keep doing it until they leave. They hate being wet.

Use old spoons and forks when potting small plants.

Make your own cloche by cutting the bottom of of a large pop bottle to protect small plants from the cold. Just push them into the ground or around a small pot and don't forget to take the top off for ventilation, the cloche acts like a mini green house and can over heat really fast in the sun.

Hope the gardeners among us can use some of these ideas.

Brian

[marvholly]

Batch cooking. This is a time & energy saver for me. I never turn on my oven, use my food processor or use a pan for just one recipe if I can help it. For example, today I am thinking of making French toast for breakfast, zucchini pancakes, apple dessert pancakes and chicken stir fry. All will be cooked in the same skillet and the pancakes will be cooked back to back followed by the stir fry.

[Sissta2009]

Originally Posted by 2moretrees

I'm not sure if this is a lesser known tip or not, but I buy my pop and snacks in bulk at a warehouse store and stock them at work. Out work vending machines charge $1.25 for snacks and $1.50 for pop. I get both for less than 20 cents each at the warehouse stores. It reduced the amount I was spending each week by over $10 on those things.

That's a really good deal! What warehouse - is it like Sam's or Costco or something? I've been debating joining one for awhile now

[minnie1928]

I read this tip somewhere and decided to give it a try...I have 3 basement windows, the small kind that fit inside a window well. The windows are not high quality and they sit recessed so that they are flush with the exterior of the house, but about 6" in from the interior edge of the walls. I have redi-shade blinds up to hide the windows, but to allow some natural light to still penetrate into the room. Whenever I lift the blinds I am just stunned to feel the cold air come rolling out of the window. So, today I stopped at the UPS Store and bought a sheet of bubble wrap that was about 2 feet by 3 feet for $1. I came home and sat a thermometer in the window area (behind the shade) and it read 41 degrees. I then took the bubble wrap and taped it up so that it covered the window glass and frame. A few minutes later the thermostat was reading 47 degrees. So, that's about a 15% increase in the temperature from a simple sheet of bubble wrap. And because the wrap is clear, I'm not sacrificing any natural daylight.

[krantcents]

This excellent! My wife re-uses plastic containers when she is done with the product that come it. I buy Gillette Mach III razors and I get a month out of each razor. Iheard some can get as much as 6 months if you dry the razor.

[My English Castle]

I love the bubble wrap idea! Here's my bubble wrap story. Just before I moved last time, I was shopping near an art gallery when the staff was unloading new art. All the art work was swathed in great quantities of bubble wrap which they were going to throw out. I snagged at least 15 yards of very nice bubble wrap to wrap all my breakables before I moved. I still have most of it and will try the insulation tip in the fall!