1. Handy Kitchen Tips that You cannot Miss : Solutions for all your Problems
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Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things

Discussion in 'Home Decoration & Improvement' started by rajmiarun, Feb 14, 2007.

  1. rajmiarun

    rajmiarun Gold IL'ite

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    Got a very good book from Reader's Digest of that name. It has more than 2000 tips. I find so many tips so intriguing. Wanted to share with you all. So started this thread.

    Let me start with Adhesive Tape:

    1. Remove a splinter : If a splinter is too tiny or too deep to be removed using tweezers, dont dig it out with nails. Instead, cover the splinter with adhesive tape. After about three days, pull the tape off and the splinter should come out with it.

    2. Cover casters: Prevent your furniture from leaving marks on your wood or vinyl floor by wrapping the furniture's caster wheels with adhesive tape.

    3. Clean your comb: To remove the grime that builds up between the teeth of a comb press a strip of adhesive tape along the comb's length, and lift it off. Then dip the combin a solution of alcohol and water, or ammonia and water, to sanitize it. Let it dry.

    4. Screw Drivers handles are sometimes too narrow and slippery to grip well when you insert or remove stubborn screws. Wrap layers of adhesive tape around the handle until the tool feels comfortable in your hand- this is especially useful if you have arthiritis in your fingers.



     
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  2. safa

    safa Bronze IL'ite

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    :goodidea: Rajmi,:thankyou2:


    Keep posting more.
     
  3. rajmiarun

    rajmiarun Gold IL'ite

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    Here comes a long list of use for Aluminium foil:

    1. Bake a perfect pie crust: Keep the edges of your homemade pies from burning by covering them with strips of aluminium foil. The foil prevents the edges from getting overdone while the rest of your pie gets perfectly browned. Remove the foil near the end of baking to crisp up the edges.

    2. Create a special shaped cake baking tin: Make a teddy bear birthday cake, a Valentine's Day heart cake, a Christmas tree cake or whatever shaped cake the occasion may call for. Just form a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminium foil into the desired shape inside a large cake baking tin.

    3. Soften brown sugar: To restore your hardened brown sugar to its former powdery glory, chip off a piece, wrap it in aluminium foil and bake it in the oven at 150 deg C(300 deg F) for five minutes.

    4. Decorate a cake: No pastry bag handy? No problem. Form a piece of heavy-duty aluminium foil into a tybe and fill it with free-flowing icing. Bonus: there's no pastry bag to clean-simply throw the foil away when you've finished.

    5. Make an extra-large salad bowl: You've invited half the neighbourhood over for dinner, but don't have a bowl big enough to toss that much salad. Dont panic. Just line the kitchen sink with aluminium foil and toss away!!! (I dont personally fancy this).

    6. Keep rolls and bread warm: Want to lock in the oven-fresh warmth of your homemade rolls or bread for a dinner party or picnic? Before you load up your basket, wrap your freshly baked goods in a napkin and place a layer of aluminium foil underneath. The foil will reflect the heat and keep your bread warm for quite some time.

    7. Catch ice-cream cone drips: Keep youngsters from making a mess of their clothes or your house by wrapping the bottom of an icecream cone(or a wedge of watermelon) with a piece of aluminium foil before handing it to them. The foil should keep everyone clean and happy.
     
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  4. rajmiarun

    rajmiarun Gold IL'ite

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    More of Aluminium Foil:

    7. Toast your own Cheese Sandwich: Next time you pack for a trip,include a couple of cheese sandwiches wrapped in aluminium foil. That way if you check into a hotel after the kitchen has closed, you won't have to resort to the cold, overpriced snacks in the mini-bar. Instead, use the hotel-room iron to press both sides of the wrapped sandwich and you'll have a tasty hot snack.

    8. Polish your silver: Is your silverware looking a bit dull these days?Try an ion exchange, a molecular reaction in which aluminium acts as a catalyst. All you have to do is line a bowl with a sheet of aluminium foil, fill it with cold water and add two teaspoons of salt. Drop your tarnished silverware into the solution, leave it for two to three minutes, then rinse off and dry.

    9. Keep silverware tarnished: Store freshly cleaned silverware on top of a sheet of aluminium foil to deter tarnishing. For long-term storage of silverware, first tightly cover each piece in cellophane paper-be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible-then wrap in foil and seal the ends.

    10. Scour your pots: Don't have a scouring pad? Crumple up a handful of aluminium foil and use it to scour your pots.

    11. Keep the oven clean: Are you baking a bubbly lasagne or casserole? Keep messy drips off the bottom of the oven by laying a sheet or two of aluminium foil over the rack below. Do not line the bottom of the oven with foil; it could cause a fire.

    12. Keep pets off furniture: Can't keep your puppy of your brand-new sofa? Place a piece of aluminium foil on the seat cushions, and after one try at settling down on the noisy surface, your pet will no longer consider it a comfy place to snooze.

    13. Protect a child's mattress: As any parent of a potty-trained youngster knows, accidents happen. When they happen in bed, however, you can spare the mattress-even if you dont have a plastic protector available. First, lay several sheets of aluminium foil across the width of the matress. Then, cover them with a good-sized beach towel. Finally, attach the mattress protector and bottom sheet.
     
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  5. rajmiarun

    rajmiarun Gold IL'ite

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    14. Kid's Stuff: Mixing finger paints is a great way for kids to learn first hand how colours combine while also expressing their creativity. Unfortunately their learning experience can be your headache. To contain the mess, cut down the sides of a wide cardboard box so that they are about 8 cms or 3 inches high. Line the inside of the box with aluminium foil and let the children pour in the paint. With an luck, the paint should stay within the confines of the box, keeping splatters off walls and the floors.

    15. Sharpen your scissors: What can you do with those clean pieces of leftover foil you have hanging around? Use them to sharpen up your dull scissors! Smooth them out if necessary, and then fold the strips into several layers and start cutting. Seven or eight passes should do the trick.

    16: Scare crows and other birds: Are the birds eating the fruit on your trees? To foil them, dangle strips of aluminium foil from the branches using monofilament fishing line. Even better hang some foil-wrapped seashells, which will add a bit of noise to further startle your fine-feathered thieves.

    17. Move furniture with ease: To slide big pieces of furniture over a smooth floor, place small pieces of aluminium foil under the legs. Put the dull side of the foil down-the dull side is actually more slippery than the shiny side.

    18. Speed your ironing: When you iron clothing, a lot of the iron's hear is sucked up by the board itself-requiring you to make several passes to remove wrinkles. To speed things up, put a piece of aluminium foil under your ironing board cover. The foil will reflect the heat back through the clothing, smoothing wrinkles quicker.

    19. Clean your iron: Is starch building up on your iron and causing it to stick?To get rid of it, run your hot iron over a piece of aluminium foil.

    20. Keep your sleeping bag dry: Place a piece of heavy-duty aluminium foil under your sleeping bag to insulate it against moisture.

    21. Keep matches dry: It's a tried-and-true soldier's trick worth remembering; wrap your matches in aluminium foil to keep them from getting damp or wet on camping trips.
     
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  6. bitika

    bitika New IL'ite

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    Dear Rajmiarun,

    This is really very informative and can be used in our day today life...

    :2thumbsup:
     
  7. sunitha

    sunitha Gold IL'ite

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    Thanks a lot Rajmi arun...that was helpful.

    :2thumbsup:
     
  8. perfectly_perfect

    perfectly_perfect Silver IL'ite

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    Hey Rajmiarun,
    Nice thread. these are very useful tips.
    Could you pls share the name of the book pls.
    Thanks
     
  9. sonia

    sonia Bronze IL'ite

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    Dear Rajmi,

    Thanks for d info,very useful.
    keep posting.

    Sonia
     
  10. tejudatla

    tejudatla Bronze IL'ite

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    Dear Rajmi,

    All your tips we need in our daily life.
    Thanq for sharing with all of us.... Way to go..
     

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