Use What You Have - Creative Uses for Household Items Part 1

Waste not, want not. What can you do with the items in your pantry besides cook with them? Check out some of these options below:

Baking Soda

Use instead of Comet to scour your tub or shower floor.

To remove pesky dead insects from the exterior of your car: Sprinkle baking soda on a damp sponge and wipe down the hood and/or windshield of your vehicle. Once all desired areas have been wiped down, simply go back over those areas with a dry cloth to remove the baking soda and bugs. The baking soda is a mild abrasive that will remove the bugs without causing damage to the car’s finish.

Peanut Butter

To clean CD’s and DVD’s: Clean a scuff mark from a CD or DVD by rubbing a dab of creamy peanut butter on the disc with a soft cloth and wipe clean.

Cooking Spray (Pam)

Coat the inside of your containers with cooking spray, then pour your tomato sauce products into the container to prevent staining.

Use to grease a sqeaky car door instead of WD-40.


Baby Wipes

Wipe your car's cup holder, dashboard and steering wheel with baby wipes to remove dust and stickiness.


Lemonade Mix (Powdered Form)

To clean a dishwasher: Make sure your dishwasher is empty, then fill the detergent cup with lemonade powder and run the machine through its normal cycle. Your dishwasher will smell lemon fresh and will be sparkly clean.


Vanilla Extract

Soak a cotton ball with pure vanilla extract and place it on a saucer in the corner of the room. Your home will quickly be filled with the fresh scent of vanilla.

You can find a long list of other useful tips and tricks just like these in the popular book “Fix-It Magic” by Joey Green.