21 HANDY HOUSEHOLD TIPS & TRICKS

Every now and then you get a chain mail from someone that actually has some worthwhile information (at least this did not say send it to ten friends in the next five minutes to avoid a curse!).

I've tried many of these tips and they actually work including #1, 7 and 18. Do you have another interesting household trick up your sleeve? If so, send it to us and we'll add it to our list!

Obviously my bananas are going to ripen fast, I'd better take them apart!

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream; then beat them.
Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
Reheat Pizza - Heat leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove; set heat to med-low And heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the food channel and it really works.
Easy Deviled Eggs - Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal; mash till they are all broken up Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy; squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done - easy clean up.
Reheating refrigerated bread - To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in A microwave next to a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
Newspaper weeds away - Start putting torn newspaper in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, Put layers around the plants, overlapping as you go; cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic; they will not get through wet newspapers.
Broken Glass - Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
Flexible vacuum - To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
Reducing Static Cling - Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... Ta DA! .... Static is gone.
Measuring Cups - Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient (peanut butter, honey, etc.) and watch how easily it comes right out.
Foggy Windshield? - Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
Reopening envelope - If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, Just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
Conditioner - Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
Goodbye Fruit Flies - To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2 with Apple Cider Vinegar And 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
Get Rid of Ants - Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS - The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load of clothes.) He took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material .. I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well .... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh - that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush at least every six months. He said that increases the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!