# What's your best practical tip for around the house? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 18, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899 "2010-05-18T16:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/141 "2010-05-22T14:32:04Z")
I love this thread, these are great ideas! I have a couple to share, as well. Y’know those areas you forget to clean, that are high up? I’m not tall and routinely forget, entirely, about the top the the stacked washer dryer or the top of the bookcase. So much so that when I have to do so, because I’m having company, it’s a terrible dusty mess to clean up. Now I just plastic wrap, to line the tops, making sure it’s not visible from below. Every 6 months or so, I pull it down (a shocking mess!), a quick wipe, (around the edges), and reline with plastic wrap. This is the bomb and saves tons of cleaning time. I also buy cheap kitchen towels and keep lots on hand, using them for everything and washing them often. When they get stained, I cut them into 4 and they become rags. I have a large pile of them, as you can imagine. It saves having to rinse and reuse, when cleaning. Spray with cleaner, wipe with rag, toss in washer, use another rag. Saves more time than you’d imagine. When you’re finished cleaning run the washer load of rags. They make great substitutes for paper towels. A bucket, as a cleaning tote, is brilliant, it’s got rags, windex, cleaner, scouring powder, old tooth brush, magic sponge, scouring pad, roll of paper towel etc. I keep it in the cupboard and grab it when I have to clean up a mess. Whatever I need, it’s there with me, no running back to fetch this or that. Terrible mess in the house and company is coming over? Eeek, we’ve all been there, I think. Quick, spread some newspaper, put up the ladder and lay out a few tools. Now relax. If you’re making repairs/renovating, any guest will accept the state of your home with good grace. I’m also a white towel gal. Because the white load is the smallest, it just made so much sense. For filing household bills I use a binder and those plastic sheet protectors. Put them in upside down, so the opening in at the top. Use one for each of your regular payments, gas, hydro, etc. They are tidy and out of the way, and you can easily flip to see your last bill/payment. It’s really easy to flip through, in fact. If some of your statements are thick or multipaged just grab another sheet protector when it’s full. Come tax time, everything is right there, in order even. Easy peasy. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/142 "2010-05-22T14:34:26Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Terrible mess in the house and company is coming over? Eeek, we’ve all been there, I think. Quick, spread some newspaper, put up the ladder and lay out a few tools. Now relax. If you’re making repairs/renovating, any guest will accept the state of your home with good grace. That’s hilarious. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/143 "2010-05-22T15:58:47Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Vinegar is excellent at loosening alkaline deposits in things like coffeepots, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a CLEANER, it means that it’s an acid. Along those same lines, ignore any household advice that follows the logic that if vinegar is good for cleaning some stuff in the house, and baking soda is good for cleaning other stuff in the house, then vinegar mixed with baking soda must be good for cleaning EVERYTHING in the house. Along those same lines, mixing ammonia and bleach will produce chlorine gas, which will sicken you, damage your lungs, kill you, or all of the above. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/144 "2010-05-22T16:07:11Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > My favorite tip of late: if my 6 year old complains about how I do something, she gets to do it instead, in addition to her other chores. Similarly, if you have a boy who “misses” with some frequency and is old enough to do better and clean the bathroom - have him clean the bathroom. The bathroom gets cleaned AND he learns the importance of AIM. (“Mom, this is so gross!” “Yes, that is why YOU are doing it. When you stop peeing all over the bathroom, I’ll clean them again.”) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/145 "2010-05-22T18:13:51Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > For filing household bills I use a binder and those plastic sheet protectors. Put them in upside down, so the opening in at the top. Use one for each of your regular payments, gas, hydro, etc. They are tidy and out of the way, and you can easily flip to see your last bill/payment. It’s really easy to flip through, in fact. If some of your statements are thick or multipaged just grab another sheet protector when it’s full. Come tax time, everything is right there, in order even. Easy peasy. I use an file accordion, but I like this idea. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/146 "2010-05-22T18:41:56Z")
[Dryer balls](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EIW1SG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000BOBM8O&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0GXC9Y8YHGR4ZYY8TM5E) seem to work for me. I think the biggest thing they do is knock some of the stuck on cat hair off so it can go to the lint trap, but they also seem to reduce my drying time. They might be worth a try for some people. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/147 "2010-05-22T19:23:16Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > [Dryer balls](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EIW1SG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000BOBM8O&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0GXC9Y8YHGR4ZYY8TM5E) seem to work for me. I think the biggest thing they do is knock some of the stuck on cat hair off so it can go to the lint trap, but they also seem to reduce my drying time. They might be worth a try for some people. They seem to help spread out things that tend to be bunchy, like sheets, too, which helps with both drying time and wrinkles. I do use six at a time, BTW – I have no idea how many is ideal, but that’s how many I got in one eBay auction. I find the noise of six less distracting than the noise of two, since it’s more constant and less dripping-faucet-like. What they don’t do is anything for static cling. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/148 "2010-05-22T19:47:29Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > I keep a Sharpie in the kitchen. Whenever I open something that is “refrigerate after opening” I put the date on it. No more wondering how old that sundried tomato-pesto spread is! Also handy for cereal or anything else. It’s good for stuff that might go bad before expiration date once it’s opened. > [@panache45](#): > > … > Whenever anything gets put in the refrigerator or freezer, and I know I won’t be using it within a few days, I write the date on it with a Sharpie. When I’m freezing chicken parts, after the date I put a B, W, T or D, telling me what part it is. Sometimes you can’t tell by looking. > … Not sure if this is very different, but I write down the month and year of pretty much every food item, especially canned goods & other things that have long shelf lives. This is to counteract my rather miserable skills in all other areas of cleaning … I’ve occasionally found cans of things in the back of my cabinets that I’d purchased as much as five years earlier. I also keep a database in my iPhone named “Where Is It?” Anything I don’t use on a daily basis, I just make an entry, note its location (e.g. “Dining room drawer left bottom,” which is actually “DR L4”) and the date I last saw the item. (I migrated this from my Palm, so the database is really over ten years old). Honestly, how could I otherwise keep track of things like my fax modem, which I use about twice a year and is the size of a cigarette lighter? I also got too frustrated trying to open anything with nearly-indestructible plastic packaging and bought some tin snips. They just destroy (and probably humiliate) the most stubborn packages. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/149 "2010-05-22T20:15:38Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > How do you decide which one gets to have a charger at work, though? Draw straws? Arm wrestle? Since my cell phone is essentially a leash, I get in trouble if it’s not fully charged 24/7 and on when she calls. Since I never call her, and if I do, she’s free to ignore it, I get the charger. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/150 "2010-05-22T21:13:30Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > I also separate silverware as I put it into the dishwasher, which seems easier than sorting it as I unload. I’ve found that this greatly increases the chance that the silverware will nest together and not get fully clean between (especially with spoons). I intentionally try to never put the same size/shape silverware next to its match, or make them face different directions when I have to put them side-by-side. (On further reading I see that Lynn mentioned this as well) One thing I’ve found that has helped immensely at our house is that we use baskets everywhere. You know, those plastic mesh baskets you can buy at Target or wherever. Under the kitchen and bathroom sinks is a basket containing all the cleaning supplies. On various shelves are baskets full of whatever. It makes it easier to organize and shelves full of stuff aren’t as intimidating when you can just pull out the basket you want without having to reach around things to get at the stuff in the back. Occasionally putting your old coffee grounds down the garbage disposal will reduce odor. In fact, coffee grounds are great for reducing all sorts of odors. This may be a little OCD for most, but I keep a whiteboard and dry-erase marker on the fridge and keep a tally of what is in the freezer. Otherwise we end up forgetting about stuff that is way in the back for months at a time. It’s easier to look at the list, decide what you want, and then go in and find it. Also, when you take something out of the freezer, you remove it from the list and add it to the shopping list (also on the fridge). ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/151 "2010-05-22T23:47:41Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > This may be a little OCD for most, but I keep a whiteboard and dry-erase marker on the fridge and keep a tally of what is in the freezer. Otherwise we end up forgetting about stuff that is way in the back for months at a time. It’s easier to look at the list, decide what you want, and then go in and find it. Also, when you take something out of the freezer, you remove it from the list and add it to the shopping list (also on the fridge). I love this idea. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/152 "2010-05-23T02:31:13Z")
I use a spatula to clean my kitty litter box as well as the scooper - the scooper doesn’t scrape the crud off the bottom of the litter pan well, but the spatula works like a dream. I use a green one for the litter and white ones in my kitchen so there is no confusion. Speaking of spatulas, I used to only have one for my kitchen, and I was always needing it and washing it. I had a brain wave one day and bought ANOTHER ONE! Some day I might go nuts and buy some more - one for every day of the week. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/153 "2010-05-23T03:07:08Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > This may be a little OCD for most, but I keep a whiteboard and dry-erase marker on the fridge and keep a tally of what is in the freezer. Otherwise we end up forgetting about stuff that is way in the back for months at a time. It’s easier to look at the list, decide what you want, and then go in and find it. Also, when you take something out of the freezer, you remove it from the list and add it to the shopping list (also on the fridge). I’ve tried a million ways of organizing our chest freezer so I don’t run out of all but one type of meat, or leave a poor old freezer burned package at the bottom. I’m stealing this one. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/154 "2010-05-23T03:16:14Z")
Some of mine: 1. Cats are self-cleaning and very absorbent, so they are useful when wiping up a small spill. 2. To avoid rusting the metal lids on your urine jars, screw down each lid over a sheet of saran wrap. 3. I don’t care what you’ve heard, it just isn’t possible to properly sound-proof a basement. You’ve simply got to get a place in the country. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/155 "2010-05-23T04:14:36Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > I’ve tried a million ways of organizing our chest freezer so I don’t run out of all but one type of meat, or leave a poor old freezer burned package at the bottom. I’m stealing this one. We have three plastic baskets in the freezer. One for beef, one for chicken and pork, and one for whatever. For instance, we’ll put fish and duck in the whatever basket. I check the freezer while making out a list, to make sure that have a variety. If one basket looks low, then I make a note to buy more chicken or beef or whatever. A good part of our freezer is taken up by various bits of Bambi, I mean venison, though. I don’t like venison, and Bill won’t cook and eat it himself very often. I keep telling him to have the butcher package it into smaller packages. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/156 "2010-05-23T04:25:44Z")
I think when it’s time to get a larger freezer, I’ll get one of the upright ones with baskets that slide out that you can label. They look AWESOME! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/157 "2010-05-23T04:27:51Z")
Oh, the freezer didn’t come with these baskets, I went to Family Dollar and bought them. They aren’t the most fashionable baskets I’ve ever seen, but they were cheap. Our freezer DOES have a bottom basket that pulls out when the door is opened, which came with the freezer. And it’s darned handy. ---
**Author:** ![zlexiss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecae2f/32.png) [@zlexiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zlexiss)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/158 "2010-05-23T20:18:44Z")
If you don’t have one, get one of the shower wand things. Use it to rinse down the walls when you’re done. No soap scum, and no chemicals or auto shower cleaner stuff. Speaking of showers, CLR and the like just don’t cut it for real hard water stains when they were reformulated to be more “friendly”. Lysol Power toilet bowl cleaner is 10% HCl, so be careful with it 😉 (check on a surface first!) When putting together wood furniture, squirt a bit of wood glue into the screw pilot holes before you screw the pieces together. It’s like Locktite for wood, and it’ll hold tight and strong for much longer. Use your bathroom trash bins for litter box cleaning. That way it gets taken out 1-2 times a week instead of piling up with kleenex and dirty q-tips. (I use plastic shopping bags as liners) I quit doing the Wii EA active sports to the program itself and now just do the exercises while watching the shows I want to watch. It’s not like you need a guide after your first 30 day challenge. Blue painter’s tape and a sharpie are great for labeling frozen food containers without leaving tape residue on the container. ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/159 "2010-05-24T01:53:15Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > And the old standby of motivators: invite people over! This is my number one cleaning motivator! I just clean when I know someone is coming over. Depending on the amount of time, the order is as follows: Bathroom - quick wipe down and put everything away Kitchen Put away shoes (which gather in our living room for some reason) Straighten couch cusions and clear coffee table Floors (vacuum and sweep) if there is time I can get most of this done in ~10 minutes and the difference in the house is amazing. > [@Maastricht](#): > > S > I have a list on the inside of the front door of things borrowed that need to return. So if I say goodbye to a visitor, I go: “oh yeah, I forgot, here are those dvd’s I borrowed from you” or " oh, before you go, I have something I meant to give you". This is truly inspired. > [@groo](#): > > I also got too frustrated trying to open anything with nearly-indestructible plastic packaging and bought some tin snips. They just destroy (and probably humiliate) the most stubborn packages. I used to get so frustrated with these, but then I discovered that if you cut all along the outside edge, as close to the seal as you can get, it cuts easily and the package opens like a hinge along the bottom. > [@zlexiss](#): > > If you don’t have one, get one of the shower wand things. Use it to rinse down the walls when you’re done. No soap scum, and no chemicals or auto shower cleaner stuff. I just spray down the shower with the shower head while my conditioner is sitting. That, alone, keeps the shower pretty clean. Now, some of my own: When cooking, always portion out all you ingredients in bowl or custurd cups before you get started. Things that go in together can go in the same bowl. Put away all packaging and trash before hand, as well. This way, when you are actually cooking and things are more time sensitive, you aren’t as rush and are less likely to forget an ingredient. Everywhere I have lived has a light switch next to a garbage disposal switch. Even though I know which is which, I would constantly turn on the garbage disposal when I meant to turn on the light. Now, I label the garbage disposal switch with a sharpie (right on the switch cover). The label sticks out so I notice what I am doing before I do it and the sharpie comes of the cover with a magic eraser before I move. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899/160 "2010-05-24T02:51:08Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Oh, the freezer didn’t come with these baskets, I went to Family Dollar and bought them. They aren’t the most fashionable baskets I’ve ever seen, but they were cheap. Our freezer DOES have a bottom basket that pulls out when the door is opened, which came with the freezer. And it’s darned handy. I did something similar in my freezer as well. I measured the freezer interior before leaving home, and got a wire shelf that’s about half the height of the freezer, then bought some translucent plastic bins from Target (their “ItSo” brand, about $5 each) with nice straight sides and no lip to speak of - it helps to not have them hanging up on each other with the lip, and the straight sides conserve storage space by making that room available. I had a label maker already, so I slap a label on the container so I can easily tell what’s in them, and change it if I’m using the container for something else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-best-practical-tip-for-around-the-house/539899.md?page=9)