http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword.asp?kid=10073 Newest articles written by Vicki Lansky Copyright 2005, Chabad.org - Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, all rights reserved. http://www.chabad.org/media/images/50/CtRx507451.gif 130 52 http://www.chabad.org Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:00:00 EST Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=458384 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=458384 A bunch of helpful tips to keep the toy collection under control... Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=441389 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=441389 Whiten discolored chopping boards with lemon juice. It will also work on yellowed ivory handles. Poached fish will be firmer and whiter if you add lemon juice to the cooking liquid. After cutting smelly garlic or onions on a wood board, rub the surface with a slice of freshly cut lemon, rinse well and dry. To get more juice from lemons, halve them, heat on high in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds, then squeeze. Remove fruit or berry stains from your hands by rinsing with lemon juice. Stir a tablespoon of lemon juice into a cup of fresh, sweet milk when you need a substitute for sour cream or buttermilk. To avoid that funny aftertaste in diet desserts, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Use lemon juice in the washer to remove rust and other mineral discoloration from cotton t-shirts and briefs. Use lemon juice to remove ink spots on cloth. Discolored socks will look white again if you boil them for a few minutes in a pan of water with a slice of lemon in it. Cut a lemon in half and u Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=441385 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=441385 Keep a second hair dryer in the kitchen. On "cool," it can dry salad greens, on "warm" it sets the icing on cakes, on "hot" it defrosts a stack of chops or softens ice cream for easy scooping.  If hard water spots your glasses dry them with a cloth, then blow dry to remove wet spots and lint. If you've left a freshly-baked cake for too long in a wax paper-lined pan, run your hair dryer over the bottom of the pan, and then carefully invert it. The cake will drop out.  To remove old contact paper from kitchen shelves use a hair dryer set on warm. Work on one section at a time and gently pull at the edges.  Dry panty hose by hanging them on the shower rod and blowing them dry. Quickly and safely remove candle wax by blowing warm air slightly above the drips. The heat softens the wax, which can then be wiped away with a paper towel, leaving no scratches. Speed up the defrosting process of your freezer by using your hair dryer. Never lay the dryer down inside the freezer, it' Fri, 3 Nov 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=411821 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=411821 Hand buff a wood floor to a beautiful shine with a pad made by inserting a folded bath towel into an old nylon stocking. The stocking will get snagged, so gather up plenty of old hose. Old nylons make perfect applicators for stains, varnish or polyurethane, especially in places a brush can't handle. Keep an old pair of pantyhose in your trunk to use to tie down the lid of your car trunk if you have something bulky to carry. Need an extra-large rubber band? Cut around the elastic top of an old pair of pantyhose. Two of these, crisscrossed, work fine when bundling newspapers or magazines. Use one to hold a bag in place in a garbage container, too. Make your own inexpensive softball that won't hurt kids or furniture: stuff an old sock with pantyhose and sew the top closed. Stuff dolls, pillows and toys, too, for softness and washability. Use old nylons as a "wick" to water houseplants. For great smelling sheets, put one nylon inside another and fill with 1 /2 cup potpourri. Wet Tue, 8 Aug 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=397335 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=397335 To ripen peaches, avocados, pears, apples or tomatoes, put them in a brown paper bag. The paper helps retain the natural gases that ripen the fruit. Remember, as soon as you refrigerate the fruit or vegetables, the ripening process stops. Store mushrooms in a brown paper bag to keep them fresh. To keep onions on hand for two or three months without sprouting, remove them from their mesh or plastic sack and put them in a brown paper bag on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Tie a large brown paper bag over the head of your dust mop to shake off the dirt and dust inside the house. Drain fried foods or cool cookies on brown paper bags Cut or tear a 10-inch strip along the back seam of a brown paper bag and slip it over your car steering wheel to keep the wheel cool and touchable during hot weather. Remove wax from tablecloths or carpets by placing an opened brown bag on the problem and moving a warm iron over the spot-quickly. Greasy spots will appear on the bag. Move clean paper to th Wed, 28 Jun 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=381427 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=381427 Cover cookie sheets with foil. They can be wiped clean with wet paper towels, dried and reused for continuous cookie baking. At the end of the baking session, cleanup is a snap. Wrap foil around doorknobs when painting to avoid drips. Brighten outdoor lighting in your yard or at a campsite by placing shiny, reflecting aluminum foil behind the lamp. If you don’t wan’t your dog on the furniture, put pieces of foil on it. The rustle of the foil frightens the dog. Make a substitute funnel in a hurry by doubling aluminum foil and rolling it into a cone, reducing the small end to the required size. Wrap heavy-duty foil around a panel of insulation board and tuck it behind radiators and baseboard heaters to reflect heat into the room. Place a piece of foil under the napkin in the serving basket and hot rolls will stay warm longer. Remove rust spots from car bumpers by rubbing with crumpled foil dipped in cola. Put a piece of aluminum foil under the ironing board cover to reflect and make iron Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=337106 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=337106 Today almost everything but the child goes into the washing machine... Fri, 10 Feb 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=337088 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=337088 Clean white baby shoes by rubbing them with a raw potato, liquid nonabrasive cleaner, or alcohol before polishing. Or apply toothpaste with an old toothbrush, scrub gently, and wipe off. Let shoes dry before polishing. Spray newly polished white baby shoes with hair spray to pre-vent polish from coming off. Use baby wipes to remove black marks from white shoes. Remove gum from the bottom of shoes by putting them in the freezer. Scrape the gum off when it's frozen. Make white canvas shoes white again by washing them and polishing them with white shoe polish. Let them air-dry. To keep the soles of shoes from being stained with polish, paint the edges with clear nail polish. Use hair spray on stains on tennis shoes. Spray, leave for a few seconds, and wipe with a soft cloth. Or try toothpaste and a toothbrush or a soapy scouring pad. Use bleach or lemon juice in the rinse water if the shoes are white. Even foam bathroom cleaner can be effective on leather sneakers. Spray new sneakers with Fri, 10 Feb 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=337121 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=337121 How to clean up after a messy toddler-style meal. Fri, 10 Feb 2006 12:00:00 EST