Japan is well-known for its
Urawaza --
clever, do-it-yourself tricks for using household products to solve
common problems. Here are strategies that have worked for others --
and may just work for you...
HEALTH REMEDIES
Cure the hiccups with a Q-tip. Briefly touch
one end of a Q-tip to the small piece of flesh that dangles in the
back of your throat (uvula).
Why it works: This triggers your gag
reflex, which interrupts the spasms of your diaphragm. No hiccup
cure works 100% of the time, but this one is more effective than
many others.
Clear a stuffy nose with scallions. People
with stuffy noses shouldn’t take over-the-counter nasal
decongestants too often -- overuse can cause increased congestion.
Scallions can serve as a substitute. Cut the top fronds off two
scallions, then very gently put the thick white root part into each
nostril. (
Warning: Do
not shove it
high up your nose.) Your nose should start to clear in as little as
one minute.
Why it works: Like other members of
the onion family, scallions contain chemical compounds that make
the eyes water and the nose run.
QUICK FIXES
Fix a scratched CD with toothpaste. Place a
small dab of nonabrasive white toothpaste on a cotton ball, and
gently apply it over the CD’s scratch, starting the cotton ball at
the middle of the CD and moving it outward. Use a small amount of
water and a second, clean cotton ball to remove any excess
toothpaste. Let the CD air-dry.
Why it works: The mild abrasives in
toothpaste gently smooth out the sharp edges of the scratch. It’s
those sharp edges that diffract the CD player’s laser beam, causing
it to skip. This works only on shallow scratches -- deep scratches
might be beyond repair.
Make old, formerly water-resistant cloth jackets
water-resistant againwith a hair dryer. Set a hair dryer
to high, then slowly move it around the outer surface of the
jacket.
Why it works: Many, though not all,
waterproof cloth garments are treated with something called a
"durable water-repellent coating." Over time, the coating starts to
deteriorate, decreasing its effectiveness. Heat can reactivate the
water-repelling properties.
CLEANING TRICKS
Clean pen marks off your hands with a tea
bag. Brew a cup of green or black tea, then rub the
used tea bag over the pen marks on your skin.
Why it works: Catechin, a
chemical compound found in these teas, combines with the pigments
and oils in the pen ink, lifting the ink from the skin. The fabric
of the tea bag acts as a mild scrubber.
Remove stickers or tape from mirrors or windows with
mayonnaise.Stickers and tape often leave adhesive residue
behind when they are peeled from mirrors or windows. Scraping the
residue away can take a lot of effort. Instead, place a dab of
mayonnaise on a paper towel, and apply this to the adhesive. After
a minute or two, the adhesive residue should give way without much
scrubbing or scraping -- sometimes it simply wipes away with a
paper towel.
Why it works: The vegetable oil in
mayonnaise dissolves most common adhesives. In fact, you can use
vegetable oil to remove adhesive residue, but the oil’s more liquid
consistency means it won’t stay in place over the adhesive as
well.
Pick up broken glass with bread. Hundreds of
tiny shards often are spread across the floor when glass breaks.
Sweeping never removes them all. Next time glass breaks in your
home, sweep away the larger pieces, then press a few slices of
bread onto the broken-glass area.
Why it works: Even very small shards
will lodge in the bread.
Warning: Dispose of these slices of
bread immediately so that people and pets don’t mistake them for
food.
Clean a toilet bowl with mouthwash. Pour
about one cup of mouthwash in the toilet bowl. After 15 to 20
minutes, a quick swipe with a toilet brush should be all it takes
to make the bowl’s surface sparkle.
Why it works: The disinfectants in
mouthwash are designed to make teeth shine and kill germs, but they
are equally effective at polishing toilet surfaces and killing
toilet germs.
Remove burn marks from a pan with
eggshells. Crush an eggshell, then rub the shell
fragments against the burned areas with your fingers. Do not use on
nonstick surfaces, because it could scratch.
Why it works: The calcium carbonate
in eggshells is an abrasive that does a nice job of scrubbing away
burns. The small amount of egg white still present on the shell
fragments absorbs the loose particles for a clean, shiny finish.
HELP FOR PLANTS
Save a diseased plant with garlic. Grate a
single clove of garlic into two cups of water, then pour this
mixture around the base of the plant. This works particularly well
for the fungus that often kills basil.
Why it works: Garlic contains a
compound called
phytoncide that kills many
common plant root fungi and inhibits certain other plant
diseases.
Extend the life of cut flowers with
bleach. Add a few drops of bleach to the water in the
vase.
Why it works: The disinfecting
properties of bleach inhibit the bacterial and mildew growth that
often robs cut flowers of their beauty.
Alternative: Drop a penny minted
prior to 1982 into the vase water. The copper kills bacteria.
(Pennies minted after mid-1982 are mostly zinc and won’t help your
flowers.)