Simple Green Tip Of The Month August 2009

White Lightning

Forget about salad dressing. This inexpensive kitchen staple—the distilled white kind, that is—can multitask in any room of the house. Here are 5 smart ways to use it.

1. Peel off Wallpaper. Using a sponge or spray bottle, saturate wallpaper with a solution of equal parts vinegar and water. Let stand for several minutes, then start scraping. The paper should come off easily.

2. Revive Old Paintbrushes. Soak gunked-up nylon brushes in hot vinegar for up to 30 minutes to remove paint and soften the bristles. Afterward, wash them in hot, soapy water, brushing off paint as needed, then rinse and let dry—good as new.

3. Remove Mineral Deposits from Showerheads. Pour ½ cup of warm vinegar into a resealable plastic bag. Drop in the showerhead, making sure the holes are submerged, and seal the bag. Let sit for 1 hour. Rinse and wipe clean, then reattach.

4. Keep Paint from Peeling. Before painting galvanized metal or concrete, wipe down the object or surface with vinegar, using a sponge or lint-free cloth. This little trick will help your paint job last longer.

5. Banish Decals and Stickers. Dab vinegar onto stubborn price tags and stickers affixed to glass, plastic, or wood. Scrape the surface clean, then rub the area with more vinegar to remove any sticky residue.

Forget about expensive cleaners that are toxic to your family and the environment.
Remember there is no planet "B".

Be Green-

Simple Green Tip of the Month July 2009

Your racket may be gathering dust in the ­attic, but don’t throw away its partners in crime. Here’s how to use tennis balls without ever hitting the court.

1. Erase scuff marks. With a utility knife, cut an X in a tennis ball and slip it over the end of an old broom handle. Rub the ball over scuff marks on your wood floors; they’ll come right off.

2. Protect a padlock. Cut a slit in a tennis ball with a utility knife and slip it over an outdoor padlock to prevent water from getting into it and freezing.

3. Remove a broken lightbulb. The bulb broke off in the socket? No problem. Carefully clear away any shards of broken glass, then gently push a tennis ball against the light socket and twist it to remove the bulb’s embedded stem.

4. Cushion the blow. Cut an X in a tennis ball and slip it over the head of a hammer so you don’t ding up walls, wood, or other fragile materials while you’re pounding away.

5. Install a parking guide. Hang a tennis ball from a string from the ceiling of your garage so that the ball touches the top left corner of the windshield when your car is properly parked. Now you’ll know how far to pull in each time you come home.

Everything you place in a trash can ends up in a landfill. Be creative and reuse products.
Remember there is no planet "B".

Be Green-