How to Remove Silly Putty from Carpet

The best way I've found to remove Silly Putty from carpet is with denatured alcohol. Pour some on and use a scrub brush. Follow up with whatever you normally use to clean your carpet.

Bleach is Versatile and Cheap

Don't overlook plain old bleach for a wide variety of cleaning uses. It's usually about $1.50 for a big 3 quart jug.
For laundry, follow the manufacturer's instructions.
For general cleaning, use about a 1-10 ratio of bleach to water. Also, wear gloves to protect your hands.

Cloth Washcloths Save Money and Resources

You may occasionally want to use papertowels for a small spill, but you may wind up using them for everything from table napkins, to drying hands after doing dishes, to being used as a kleenex. This can become wasteful, especially since you may need to do a lot of rinsing and drying as you cook.

Keep a few cloth washcloths around and you'll find yourself using far fewer papertowels. Washcloths can be hung over a chair or from a hook to air dry, and run through the laundry weekly

Remove Stubborn Stovetop Stains

There are some stovetop stains you just can't remove with detergents or solvents. These are the ones so baked on they appear like a resin or carbon. I've had the best results with a cheap, one-edged razor in a plastic holders. These cost around $3.00 in the tools section. My routine is to go over the stovetop with an oven cleaner, removing as much as I can with that, than getting the truly baked-on stains with the razor.

Homemade Dogfood

I cut your dogfood bills and feed your dog healthier food by making your own dogfood. I also have much less garbage since I'm not using all those cans, which get all smelly too. It takes me about twenty minutes to make a week's worth of food for my dog, a 30lb mutt. I combine the following in an 8 quart pressure cooker:

1. Either around 10 pototoes, or about three cups of barley (presoaked overnight).
2 Two pounds of ground beef.
3. A mix of veggies (about one cup).
4. One uncooked egg (shell included).
5. Enough water to cover the potatoes or barley and prevent the mixture from drying. It's better to use too much water so the bottom doesn't burn.

Cook these in the pressure cooker for around twenty minutes. When the food has cooled, mash it into a rough paste and you have your dogfood. I freeze about half and start using it midway through the week, and refrigerate the rest in a plastic sealable container for the first half of the week.

For the meat, I use the 27% fat. I've read in a couple of books on the subject that fattier meat has a calming effect. I don't feel this is unhealthy since the meat actually isn't a very high proportion of the whole meal.

The eggshell is included because apparently this is a good source of calcium.

Of course you should check with your vet to determine what diet is best for your pet. I've fed my dog the above diet, plus beef neck bones and turkey necks for treats, for the past three years and he's in great shape. People often comment that he looks much younger than his age of ten. Plus I can determine the ingredients and don't have to worry about the level of anti-freeze or floor sweepings in his diet.

End Smelly Sponges and Prolong Sponge Life

End Smelly Sponges and Prolong Sponge Life

Just thoroughly wring them out and leave them standing upright against something, like the faucet, so they get the most air exposure to dry them. If there is a sunny spot on your counter this is best, as they'll get dried out pretty quickly. Just air drying seems to keep them pretty much odorless, and I've been able to keep them at least until all most of the scrubbing side has worn away.

Make your own Foaming Handsoap

Aren't those foaming handsoap products clever? They've figured out how to package less soap and more water, while charging you more money. Well, you can easily turn this packaging coup to your advantage by simply reusing the container.

Get one of those giant 64oz refill bottles of regular liquid soap, and fill the empty foaming handsoap dispenser with just a little, like 1/2" or less at the bottom. Then fill the rest with water and stir to thoroughly mix the soap and water, and replace the cap. Presto! You've just created your own foaming soap solution for just a few pennies. It just takes a few moments, and you don't feel so dumb for paying $3.50 for something that's almost all water.