Baking and Washing Soda

Baking soda (a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate) and its close cousin, washing soda (sodium carbonate), both absorb odors. But unlike baking soda, slightly stronger washing soda can’t be ingested; wear rubber gloves when handling it.
Price: About $1.08 for a pound of baking soda; $7 for 4 pounds of washing soda; both available at supermarkets.

Use Them to Clean Your…

Can opener: Dip a toothbrush in a paste of 2 tablespoons baking soda and 1 teaspoon water and use it to dislodge gunk.

Garage floors (and other concrete surfaces): Pour washing soda generously on oil and grease spots and sprinkle with water until a paste forms. Let stand overnight. The next day, scrub with a damp brush, hose down, and wipe clean.

Garden tools: Dip a moist stiff-bristled brush in washing soda to scrub trimmers, clippers, and more. Rinse, then place in a sunny area to dry. (Don’t use washing soda on aluminum tools.)

Grills and barbecue utensils: To combat tough grease stains, dip a moist stiff- bristled brush in washing soda and scrub away.

Stove burner grates: In a dishpan, soak them in 1 gallon warm water and 1/2 cup washing soda for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry.

Stained teacups and coffee mugs: Fill with 1 part baking soda and 2 parts water and soak overnight; rub with a sponge and rinse.

Upholstered furniture: To remove odors, sprinkle baking soda on the fabric, then vacuum.

Scuffed walls: Erase crayon marks by applying a baking- soda paste (equal parts baking soda and water) to white painted walls (baking soda may dull colored walls). Let dry before brushing it off with a clean cloth.

Cooking Oils

Vegetable- and plant-based oils, such as olive and sunflower, dislodge dirt, diminish scratches and imperfections, and “hydrate wood that has aged or dried out from exposure to the sun,” says Hunter.
Price: About $7 a pint at supermarkets.

Use Them to Clean Your…

Cast-iron pans: Make a scrubbing paste with vegetable oil and a teaspoon of coarse salt to combat cooked-on debris, then rinse with hot water.

Hands: To get paint off your skin, rub with vegetable oil, then wash thoroughly with soap.

Leather shoes: Wipe away dirt with a damp sponge, then apply a drop of vegetable oil to a soft cloth and rub the surface to remove scuff marks. Buff the shoes with a chamois to a shine.

Rattan and wicker furniture: To prevent rattan and wicker from drying or cracking, lightly brush them with vegetable or sunflower oil and gently rub in with a cloth. Warm the oil on the stove first to thin it and make it easier to apply.

Stainless-steel surfaces: For extra sparkle, pour olive oil onto a cloth and buff.

Wood furniture: Make your own polish by mixing 2 cups olive or vegetable oil with the juice of 1 lemon; work it in with a soft cloth. To smooth out scratches in light-colored wood, rub them with a solution of equal parts olive or vegetable oil and lemon juice.

Essential Oils

Extracted from plants, some essential oils can kill bacteria and mold. They’re very strong, so don’t go overboard: One drop of peppermint oil is as potent as 30 cups of peppermint tea.
Price: $14 for 5 milliliters at health-food stores.

Use Them to Clean Your…

Combs and brushes: Fill a container with 1½ cups water, ½ cup distilled white vinegar, and 20 drops tea-tree, lavender, or eucalyptus oil. Soak combs and brushes for 20 minutes. Rinse and air-dry.

Scuffed floors: Apply two to four drops of tea-tree oil to the spots. Wipe excess oil with a cloth and rub in distilled white vinegar.

Gum-encrusted items: Orange oil is great at removing this sticky offender from various materials. (Don’t worry: It shouldn’t stain fabrics. But do launder immediately.) Apply with a cotton ball.

Shower doors: Wipe scum-covered glass doors with a few drops of lemon oil twice a month. It will protect them from grime buildup.

Toilets: Add 2 teaspoons tea-tree oil and 2 cups water to a spray bottle. Shake, then spritz along the toilet’s inside rim. Let sit for 30 minutes; scrub. You can also place a few drops of your favorite oil on the inside of the toilet-paper tube. “Every time the paper is used, the scent will be released,” says Siegel-Maier.

Windows: Mix 2 ounces water and 10 drops lavender or lemongrass oil to wipe grime off windows. Bonus: These oils may repel flies.

10 Unexpected Natural Cleaners

Use white bread to:

Dust an oil painting. Gently dab a slice of white bread over the surface to pick up dirt and grime.

Use ketchup to:

Remove tarnish from copper and brass cookware. Squeeze ketchup onto a cloth and rub it on pots and pans. They should go back to their coppery color in minutes. Rinse with warm water and dry with a towel.

Oatmeal

Use it to: Scrub very dirty hands. Make a thick paste of oatmeal and water; rinse well.

Rice

Use it to: Clean the inside of a vase or a thin-necked bottle. Fill three quarters of the vessel with warm water and add a tablespoon of uncooked rice. Cup your hand over the opening, shake vigor-ously, and rinse.

Tea

Use it to: Scour rusty garden tools. Brew a few pots of strong black tea. When cool, pour into a bucket. Soak the tools for a few hours. Wipe each one with a cloth. (Wear rubber gloves or your hands will be stained.)

Glycerin

Use it to: Remove dried wax drippings from candlesticks. Peel off as much wax as possible, then moisten a cotton ball with glycerin and rub until clean.

Use club soda to: Shine up a scuffed stainless-steel sink. Buff with a cloth dampened with club soda, then wipe dry with another clean cloth.

Use hydrogen peroxide to: Disinfect a keyboard. Dip a cotton swab in hydrogen peroxide to get into those nooks and crannies.

Use it to: Clean grease spills on carpets. Pour cornstarch onto spots and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes before vacuuming.

Rubbing Alcohol

Use it to: Erase permanent-marker stains from finished wood floors or solid-surface countertops. Pour rubbing alcohol onto a cotton ball and apply.

Walmart Free Samples and other links

These samples change often and I always receive them.

Free samples are a great way to try new products. I order them even if it's something I already use. Sample sizes are great for travel, use in gift baskets or to save up and donate to churches or crisis units to distribute to those who need basic everyday items.

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-free-samples.aspx

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Free Grand Slam

Denny's birthday offer is back - Celebrate your birthday with a FREE GRAND SLAM.

Valid at participating restaurants only. Dine-in only. Offer valid only on your birthday for those 11 and older. One per guest. Must present valid photograph identification to server upon ordering. Valid ID required for those guests 18 and over. Guests between the ages of 11-18 will need a parent/guardian to verify birth date if no ID is presented.

http://www.dennys.com/en/default.aspx

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Free Style Connection Sample ( Submitted February-8 )
Register now to receive a free sample of Style Connection from Redken.

Choose From:
matte sponge - rugged texturizer
velvet gelatine - cushioning blow-dry gel
wool shake - gel-slush texturizer

http://www.redken.com/whats-hot/enter-to-win/style-connection-giveaway/

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Free Purex Complete 3–in–1 Laundry Sheets
Complete the form to obtain a free sample of Purex Complete 3–in–1 Laundry Sheets. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. There is a limit of one sample per household. (U.S. Only)

http://www.trypurex.com/Purex_3-in-1_Free_Sample/

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Free Betty Crocker 2010 Calendar
If you need a new calendar for 2010, request one here from Betty Crocker. Simply complete the short online form and opt into their newsletter to complete your order (subject to eligibility).(U.S. Only)

http://freecalendar.bettycrocker.com/BC2010Calendar/Default.aspx

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Free Charmin Extender Product
At this site, you can request a free extender from Charmin. This product "upgrades" you existing toilet roll holder so it can handle the Charmin Mega Roll. Availability is limited, so sign up early to make sure you're one of the first to receive this free sample. Please note: the offer is limited to two extenders per household. To request yours, simply complete the online form.(U.S. Only)

http://www.charmin.com/en_US/toilet-paper-holder-roll.php

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Pet freebie – Free pet safety pack from the ASPCA! The safety pack also includes an ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center magnet—a great way to keep the APCC’s toll-free emergency number.

http://www.aspca.org/about-us/free-aspca-stuff/free-pet-safety-pack.html

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Free samples of pet products – Benny Bully’s Pet Treats

http://www.bennybullys.com/samples.php

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Vinegar Uses

Most people know that vinegar is a great way to clean a coffee pot. What to do with the hot vinegar afterward? Pour it on weeds. White vinegar is an herbicide, while boiling water also kills weeds.

Carpet stain removal:
A mixture of 1 teaspoon of liquid detergent and 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar in a pint of lukewarm water will remove non-oily stains from carpets. Apply it to the stain with a soft brush or towel and rub gently. Rinse with a towel moistened with clean water and blot dry. Repeat this procedure until the stain is gone. Then dry quickly, using a fan or hair dryer. This should be done as soon as the stain is discovered.

Pest fighter:
A teaspoon of white distilled vinegar for each quart bowl of drinking water helps keep your pet free of fleas and ticks. The ratio of one teaspoon to one quart is for a forty-pound animal.

Pet accident:
Test the color fastness of the carpet with white distilled vinegar in an inconspicuous place. Then sprinkle distilled vinegar over the fresh pet accident. Wait a few minutes and sponge from the center outward. Blot up with a dry cloth. This procedure may need to be repeated for stubborn stains.

Get Rid of Odor on a Smelly Dog
Wet the dog down with fresh water. Use a mixture of 1 cup white distilled vinegar and 2 gallons water. Saturate the dog’s coat with this solution. Dry the dog off without rinsing the solution. The smell will be gone!

Retail Clearance Secrets

1. All really big retail stores have clearance items. Clearance items are regular items marked down by the company because the lack of sales in a certain amount of time. Clearance mark down are usually done over night or early mornings by the sales associates. Clearance mark downs are done on certain days of each month. Clearance mark downs are usually not done on weekends, only week days when sales are down.

2. Step2

   You can catch sales associates marking down prices in the early morning when stores open. If you ask them when they do the mark downs, they will usually be more than happy to tell you.
   
   Items that have already been marked down will be marked down further every two weeks. It starts off being marked down at 10% the next week it goes down to 20%, 40%,50%,60%,70%,80%,90%, and then it get taken off of the sales floor and sold to other companies.

3. Step3

   Most items are sold by the 50 or 70 percent mark down. How ever, if you shop as soon as the store opens, you are more then likely to find some really great stuff at low cost. Every department has a clearance you need to ask where clearance items can be found for the department your looking for. Clearance is most of the time hidden because new items are more important to put out, and because it looks messy.

4. Step4

   A lot of companies places great items on clearance because the company decided to change their packaging. I have gotten dish sets and silverware for $5-$7 because of packaging changes. Sets that were regularly priced for more than $100. I have gotten tons of house hold appliances for less than the cost of one regular priced item.

5. Step5

   Sales associates are also often missing items on the sales floor. You can really get lucky and find a really low priced item on the sales floor that hasn't been marked or tagged. Stock rooms are also constantly finding old marked down items in the back. Company policies say that all marked down items must be placed on the sales floor for the customers to buy before workers can purchases them.

6. Step6

   Also after holiday shopping can save you big money. Shop for you holiday items a year in advance, after each holiday when stores mark down prices. Companies are desperate to sell holiday items the day after the that holiday. After so much time has passed they must dispose of those items that can no longer be sold.

7. Step7

   As a consumer, you have the right to the best prices. Companies charge you so much more for items and the make big profits from you. Make sure you get the better end of the deal each time around. It will make you feel great and will save you so much more money in these hard times. Happy Shopping.

Sites offering online Coupon Codes

These are some of the sites I use before making online purchases. You can usually search by name of the store or by type of item such as apparel, jewelry, electronics, etc.

I check these sites first and if they happen to offer and percent off and perhaps a free shipping code, I try them both to see which will save me more. More often than not, you can't use more than one at a time.

http://www.retailmenot.com/

http://www.currentcodes.com/

http://www.couponchief.com/

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/196678?r1=1

http://www.couponcodes4u.com/

Lemon Juice Uses

You can polish copper with lemon juice and brass and aluminum plus cream of tatar, saving yourself the cost of expensive cleaners and polishers. You can even polish brass and stainless steel with just lemon juice and salt. And when you’re done with the lemon, throw the rind down the disposal to keep it smelling fresh.

You can whiten your whites with a homemade bleaching mixture of lemon juice and baking soda. In fact, there are a lot of laundry uses for lemon juice: you can add it to the wash to help brighten whites and remove rust or mineral stains, mix it with equal parts vinegar to get rid of underarm stain, use it on ink spots to help remove the stain (apply then wash as normal), or spritz it on white clothes (or tennis shoes) and place them in the sun to help brighten whites.

Write with invisible ink.

Use a Q-tip as a pen to write in lemon juice on a piece of white paper. Once it dries, hold the paper near a hot light bulb. The writing will turn brown.

Eliminate blackheads.

Rub lemon juice over blackheads before going to bed. Wait until morning to wash off the juice with cool water. Repeat for several nights until you see a big improvement in the skin.

• Create blonde highlights.

  Rinse your hair with one-quarter cup of lemon juice with three-quarter cup water.

• Deodorize a cutting board.

  Wash with lemon juice to rid a cutting board of the smell of garlic, onions, or fish.

• Remove fruit or berry stains from your hands.

  Rinse hands with lemon juice.

• Remove rust and mineral discolorations on cotton t-shirts and briefs.

  Use one cup of lemon juice in the washer.

• Clean a microwave oven.

  Add four tablespoons of lemon juice to one cup water in a microwave-safe, four-cup bowl. Boil for five minutes in the microwave, allowing the steam to condense on the inside walls of the oven. Then wipe clean.

• Whiten, brighten, and strengthen fingernails.

  Soak fingernails in lemon juice for ten minutes, then brush with a mixture of equal parts white vinegar and warm water. Rinse well.

• Stop bleeding and disinfect minor wounds.

  Pour lemon juice on a cut or apply with a cotton ball.

• Relieve poison ivy.

  Applying lemon juice over the affected areas should soothe itching and alleviate the rash.

• Clear up facial blemishes.

  Dab lemon juice on the blemish a few times a day.

• Eliminate odors in your humidifier.

  Pour three or four teaspoons of lemon juice into the water.

• Relieve rough hands or sore feet.

  Apply lemon juice, rinse, then massage with olive oil.

• Clean brass, copper, and stainless steel kitchen sinks.

  Make a paste from lemon juice and salt, scrub gently, then rinse with water.

• Relieve a cough.

  Mix four tablespoons of lemon juice, one cup honey, and one-half cup of olive oil. Heat five minutes, then stir vigorously for two minutes. Take one teaspoon every two hours.

• Train a dog to stop barking.

  Squirt some lemon juice in the dog's mouth and say "Quiet."

• Relieve constipation.

  Before breakfast, drink four tablespoons of lemon juice in one cup warm water. Sweeten with honey.

Uses for Milk

Milk is also useful all over the house. If you’re defrosting fish, try putting it in milk instead of just defrosting it – it’ll make the fish tender and taste fresher. You can also make corn taste sweeter and fresher by adding 1/4 cup of powdered milk to the boiling water before you put in the corn.

Milk splash by tambako

Outside the kitchen, milk can be used to repair cracked china. Before you chuck it out, try putting china with hairline cracks into a pot or pan covered with milk and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. You’d be surprised how many small cracks just disappear! Milk can also clean patent leather – just dab it on, let it dry, and buff it off. Ink stains on clothes can also be removed (if you’re patient) by soaking overnight in a milk bath. After the long soak, just wash the item as usual, and most ink stains will disappear.

And, if you have powdered milk on hand, you can use it to help soothe sunburn and bug bites. Mix two parts water with one part powdered milk and add a pinch of salt to create a milky paste that can be applied to the skin (also works as a great facial). Powdered milk can also be used as a homemade makeup remover – 3 tablespoons of the powder with 1/3 cup of warm water mixed well will help remove stubborn makeup without chemicals and will rinse off clean. Or, for a full-body effect, add a half a cup of powdered milk to bath water while it’s filling and enjoy a spa-like experience at-home.

Even if it’s gone sour you can use milk around the house. Pour sour milk down the toilet to help clean your septic tank, or add it to your compost to boost nutrients. Or use it to clean tarnished silverware. Just place the silverware in sour milk for 30 minutes, wash in warm, soapy water, and buff with a soft cloth for a brand-spankin’-new shine.