Body Care
* Instead of soap you can sometimes use a mixture of gram flour (besan) and milk to bathe the baby.
* To massage the baby you could use
o A mixture of gram flour (basen) and cream with a pinch of turmeric. Apply the mixture on the baby's body and gently rub it off.
o Take a small ball of wheat dough. Apply some massage oil on it. Massage the baby with this ball by rubbing it over the baby's body. The strokes should be against the hair growth. This is an excellent remedy for removing body hair from a newborn.
* A rich moisturizer can be made by melting 2 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 tbsp lanolin, 2 tsp glycerine and 3 tbsp olive or almond oil, over a double boiler. Beat well.
* Boil a handful of neem leaves and basil leaves and wash your hair regularly with it to get rid of lice.
* To get rid of Band-aid or ugly gray plaster marks apply some lukewarm coconut oil to the area and leave it for 15 minutes. Wash off with soap water.
* To remove paint or fast colour from your skin, apply curd on the effected part. After few minutes rub and wash it off.
Dandruff Control
* A mixture of 2 tbsp of curd and a few drops of honey is an excellent anti-dandruff agent when rubbed on the scalp.
* Lemon juice mixed with mustard oil is an excellent cure for dandruff.
* For lustrous and dandruff free hair, apply a paste of cooked channa dal and fenugreek leaves and rinse off.
* To get rid of dandruff, apply a mixture of 10 gm pepper powder, 1 tsp lime juice and ½ cup milk on the scalp.
* Leave it one overnight and wash off next morning.
* Onion juice, when massaged on the scalp acts as a wonderful anti-dandruff agent.
Chewing gum Menace
* To remove chewing gum from clothes -
o Place the garment in a plastic bag and freeze it. You can then flick off the hardened gum easily.
o Soak the garment in white vinegar and then wash off.
o Rub the area with egg white before washing it off.
* To remove the chewing gum stuck to the floor ,clean it with a little kerosene.
* To remove chewing gum stuck to your hair, rub a little honey over the hair and the chewing gum will come off.
Clothes Care
* To prevent colours from running, soak the garment in salt water for 10 minutes before washing it.
* Nappy washing
o Stains disappear if you dry the nappies on the lawn or even on a plant, perhaps the extra oxygen exhaled by the plant helps.
o Half an hour of sunshine is enough to disinfect the nappies.
o Ironing takes care of any further fear of germs.
o If washing in a machine the temperature setting can be raised to effectively disinfect the nappies.
* Stain Removers
o To remove ice cream stains clean with a sponge dipped in borax solution.
o Curry stains on clothes can be removed by applying white toothpaste to it and washing after two hours.
o Ink stains can be removed with a slice of tomato.
o Sprinkle talcum powder on ink stains before washing off with soap and water.
o Ball pen ink marks can be removed easily with nail polish remover.
o To remove ironing stains from garments apply a little salt over the area and wash.
o Cuffs and collars, if turned inside out before being put in a washing machine, get cleaned very well.
Household Care
* Pest Control
o Burn dried orange peel in a corner of the house. The smoke will drive away the mosquitoes.
o Turmeric powder is a good repellent for ants. Just sprinkle a line of turmeric powder to cordon off the ants.
o When boiling water, boil some extra water. Pour this down your sink. This will kill cockroaches and remove their eggs.
o To eliminate cockroaches, knead some wheat flour with boric acid powder and make small balls. Place them near drains and damp corners of your house.
o To keep flies at bay, add a little salt and a few drops of kerosene to the water for mopping the floor.
o Betel nuts kept in the corner of a cupboard will help ward off cockroaches.
o Sprinkle borax powder under the paper covering book shelves and kitchen shelves to keep off silverfish.
* Before placing a photograph in a frame, lightly dust it with a little talcum powder to prevent it from sticking to the frame.
* Stick posters on walls with the help of toothpaste. The toothpaste can be scraped off later and does not damage the wall.
* Some castor oil mixed into coconut oil prevents the latter from freezing in the winters.
* Add a few drops of olive oil to the dried shoe polish and keep it overnight the polish will be as good as new the next morning.
* To clean the soiled edges of books, rub with very fine sand paper.
Craft Tips
* If the end of the cello tape is lost, keep it in the freezer. After few minutes take it out and you will easily be able to find the end.
* A handy colour palette can be made from an old ice tray.
* A little vinegar added to hardened gum makes it spread evenly
* If the cap of gum bottle has become tight and cannot be removed, immerse it in a little glycerin to open it.
* To ensure that the chalk doesn't rub off the slate, just spray it with some hair spray.
* Chalk dipped in milk and used on brown paper gives a fantastic sheen.
* When using the cutting blade make sure you have kept a wad of old newspapers below the design to give it support.
* Always remember to close lids of varnish and enamel tins tightly.
* In the long run small tins of varnish or enamel paints are more economical than bigger packaging.
* Once a varnish tin is opened a wasteful skin begins to form on top, because of which always store the tins upside down as this makes sure that the skin forms at the bottom of the tin and therefore doesn't cause problem in usage.
* The golden rule for brushes for varnishing is always to buy the best quality brushes. You don't want to waste time and effort of having to stop constantly to fish out stray bristles.
* Keep a separate set of brushes for use in varnish as once used in varnish they are not good for use in any other medium.
* Never use damp brushes for varnishing. Always dry the brushes properly after having washed them.
* Sharpen scissors against the neck of a glass bottle.
* Sharpen a sewing machine needle by running the machine on sandpaper.
* Before painting terracotta pieces, soak them overnight. Once dry they will absorb paint better and the paint will not chip off easily.
