Did you know?

I've decided to share what I know about uncommon but wonderful uses of certain household items that you may not have known of. I hope this post will help you solve a few of your everyday problems!

Baking Soda/Bi-Carb Soda


Apart from helping your cake expand, baking soda can help you eliminate horrible odour from almost anywhere! I've tried it myself. It "sucked" the rancid smell out of my aunt's car. Here's what I did: I poured some baking soda into a rectangle plastic container. I spread the powder so that it covers the entrie base of the container. Then, I left the container (without its lid) at the passenger's foot area for a few days. By the 3rd day, most of the smell was gone! It's a great alternative to buying an air-freshener, which only masks odours instead of getting rid of it.

Tips
1. The larger the base of the container, the better.
2. A large suface area is more important than large amounts of baking soda. But if you only have a container with a small base, you'll have to put large amounts and mix the baking soda now and then (so that more powder is exposed to the air and able to remove the odour).
3. Place the container where lots of air can come in contact with the baking soda. It's no point if you put it in the glove box (then only your glove box will be odour-free).
4. Have smelly shoes too? Sprinkle some baking soda into them!

Charcoal


I'm sure most of us have found our freezer rather stinky from storing fresh fish frequently. The trick to removing the odour is to place a small block of charcoal in the freezer. The smell should be completely gone within a matter of days. I leave mine in the fridge until the odour returns, which by then means that the charcoal has already "sucked up as much smell as it could". That's when I replace the block with a new one. Try it and you'll be amazed!

Tip
1. Place the charcoal in the far back corner of your freezer so that it does not get in your way of storing/searching for food.

Salt


Feel a sore throat coming? Mix yourself a concentrated solution of water and salt and gargle your mouth/throat after meals. This should stop the sore throat from developing. Why does it work? In simple terms, just like how salted fish is preserved, the bacteria would find your throat a difficult place to survive in if it's salty. Their water gets drawn out in a hypertonic environment and thus "killing" them.

This one is for all females who have trouble removing period stains from their clothes or bed. You don't need any special washing detergent. Simply squirt some soap/handwash onto the stain and sprinkle some salt over it. Scrub before and while rinsing. The stain should come off easily. I do not know the science behind it but it seems to work.


I hope you've found this post useful. I've tried all of them myself and they have worked for me. It's not a guarantee but I sure hope they work for you too. I'll be testing out the lemon-pimple trick next and will let you know if I'm successful!