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Household Folklore and Tips
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: lady penelope Date: 03 Sep 01 - 04:53 PM Neutering a cat will NOT stop it spraying. I know, 'cos Mungo still sprays away whenever we get an intruding cat. Also the vet told us when we got him neutered that it wouldn't necessarily do anything about the spraying. But deffinately avoid using cleaners with an ammonia or chlorine base. Am I missing something? Elise, your friend had a gecko that talked? The little lizardy things? Am I the only one that thinks possibly her problem may have been chemical? Or is it just me being clueless? HP sauce cleans brass and copper and coal tar based shampoos clean silver jewellry up a treat. If you polish your formica tops after you clean them, it helps to stop tea and coffee stains. Cats can't stand neat lavender oil, keeps them off everything! Apparently my grandad Ward used to make a cough linctus from vinegar wine, a bulb of garlic, brown sugar and a large amount of paprika. You boil everything up together, till the cloves go soft, leave it to cool and then drink about 2 table spoons ( 50 mls ) every few hours. I think it scares the cough away. My brother just likes to drink it 'cos he likes the taste!!!! TTFN M'Lady P. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: lady penelope Date: 03 Sep 01 - 04:52 PM Neutering a cat will NOT stop it spraying. I know, 'cos Mungo still sprays away whenever we get an intruding cat. Also the vet told us when we got him neutered that it wouldn't necessarily do anything about the spraying. But deffinately avoid using cleaners with an ammonia or chlorine base. Am I missing something? Elise, your friend had a gecko that talked? The little lizardy things? Am I the only one that thinks possibly her problem may have been chemical? Or is it just me being clueless? HP sauce cleans brass and copper and coal tar based shampoos clean silver jewellry up a treat. If you polish your formica tops after you clean them, it helps to stop tea and coffee stains. Cats can't stand neat lavender oil, keeps them off everything! Apparently my grandad Ward used to make a cough linctus from vinegar wine, a bulb of garlic, brown sugar and a large amount of paprika. You boil everything up together, till the cloves go soft, leave it to cool and then drink about 2 table spoons ( 50 mls ) every few hours. I think it scares the cough away. My brother just likes to drink it 'cos he likes the taste!!!! TTFN M'Lady P. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: lady penelope Date: 03 Sep 01 - 04:51 PM Neutering a cat will NOT stop it spraying. I know, 'cos Mungo still sprays away whenever we get an intruding cat. Also the vet told us when we got him neutered that it wouldn't necessarily do anything about the spraying. But deffinately avoid using cleaners with an ammonia or chlorine base. Am I missing something? Elise, your friend had a gecko that talked? The little lizardy things? Am I the only one that thinks possibly her problem may have been chemical? Or is it just me being clueless? HP sauce cleans brass and copper and coal tar based shampoos clean silver jewellry up a treat. If you polish your formica tops after you clean them, it helps to stop tea and coffee stains. Cats can't stand neat lavender oil, keeps them off everything! Apparently my grandad Ward used to make a cough linctus from vinegar wine, a bulb of garlic, brown sugar and a large amount of paprika. You boil everything up together, till the cloves go soft, leave it to cool and then drink about 2 table spoons ( 50 mls ) every few hours. I think it scares the cough away. My brother just likes to drink it 'cos he likes the taste!!!! TTFN M'Lady P. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: lady penelope Date: 03 Sep 01 - 04:50 PM Neutering a cat will NOT stop it spraying. I know, 'cos Mungo still sprays away whenever we get an intruding cat. Also the vet told us when we got him neutered that it wouldn't necessarily do anything about the spraying. But deffinately avoid using cleaners with an ammonia or chlorine base. Am I missing something? Elise, your friend had a gecko that talked? The little lizardy things? Am I the only one that thinks possibly her problem may have been chemical? Or is it just me being clueless? HP sauce cleans brass and copper and coal tar based shampoos clean silver jewellry up a treat. If you polish your formica tops after you clean them, it helps to stop tea and coffee stains. Cats can't stand neat lavender oil, keeps them off everything! Apparently my grandad Ward used to make a cough linctus from vinegar wine, a bulb of garlic, brown sugar and a large amount of paprika. You boil everything up together, till the cloves go soft, leave it to cool and then drink about 2 table spoons ( 50 mls ) every few hours. I think it scares the cough away. My brother just likes to drink it 'cos he likes the taste!!!! TTFN M'Lady P. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: jaze Date: 03 Sep 01 - 04:19 PM This really works! If you light a small candle and put it on the counter while cutting onions-you won't shed a tear. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: wysiwyg Date: 03 Sep 01 - 03:37 PM According to my book of folk cures, they used to "cure" someone of the drink by locking them up with only bread and water, the bread being soaked in diluted alcohol and the water containing a bit of alcohol as well if I recall right. The outcome is supposed to be that the "patient" becomes just mildly enough affected by the alcohol to avoid DTs and gets sick to the stomach on the diet, and thus this would be an early form of aversion therapy. Supposedly, even the smell of drink after such a cure (can't recall how long it goes on!) is supposed to produce the aversion effect (strong or mild, eeew!) and the "patient" therefore avoids establishments where the smell pervades. Not PC. Never tried it on anyone. Offered merely as a curiosity. *G* ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Gareth Date: 03 Sep 01 - 03:31 PM Drinking rough Cider (Applejack) is the perfect cough cure. Two pints and you darn't cough. Gareth |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 03 Sep 01 - 10:22 AM Dont kill spiders, I like spiders |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: catspaw49 Date: 06 Sep 00 - 12:20 PM ....Gator?........In your tub?..........Right then..............geeziz................ HOUSEHOLD TIP: Its always nice for others if you give a courtesy flush before you finish. This is not considered to be a waste of water. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: SINSULL Date: 06 Sep 00 - 12:00 PM Geckos and snapping turtles will let go in thunder storms. You have to wait. This from a lady who kept a full grown alligator in her bathtub. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Bert Date: 06 Sep 00 - 11:53 AM Elise, your friend should have got a 'House Gecko' not a bloody 'Tokay Gecko' :-) Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: sheila Date: 06 Sep 00 - 11:46 AM Vinegar helps to soothe the skin after a midgie attack. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Elise Date: 06 Sep 00 - 02:52 AM A friend of mine once brought in a Gecko to eat her roaches. Every time she went in her kitchen it screamed "F--k you!" at her and nearly scared her to death. She was frightened of it to begin with, 'cause if they bite you ther can't let go. The story didn't have a pretty end. Water with salt in it will take longer to boil, but it will boil hotter. Good idea not to salt it if you're cooking veggies, I think. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Penny S. Date: 05 Sep 00 - 04:49 PM http://www.newscientist.com/features/features.jsp?id=ns224948 |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Liz the Squeak Date: 04 Sep 00 - 05:04 PM There is one fork in our cutlery drawer that sets up the same "hot" reaction - just one out of a set of 12.... can I ever find the one when I have the marking paint with me? And why does it always happen at dinner parties when I'm trying to impress. Chatting away like an erudite blond mushroom and suddenly there's this bolt of lightening and my face screws up to one side. Very attractive I don't think! And why are there so few left handed cake forks? I spent ages finding a set of cutlery that doesn't have right handed cake forks. All I need now are evenly ground steak knives and I'll be OK. Ho hum... LTS |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: GUEST, Banjo Johnny Date: 04 Sep 00 - 11:15 AM Why does chewing on tin foil hurt the fillings in your teeth? I don't do this often, nor eat raw snails, but I just wondered. == Johnny |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Airto Date: 04 Sep 00 - 10:34 AM Thanks, Metchosin. The copper wire sounds like a neat solution to the snail problem. Incidentally, does your theory explain why eating raw snails hurts your fillings, or is it in fact the bits of shell that are responsible? |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Bagpuss Date: 04 Sep 00 - 09:54 AM Sitting on a newspaper for travel sickness - I don't think it has anything to do with static. It's a way of making you lean into corners, insteadof being thrown out by them (the newspaper slides, so that your hips are not a fixed point, and they get slung outwards by the force, rather than your shoulders). This is why drivers don't tend to get travel sick - they already lean into the corners by turning the wheel. Bagpuss |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: GUEST, Banjo Johnny Date: 03 Sep 00 - 10:35 PM Use a clothes-dryer "Bounce" cloth tucked in your belt to ward off skeetos, ticks & bugs. == Johnny |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Ely Date: 03 Sep 00 - 05:13 PM My brother and his Civil War reenacting cronies always start eating garlic a couple of weeks before a big reenactment (or garlic tablets, if other people have to share living space with them). It's supposed to make them less palatable to ticks.
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Metchosin Date: 03 Sep 00 - 03:19 PM Airto, try a copper mailbox or cheaper yet a bare strip of copper or copper wire around the entrance. Slugs and snails won't cross, as it sets up some sort of electro chemical reaction when in contact with their slime. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: GUEST, Banjo Johnny Date: 03 Sep 00 - 02:17 PM Oklahoma All Purpose Repair Kit. Assemble a repair kit containing the following:
(1) Roll of duct tape,
Anything that can't be fixed with duct tape, WD-40,
Johnny in OKC |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: flattop Date: 03 Sep 00 - 12:12 PM If you have big ears and you run out of q-tips, try your bodhran tipper. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Alice Date: 03 Sep 00 - 11:39 AM To kill gnats in pots of house plants, cut small sections of a flea & tick collar and put them in the surface soil of the pot. To prevent spider mite infestation in house plants prone to mites, spray weekly with a mixture of water, rubbing alcohol, and a drop or two of dishwashing liquid. Place ivy (hedera) in the shower and wash it off once a week to suppress mites. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Noreen Date: 03 Sep 00 - 10:29 AM JenEllen, dabbing vanilla on the skin is supposed to counter a craving for chocolate: I keep meaning to try it! Noreen |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: catspaw49 Date: 03 Sep 00 - 09:33 AM I'm always a little frightened at the idea of bringing in something to counteract something else. Sometimes the solution becomes a bigger problem.......like kudzu. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Penny S. Date: 03 Sep 00 - 08:03 AM There was a tale in the Summer issue of New Scientist of some Aussies who used slugs to keep down the mildew in the shower, a gecko for the roaches, and I forget what for the mozzies. Parasitic insects in the standing water or something. Try it on their website. Penny |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: catspaw49 Date: 02 Sep 00 - 07:21 PM Thanks JE...but that reminds me............... HOT TIP: Never attend any function that includes Jen Ellen and a barbecue grill unless you are dressed in a Nomex Firesuit. This applies to your birds too. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: JenEllen Date: 02 Sep 00 - 06:47 PM LOL Dynamic Darlin' Duo Spaw-n-Abelard. If you put a dab of vanilla behind each ear, you'll smell like a cookie all day. ~Elle |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Liz the Squeak Date: 02 Sep 00 - 02:28 AM Boiling your socks will make them nice and white - it will also render them useless to anyone with a foot larger than the average 5year olds..... Boiling tea towels/dish cloths is a good idea too, gets the nasty stains out, and makes em smell nicer. Plus, they tend not to shrink! What's for dinner dear? MMmmm Dish Cloth soup, yum! LTS |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: BlueJay Date: 02 Sep 00 - 02:18 AM The best way I've found to get rid of a wasp nest is to wait until near-dark when they are all in their happy little home, then spray it with automotive starting fluid. They just drop to the ground instantly. I don't know if it's the ether in the fluid, or the cold temperature, but if you hit them, they go down fast. Bug sprays don't work: it usually just pisses them off and they attack you till they die. The starting fluid won't kill them, however, so once they are immobilized, you need to stomp them or something to kill them off. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Troll Date: 01 Sep 00 - 01:02 AM To kill the pain of a bee or wasp sting, put a poultice of "used" chewing tobacco on the site. To keep mosquitos and chiggers off, drink a quart of sulfur water daily. You'll smell like a dog fart but the bugs will avoid you. You can also sprinkle your body liberally with flowers of sulfur. But the water is better. If your yard has fleas, plant a chinaberry tree. Pennyroyal is also good, both inside and out. troll |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Ely Date: 01 Sep 00 - 12:01 AM I'm told boiling socks will whiten them (I've never tried it because by the time my socks are this old, they're so threadbare there isn't anything left to stain). Another good way to reduce the incidence of cats spraying the furniture is to neuter them (the cats). ;) Rice grains in the salt is a must here in the South. We also paint our porch ceilings blue to try to fool bugs into thinking it's sky so they won't nest on it. I don't know that that works, though (I do know that ours is white and we're always sweeping cobwebs). Someone told me a roach remedy that involved separate bowls of dry plaster (perhaps with sugar in it?) and water. They eat the plaster and then get thirsty, and plug themselves up. Never tried that--I'd probably get my dog instead, the little pig. My personal reaction to roaches is to spray them with Windex. It kills even three-inch palmetto bugs ("flying roaches") and doesn't fume as badly as bug spray. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Lyrical Lady Date: 31 Aug 00 - 06:34 PM A daily dose of Catspaw49 is good for what ails ya!!! I needed that! |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Peter T. Date: 31 Aug 00 - 05:47 PM Hints from Abelard: (1) Suzanne G. of North Dakota writes: Hi Abelard! Steel wool dipped in peanut butter and rubbed over old vinyl records is the best way to reproduce the sound of the last radio message from the Hindenburg! Great for the historical sounds buff in your family! (2) Mary R. of Poughkeepsie sends in this life saver: If your child comes in with a bruised and bloodied knee, daub the other one in a mixture of burnt sienna and alizarin crimson so as to balance them off. Who is to know? (3) Tom T. of Oregon wings in a solution to a perennial problem: I always keep an ice tray filled with honeybees in the fridge in case Jehovah's Witnesses drop by. The bees go into hibernation until you thaw them out. JW's always seem to have a thirst, and I am always willing to oblige. (4) Cherlee L. of Bangor, Maine says: Do you have a problem with socks that don't match? The secret is to have different coloured pairs of shoes and trousers with different coloured pant legs. The human eye fixes on the big differences and will not notice the sock problem. thanks Cherlee! (5) Frank Q. of Timmins, Ontario solves a real oldie: you know when you have one of those scotch tape rolls where you lose the leading edge, and have to scratch it out, and curse and everything? When you get the roll to start with, unravel all the tape and lay a thread down the length of the sticky side, and then roll it all back up again. Perfecto!! More Tips Daily!!! yours, Abelard |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Jim Dixon Date: 31 Aug 00 - 11:32 AM Aversion therapy for people who want to quit smoking: Save up your cigarette butts in a glass jar with a lid, and keep it handy. When you crave a cigarette, open the jar, stick your nose in, and inhale. The disgusting smell will extinguish the craving. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: rabbitrunning Date: 31 Aug 00 - 01:43 AM If you accidently put too much salt into a sauce or gravy, add a raw potato while it cooks, and then remove the potato before serving the sauce. It will have absorbed most of the salt. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: GUEST,Crazy Eddie Date: 31 Aug 00 - 01:10 AM Ma-K I've had a pair of shoes for two years which are too tight to wear, and too nice to throw out. I'll try your ice-bag tip. If it works I'll e-mail you a beer! Someone mentioned getting rid of nasty smells by boiling oranges (OK it may have been orange-peel) ...................... For some reason I got this mental picture of Conrad #1 peasant in a large cannibal-type cook-pot. Not sure if it would get rid of smells, but it'd be fun to try (Only kidding).
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Jim Dixon Date: 30 Aug 00 - 08:47 PM Any sticky stuff that can't be washed off with soap and water can probably be dissolved with oil. Any kind of oil will do, so use whatever is handiest and cheapest, such as whatever you cook with. To intimidate an emu, hold your hand high over your head. To an emu, your hand will resemble the head of another emu that is taller than them. Emus are always deferential to larger emus. Otherwise they might kick the hell out of you. An organic, but cruel, way to wipe out a nest of yellow-jackets - they're the hornets that live in a hole in the ground - go to the hole at night when they're asleep. Shove an open glass jar into the hole, bottom upwards. When the hornets try to fly out of the hole in the morning, they'll hit the glass, and they're too dumb to go back down and look for another way out. Eventually they'll starve. Batteries that are too weak to run a Game-Boy, Walkman, or whatever, still have enough juice in them to run an electric clock for a long time. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: catspaw49 Date: 30 Aug 00 - 06:42 PM Eating rare steak, cabbage, beans, and a large glass of milk about 3 hours before sex will make your partner believe you are Thor, God of Thunder.......but its also a major contributor to Coitus Interuptus. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Peg Date: 30 Aug 00 - 02:02 PM add water to your commercial cleaning products that are water-based (window cleaners, dish-soap, floor soap, etc.) They will last longer and be far less toxic in your home environment. (and they will work just as well). To freshen, hydrate and decontaminate stale indoors winter air in your home, boil a pot of water on the stove. Add any of the folloing in any combination: orange peels, lemon peels, grapefruit peels, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, dried rosemary, nutmeg. This cleanses germs and odors from the sir, adds moisture taken out from indoor heating, and smells lovely...you aromatherapy converts can add a few drops of essential oils, too: the citrus ones are especially nice and inexpensive... Baking soda is amazing. It is a fine replacement for abrasive ammonia cleansers for porcelain tubs and sinks and for stoves or stainless steel sinks too. It cuts grease quite well, too, with hot water. I sprinkle it on the floor when I am scrubbing it. You can also add it to the kitty litter box for added odor absorption. Also the vinegar and baking soda drain cleaning does work!!! if your kitties have worms, add some ground up pumpkin seeds to their wet food...if you have time and inclination, feeding them an all-natural raw meat diet is best to prevent this (cooked commercial foods weaken their immunity to parasites found in raw meat, ironically) If you know anyone with a quince tree (I have on ein my yard), a bowl of quinces placed on a table will keep for weeks and imbue the air with a wonderful fragrance: slightly sweet, autumnal, spicy...
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Morticia Date: 30 Aug 00 - 01:18 PM leaving the avocado stone in the guacomole will keep it fresh and stop it turning brown....same with lemon juice in apple sauce and lemon peel scattered around the garden will keep cats from using it as a public lav. Cigarette ash mixed with meths will take out those white water marks from furniture |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: sledge Date: 30 Aug 00 - 01:08 PM Best not to squish them in your house, their dying act is often to eject live eggs, thus perpetuating the problem. It is fun though. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Mbo Date: 30 Aug 00 - 01:01 PM Best way to kill a roach--use a big shoe. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Airto Date: 30 Aug 00 - 12:59 PM The advice above about fibre has set me thinking. When I was growing up one of the hazards of using the toilet was to be confronted by one of my younger brother's floaties. Mine always sank but his would have withstood Niagara Falls. How could this have been the case when we were both eating at the same table? I always thought it was because he tended to gobble his food, and was therefore taking in lots of air with his nourishment, while I carefully chewed mine. Or maybe he was surreptitiously adding bits of cork to his mashed potato, which would explain both why his handiwork could have been used for liferafts and also why he didn't bother much with chewing. By the way, Grab, thanks for the sand paper tip for dealing with the snail-mail problem. It sounds a lot simpler than a French chef...all that prima donna stuff would be a bit hard to take. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: GUEST,Louigi Date: 30 Aug 00 - 12:52 PM To get rid of roaches, sprinkle borax powder in back of the stove and fridge, and in the space under the sink. the little buggers walk over it, then rub their sides with their crystal covered feet, abrade holes in themselves, and dehydrate. For fleas, put the borax in your pet's bed, on the carpet, and in the litter box for cats. They go the same way. For ant infestations, spray their path with Pinesol. I have the big black ones sometimes, and I spray them with fullstrength ammonia. Same for spiders. Lou |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Bert Date: 30 Aug 00 - 12:50 PM If you're going to use a gecko to control your insect pests, you must NOT use insecticides - EVER. |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: wysiwyg Date: 30 Aug 00 - 12:46 PM LTS, it is also because the ammonia smells to them like a rival cat. Gotta one-up that bad invisible kitty and remark the territory. They like to pee on plastic grocery store bags too. If you have one peeing in the wrong place, line their kitty pan with these bags, it will attract them. After putting this near where they have been misbehaving, put down their cat food where they are inappropriately peeing or pooping-- they will pick a new spot, eventually learning that the whole house is a potential food dish, not a cat pan. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: catspaw49 Date: 30 Aug 00 - 12:45 PM ***chuckle,chuckle***...... Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Household Folklore and Tips From: Bert Date: 30 Aug 00 - 12:44 PM Aw Meebs, he's only kidding. |
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