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99 Cent Solutions
Over 1,300 Smart uses for everyday stuff including clothespins to keep hems in place as you sew, wiping down the fridge with tomato juice, scrubbing away crayon marks with shaving cream, and mixing coffee grounds with soil to produce...
Save a fortune with over 1,300 easy solutions to hundreds of common household problems.
You don’t have to be rich to live well; now you can outfox the high cost of living the old-fashioned five-and-dime way. Don’t be tempted by all of those “new” products on the shelves; instead, rediscover the power of those time-honored, thrifty household items your grandparents and parents used. You’ll save a bundle with over 1,300 of these clever hints and tips: • A Frisbee is a handy item to keep around the house and can be used as a portable pet dish, paint palette, and paper plate holder • Hair spray is an inexpensive way to preserve flowers, remove pet hair from a couch, kill bugs, and stop static cling • Cedar chips will drive fleas from a pet bed, keep snails at bay in your garden, and repel moths from your wool sweaters • Furniture polish will spiff up hubcaps and bicycles, add shine to shower doors, and stop squeaky door hinges • Glass cleaner will make your jewelry sparkle, relieve bee sting pain, dry out pimples, and shine patent leather shoes • Aluminum foil makes a stunning wrap for a wedding gift, works effectively as a substitute for hair curlers in a pinch, and when placed under your ironing board cover will increase the efficiency of your iron • An ice cream scoop can be used to measure the perfect amount of potting soil, shape butter into fancy shapes for a holiday dinner, and form perfect meatballs and cookies • A pillowcase will dry lettuce in seconds, makes a cute summer dress for a child, covers a baby’s changing pad, and functions as a travel laundry bag • Knitting needles make stylish hair accessories, can serve as kebab holders for a fun fruit snack, function in place of toothpicks to test a cake’s doneness, and can be used to protect your garden from invading critters
Save a fortune with over 1,300 easy solutions to hundreds of common household problems.
You don’t have to be rich to live well; now you can outfox the high cost of living the old-fashioned five-and-dime way. Don’t be tempted by all of those “new” products on the shelves; instead, rediscover the power of those time-honored, thrifty household items your grandparents and parents used. You’ll save a bundle with over 1,300 of these clever hints and tips: • A Frisbee is a handy item to keep around the house and can be used as a portable pet dish, paint palette, and paper plate holder • Hair spray is an inexpensive way to preserve flowers, remove pet hair from a couch, kill bugs, and stop static cling • Cedar chips will drive fleas from a pet bed, keep snails at bay in your garden, and repel moths from your wool sweaters • Furniture polish will spiff up hubcaps and bicycles, add shine to shower doors, and stop squeaky door hinges • Glass cleaner will make your jewelry sparkle, relieve bee sting pain, dry out pimples, and shine patent leather shoes • Aluminum foil makes a stunning wrap for a wedding gift, works effectively as a substitute for hair curlers in a pinch, and when placed under your ironing board cover will increase the efficiency of your iron • An ice cream scoop can be used to measure the perfect amount of potting soil, shape butter into fancy shapes for a holiday dinner, and form perfect meatballs and cookies • A pillowcase will dry lettuce in seconds, makes a cute summer dress for a child, covers a baby’s changing pad, and functions as a travel laundry bag • Knitting needles make stylish hair accessories, can serve as kebab holders for a fun fruit snack, function in place of toothpicks to test a cake’s doneness, and can be used to protect your garden from invading critters
- GenresNonfictionReference
352 pages, Paperback
First published June 9, 2011
3 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 28, 2011
Don't laugh but this book is great to leave in the bathroom so when you go do your business you have something interesting to read.
It took me a month to go through everything in the book. It covers many different types of situations from cleaning to keeping critters away.
My favorite thing I learned about was Baking Soda, that stuff does all kinds of things besides keeping oder away in your refridgerator. Check this out the things you can do with it:
Soften beans
Get rid of fishy odors
Make a rainy day toy for kids
Deep-clean a dishwasher
Repel rain from a windshield
De-Skunk a bottle or thermos
Make a stove top sparkle
Salvage a burned pot
keep garbage cans fresh
Make tomatoes taste sweeter
Save a mildewed book
Take the sting out of sunburn
Clean a glass front fireplace
Stop a mosquito bite in its tracks
Control Cradle Cap
Soothe a canker sore
Soak your way to comfort
Soften hard water washes
Ready your AC for the season
Make fluffier omelets
Clean your brushes
Discourage weeds in cracks
Wash the dog's ears
The more nontraditional ways to use Baking soda are
1. Eat Naked Fruit! A Baking soda wash removes wax from fruits like apples and veggies that a simple water rinse may not.
2. Be Tender to Tummies! A very tiny pinch in coffee, organge juice, or tomato soup can prevent an acidic stomach after eating.
3. Faux-Age Wood! Stiring one cup of baking soda into a liter of water and scrub into new wood with stiff brush, then splash on cool water to rinse. When it dries, that fresh green wood will have faded.
4. Miracle for the Microwave! Put one cup of water and a few tablespoons of baking soda into a glass container. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Use a damp sponge to wipe off all loosened grime - it's that easy.
5. No Stick, No Rust, No Kidding! Scrub your pots (metal or cast iron) with a damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda. Make sure to wet the sponge well to dissolved the bakin soda and avoid scratching your nonstick pots.
6. Revitalize Wallpaper! Did someone trail greasy little fingers down the wallpaper in the hallway? Rub the stain gently with a damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda, then rinse and pat dry. Your wall paper will be good as new.
7. Don't Lose your Marble! clean marble counter tops with soft damp cloth sprinkled with baking soda.
8. Down the Drain! Commercial drain cleaners can be hard on your pipes. For a minor blockage, pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain, followed by 1 cup white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain. Repeat as necessary.
9. Green your baby clothes! wash baby clothes with 1/2 cup of baking soda along with your scent free baby detergent to soften up the fabrics.
10. Detergent Expander! Mix baking soda with half dishpan full of hot water, it may not be soapy but it will feel soapy and you will notice grease disappears and baked on food comes off easily.
This book is totally awesome with all kinds of remedies. I will be keeping this book on my shelves to refer back to when I come along a problem or if I am short of something and can have a substitute that will work.
It took me a month to go through everything in the book. It covers many different types of situations from cleaning to keeping critters away.
My favorite thing I learned about was Baking Soda, that stuff does all kinds of things besides keeping oder away in your refridgerator. Check this out the things you can do with it:
Soften beans
Get rid of fishy odors
Make a rainy day toy for kids
Deep-clean a dishwasher
Repel rain from a windshield
De-Skunk a bottle or thermos
Make a stove top sparkle
Salvage a burned pot
keep garbage cans fresh
Make tomatoes taste sweeter
Save a mildewed book
Take the sting out of sunburn
Clean a glass front fireplace
Stop a mosquito bite in its tracks
Control Cradle Cap
Soothe a canker sore
Soak your way to comfort
Soften hard water washes
Ready your AC for the season
Make fluffier omelets
Clean your brushes
Discourage weeds in cracks
Wash the dog's ears
The more nontraditional ways to use Baking soda are
1. Eat Naked Fruit! A Baking soda wash removes wax from fruits like apples and veggies that a simple water rinse may not.
2. Be Tender to Tummies! A very tiny pinch in coffee, organge juice, or tomato soup can prevent an acidic stomach after eating.
3. Faux-Age Wood! Stiring one cup of baking soda into a liter of water and scrub into new wood with stiff brush, then splash on cool water to rinse. When it dries, that fresh green wood will have faded.
4. Miracle for the Microwave! Put one cup of water and a few tablespoons of baking soda into a glass container. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Use a damp sponge to wipe off all loosened grime - it's that easy.
5. No Stick, No Rust, No Kidding! Scrub your pots (metal or cast iron) with a damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda. Make sure to wet the sponge well to dissolved the bakin soda and avoid scratching your nonstick pots.
6. Revitalize Wallpaper! Did someone trail greasy little fingers down the wallpaper in the hallway? Rub the stain gently with a damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda, then rinse and pat dry. Your wall paper will be good as new.
7. Don't Lose your Marble! clean marble counter tops with soft damp cloth sprinkled with baking soda.
8. Down the Drain! Commercial drain cleaners can be hard on your pipes. For a minor blockage, pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain, followed by 1 cup white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain. Repeat as necessary.
9. Green your baby clothes! wash baby clothes with 1/2 cup of baking soda along with your scent free baby detergent to soften up the fabrics.
10. Detergent Expander! Mix baking soda with half dishpan full of hot water, it may not be soapy but it will feel soapy and you will notice grease disappears and baked on food comes off easily.
This book is totally awesome with all kinds of remedies. I will be keeping this book on my shelves to refer back to when I come along a problem or if I am short of something and can have a substitute that will work.
May 11, 2022
There were some really cool ideas in here, but for the most part this book is worth it for the history lessons on famous products alone. I was completely fascinated by how things like Crisco and WD40 came to be!
October 13, 2021
I learned a few good household tips.
April 29, 2016
This is a book of alternative uses for common household stuff. Firstly, there were a lot of common and/or obvious uses. Secondly, some of the things I hadn't heard about before were kinda silly, like instead of replacing the cap or pad on the bottom if your dining room chairs, you should wrap chair feet with masking tape so it won't make marks on your floor. But the strangest thing about this book was the final chapter. All the other chapters were categories of household stuff. You know, grocery, health and beauty, office supplies, tools. And then I got to the final chapter, which was a bunch if recipes of diner food. Not sure why.
Read for a reading challenge. A book that teaches you something.
Read for a reading challenge. A book that teaches you something.
October 5, 2013
This was pretty good. There were a lot of tips and tricks, some were ones I wouldn't use, but the ones I did like we're pretty good. I jotted a few things down, but not much. The pictures were good, although they weren't really related and more for interest. I liked the little info pages that gave a little background on inventions and history. I wouldn't read this again, but it wasn't a waste of time. More along the lines of something to read with some interesting factoids and helpful tricks. Enjoy
August 20, 2011
A good book to browse. Some things I knew and some I had no idea about. I'm excited to use the ideas in this to help save a bit of money. Definitely one I'd rather own than borrow from the library since I'd never read it straight through cover-ro-cover and I'd rather have it to refer to when I'm at home.
*Note: I didn't finish the book. I browsed about 30 pages. Definitely (for me) worth owning!
*Note: I didn't finish the book. I browsed about 30 pages. Definitely (for me) worth owning!
June 18, 2011
Some good solutions
December 6, 2012
What I liked about this book is the interesting history of ordinary things like coffee filters, etc.
March 15, 2016
Bright, well organized and useful. Took it out from the library and learned some new tricks.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews