Helpful household hints

Stinky athletic shoes

With school started and the athletic sports getting underway here’s a hint from a reader about those stinky athletic shoes from kids and adults who are involved.

She says you need just 2 things some old panty hose and some fresh cat litter. I didn’t have any panty hose, but a pair of plain socks worked too.

You fill the foot part of each of the socks with the fresh cat litter and insert the litter filled sock feet into that pair of sweaty, stinky athletic shoes that the kid just took off. Let them sit for a day or so. The litter absorbs the odor from the sweat and stink. Dump the used litter outside and wash the socks in the washing machine.

School supplies box

We have five children, all in grade school and junior high, and it takes a lot of school supplies to keep them all fixed up.

My husband suggested that we take a large clear plastic storage box and sit it on a shelf in the back porch to hold all the supplies they might need for the year. We went shopping off and on all summer and whenever we found a bargain on crayons, pencils, pens, notebooks, typing paper, water color paints, markers, or binders to carry papers in we bought several of each. In fact, my husband bought 24 of those notebooks that the older kids all use to write things in and some regular tablets for the younger ones.

It worked beautifully. When they went off to school, they had everything they needed and at bargain prices because he only bought the things if they were on sale. With five in school, I know he saved us a bunch of money because many of the things were a good half off when he did buy anything. Lesson learned. There is a way to save on school supplies and he did it.

Organizing idea for school stuff

A reader wrote that one of the first things she bought was a folding coat and hat rack affair with big wooden pegs to put on the wall by the back door. When the kids walk in the door, they hang their backpacks there on the bottom of the rack. Coats, caps and hoodies go above.

This way when they get ready to sit down and do homework, they don’t have to look for their books and instructions.

She says, “When the kids get home, we have a hang loose time so they can unwind from the day at school and unless the weather is bad, they go outdoors and jump on the trampoline, play tag, or swing on the swings for about a half-hour or so. Just to relax a little.

If they have barn chores to do these are done at the end of the relax time. Then, we start in on the homework for the next day. They sit around the table, one on each side so they have plenty of room for books and papers. They just go to their backpacks and they get started. Because they are hanging by the back door, they can’t be misplaced.

I try to stay within earshot in case someone has a question, but they pretty much do their work on their own or ask an older sibling for help. We have dictionaries and a set of encyclopedias handy too so they can look things up if needed.

We also have one of those over-the-door organizers hanging by the wooden rack with extra paper, tape, pens and pencils, scissors and markers, which I keep stocked so we don’t run out. It’s quite a few miles to the store so if we are out they are out of luck until the next time a trip is made to town. Hope this helps someone.

Soapy stain remover

When you run out of stain remover and don’t have time to go to the store and get something, try this.

Take some of your hand soap with the anti-bacterial ingredients in it and rub it into the stain real well before you put the stained garment in the washing machine. It really does work and most of us have this kind of hand soap on hand now with the COVID thing going around!

Decal remover

If you have a decal on a mirror or somewhere it isn’t wanted any more, just take a rag with some warm vinegar on it, hold it there for a little bit and it should wipe right off.

Shave a chicken?

If you don’t want to singe that chicken you just butchered, you can take the fuzz and little feathers off with one of those safety razors that are cheap. I’ve de-feathered a lot of chickens over the years and have always used a candle to do the final fuzz cleanup, but I just might try this the next time.

Food chopper-grinder safety

Before you use your food chopper-grinder, put a piece of sandpaper under the chopper and on top of the cabinet you are using. When you twist the screw-down part, the sandpaper will keep the chopper-grinder from slipping and the food and container go flying.