What's your best beauty/household tip?

[LelaViavonie]

I absolutley agree.. and thos shoes in the picture are to cute to boot!

 

[i_am_the_scruff]

OK - I'll throw one in. Awhile back, I was making rice. I can make almost anything else without a problem - rice always turns to disaster, which has become a bit of a joke with the gang. One friend we were visiting thought it was hilarious, said, "OK, let me show you how simple it is" and to this day has never been able to make a perfect batch of rice. My curse spread to them!

I ended up with an aluminum pan (commercial grade, not non-stick) with burned on crud in the bottom. I know, I know - two cups of water brought to a boil, dump in a cup of rice, cover, turn off the heat, wait 20 minutes - how hard can it be? And yet, how do I end up with charcoal in the bottom of the pan? Well, frankly, because a friend decided to HELP me. Any ideas on some easy way to remove the char from the pan and return it to it's former state?

I scraped everything out and did some scrubbing with steel wool. I've let it soak filled with hot water & Cascade for a few days. I've tried baking soda and boiling water. I've tried boiling it with vinegar. And since it's aluminum, I can't use oven cleaner. (See, I do know MOST of the common burned on cooking fixes!)

It's a $10 or so pan I've had forever...but some of you may understand, it's not the cost, it's the principal and frugality my grandparents were always drumming into my head with "use it up, fix it, mend it, make it last." The other half just about laughs when I say I'm going to go blow $5 on a wire brush for the drill to "scrub" it out with.

I know this post is OLD but boil some water in that pan with some washing powder in, and get scraping and scrubbing.

 

[Joonie]

Wax drippings on your crystal candle sticks? Stick 'em in the freezer for a few hours and the wax just pops off!

 

[Lady Day]

While searching online, I found this wonderful site with a list chock full of cheap useful beauty, and house hold recipes for nearly everything under the sun

http://www.frugalicity.com/home-made.html

LD

 

[jayem]

Has anybody posted the aspirin face mask yet? I've been using this recently to clear up some blemishes, and it works magically. Just mix two packets BC aspirin powder and some honey (or aloe vera) and apply to a clean face. Let sit for 15mins and then wash off. If you want a deeper, scrub-like mask you can smash up about 4 or 5 tablets (uncoated) and add some water until it's a paste consistency, then add the honey.

I also found a tutorial on how to make a kitty litter face mask. Yes, kitty litter.

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-a-kitty-litter-deep-cleansing-facial-mask-270982/

 

[BlameOnMame]

My favorite thing for a blemish
-after cleansing my face at night, I put a dab of toothpaste on on the blemish and leave it over night. Usually in the morning the blemish is pretty much gone! It's fantastic.

 

[GibsonGirl]

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but in reference to the burnt rice on the pan (something I've been victim of myself), just pour in a bit of liquid fabric softener and let it sit for a few hours and everything will lift right out, leaving the pan looking good as new