Wednesday, November 10, 2010

NaNoWriMo Trivia Time - Volume 2





It's week two of NaNoWriMo, and last week I promised if you'd bear with me through four weeks of trivia, I'd reward you in December with books and chocolate. So far, I'm on task, and actually 182 words ahead. Our local library had a write-in for us Monday night, complete with coffee and cookies. I went and wrote 1557 words (and felt like I was everyone's mother, but age is just a number, right?). I have yoga class tonight and will follow that (barring something interfering) with a write-in at Atlanta Bread Company. Oddly enough, after finally getting to the point where I can write on the computer again, I'm back to writing longhand. The 1557 tonight was longhand. But I ain't complaining.



So... here's your trivia for today.



Uses for baby oil:



Remove latex paint from your skin by scrubbing with a cotton ball dipped in baby oil.

Untangles necklace chains. Put a dab of oil on the tangle, then use straight pins to pull apart the knot.

Rub baby oil over and around a Band-Aid to help pull if off less painfully.

Slather your finger in baby oil to remove a stuck ring.



Uses for dental floss:



Unstick a photograph from an album by sliding tightly stretched floss between the photo and the page.

If you need to hang a lightweight work of art and don't have picture wire, use dental floss.

String popcorn for the Christmas tree on dental floss.

Slice a cake using a length of taughtly pulled dental floss.



Uses for antacid tablets:



Put two fizzy antacid tablets in the toilet. Wait twenty minutes and then brush clean.

Drop a fizzy antacid tablet in a stained vase and let it sit for several minutes. This will remove stains.

Put one in your mouth, drink a little water and pretend to foam at the mouth. This works great at murder mystery parties when you are the intended victim. (Just ask Smarty Pants)



Uses for cotton swabs:



Use as a "paint brush" to touch up paint on walls. Or use to apply stain to scratches on furniture or floors.

Use a swab dipped in alcohol to clean battery contacts on cell phones, cordless phones or laptops. This helps keep good connections so the device can hold a charge longer.

Use the same thing to clean the heads on your ink jet printer.

Use to polish intricately designed silver pieces.



Uses for toothpaste:



Use nongel toothpaste as a jewelry polish. Rub on with a soft cloth or your fingers, let dry and buff with a soft cloth.

Clean dirty computer keyboard keys with a baking-soda based white toothpaste. Rub it on, let dry and wipe with a damp cloth.

Coat both sides of swim goggles with nongel toothpaste and rinse. This helps prevent fogging.

Rub some toothpaste on your hands after peeling onions or garlic to get rid of the smell.

Massage whitening toothpaste onto your fingernails to remove stains and yellowing.

Put a dab of plain, white toothpaste on a pimple to dry it up.



Have you ever used any of these tips? If so, let us know how they worked. I've used a lot of the alcohol and cotton swab tips and used toothpaste to polish silver jewelry. And just a few weeks ago I used toothpaste on an emerging pimple. Worked like a charm! I need to look into using fizzy antacid in the toilet bowl. Sounds easy and quick.

8 comments:

Cheryl said...

I haven't used any of these except the cotton swabs. I do use them when cleaning silver. However, I have used toothpaste on a horse's nose to remove warts. The vet said the warts had to be surgically removed. An old timer told me to rub toothpaste, not gel, on the warts every morning. And poof, the warts were gone!

Angel said...

I don't think I wanted to know that my toothpaste would remove horses warts. LOL

I need to try to jewelry polishing thing. After our last trip to the mountains, my beloved Scotland ring, which I've been wearing as a wedding ring, turned dull. I don't know if it was something in the hot tub or what.

Angel

PM's Mother said...

Don't waste your time trying to clean the toilet with a fizzy antacid -- trust me, it doesn't work.

Playground Monitor said...

There ya go folks -- our own version of "Mythbusters!" I'll scratch the fizzy antacid tablets off my grocery list.

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

I have to say that if you're going to use fizzy antacid to foam at the mouth, use the lemon flavored kind. The regular kind is nasty. :)

Mark said...

Great read - and I have an addition!
A useful use for dental floss if you have a dog is to sew their toys with it. Its far stronger than thread and will hold the squeeker inside those old toys until they completely fall apart.

robertsonreads said...

Interesting....
Here's one, for a wonderful shine on your floor, put 1/2 cup of vinegar in water, and smell of vinegar will go away shortly.

Problem Child said...

I, too, am disturbed at the toothpaste on horse's warts...