Organized Living

QUICK FIXES FOR SMALL CALAMITIES

Here’s a smattering of safe, simple remedies for unexpected household head scratchers:

• How to remove a broken light bulb that’s still screwed into the lamp socket? First, unplug or switch off the light. Then take a folded sponge or small rubber ball, gently stuff it into the jagged glass, and twist. Wear work gloves for added safety.
  
  
• If your plunger is not removing a drain clog, straighten a coat hanger and bend the end of it to create a kind of hook. You may be able to fish out or dislodge the clog by inserting the hook end into the drain and wiggling it around.
  
  
• Herbs can be a safer, effective way to deter pests. Keep bay leaves under kitchen sinks to repel ants. Mice are repelled by peppermint. You can keep sprigs of peppermint in likely entry spots, or sprinkle peppermint oil on small squares of cardboard to create the same effect.
  
  
• Key sticking in a door lock? Rub the key several times against the graphite of a soft pencil, then slide the key in and out of the lock several times.
  
  
• Ever drop a raw egg on the floor? The cleanup can seem like a scene from that old classic Seuss tale, The Cat in the Hat, where every attempt to wipe it up just seems to spread it around.  Try sprinkling it with salt and letting it set for fifteen minutes. Then you can sweep it up with a whiskbroom. Of course, if you live with a dog, cleanup is a breeze, and the egg yolk is good for his coat.