- Drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain most immediately -- without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional "pain relievers."
- Speaking of headaches, here are some natural remedies for hangover symptoms: Cinchona 12x (for throbbing head, noise sensitivity), Lobelia inf 12x (for nausea, dizziness, headache), Nux vom 12x (for headache, light
sensitivity), Quercus gland sp 6x (for dry mouth and throat), Rhodendron 30x (for
wine sensitivity, fatigue), Ranunc bulb 12x (for headache, fatigue), Zincum met 30x
(for fatigue, headache, nausea). More (plus how to prevent hangovers and drink toxin-free)
- Did you know that Colgate toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?
- Speaking of burns, some natural remedies for sunburn are: Aloe vera, baking soda compress, cucumbers, lemon water, ice, yarrow, yogurt, and more...click for complete list and instructions
- Environmentally safe & health(ier) Cosmetics/Sunscreen/Perfume/Cologne: Speaking of sun, you may be interested to know that most sunscreens and many cosmetics, perfumes and colognes actually promote cancer and harm the environment
(**Recommended: Look up the products you use in the Environmental Working Group's Safe Cosmetics and Sunscreen Guides, updated yearly)
- Before you head to the drugstore for a
high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a
couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They'll clear up your stuffed nose. Also: Wasabi (or those wasabi peas that Trader Joe's sells)
- Achy muscles from a bout of the flu?
Mix 1 Tablespoon of horseradish in cup of olive oil. Let the mixture
sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil, for instant relief
for aching muscles.
- Sore Throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.
- Cure urinary tract infections
with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and
drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins
eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly even though the
product has never been advertised for this use.
- Eliminate puffiness under your eyes.....
All you need is a dab of preparation H, carefully rubbed into the skin,
avoiding the eyes. The hemorrhoid ointment acts as a vasoconstrictor,
relieving the swelling instantly.
- Castor Oil remedy for sprains...
Soak Castor Oil into a piece of flannel and wrap around sprained area.
- Honey remedy for skin blemishes...
Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a band-aid over it.
Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin, sterile, and speeds
healing. Works overnight.
- Listerine therapy for toenail fungus...
Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in
Listerine mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails
looking healthy again.
- Easy eyeglass protection... To prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.
- Coca-Cola cure for rust...
Forget those expensive rust removers. Just saturate an abrasive sponge
with Coca Cola and scrub the rust stain. The phosphoric acid in
the coke is what gets the job done.
- Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer... If menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.
- Smart splinter remover... just
pour a drop of Elmer's Glue all over the splinter, let dry, and peel
the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.
- Hunt's tomato paste boil cure...
cover the boil with Hunt's tomato paste as a compress. The acids
from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.
- Balm for broken blisters... To disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine... a powerful antiseptic.
- Heinz vinegar to heal bruises...
Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1
hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing
process.
- Kills fleas instantly. Dawn
dish washing liquid does the trick. Add a few drops to your dog's bath
and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin
irritations. Goodbye fleas.
- Kill ticks instantly on people or dogs. Put undiluted pine sol on a cloth and apply over the area .. wait a couple of minutes, then wipe with a cloth and wash the area with soap and water...
- Rainy day cure for dog odor...
Next time your dog comes in from the rain, simply wipe down the animal
with Bounce or any dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell
springtime fresh.
- Eliminate ear mites... All it
takes is a few drops of Wesson corn oil in your cat's ear.
Massage it in, then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily for 3
days. The oil soothes the cat's skin, smothers the mites, and
accelerates healing.
- Vaseline cure for hair balls.....
To prevent troublesome hair balls, apply a dollop of Vaseline
petroleum jelly to your cat's nose. The cat will lick off the
jelly, lubricating any hair in its stomach so it can pass
easily through the digestive system. (Update I received: "PETROLeum jelly is NOT natural! There is a product in the health food stores called UNPETROLEUM which IS all natural. People think petroleum jelly and mineral oil are ok but they are horrible toxins our bodies don't need." Also, being a petroleum product, it's tied in with all the ecological destruction, wars/killing, carbon emissions/global warming/climate change issues that go along with oil.)
- Quaker Oats for fast pain relief....
It's not for breakfast anymore! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1
cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool
slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.
Not all of the rest of these qualify as "Natural Remedies" but still quite neat and valuable...
- Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.
- Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
- Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
- Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
- Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
- To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonsful of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
- For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.
- Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
- Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simple chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yum!
- Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
- Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
- Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
- Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
- Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
- Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
- No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
- Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
- Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
- Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! -- static is gone.
- Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
- Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
- Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
- Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
- Good-bye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
- Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
- INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like.
Well,...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free -- that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, well this stuff builds up on your
clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!
Note from someone who tried this: I went to my dryer & tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water & a nylon brush & I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it -- the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any pudding at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK. NOT ONLY COULD IT SAVE SOMEONE'S HOME, BUT IT COULD SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE.
STAIN GUIDE (from Maxim, 3/11):
- Blood: Soak in salt water for a few hours, rinse, then soak in water with ammonia and rinse again. Maybe next time you should wear something disposable when burying the body.
- Red Wine: Pour some White Wine(!!) on the stained area and blot around it with a clean towel without rubbing or wiping
- Barbecue (BBQ) Sauce: Slap on some white vinegar mixed with water, then blot dry. If that doesn't work, just eat your shirt.
- Mud: After the mud has dried, try slicing a raw potato in half and rubbing it on the stain before soaking it in cool water and giving it a full wash.
- Grass: Pat it down with diluted hydrogen peroxide and throw it in the wash. Resist the urge to inhale the intoxicating fumes.
- Urine: Flush with club soda, then soak in a quart of warm water, half a teaspoon of liquid detergent, and one tablespoon of ammonia for 30 minutes.
TREE SAP REMOVAL (from wood, clothes, patio brick, stucco, etc):
Pitch stains, or crystallized sap, found mainly around the knots of
pressure-treated wood, can be removed with turpentine or simply
scraped away. Turpentine will not harm an existing coating. Pitch is a
non-water soluble, organic wood extractive material found in species
such as Ponderosa, Southern and White Pine.”
http://www.deckwashguys.com/diytips.shtml
“Tip: Tree Sap Removal from Wood DeckFirst, check your deck for any
loose boards or nails that might need hammering back into place.
Then clean the tree sap off using mineral spirits. Rinse very well,
then follow with an all-purpose cleaner and water. Rinse well.”
http://cleaning.lifetips.com/cat/1266/cleaning-outdoor-items/
“Cleaning a wood surface prior to sealing is very important. The
cleaning will remove any dirt, tree sap, algae or mildew. It also will
remove the decaying wood fibers destroyed by the UV rays. All of these
things prevent the wood sealer from adhering or penetrating into the
wood.
Patio Brick
========
“Q. I have a freshly painted stucco wall that has pinesap that has dripped on it. How do I remove the pine resin without damaging the
paint job?
A. Pine sap is easily removed with solvent cleaner, but solvent is
likely to remove paint, especially if latex. I have read that peanut
oil or peanut butter removes pinesap, but I've never tried it. Orange
concentrate cleaner reportedly removes pinesap, too. Whatever you try,
test first in inconspicuous area.”
http://doityourself.com/clean/qnacleaning7.htm
“Q. Pine trees have left a sticky mess on our deck. Will Concrete Degreaser help?
A. Concrete Degreaser also lifts off tree sap and resins from
concrete, masonry, etc.”
http://www.cleanadvantage.com/HAfaqs.html
http://www.cleanadvantage.com/frame1.htm
Removing sap from clothes:
===================
“First take an ice cube and freeze the sap till it's good and hard.
You should be able to remove chunks of it that way. Then if it's not
all gone, try good ole WD40. That should remove the rest. Rinse the
WD40 off with a vinegar and water solution and don't wash the pants
with anything else until they have been laundered once. The WD40 can
transfer to other clothes.”
http://forum.doityourself.com/archive/index.php/t-7833.html
“How to clean pine sap stains
For a pine sap stain, sponge with dry-cleaning solvent, all-purpose
spot remover, or spray spot-remover containing a grease solvent such
as petroleum naphtha or trichlorethylene. If the stain is not removed,
use a solution of liquid laundry detergent and ammonia. After using
chemicals, rinse with cool water until the entire residue of the
cleaning materials are gone. Blot up the excess moisture.”
http://extension.usu.edu/files/fampubs/text.htm
“How to Remove Pitch aka Pine Tar/SapDirt sure don't work!
Here is what I think is the best.
Get a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and wet a rag. Blot if on clothes,
if on hands pour alcohol in a bowl and vigorously scrub. Pitch will
come right off and hands are clean again. Ladies, you may want to
follow up with lotion as the alcohol will dry out your skin.”
http://www.kountrylife.com/content/how89.htm
