Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment. Running a household is tough. Things can be going ever so smoothly and then all of a sudden bam out of nowhere you come across something that just makes you want to pull your hair out! Listen, we understand! That’s why we’ve put together this list of 8 life changing tricks (seriously- they will make your life so much easier…and hopefully you will have less hair-pulling-out!
1. The Sifter– First off, if you don’t own a sifter….well, I understand. They’re hard to find these days. The sifter is a tool in the kitchen that has been essential ever since I can remember. I guess I’ve taken it for granted and never really thought about the fact that others might not have one, or even know what it is. But, here’s a trick- if you don’t have a sifter, you can always use a whisk. Read our whole post on the sifter here>>
2. Taming Cooler and Appliance Odor– Do you ever just get a whiff of something when you open one of your appliances? Whether it be the fridge or the dishwasher, sprinkling some baking soda on the bottom will help absorb the smell. But, cleaning up that baking soda can be a hassle. The trick? Sprinkle the baking soda on a towel instead of directly on the appliance. When you’re ready to clean up, just remove the towel and ta-da no mess! Read our whole post on taming cooler and appliance odors here>>
3. Easy DIY Label Remover– Have you ever just had a label get stuck?! Who am I kidding? We all have. It’s one of those things…you’re going along, minding your own business and then boom a stuck label. You think “I’ll try to get this off really quick”… 30 minutes later, you’re still at it, scrubbing and scratching away. You’d use some of that fancy label remover liquid, but you just ran out last week. Fortunately for you, we have a trick that can be made out of items you probably have around- baking soda & vegetable oil. Get the whole recipe here>>
4. How to Wash Your Miniblinds– Say WHAT?! You’re supposed to do that?! Well…yeah…sorta. I mean, you don’t want all that dust and gunk to build up, do you? This trick is so good, you’ll just have to read the whole post here.
5. Cleaning Burned on Food From Pans– The worst nightmare of worst nightmares (or something like that)- burned on food! I can’t stand when my food gets burned on. I mean, it’s my fault, I leave the pan unattended or don’t stir it like I should….but having to clean the pan after that dreadful mistake? Horrible. Thankfully, I have a little trick that always seems to make the job easier- baking soda. Read all about it here.
6. The Fruit Fly Catcher Face it, no matter how clean and fresh we keep our fruits and vegetables, we all end up with those pesky fruit flies from time to time. Sure you can just remove the offending produce, but how can you really catch those fruit flies and get them out of your kitchen? Here’s the trick>>
7. Freezing Potatoes– Have you ever just had too many potatoes? Well, have you ever thought about freezing them? It works wonderfully! Here’s how you do it>>
8. Peeling Peaches– Wondering how to get a perfectly peeled peach? We’ll let you in on our secret here.
Bonus:
Tired of getting water or liquid on your refrigerator shelves from jars? Put some place mats down and take them out to clean as needed- it’s a lot less back-breaking than trying to squeeze in the fridge! See it here>>
I’m so, so grateful we don’t have blinds. Just two big sets of curtains for the two giant windows in our apartment, that’s it. Sounds like you get a lot of use out of baking soda! Brilliant idea to sprinkle it on a towel inside the appliance to make clean-up easier!
i even use baking soda to clean my sink – it works wonderfully! 😀
Thank you for the tips and tricks you shared! One of my favorite kitchen tools is my sifter! My grandmother and mother used one, so I learned to use one when I learned to cook. I also particularly like the idea for putting baking soda on a towel in the bottom of the refrigerator. That’s a great way to catch drips and spills and make clean-up super easy. 🙂
We lost power once and had to empty out our fridge. After it sat for three days it had an odor that just blew us away! I did some research and found out that if you spray it down with a mix of vinegar and water and wipe it down, the smell would disappear and it worked. Whew! I like your idea about putting down placemats and just taking them out and washing them. Cleaning out the shelves and all its nook and crannies is a pain. I do the same thing for the areas above my kitchen cabinets. I cut towels to size and once a year take them down and wash them. It’s so much easier than getting up there and washing with a rag. Thanks for the tips!
Those are some great tips! I could definitely use some baking soda around my appliances! I can’t wait to test it out!
Some great tips here! Will try your solution for sticky residue later today. And I didn’t realize not every home used a sifter. Growing up, my mom wanted most anything containing flour sifted. Now it’s habit!
Interesting tip on the miniblinds. My problem is the vertical blinds in my kitchen which get food splattered on them from the kids. They are a giant pain to clean and often require scrubbing to get the dried-on gunk off.
These are some wonderful tips! I personally know all about the baking soda! The blinds I had no idea about.
Love the tips! I am allll about trying to do things right in our home rather than a store run! Will try these out!
Love the tips–the only one I was using was the baking soda. I’ve needed the label remover tip for 7 years, which is how long I’ve lived in my home and never removed the labels 🙂
Thanks – these were very helpful!
Baking soda is one of my favorites for everything too! I love to scrub out sinks with it and use it along with some castile soap and a few drops of essential oils to clean just about everything. It’s a little bit of magic!
These are GREAT tips! I love the place mats in the refrigerator idea. Why haven’t I thought of that?
You have so many great tips, many of which I have never tried. I like the one about removing labels. I hate the pesky labels that are so hard to remove. I’m going to have to try that one for sure.
I’m going to put the label remover idea to use!!!! That’s great for picture frames!
Lots of tips! Thanks for sharing them!! Trudie
What a great list of tips you have there. I’ll need to come back and go through them when I have some time.
Thanks for sharing these tips! I learned a couple of them from my grandma. Mini-blinds are on my “no” list, because they’re such a pain!
Wow! I’m so bookmarking your post. I’m sad I saw this after spending a whole day soaking and scrubbing a pan with a label on it! Thanks for all the good stuff.
Very informative. Seriously I’ve never thought about peeling a perfect peach. Being from Georgia love the whole thing. I love the helpful tips.!i think you are on to something.
I never knew I could freeze potatoes. I always lose a few from not using them up quickly enough and will have to try your tip. Thanks for sharing these.
Baking soda is pretty amazing! Thanks for sharing these great tips! I definitely needed the one to remove cooking residue on the bottom of my pots.
You have some really great tips! I normally just boil plain water in my stainless steel pan to remove any overly cooked foods. I’ll have to remember to try adding baking soda the next time.
Thanks for sharing your tips and tricks.
Fabulous tips!! I had never thought to freeze potatoes! Thanks for all the ideas, I am totally going to try them!
Love the tips.I want to try the fruit fly jar.
Wait… you can freeze potato’s? It’s just my hubby and me at home so whenever he buys a big bag of potato’s (because apparently he thinks we eat like truckers) half the bag goes to waste! yuck! Definitely trying that one out… right after I wash my mini-blinds!
Great tips. 🙂 I hadn’t realized sifters were hard to find in some places. I find that they’re pretty common, but I realize that that may be regional.
Just bookmarked you page! I am on it now…Give me a few weeks and you will not even recognize anything about me. Great list! Thanks
Great suggestions! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to have to bookmark this and try some of them. Also, I like that you use natural ingredients for many of your tips.
These are some excellent tips! I have always wondered how best to clean miniblinds. We recently moved out of a rented place and had to clean the blinds, and I thought dusting and vacuuming them would be enough. NOT! So glad I saw this for the next time I have to clean! 😉
This is a great compilation if practical save you time and money tips. I love baking soda and I use it as a replacement for tums.
Great tips here to make our lives easier. I’ve been wanting a sifter and keep forgetting to look when I go to the store. For appliance odor, I have always put an opened box of baking soda in the fridge. Next time I will try putting it on a towel, seems like that would work better. Thanks for the tips.
Who knew that you could make you own solution to get rid of stubborn labels? I also did not know that you could freeze potatoes. Great little reference post. Bookmarking it.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I had a label remover. What a great idea!!
These are really great tips!! I had no idea that you could freeze potatoes or that you could use baking soda for so much. I’m definitely looking forward to some of these tips!
These are fantastic tips for those little everyday annoyances that often plague us. (Sticky label residue drives me crazy!) On a side note, I wanted to say I love the photo of your farm “Best of the Farm” with the house in the background. As soon as I saw it, I thought to myself, “That looks like S.C.”. Sure enough, it was! That photo makes me miss home. 🙂 Keep up the great work. XOXO, Erin
Sounds like I need to get me a sifter!! haha
Gotta love baking soda! Add a little vinegar and you are set for all kinds of cleaning jobs. I love how you linked up the different posts! Thank you for all the helpful tips! Blessings!
I never thought baking soda would be the solution. I always leave my burned pan overnight dipped in water…. Thank you for the tip… (“,)