Hints and tips Discussions

I used to mix equal parts of white vinegar and water spray on leave for about 5/10mins then dab off then sprinkle with baking soda, leave till dry then Hoover up.
Biological washing powder, works also.

I haven't tried it myself, but I have heard that Sodium BiCarbonate (Baking Soda) is good for removing dog odours. Shake on, leave half an hour, and vacuum off. It could be for general dogginess though, not urine.
For some reason, I only remember these things after the floor has been vacuumed.

A tip for everyone, if you didn't already know? Wrap cling film around the top of your bananas to make them last longer!

A tip to ripen avocados. Put them in a cupboard [I use the kitchen base unit where I keep saucepans etc] and check them every couple of days. Once they show signs of ripening put them in the refrigerator and they will stay fresh for up to two weeks without ripening any more. If you want one ripe, leave it in the cupboard.

If you do not want to ripen them immediately, store them in the refrigerator.

To store half an avocado, keep the pit in and put it in an airtight box with half of an onion and put it in the refrigerator. It will stay OK for up to a week.

Having bought four gorgeous avocados this morning I currently have two in the cupboard and two in the refrigerator. Once the ones in the cupboard show signs of ripening one will stay there until it is ripe, the other will go into the refrigerator and one of the ones currently there will go into the cupboard to start ripening.

Incidentally, the one thing I will not do is buy a ripe avocado - mainly because it has probably been prodded and/or squeezed by someone looking for a ripe one. That is why I will only buy unripe ones - and I prefer the larger, rounder ones for that reason.

I also think that they taste better if ripened at home as I can then judge what degree of ripeness I want.

Thanks for the tip about ripening them. I gave up buying the 'Ripen at Home' ones because they seemed to stay rock hard and then go off. I buy Tesco's 'Ripe and Ready' ones which are perfect, but have to be eaten fairly quickly. So I might experiment with putting some unripe ones in a cupboard.

It actually does work Janet - I cannot remember who it was that told me about ripening avocados but I have been doing it for yonks.

If you do buy the 'Ripe and Ready' ones they should not go off too quickly if you put them in the refrigerator, but as avocados are sold loose here I can buy the ones that I want.

@Janet - the two avocados in the cupboard are beginning to ripen so one has gone in the refrigerator and I think the other one will be just perfect on Thursday or Friday. Not bad for avocados that were rock hard on Sunday morning!

Lovely! How do you serve them? I use them in salads, mashed up on toast, as a starter with mashed stilton, and I add them to my NutriBullet drink.

But not all on the same day.

It depends - in the summer either sliced/chunked in salads or mashed up, sort of like guacamole but not quite... although the season does not start until maybe September? Now it has gotten colder my current favourite is sliced avocado on toasted wholegrain bread [and Tikki has bits of the crusts, of course!] for a late breakfast. I have never tried them in a smoothie as I mostly use bananas and/or apricots and peaches when they are in season for those. Fruit is so very seasonable here - citrus fruits having only recently come in. Maybe I will try a green smoothie?

Incidentally, bananas, apples and avocados are grown in the north - I live in the coastal citrus belt.

I had never "timed" how long it took before, just taking it for granted, but having given the ripening tip I thought I would keep a note of it. And I am really pleased because being so large I thought it would take longer to go from rock hard to perfect!

If you ever wake up with a hangover and go to brush your teeth, make sure you don't mix up the toothpaste with hemorrhoid cream!

True story.
My Dad once managed to pick up the wrong tube in the bathroom, and cleaned his teeth with Transvasin muscle rub instead of Pepsodent toothpaste! I could never understand how he didn't notice the difference!

That is a bit like using hairspray instead of deodorant...

Yes. Done that!

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Trust me, you only ever do it once!

Never done that (I keep my hair very short so don't use hairspray), but I once discovered that I'd been washing my hair in conditioner instead of shampoo for probably months. I'd bought several bottles of what I'd thought was shampoo but turned out to be conditioner. Noticed no difference to my hair at all!

Your hair cannot possibly be as short as mine, not when I clip it on a #2 setting - I reckon even very short-coated Tikki has longer hair than I do!

Incidentally I recently read an article somewhere where it said to use conditioner first, rinse and then use shampoo, the theory being that conditioner is not easily rinsed off whereas shampoo is, and apparently it leaves hair soft to start with from the conditioner and then clean from the shampoo.

Or so the article said

I know this is an old thread but thought I would add something - dog related. I usually add a slurp of either coconut oil or EVVO to Tikva's evening meal, but if I have opened a tin of sardines or tuna, or any other type of tinned fish, I drain the oil into a jar which I keep in the refrigerator, and add some of that instead.

It is also rather useful for adding to salads and far better for the environment than pouring it down the sink.