Best uses for denture tablets
Denture tablets can do more than clean false teeth. Reader’s Digest suggests dissolving one tablet in a cup of water and adding your diamond rings and earrings. Let them sit for a few minutes and the gems will be sparkling clean.
You can also drop a tablet in your toilet to lift stubborn stains. Wait 20 minutes and flush.
Find other household uses for denture tablets at http://nando.com/2r
5 best herbs to grow
The blog tipjunkie.com says chives, mint, basil, oregano and cilantro are the five best herbs to grow for kitchen use. Most thrive in pots and a sunny window as well as they do in the ground, and they need little maintenance once established. Check out http://nando.com/2s for tips on establishing and maintaining these herbs.
Reader’s best
Shelby Carter of Wake Forest found a solution for cleaning her stained cooktop: Fume-free Easy-Off oven cleaner. “Do a test spot first. I spray a little on the stain and let it sit for a few minutes. Stain scrubs right off! My cooktop looks like brand new!”
Best of Pinterest
I am the queen of stovetop boil-overs. So I was excited to try a tip I found on Pinterest. The post claims you can stop boil-overs by placing a wooden spoon across the top of your pot.
Sure enough, while heating green beans the other day, I heard the familiar sizzle dancing on the cooktop. I immediately turned the heat down, cleaned the mess and grabbed a wooden spoon. I laid the spoon across the pot and returned the pot to a medium boil. The liquid bubbled up but stayed at least a half-inch below the pot’s rim. I watched it carefully for a few minutes and decided to crank the heat all of the way up. It took a few minutes, but it did get perilously close to the top. I was too chicken to chance another boil-over, so I turned the heat down.
Still, I was impressed enough that I will be using the spoon from now on.
Try it and let us know if it works for you.
Best for purses
Here’s a Real Simple way to store handbags. Buy an inexpensive set of shower hooks and hang them over the rod in your closet. Hang a purse on each hook.
Designers’ best
The experts at freshome.com offer this tip for getting more use from your existing furniture. “Consider re-upholstering furniture with updated or colored and styled materials. Slipcovers offer a quick and easy solution for changing out furniture for different seasons and/or occasions. Refinish wood furniture or use a fresh coat of paint on headboards and mirror frames. Try using online planning tools to play around with different colors and options before you take the plunge.”
Best solution?
Clayton reader Doug Packard would like to know if anyone has a solution for removing a dark spot on his teak patio set. “Very recently, I refinished a teak patio set by power-washing, using a brightener, and then applying two coats of teak oil. The set looked beautiful. However, now there is a blackening along the grain of the wood, and the set is looking very dirty. What can I apply that would remove the blackening? I’ve already used a cleaner with bleach on a small spot and that removed the teak oil. I don’t want to have to refinish the set all over again.”
Have a suggestion? Send it to topdrawer@newsobserver.com and we’ll pass it along.
Best place for inspiration?
Where do you turn for garden, design and home organization tips? If you have a favorite go-to site for inspiration, we want to know about it. Share your favorite site and you’ll be entered in our quarterly gift-card drawing. Send email to topdrawer@newsobserver.com. Include your name, street address and city. Put “best blog” in the subject line.
Best of the tube
On HGTV
Watch your step: Ryan and Eunice spent years saving for their dream home. The home inspector was reassuring and they maxed out their mortgage to buy the house. Now they’ve got more problems than they ever expected. Mike Holmes does an inspection and makes it right. “Holmes on Homes” airs at 8 p.m. Sunday.
A new beginning: Rui is a divorced dad with two school-age children and a mountain of debt who had been living with relatives until he bought a modest fixer-upper that he planned to sublet to a tenant. But renovations, kids and a new job are proving too much too handle. He calls in the experts from “Income Property” to help. It airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
On DIY
Paradise found: Jason cruises into Miami to help a couple transform their desperate landscape. He creates a travertine walkway, a bamboo yoga corner and a natural fence. And he does it all while one of the homeowners is in India! “Desperate Landscapes” airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Dream kitchen: Cary wants to give his gourmet chef wife an updated kitchen but doesn’t know how or where to start. With the help of DIY Network viewers and licensed contractors John DeSilvia and Joanie Dodds, the kitchen is now fit for a chef. “Run My Renovation” airs at 9 a.m. Monday.
Send news and photos to The News & Observer, P.O. Box 191, Raleigh, N.C. 27602; email topdrawer@newsobserver.com
