Top Drawer

Best carpet stain remover

The One Good Thing by Jillee blog knows a thing or two about cleaning house. Try this trick the next time you need to clean a stained carpet. Blogger Jillee writes, “I filled an empty spray bottle with one part ammonia and one part hot water, sprayed it liberally on the stain, laid the clean white towel on top of it and started ironing away!” Within seconds, she says, the white towel had absorbed the stain, leaving clean carpet behind.

Check out the post, along with numerous reader reviews of this tip, at http://nando.com/187.

Best way to declutter

Joyce Gilliam of Sanford says she’s found a way to make money while decluttering at an online site that will pay for your old CDs, Blu-Rays, DVDs and video games.

“They furnish the label and postage, you provide the box. Just log on, list your (items), place them in a box with the list printout, seal and mail. You’re done. A check comes in a few weeks.”

Check it out at decluttr.com.

Best way to serve canapés

Real Simple offers a tip for maximizing your serving space and giving a celebration an elegant twist. “Stack a small cake stand on top of a larger one to increase your surface area for canapés or crudités and free up precious table space.”

Read this and other tips at http://nando.com/188.

Best salad dressing

Nancy High of Southern Pines shares her recipe for a delicious Greek salad dressing. “(This is) a simple, fresh-tasting dressing that pairs well with salad topped with feta cheese. It serves one and can be doubled or tripled, etc.”

You will need:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, oregano, and salt in a small bowl. Pour over salad, toss, and enjoy.

Seeking our readers’ best tips

What’s your best tip for decluttering? Share it and you’ll be entered in a quarterly drawing for a gift card. Send tips to topdrawer@newsobserver.com. Be sure to include your name, street address and city. Put “Best for decluttering” in the subject line.

Best bathroom-cleaning tip

We know that toothpaste is great for keeping pearly whites white. But did you know that it can get your porcelain toilet bowl sparkling white, too?

Binkies and Briefcases blogger Steph says she regularly cleans her toilet by wiping the seat with baby wipes and then adds a couple of drops (about a teaspoon) of toothpaste to the bowl, just below the water. Then, she takes a scrub brush and scrubs the interior bowl as you would with any commercial cleaner. You’ll likely need something stronger for stubborn stains like rust. But it should do the trick, she says, for regular maintenance or touch-up cleanings. (It definitely sounds like something worth trying with the last little bits of toothpaste in that rolled up tube.)

Check out this and other household tips at http://nando.com/189.

Best for gardens

Save the water you use to cook vegetables. It is full of nutrients that will help your garden thrive. Let the water cool, then use it to fertilize your garden or potted plants.

Check out this tip and other gardening advice at http://nando.com/18a.

Best of the tube

On DIY:

First-time flippers: Tabatha and Scott are out to flip their first house, but it has a pesky little problem that could turn into major money loss. They’ll need to adjust their schedule and their plan of action to get this house in market-ready condition. Will they turn a profit? “First-Time Flippers” airs at 8 p.m. Saturday.

This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Top Drawer."