José from Waimate is a regular contributor of oily rag tips, and has lots more to share:
- Use sea sponges that wash up on the beach to clean pots and pans. Being rough in texture they remove scraps but do not scratch the surface of the pots.
- Recycle bike chains as hinges for gates and small doors.
- If butter has gone rancid it can ‘sweetened up’ by immersing it in cold water with a pinch of bicarb soda for two hours.
- If the inside of your chimney catches on fire, place wet newspapers on the fire. The steam from the papers will put it out. Try it before you call the fire brigade!
- Recycle the canvas from deck chairs. Turn it into carry bags for groceries.
Speaking of carry bags, our local New World supermarket is encouraging shoppers to give up plastic bags. If you take in your own reusable carry bags they reduce your grocery bill by 5 cents per bag or a clip on a coffee card. The good thing is the store gave away the reusable bags in the first place. While the saving is not all that significant in the overall scheme of things, the cause is – and good on New World for taking the initiative to help reduce plastic waste in the environment.