Quick clean for stainless steel appliances

Squeeze a dab of hand sanitizer onto a clean dry cloth and gently polish each stainless steel surface. The alcohol in the product will clean any dirt and/or fingerprints and leave appliances super shiny.

Quick fix for a leaky vase

Grab a similar shaded crayon. Carefully light a match over the stick, hold the 2 items over the crack and let the melted wax drip into the area. When wax cools, scrape away any excess.

Remove fat from stew

To easily defat a stew, place some ice cubes on a slotted spoon and drag it across the top of the liquid. The ice will attract all the grease. Try to do it fast, before the cubes melt, and discard them after all.

Peeling ginger

An alternative way to peel ginger, without removing a lot of the flesh along with the skin, is using a spoon. Hold the base of the spoon bowl and graze its edge down the side of the root to lightly scrape the skin away.

Overbaked sweet bread

To add moisture to an overcooked (hard and dry, but edible) sweet loaf, poke several deep holes through the top with a skewer and drizzle some honey, apple juice or maple syrup over the holes. Let sit for about 1 hour, slice and serve.

Perfectly cooked fish

Before baking a fillet of fish, fold the thin tail piece over itself and secure with toothpicks. This will ensure that your fish cooks evenly and the thin end of the fillet does not overcook.

Storing tub toys

Keep bathtub toys neatly organized, dried and mold-free, by attaching a mesh lingerie bag to a tiled wall in your bathroom. Use a suction cup hook to hang the bag.

Pencil marks on the walls

To remove pencil marks from the walls, grab a piece of rye or dark wheat bread and gently rub over the markings until they vanish. The large amount of gluten on these kinds of bread helps to erase non-grease-based stains.

Messy boot tray

To prevent your boot tray from becoming muddy after the dirt melts off the soles, place a layer of garden stones inside of it. All the dirt will drain through the rocks to the bottom of the container.

Protecting bandages from water

Keep a bandage on fingers and/or toes clean and dry, while bathing or dealing with water, by slipping an uninflated balloon over it. Secure with a rubber band or a hair tie.

Revive a rose bouquet

To double the life of a beautiful bouquet, pour 1/4 cup of lemon-lime soda into the water. The citric acid will kill bacteria while the sugar will feed the flowers.

More effective vaporizer

To clear the air and improve breathing, add 1/4 cup of white vinegar to the water in the vaporizer. The acetic acid helps to fight bacterial and viral infections.

Melted plastic stain

To clean melted plastic stain from a hard surface, soak a cotton ball with nail polish remover and apply to the stain until it disappears. The acetone in the remover will break the bonds in the melted plastic, making the cleaning process much easier.

Online impulse buys

When shopping online, before checking out, stop to drink a glass of water or to make a phone call. Researches show that a briefly interruption in the shopping process causes the brain's focus to move from "I cannot miss this deal!" to "How will this affect my finances?". When you return to the computer, you will be able to judge your virtual cart better.

Evenly baked cake layers

Wrap a thick strip of moistened newspaper around the outer edge of the baking pan and secure with paper clips. This procedure will lower the pan’s temperature so its edges will not set before the center, which would cause a bumpy cake layer.

Revive stale brownies

To refresh old brownies' fudgy moistness, place them in a colander set over 1 inch of simmering water and steam for about 1 minute.

Gummy rice

To prevent rice from ending gummy, place a double layer of paper towel under the lid of the pot until you are ready to serve your entire meal. The paper will absorb steam and avoid condensation forming on the lid and returning into the pot.

Keep steaks flat while cooking

To prevent steaks from curling when they are being cooked, use a paring knife to cut slashes about 1 inch apart along the outer edge of each piece. This will allow the meat to shrink without affecting its overall shape.

Stringy cheese in pizza

To prevent pizza cheese from getting stringy and making a mess when you eat it, add a little bit of lemon juice to the cheese before sprinkling over the dough. This will break down the protein strands that cause those long strings.

Birthday cake without wax drips

To save a cake from wax drips, insert each candle into a mini (or a fitted piece) marshmallow, then set the confections on top of the frosting. The wax will melt onto the marshmallow, which you can just discard later.