Grandma Carol I'm the mother of 3 married children and 12 wonderful grandchildren, with another one on the way. View all articles | Contact author

PART SIX

Many years ago, my mother-in-law gave me some information on “inflation busters”. She grew up in the Great Depression, and learned to be very resourceful with simple ingredients!  It would serve us well to learn to be that resourceful again – and we may have to soon out of necessity.  It is a lot of information, so I am going to break it down into several different posts.

This one is about ways to use hair spray and ammonia.

Hairspray

-Spray any cut flower with hairspray to make it last longer without shedding. Hold the spray can about a foot away from the bouquet and spray in an upward direction, so as not to cause the flowers to droop.

-To save your child’s artwork, give each drawing a good coating of hairspray and it will prevent the colors from fading or wearing.

-Saturate ball point ink stains with hairspray. Dry, then brush lightly with a solution of water and vinegar. Alternatively, rubbing alcohol alone may remove the stain.

-To stop a run in pantyhose (when clear nail polish is not available) apply hair spray.

-If a wasp or bee gets into your house, reach for the hairspray. Most insect sprays only infuriate them, but the hair spray stiffens their wings, immobilizing them immediately. This works well on all winged insects.

-Spray a bit of hairspray on your finger when threading a needle, and then apply it to the end of the thread. The thread will stiffen just enough to ease the job of finding the eye.

-After polishing shoes, spray with hair spray to prevent polish from coming off so easily.

Ammonia

-For a room freshener, boil water to which a little ammonia has been added.

-To take away the odor of fresh paint, set out ammonia, vinegar, or a bowl of water with an onion slice floating in it.

-To wash ceramic tile, mix a solution of ½ cup ammonia, ½ cup white vinegar, ¼ cup washing soda, and one gallon warm water.

-For cleaner work clothes, add ½ cup household ammonia to the wash cycle.

-For quick clean-ups on appliances, rub with equal parts of water and household ammonia.