Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs & More: 1,001 Ingenious Ways to Use Common Household Items to Repair, Restore, Revive, or Replace Just about Everything in Your Life - Softcover

Proulx, Earl; Yankee Magazine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 089909385X ISBN 13: 9780899093857

Publisher: Rodale Books, 2004

Synopsis

With his trademark folksy wisdom, Earl Proulx tells you how to recycle those things we all have lying around the house into ingenious solutions without spending money on fancy cleaning solutions, or pricey gadgets. Some of Earl's particular favorites are kitty litter (as a cleaner for oils pills and as a base for a soothing facial mask) and, of course, vinegar (to clean just about anything, unclog showerheads, as well as trap fruit pests), duct tape (as both tick remover and a protection against blisters), and milk jugs (bird feeders and clothespin holders). His fun and inventive ideas also include:

Ant-proof your home with lemon juice
Cover up furniture scratches with a dab of iodine
Use powdered milk to soothe sunburn and remove makeup
Make an earring holder out of window screen
Recycle bubble wrap for a toilet tank insulator

Organized by location inside and outside of the house, Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs & More will make you pause each time you start to throw something (old blue jeans, ice cube trays, coat hangers, egg cartons) out in the trash.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Yankee Magazine's Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs & More

From milk jugs to egg cartons to mayonniase and more, your home contains an untapped gold mine of materials that you can use to solve problems, fix what breaks, or create substitutes for things you'd otherwise have to buy. The trick is figuring out what among these objects is treasure and what's trash. That's where Earl Proulx and the editors of Yankee magazine can help.

Drawing on their own creative ideas--and those of ingenious Yankees all over New England--they've come up with more than 1,000 clever ways to put common household objects to uncommon and valuable uses. The result is a book that will benefit you in five clear ways.

1. This book will empower you.
Other people might be stymied when, say, Spot knocks a glass of grape juice on that elegant white rug. Not you. You'll be able to lift that stain yourself--without buying some expensive remover--just by applying a dab of shaving cream. Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs, and More contains dozens of clever do-it-yourself ideas like this.

2. This book will save you money.
Need an attractive gift for a friend, a game to entertain the grandkids, a desk organizer for your home office? Forget the catalogs and stay away from the stores. As you'll see, you can make these items and dozens more in minutes from the leftover things around your house.

3. This book will make your life easier.
There's no need to stock a cabinetful of specialty cleansers. Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs, and More will show you how to use common ingredients like salt, ketchup, baking soda, flour, yogurt, and, of course, vinegar to handle many of the cleaning tasks you encounter every day.

4. This book will reduce the waste in your home.
If you've ever regretted the amount of trash you throw out each week, here's the solution. This book will show you how to give a second life to everything from plastic containers to bubble wrap to panty house and more.

5. This book will entertain you.
Whether you settle on one of Earl's yarns, the story behind common objects like Post-It Notes and condensed milk, or the "My Way" tips from actual readers, you're bound to enjoy the fun side of this book.

Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs, and More provides no-fail ideas for every area of your home, and for many actitivites, from gardening to cooking, from travel to sports, and from crafts to games. Consider it your no-cost tool kit for all your needs around the home.

From the Back Cover:

Throw out a candle stub, some sour milk, that leftover bag of cat litter?

Not on your life!

You might think of these things as waste that's headed for the trash can, but there are hundreds of practical ways you can save money, time, and natural resources by reusing these and other common objects around your house. Follow Earl Proulx and the editors of Yankee magazine as they show you how to:

* Make soothing facial mask from cat litter
* Cover up furniture scratches with a dab of iodine
* Turn an old teacup, a sandwich bag, and some sugar into an elegant pincushion
* Clean car grease off your hands with olive oil
* Unstick a window with the stub of an old candlestick
* Clear a clogged showerhead with vinegar
* Ant-proof your home with lemon juice
* Make an attractive country picture frame from an old six-pane window
* End static cling with hair spray
* Stop foot blisters with duct tape
* Keep bait worms fresh with coffee grounds
* Make an earring holder out of window screening

More Than 1,000 Creative, Fun, and Ingenious Tips

Clever to the core, Earl Proulx has been coming up with ingenious ways to reuse things since his career as a handyman started nearly 70 years ago. Every month, he shares his solutions and home hints with the more than two million Yankee magazine readers who enjoy his "Plain Talk" column.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rodale Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 089909385X
• ISBN 13: 9780899093857
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400