Tips

When I was growing up, a very popular feature in our newspaper was a column called Heloise. A pleasant and wise looking woman named Heloise dispensed a fount of tips and tricks to make life easier around the house. (I think some newspapers still carry this column, now authored by the daughter of said matriarch). Back in the 50’s and 60’s, many women were still managing their households as a full time job and were grateful for guidance on how to streamline their challenging and often mundane daily tasks. Frugality was also a hallmark of the exchange of ideas, particularly when most households were balancing their budgets on one income.

It seems that there are always “wonder products” that pop up at any given time. One that was very popular in the Heloise columns of my youth was nylon net. It was a mesh like material made of strong nylon strands that seemed to be the answer to many cleaning and craft demands. One could buy yards of the stuff at most purveyors of dry goods. It came in different colors which added to its range of possibilities. Crafters would make nylon net scrubbies in various shapes and sizes. Most everyone had a cache of the wonder cleaning scrublings ready for action in their kitchens.

Panty hose was another common household go-to product. Women actually wore hosiery back then so there was a never-ending supply of nylons gone bad. The nylon material made it possible for them to be used as scrubbing and polishing tools when a finer touch was needed. Crafters created draft stopping “snakes” that could be placed at the base of a closed door in an attempt to keep the cold winter winds from sneaking into the house. Another panty hose suggestion was to gather up slivers of used soap bars, stuff them into a portion of the hose and create a soap-on-a-rope. Can you say, “Pathogen hangout”? Not recommending that one.

I’m not sure what Heloise is recommending these days, but I do have a couple of products that seem to be my go-to lifesavers. One is Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser. They named this invention correctly as it is truly a magical cleaning product. It works on everything from a grease splotched oven top to a gunky tub. I’m not Ms. Spick and Span so any product that can help me clean up the sludge of overdue house pollution is my new BFF.

Bleach is my other cleaning comrade. I love bleach. I have tried a myriad of cleaning products. Some make me wheeze. Some smell like flowers. Some have nozzles that drip and ooze. Many of them just plain stink. Bleach, however, smells like clean. All it takes is a sink full of bleach-laden water and the battle cry has gone out against the bacteria kingdom. Bleach is cheap. Bleach is easy to store. Bleach is a lovely product.

Not to worry. I have no intentions of beginning a household tips blog. If I did, however, it would have to include one more venerated product: duct tape.

Don’t get me started.