Dirty Talk

Remove chewing gum from carpeting by using ice cubes to help. Freeze up the gum with the ice; it will turn very hard, and you can pick the gum out of the carpet fibers much more easily.

Clean your gold jewelry on the cheap. The following applies to gold alone or with all stones but for opals, pearls, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, or any other delicate stone. Take out a coffee mug. Put one single drop of dishwashing liquid (for dishes by hand, not the dishwasher type) in the bottom and fill with LUKEWARM water. Carefully place the ring, bracelet or necklace you wish to clean on the bottom. Leave overnight. In the morning you will find a lot of dirt specks floating on top. Rinse jewelry gently with warm (never hot) water and dry thoroughly. Warning: Again, NOT for use with opals (which absorb water and are sensitive to extreme heat and cold) or turquoise or pearls, or any other stone which might absorb the water or be damaged by it or the chemicals in the dishwashing liquid.

Keep your sterling "sterling" pristine, your gold, gold. Do not keep gold jewelry together in the same box as sterling. Or either, in the same box as costume jewelry. First, clean the gold and sterling; then keep them completely separate. You won't have to shine and polish as often.

Fresh sweaters and laundry, year round. I keep a couple of unused Bounce sheets in bureau drawers, sweater chest, and in the dirty laundry chest. No need to spend money on those expensive drawer liners--and the dirty laundry really isn't so bad after that.

Getting nasty stains out of white, off-white, or even yellow-toned fabric is a breeze. Take an old toothbrush, and one cup of hot water containing 1 spritz of Tilex cleaner with bleach. Dunk the toothbrush in the mixture and rub the stain very gently. It will disappear before your eyes. Rinse stain afterward with regular warm water, and pat up the moisture to dry. Be careful, though, especially with clothing. Tilex is powerful and will take the color out!