Alternate Uses for Household Items

Aha! Do these things really work? I'm interested in hearing from someone willing to try the Kool-Aid thing, not too keen on the mesh bag, and who has coasters anymore anyway? Take a look and let us know.

Vegetable Oil
Original Use: Frying up a tasty batter
Aha! Use: SHining leather shoes. Us a damp cloth to wipe away dirt, then apply a small drop of oil to a soft cloth and rub the surface to remove scuff marks.
Reward: A polished look from heel to toe.

Lemonade Kool-Aid
Original Use: Quenching thirst
Aha! Use: Cleaning lime deposits and iorn stanes inside the dishwasher. Pour a packet of lemonade Kool-Aid (the only flavor that works) into the detergent cup and run the empty dishwasher.
Reward: Citric acid in the mix wipes out stains; you don't have to.

Mesh Veggie Bag
Original Use: Holding fresh veggies
Aha! Use: Scrubbing up after dinner. Cut ends open, scrunch, add soap and water.
Reward: After a gooey mac - n - cheese cleanup, you just toss the freebie scrubbie away.

Lint Roller
Orginal Use: Restoring your black turtleneck to its fuzz-free state
Aha! Use: Dusting a lamp shade. Runt the roller up and down the outside to get rid of small particles that shouldn't be there.
Reward: Now every surface in your house will pass the white glove test!

Baking Soda
Original Use: Making cakes rise
Aha! Use: Polishing silver. wash items, then place on aluminum foil in the bottom of a pot. Ad a baking soda soulution of 1/4 cup soda, 3 tsp salt, 1 qt boiling water) to cover for a few seconds.
Reward: The chemical reaction gets that black stuff off the gravy boat.

Salt
Original Use: Unlocking the savor and flavor of foods
Aha! Use: Cleaning up a spill egg. Heap a handful of salt on the mess, leave for two minutes, then wipe up.
Reward: Raw egg that sticks to your towel instead of sliding away from you.

Coasters
Original Use: Keeping wet glasses from making rings on your real wood veneer table
Aha! Use: Catching the escaping drips of stifky stuff from bottles and jars in cupboards.
Reward: No more honey, jam or olive oil rings in your cupboards

Newspaper as a Deoderizer
Original Use: Daily source of Dear Abby and the comics
Aha! Use: Food Container deoderizer. Stuff a balled-up pieace of newspaper into a smelly plastic container, seal it, andlet it sit overnight. By morning, you have a smelly newspaper.
Reward: That lingering curry scent is yesterday's news.