Winter Hacks For Your Home, Your Car, and Even You!

To clean rust from skate blades, fill a pan with cola and stand the skates so the blades soak in the cola for about an hour.  Rinse clean.

​Sweaty skates?  Try sprinkling in some baking soda to absorb moisture and neutralize the odor.  You can also keep a couple of dryer sheets in the skates when not in use as well.

Lubricate your snow shovels, people!  I bet you never thought about this, but you can rub some cooking oil or shortening, or even spray some cooking spray, onto the shovel to prevent the heavy snow from sticking to it as you shovel!

Out of ice melt?  No worries. After shoveling, combine one teaspoon of dishwashing liquid, one tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and half a gallon of hot water in a bucket, and pour over walkways and paths. 

Try this for giving more light to houseplants:  Wrap a piece of sturdy cardboard with aluminium foil.  Place the plant between the homemade mirror you just made and the window, with the tin foil facing the window to reflect sunlight at the plant.

You can do the same thing for warming up your house:  If you’ve got a wall-mounted radiator or heater, place that aluminum foil covered cardboard behind the radiator. This will help deflect all of the heat into the room.

Clean the glass doors of your fireplace easily with a mixture of oven cleaner and white vinegar.  Making sure the room is well-ventilated, spray the oven cleaner on the doors and let sit for 20 minutes.  Wipe clean.  Rinse the doors well with a solution of equal parts white vinegar and water.  Buff dry.

​To clean the bricks around your fireplace, mix equal parts dishwashing liquid and salt.  Add enough water to make a cream.  Rub the mixture on to the bricks with a cloth, and let sit for 10 minutes.  Scrub with a soft brush and wipe clean with a sponge and water.