Useful tips thread

[canis]

Any useful household tips you want to recommend?

1. Front doorknob became hard to turn. Removed it and sprayed cylinder and other parts with WD40. Placed on a paper towel for few minutes and let dry. Re-install. Works great.

2. Removed old bumper stickers from car. Boiled water and soaked old rag into the hot water. Soak the bumper sticker with the hot water (rag). Take a credit card and lift up a corner of the sticker and start peeling the sticker off. Worked great.

[babylinux]

Clogged drains - Pour in some baking soda, add vinegar, watch the cool volcano. After a while add some boiling water. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't but it's fun to do.

[canis]

Clogged drains - Pour in some baking soda, add vinegar, watch the cool volcano. After a while add some boiling water. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't but it's fun to do.

I've got a drain that can use that suggestion. Thanks!!

[canis]

Update on the lavatory drain.....

I did the baking soda/vinegar combo and got the sizzling going. But that wasn't enough this time.

So I got the plunger out. First I covered the overflow opening in the sink with duct tape. Then filled half way with water. Then plunged away. I had to try it a couple of times to clear the clog.

[Up2DaRack]

Clogged drains - Pour in some baking soda, add vinegar, watch the cool volcano. After a while add some boiling water. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't but it's fun to do.

A similar homemade formula for clogged drains is equal parts salt & baking soda, and then slowly add an equivalent amount of vinegar. Much cheaper than Liquid Plumber sold in the stores.

[Mom49of4]

I tried that but it did not work on my recent drain problem. I will NEVER put rice down my disposable again. It took 2 of my sons and a now broken snake to fix the drain.

[Up2DaRack]

I tried that but it did not work on my recent drain problem. I will NEVER put rice down my disposable again. It took 2 of my sons and a now broken snake to fix the drain.

Grease combined with coffee grinds, or potato peelings, or rice are all a recipe for nice expensive plumbing visits. Also, a big part of the problem is not running enough water afterward to fully clear the drain pipes well beyond the house until the ground-up material reaches the sanitary sewer. Grinding out a few dozen potato peels and only running enough water to let the potato peels clear the trap still leaves a lot of gunk in the pipes just beyond the trap. Ultimately, using organic waste for the garden is the best solution, keeping it out of your drain altogether.

[Eastside Terp]

Grease combined with coffee grinds, or potato peelings, or rice are all a recipe for nice expensive plumbing visits. Also, a big part of the problem is not running enough water afterward to fully clear the drain pipes well beyond the house until the ground-up material reaches the sanitary sewer. Grinding out a few dozen potato peels and only running enough water to let the potato peels clear the trap still leaves a lot of gunk in the pipes just beyond the trap. Ultimately, using organic waste for the garden is the best solution, keeping it out of your drain altogether.

being on a 30 year+ septic makes one very conscious about what goes in the drain .......

grease jars and wipe everything down with paper towels before if goes in the sink ........

living on borrowed time (knocks on wood) as the majority of drain fields in our development have been replaced in the past 10 years .......