The new Reader’s Digest book, “Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things,” is the ultimate make-do-with-what-
you’ve-got resource, and includes more than 2,300 ingenious money-saving tips for addressing common household problems.
Here are the book’s Top 10 Most Useful Items for cleaning:
1. Ammonia: Strips floor wax, removes tarnish and stains, and fights mildew
2. Baking soda: Clears clogged drains, washes wallpaper and removes crayon
3. Borax: Eliminates urine odor, cleans windows and mirrors, and sanitizes garbage disposals
4. Fabric softener sheets: Lift burned-on food, repel dust from the television screen, and keep dust off blinds
5. Lemons: Get rid of tough stains on marble, deodorize cutting boards and polish metals
6. Rubbing alcohol: Removes ink stains, prevents ring around the collar, and removes hair spray from mirrors
7. Salt: Removes stains from pans and cast iron, soaks up oven spills, removes wine and grease from carpet, water marks from wood and lipstick from glasses
8. Toothpaste: Cleans piano keys and sinks, polishes metal and jewelry, and deodorizes baby bottles
9. Vinegar: Revitalizes leather, deodorizes drains and closets, and banishes kitchen grease
10. WD-40: Cleans toilet bowls, removes carpet stains and floor scuffs, and removes marker and crayon from walls.
Source: “Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things. 2,317 Ways to Save Money and Time,” (Reader’s Digest; $15.95)
