Author of, ‘How to be a Perfect Housewife,’ Anthea Turner has shared her ingenious household hacks on UK’s, This Morning.
She said her tricks of the trade can save time and effort on boring cooking and cleaning tasks, which is music to our ears.
Store bed linen in one pillowcase
Do you ever get fed up of searching for matching sets of bed linen as duvet covers and pillowcases get lost in the cupboard?
“Fold up the items and then pop them all inside one pillowcase,” Anthea suggests.
“That means it can be stacked neatly in the cupboard and it is easy to pull out.”
Find lost earrings using tights
To save time looking for lost items you may have dropped on the floor, such as earrings, Anthea revealed her brilliant trick involving tights and a vacuum cleaner!
“Put a pair of stockings over the nozzle and push it in a little with your finger,” she said as she demonstrated how to do it to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on This Morning.
“Then vacuum the rug where you dropped what you’re looking for and it will pick it up.”
The trick means the item will be trapped in the nozzle by the tights so you can easily retrieve it.
Peel a whole potato with one stroke
When it comes to cooking, Anthea admitted her pet peeve is peeling potatoes, so she’s found a way to make it easier.
She said: “All you need to do is take one strip down the middle and pop them in the pot to boil. The peel will then just drop off and you will preserve a lot of the nutrients such as vitamin C — there’s more vitamin C in a potato than an avocado.”
Use toothpaste to combat coffee stains in mugs
Toothpaste isn’t just for getting pearly whites, according to Anthea. It’s also her secret weapon for cleaning coffee stains off the inside of mugs.
She said: “A lot of them now have the whitening ingredients, so whack a bit of toothpaste in a mug and use a brush to clean off the stains.”
Rub coconut oil into wooden chopping boards to keep them looking brand new
Anthea said coconut oil is her “hero substance” for everything from conditioning her hair to cooking and cleaning.
One of the many uses she has for it is preserving her wood chopping boards.
She said: “It is amazing, it should be in everybody’s cupboards, not only to cook with. You can use it to feed wood in the same way you can use it to moisturize your own skin. Rub it into wood like a chopping board and it will stop it cracking and breaking.”
This post was originally published Closer.
