Do EVERYTHING Around the House • Better • Smarter • Faster Heloise is America's most recognized name for household advice, and she shares her innovative solutions for your most-pressing dilemmas. Whether you need shortcuts for everyday tasks, delicious ideas for quick meals, or ingenious tricks for the spills, accidents, and clogs in your day, just turn to Handy Household Hints from Heloise. You'll learn how to: • Clean a keyboard with a used dryer sheet. • Remove hot pepper seeds with a grapefruit spoon. • Lift scuff marks with plain, white paper. • Corral electrical cords with a ponytail holder. Discover Heloise's most creative ideas and tips for cleaning up, entertaining with ease, making repairs, getting organized, taking care of yourself, coping with nuisances, and keeping house. Filled with up-to-the-minute hints, you'll turn to this handbook whenever you've burnt the rice, stained your shirt, or splattered paint on your hands. Heloise is one of the most recognized lifestyle managers in the world. Her column appears 7 days a week in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and foreign countries, and she is a frequent guest on national television and radio, where she shares her insight for saving time, saving work, and saving money. Chapter 1 Clutter Busters and Organizers This chapter is all about getting control of your stuff. The first step is to get rid of clutter--the stuff you don't use and don't need. You will find loads of hints for reusing or recycling the items you don't want anymore. There are also creative ideas for using household items in new and different ways. You'll see tips on donating and selling things, too. Then, you've got to organize the stuff you have left, and you'll find lots of suggestions for organizing all around the house. So dig in! Clutter Busting 101 Here are some ways to stop clutter from controlling your home and life. It seems every closet and room is filled with too much stuff! First, learn my clutter-busting motto: "A few minutes or a few things." Every day, take just a few minutes to clean up or to pick up just a few items. You'll be surprised how easy it can be to keep on top of things. Here are seven hints for stopping that clutter from taking over: 1. If you can't locate what you are searching for in several minutes, it's time to rethink where things belong. The more often you use an item, the closer it should be. 2. Enlist the whole family, not just Mom, to climb on the decluttering and organizing bandwagon. 3. If one room or area is beginning to look messy and cluttered, tackle it ASAP! 4. Give the living room, den, or common area a quick pickup before going to bed. 5. Toss out or put papers in the recycle bin every day, including newspapers and magazines. 6. Keep lists or inventories of what you already have. If you don't need it, don't buy it. 7. If something new comes into your home, many people say something old should go out. BUST THAT CLUTTER! Take little steps to get control of your life. Little steps throughout the week can add up to big changes (and less to do) in the long run. . Clean one shelf in the refrigerator, freezer, or makeup or medicine cabinet. Throw out dated, old, smelly, or just plain bad items. . Write one thank-you, hello-how-are-you, or thinking-of-you note or letter a week. I mean a real letter or note that is mailed with a stamp and for which you hand-address the envelope. Not e-mail, but handwritten. It can be just a few lines, but it will be much appreciated and probably kept! . Take a few minutes each week to clean out and toss trash from a purse, briefcase, or auto glove compartment. I have one friend who cleans out her purse (sitting next to a trash can if possible) while waiting (and sometimes waiting and waiting) in a doctor's office. . Have a houseplant that needs a little extra care? Move it to a spot that you will see daily so you can give it the PLC (plant loving care) that it deserves. . Go through magazines and books and see which ones (even if only a few) can be passed on or recycled. Pick up as you go. Never carry one item to its place without looking for others needing to be put away in the same spot. Whenever you leave one room to go to another, look around to see if there is anything you can take with you to another room. Always check, on your return, for items needing to go to your next destination. It will make picking up easier, and rooms will stay uncluttered. Downsize now. Don't wait until you are forced to downsize in older age. Start doing it now. Once a year, go through jewelry boxes and take an inventory. Some pieces may no longer have any use to you (pierced earrings when you use clip-on styles, or other articles no longer appropriate for your age or circumstances). Bundle up items you no longer like or are able to wear and give them to your favorite charity thrift store. Some items may no longer be wearable but have great sentimental value. Keep those in a special box.