Facts First presents
ridiculously simple home repair tricks.
Number one, cooking spray will quiet a
squeaky door or cabinet.
And there's nothing more annoying than
when a door or a cabinet squeaks when
they are opened and closed. If you don't
have any WD40 in the house, cooking
spray will work just as well. Just spray
a bit on the hinges and soon your doors
and cabinets will be quiet. This is a
temporary fix. Therefore, the next time
you're out running errands, you do
probably want to pick up some WD40 to
take care of the job for good. Number
two, use Kool-Aid to spot a leak in your
toilet.
A leaky toilet can result in a very
expensive water bill. If you think that
you might have a leak in your toilet,
well, you don't need to call a plumber
just yet. All you need is a package of
Kool-Aid. Remove the lid of the tank and
pour the Kool-Aid packet in. The water
in the tank will turn the same color as
the Kool-Aid. Well, next, put the cover
back on and wait about an hour. If after
an hour the water in the toilet bowl has
changed color like it did in the tank,
you have a leak in your toilet. If not,
you're fine and you didn't need to waste
money on a plumber. Number three, keep
screws from coming loose with nail
polish.
The screws that hold your furniture
together or that keep your cabinet doors
on tight can come loose over time. And
this would require you to tighten the
screws regularly, which can become a
hassle. To keep your screws from getting
loose, you should paint over them with
clear nail polish. It will keep them
from coming loose. Number four, use
crayons to fill in nail holes.
If you're going to be moving and you
need to fill in the nail holes before
you leave, you don't need to go through
the trouble of using plaster. All you
need is your child's crayons. You simply
find a crayon that matches the color of
the walls and rub the hole using firm
pressure. It's much easier than
plastering the walls and then
repainting.
Number five, achieve the perfect coaul
edge using tape.
If you're using caul, it can be hard to
get the perfect straight edge. The
easiest way to do this is to use some
painters tape that's available at most
hardware stores. If you're going to use
tape, you don't use it the way you would
if you're painting. It's important that
you remove the tape while the caul is
still wet. If it begins to dry, you can
pull off some of the caul, ruining your
perfect line. Number six, use a potato
to unscrew a broken light bulb.
There's nothing worse than breaking a
light bulb before you get it out of the
socket. When this happens, it can be
hard to get the bulb out, and you could
end up cutting yourself in the process.
If you want to remove the socket safely
and easily, you just need a potato. Cut
the potato in half and push the soft
side into the broken bulb. When you turn
it counterclockwise, the socket should
come out without you needing to use
protective gloves and no struggle.
Number seven, use an elastic band to
remove stripped screws.
If you're trying to remove a screw that
has been stripped, that can be almost
impossible. What you need is a rubber
band. Place it on the head of the
stripped screw. This creates a bit of
friction and it helps the screw come out
easier. Number eight, patch nail holes
with a bar of soap. If you don't have
any kids, you might not have the crayons
in the house to cover the nail holes on
your wall. As I mentioned before, well,
if you don't want to plaster the holes
and repaint the room, you can use
something that you surely do have in
your home, soap. If your walls are
white, just rub a bar over the hole in a
counterclockwise circular motion over
the hole. If there's any soap left over
on the wall, you just need to use a wet
cloth to wipe it off. Number nine, keep
a door from slamming using a cabinet
door bumper. If your doors are always
slamming or if they rattle when it's
windy outside, it's easier to fix than
you might think. All you need to do is
buy a cabinet door bumper. If you insert
it in the door jamb, the door won't slam
when you close it. Also, it's not going
to rattle on windy days. Number 10, fix
squeaky floorboards.
Oh, it's annoying when you're walking in
certain areas of your home and you hear
the floors squeak. Well, when that
happens, you don't need to contact a
contractor. You might be able to fix the
problem yourself using things that you
may already have in your house. Most
squeaky floors are result of the two of
the floorboards rubbing together when
somebody walks on them. What you need is
to pour some baby powder into a squeeze
bottle. Best kind of bottle is the one
that you would use to apply hair dye.
Next, squeeze the powder between the two
boards that are squeaking. To get the
powder down in between the boards, use a
makeup brush to push the powder down.
It's the perfect solution to an annoying
problem. Number 11, fix dented carpets
with ice cubes.
If you're planning to move the furniture
on your carpets around, you can expect
to see dents in the carpet from where
the furniture was once before. If you
want to get these dents out, you just
need a piece of ice. Simply put the ice
on the dented area of the carpet. As it
melts, the water will be absorbed into
the carpet. And within a few minutes,
the carpet should spring back to normal.
If the carpet still has a small dent,
you can use a hard bristle brush to
fluff up any areas that still have small
dents. Number 12. Speaking of dents, you
can fix dents in wood with a hot iron.
If you have small dents in your hardwood
floor or in your wooden furniture, in
fact, you don't need to call a
professional. This is something that you
can actually fix on your own. What you
need to do is wet the dent with a small
amount of water. Then put a moist towel
over the dent and iron it with a
circular motion. When you lift up the
damp cloth, the dent will have
disappeared. This can save you a ton of
money. It can be expensive to repair or
replace wood floors and furniture.
Number 13, use WD40 to remove scribbles
on the wall.
When small children get their hands on
crayons and markers, they don't always
color in the lines or even on the paper.
It's pretty common for a child to write
on the walls and it can be difficult to
get those marks off. Or rather than
painting over those scribbles, you can
remove them using WD40. If your walls
are painted with a flat paint or a matte
paint, you should avoid using this
trick. The oil in the WD40 can end up
permanently staining the walls, making
the problem worse. If you're unsure as
to what type of paint you have on your
walls, try to put just a dab of the oil
on an inconspicuous place of the wall.
If it doesn't stain, then you can use
it. If it does stain, well, you're going
to have to repaint anyway to cover up
the scribbles. Number 14, clean your
grout with toilet bowl cleaner.
This is one of the most ridiculously
simple home repair tricks. If you let
the grout between your tiles get dirty,
the entire floor will look dirty and
dingy. Some people who have tile floors
will hire a professional to come in and
steam clean the grout. That's not
necessary, and it's a waste of money.
These companies will not only charge you
to come to your home, they'll also
charge you to clean the grout. If you
want to get the grout clean yourself,
all you need is toilet bowl cleaner and
a toothbrush. Simply pour the toilet
bowl cleaner into the cracks between the
tiles and let it sit for about 15
minutes. Next, scrub the area with a
toothbrush. To finish the job, mop the
floor with warm water the way that you
normally would. Number 15, fix small
holes in your screen with clear nail
polish.
If you have small holes in your screens,
it can let small insects into your home.
Or rather than spending the money to buy
a new screen, use a bottle of clear nail
polish. It will act as an invisible glue
that will cover the hole, keeping the
insects outside. If the hole in the
screen is too big, well, nail polish
won't help. For larger screens, you can
use a piece of invisible packing tape,
or you can spend the money and replace
the screen.
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