Eco Tricks!!

[sheddie]

Instead of polish use a small amount of olive oil on a soft cloth to nourish wood and give it a shine.:)

Showerscreens come up beautifully with a mixture of 1pint white vinegar to 4 parts water, just rub on and rinse off.:)

Freshen carpets and mattresses with a sprinkling of bicarbonate of soda and vacuum up after a couple of hours.:)

Place 1/2 a lemon in the fridge to keep it smelling sweet and freshen your chopping board by rubbing salt into it with 1/2 a lemon.:)

[Crocus]

Thanks for the tips Sheds! I'm going to try them.xx

[Oola]

Is there anything I can do with ash from our open fire?

[sheddie]

Yes put it on the garden to stop slugs. X

[Healing Hands]

I put the ash around my roses and I get lovely roses each year. Today I am spring cleaning the kitchen and will be using bicarb of soda to clean out the sticky cupboards and white vinegar which is a good anti-septic. Not a job I am getting excited about!

[Treehugger]

Sheddie - how does the ash on the garden work to stop slugs? I am intrigued as we have a woodburner and throughout winter hubby has been chucking the ash into my raised veggie beds. This year I have definately noticed a decline in the old slugs and snails. I put this down to good luck but now that you have mentioned the ash trick.......

[Crocus]

On the radio this morning (on a gardener's programme) someone said to put cotton wool round your shrubs and plants to prevent slugs from climbing (does a slug climb?) or whatever, up into the plant.

[sheddie]

Treehugger only know it is an old fashioned remedy that was used in Victorian times but used to work for them. X

[jazzactivist]

Slugs and snails don't like travelling over powdery or gritty substances, as they exude a trail of slime to reduce the friction between their body and the ground and dry, gritty substances like ash or crushed egg shells interfere with this. I am not too sure about the cotton wool idea, crocus, as it would be expensive to surround all your plants with it, plus when it gets wet I would have thought that it would be idea for slugs and snails to hide in and climb over!

[franbee]

My slugs and snails climb up the rough brick exterior of the house, no scratchy tummies for them.

[SummerSkye]

Oola, put your ash around strawberry plants, they love it .. but avoid camellias, rhodo's etc.
I empty the coffee grains around my plants to discourage slugs (the grit factor and also the caffeine)
Left over lemon can be put in a bowl of water and microwaved for a minute or so to deodorise the microwave.
A saucer of ammonia left in the bottom of an oven overnight helps with easier cleaning.

[mrsj]

These are great, I am definitely going to try them out!