Thursday, April 24, 2008

6 ingredients

Yahoo had an article on natural cleaners. Which you can read here. But when I read it, my mind went elsewhere: Borax? I've only used it for one reason and it wasn't cleaning. (See #2). So here are my smalltown mom tips about these ingredients:

1. Baking soda: (see #5)

2. Borax: You can make a really great slime by mixing it with gel school glue.

3. Lemon: I don't have any kids' projects so here's something for the grownups. Oh, wait. Here's a lemon battery so they can shock themselves. Just kidding!

4. Salt: play-doh

5. White vinegar: mix with #1 and red food coloring to make volcanic lava! We've gone through so many gallons of vinegar with my boys! Or rockets. Alka-Seltzer rockets are fun too. Ernest has done an experiment on Alka-Seltzer rocket variations.

6. Olive Oil: I don't have anything for this, but it would probably get stuck stickers off of things. Are your kids sticker crazy? Peanut butter works great for that too, because it is thick and stays on long enough for the oil to permeate the sticker and release the adhesive. The drawback is it leaves a pungent aroma and then you are craving jelly for days.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, these are the fun uses for common household products.

BTW, Borax can also be used as an organic pesticide for ants. Mix it with a little sugar to attract them. They'll take it back to the nest and the borax will kill off the ants.

Anonymous said...

Peanut butter is also great for removing chewing gum from hair or carpet. Works like a charm!!

(I puffy heart Heloise!)

barbra said...

Ha! Yes, I have made Borax slime, too. And Borax makes really good crystals, too. But that's all I have ever used it for!