A Breath That Could Peel Paint

(Page 2 of 2)

February/March 1994
By the Mother Earth News editors 
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-David Kelly 
Spokane, Washington

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Collections at the Office

Here's a cheap way to collect compost. Bring plastic containers into your office and place them near coffee-break areas. Ask your co-workers to discard their fruit peels, vegetable scraps, and coffee grinds into your containers. This "waste" makes perfect compost.

-Angel Gonzalez 
Colonia, New Jersey

A Hint for Lint

Don't throw away the lint that collects in your automatic clothes dryer. It makes a useful wiping cloth for cleaning dirty shoes and also helps to wipe up oil and gas spills.

-L. A. T.
 Morristown, New Jersey

Wax Away the Snow

Does snow stick to your shovel? Wax it! Warm the shovel over the kitchen range or wood stove and then coat the metal with household paraffin wax. (Wax is measured in "cakes" and can be found in the canning section of the supermarket.) We bought a one-pound box of wax, which contains five cakes, for less than a dollar. In addition to eliminating the snow from sticking, it protects the shovel from rusting.

-Keith Bellinger 
Warren Center, Pennsylvania

Plastic Extensions

Recently I found that the plastic tip on the end of my caulking tube wouldn't reach the area I needed to caulk. What I needed was a flexible tip extension. So I visited the hardware store and bought a piece of plastic tubing that would slip over the caulking tube tip. I beveled the end and it was ready to go.

For a more rigid tip extension, cut an appropriate length of small copper or plastic tubing so that it will slip over the caulking tube tip. If you can't seem to make the fit snug enough, cement the extension in place.

-Hugh F. Williamson 
Tucson, Arizona

Editor's Note: Country Lore is a great chance for you to share practical, down-home solutions to life's most frustrating problems. Send your helpful hints to "Lore," MOTHER EARTH News, PO. Box 129, Arden, NC 28704. Please include your phone number and a photo.

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