Country Lore: Pennies as Washers, Cornmeal Cleaner, a Holiday Memento, and More

Image Gallery One reader suggests washing wool garments with hair shampoo. ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF

"If you're as interested in energy conservation as I am," writes Paul Sheldon of Tampa, Florida, "you'd probably like to know how many hours per day your hot water heater is running. One easy, inexpensive way to monitor an electric heater is with an old wall clock. Cut the plug from the time-teller's cord and strip back the insulation on both wires. Attach one of these wires to the cold-side terminal of your water heater's thermostat switch, and ground the other on a cold-water pipe. Then the clock will start running each time your water heater cycles on. By checking the clock's daily movements, you'll get an accurate log of your heater's `juice use'!"

Susan Golombek offers the first of the following nonelectric-lighting tips. The Houston, Texas reader says that a surefire way to keep a stubborn melted candle stub from sticking in the bottom of its holder is to run a little water into the stand before you insert a new candle. Since the liquid will act as a "gasket", the holder won't overheat, the wax won't stick, and the melted stub will be easy to remove .... Bruce Klecka of Burbank, Illinois has found a way to convert his messy, "overflowing" candles into drip-proof light sources: He simply dips each of them into a solution of either salt water or soap suds, then puts the batch of light sticks into the freezer overnight .... And for those who use oil lamps, Penrose, Colorado's Dennis Mulso has a tip for saving fuel and wicks: "When your lamp oil's so low and your lamp wick's so short that the two don't meet, just pour some water into your lamp. The oil will rise to the top, where it can reach that shrinking wick. When the oil is completely gone, you can just pour off the water. This trick's saved me many a late-night trip to the store!"

Allyn Moise of Carson City, Nevada has a real penny-pinching suggestion for fabricating your own emergency washers (the nut-and-bolt type, mind you): "Just as I was about to finish up a deck-skirting project not long ago, I ran out of 1/4" washers. It was too late for me to run to town, so I drilled 1/4" holes in several pennies. My make-do copper washers worked great and cost me about half of what store-bought steel ones do!"