Gleaned from old books or the great-aunts. They had the most amazing snippets of information in their darling old little grey heads. I miss them.

Bathroom:

Baby wipes are good for a quick clean up round the bathroom. Follow each wipe up with a clean dry cloth to shine

Shine up bathtubs or showers with a teaspoon of baby oil on a moist cloth. Wipe off with another cloth and spray the area with disinfectant to remove any germs

Bathtubs, bathroom sinks and tiles can be cleaned with a paste of two parts bicarbonate of soda to one part peroxide. Let sit for half an hour and then rinse off. The paste will also sweeten the drains as it goes down.

Remove mineral deposits from shower heads by covering the head with a sandwich bag filled with quarter of a cup of bicarbonate of soda and one cup of vinegar. Loosely fasten the bag round the head to allow some of the gas to escape. Leave for an hour, then remove bag and turn on the shower for a brief while. Not only will built up debris disappear, but the head will be as shiny as new

Absorb bathroom odours by keeping a decorative dish filled with half a cup of bicarbonate of soda on top of the cistern. To include your favourite perfume as a bathroom deodoriser, mix equal parts of bicarbonate of soda with your favourite scented bath salts

Instead of expensive chemicals to clean your toilet bowl, sprinkle bicarbonate of soda around the bowl, and leave for a few minutes before flushing away

One tablespoon of methylated spirits, one tablespoon of eucalyptus oil and two cups of warm water, mixed and bottled, is good to use for keeping mould at bay

IMPORTANT:

Many of the tips in this thread apart from the great aunts, have been taken from the books Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things, published by the Reader’s Digest in 2007; My Mother’s Times by Mary Murray, published by Mallon Publishing in 1998; and Back To Basics by Joy Laundy, published by the Five Mile Press, 1999)

Camping:

Keep your sleeping bag dry by placing a piece of heavy duty foil underneath it to insulate it against moisture

For a more comfortablt night’s sleep when camping, take along a roll of bubble wrap to place under your sleeping bag

For an instant sleeping bag, fold a four metre long piece of bubble wrap in two and gaffer tape the edge. You'll probably think you have wind every time you move but apparently it's very comfy.

Wrap matches in foil to keep them dry on camping trips

If fancy fishing lures aren't working, wrap some foil around a hook and dangle this in the water instead

Mark your camp site during busy holiday camping times with a couple of helium filled balloons tied to your tent or post. You’ll always find your way home. Who takes helium on a camping trip??

If you’re a licensed gun holder, keep the end of the weapon clean by covering the end with a small sturdy balloon

Make a camp washing machine by cutting a hole in the lid of a twenty litre plastic bucket and insert a new toilet plunger. Put in water, clothes and detergent, replace lid, and move the plunger up and down as an agitator. It’s extremely effective. That's the type of thing they did on the old farms as well.

Make a camp shower by perforating a bucket with holes on the bottom. Hang it securely from a sturdy branch, fill it using another bucket, and take a quick shower as the water comes out. If you want the water to be warm, paint the outside of the second bucket black, fill it with water and leave it out in the sun all day to absorb heat

Don’t waste boxes of matches trying to light a fire. Take along a candle and light it first - then light your fire from it

An empty 185gram tuna can is the perfect size to use as an egg poacher. Remove both ends of the cans and the label, then place the can in a frying pan and crack an egg into it

Make a quick spirit lamp stove out of a large shoe polish tin. Drill holes round the lid. Fill the tin with cotton wool soaked in methylated spirits. Replace lid firmly and apply a lit match. (Eeeek!) The spirit burns through the holes, providing a mini stove on which to make a quick cuppa or heat up some food. I don't think you should try this one.

Never go hiking without a small jar of petroleum jelly. After the hike, rub the jelly on the hardened skin on your feet, then sit and relax in the sun for an hour. The hardened skin will then come away quite easily. Ugh, how disgusting.

Make a curry or stew and carry it in a billycan to take with you for your first night as you head off for a long camping trip into the bush. When you arrive at your destination, the billy can be heated up for a meal while you boil the water for a cup of tea or cocoa.

Keep food ant free from hanging food safes at your campsite by smearing Vaseline on the hanging wire. Ants won’t walk over it

Make damper by making a hole in some flour, pour in boiling water (the amount will depend on the amount of flour used) and stir with a stick until you have a lump of dough. Slightly flatten it, and then bake it in the campfire ashes. I learned this at Guides. It's the only thing I could ever cook properly.

When cooking meat over a fire during camping trips, take along a skewer and push this through the meat or the sausages etc for easy turning

When building an open fireplace for camping, do not select stones from a creek. Dry stones are far safer. Stones that have been under water for any time have been known to explode when heated

Make a camp oven stew by sprinkling salt, pepper and flour over a thick piece of meat and place it into a pot with a small amount of water and a lump of margarine or dripping. Put it on the edge of the fire and let it cook for a couple of hours, adding potatoes and carrots etc. When it’s almost done, add a little tomato sauce to the gravy in the pot to thicken it. You can even add dumplings. Oh yum.

When sleeping out in the broad open spaces without a tent, the rule is Feet to the Wind. With blankets tucked well under at bottom and sides, or if using a sleeping bag, the wind goes straight past the sleeper and does not get under the blankets or in the sleeping bag

If you have a favourite camp site to which you always return, and that has a large green gum tree nearby, cut a half metre square hole in the trunk and store perishable foods in there. Hang a heavy wet hessian bag over the hole and keep it wet with a dripping tray of water filled every night. Even in midsummer, foods can be kept cold in this bush fridge. Poor old tree

After your camping trip is over, clean the cast iron frying pan by placing the whole thing in the fire and burning it until it is free of grease and soot. This does not hurt the pan, is an affective cleaner and acts as a disinfectant as well. Rub well with an old cloth if soot adheres

Take an old torn sheet along with you on camping trips. It can be used for tea towels, dishcloths, facecloths, hankies, bandages and rags, and can be burnt in the fire before leaving for home

To set a hiker’s map, lay it out so that the spot where you are on the map is positioned at your feet. Note some prominent object on the landscape, identify it on the map and swing the map until you are in line with the object. All other points will then be in their correct relationship to each other

Keep your toes warm at night while camping by wrapping some stones in foil and heating them by the campfire. At bedtime, wrap the stones in towels and put them at the bottom of your sleeping bag

When packing for a camping holiday, reverse the batteries in your torch until arrive at your destination, to avert the possibility of the torch being accidentally switched on and the batteries flattened during the journey

If the plug is missing from the sink during a rest stop anywhere, use a fifty cent coin as a replacement. A penny was once used for this function, but what with inflation and all…..

Carpets and Floor Coverings:

Baby wipes are good for a quick mopping up of spills from carpets

Clean ink marks off carpets by soaking up what you can with a paper towel, then spread salt on the stain, dampen it and push it in to absorb the ink. You’ll have to repeat this several times. If all else fails, try sponging with a cup of clear ammonia diluted in 2 litres of water. Allow to dry and repeat if necessary

To get rid of the smell of milk spilt on carpet, make a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water and spread over the area where the milk landed. Leave to dry, then vacuum off

If oil is spilled on your carpet, immediately sprinkle it with talcum powder. Cover this with a paper towel and hold a hot iron just above the paper. The heat should draw the oil into the paper. Whatever you, don’t press the iron into the paper. You may have to repeat this several times with clean paper each time until all the oil has been absorbed

Acrylic paint on carpet can be sponged off with cold water as soon as it is splattered. Don’t let it dry because it’s almost impossible to remove. For oil based paint, use turpentine or dry cleaning fluid. Then wash with soap and water

Try removing coffee or tea stains out of carpets and rugs by pouring a bit of beer right on top and lightly rub it in. The stain should disappear, but repeat the procedure if necessary

Freshen up and clean carpets and rugs by lightly sprinkling them with bicarbonate of soda, leave stand for fifteen minutes, then vacuum up. For extra smelly carpets, mix one cup of bicarbonate of soda with one teaspoon of lavender oil, sprinkle over carpet and leave overnight. Vacuum off the following day

Built up wax on flooring can be removed by washing it with a mix of one cup of ammonia in two litres of water. Let the solution sit for five minutes, and then scrub with a nylon or plastic scouring pad. Wipe away residue and give floor a thorough rinse

Pour hot, soapy water between the cracks and joins of floorboards to stop squeaking

Mats won’t slip if strips of double faced carpet tape are applied to their underside

Clean cork tiles with a mop or sponge, using a few drops of mild detergent in warm water. Buff dry immediately with a dry mop or cloth. Never allow cork tiles to remain wet

To be continued. The kids want the computer

Great tips.

I want to know who has enough unpopped bubble wrap to have a length long enough to put under a sleeping bag or to use to make a sleeping bag!