I didn't know that one, good to know. If you give your dog 1/2 a clove of crushed garlic per day in his food, he will never have fleas again, and being non-toxic it's much safer than flea collars, drops, etc.

Edited to add: I used to give my dog a teaspoon of brewers yeast for flea control, but have since learnt that it can sometimes cause bloat. It can, however, be safely used to dust the coat (work well into the fur) and the fleas will immediately jump off. (Do this outside, lol)

Thanks for the garlic tip, MM. I'll try that one this evening!

This isn't so much a clean-up tip, as an explanation for the tube of toothpaste in your kitchen.

If you burn yourself, and it's still stinging after you've held it under the cold tap for ever, dab some toothpaste (not gel) on it, and that will take the sting out of the burn.

I heard this from my neighbour, who was brought up in damp, grey Bedford, got married at 17, and went off to America, where she started married life by getting painfully sunburnt. Her older and wiser in-laws told her to take her clothes off, and they proceeded to smother her in toothpaste. She thought they were mad while they were doing it - but it worked, and now she tells everyone else.

Be careful with the Borax - it's harmful to the fleas, but not so good for your dog either. If you let him walk around on it, and then lick it off his paws, it could make him sick. Same think if you have cats - when the cat grooms herself she'll ingest enough to cause problems.

Having spent the last few days painting, I thought I'd leave this tip. If you haven't finished painting by the end of the day, instead of cleaning your brush and roller, you can put each one in a plastic bag, twist the end of the bag round the handle so there isn't much air in it, and put them in the freezer overnight. Next morning it won't take long for them to thaw out, and you can continue painting. This saves time, mess and turps. Works well for either latex or oil paint.

While painting, if you put a shallow but wide bowl (one with a large surface area) out with some vinegar in it, the vinegar will absorb a lot of the smell. I've also heard about putting a few drops of pure vanilla essence into the paint can for the same reason, but have never tried it.

Thanks agony, I hadn't read that anywhere during my research.

I used the borax, but only left it down for two days (and we were out hiking around for most of those two days).

Cookie seems fine since, and the flea problem seems to be drastically improved.

Mags: I've also heard that putting an onion cut in half into the room absorbs the paint smells. I guess you aught to like the smell of onion, however