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Fresh green celery isolated on white

No More Flabby Celery and More Great Reader Tips

/Updated /9 Comments/in , /by Mary Hunt

If you suffer the heartbreak of flabby celery, asparagus, and fresh herbs despite your best efforts to keep them fresh and lovely at least as long as it takes to use them up—one simple change in how you’re storing them could make all the difference. That and so much more, all courtesy of your fellow EC readers!

Fresh green celery isolated on whiteFresher Longer

 

Treat celery (asparagus, fresh herbs) like cut flowers to preserve them by trimming the bottoms of the stalks first, a trick I learned during my brief stint in the floral trade. Even when the bundles have been sitting in water at the grocer’s, they were left dry in transit and will have dried up enough at the cut ends to close off a lot of the capillary passages. Trimming to fresh green lets more water be pulled in to keep the stalks alive. I usually do that as soon as I get them home; this helps to revive any stalks that have gotten a little flabby. Will

Rough it Up

Instead of spending time and money to replace and install new automobile wiper blades, renew them: Hold a piece of sandpaper between your thumb and forefinger. Now run the sandpaper along the edge of the rubber blade, first on one side, then the other. This will renew the surface so it efficiently wipes the windshield. You can do this two or three times before a wiper blade is completely spent, requiring replacement. Walter

Conditioner for Shaving

I always have too much hair conditioner because I use very little compared to my shampoo. That means we always seem to accumulate half or mostly empty conditioner bottles in our bathroom. Add to that, I don’t like using soap (too drying) or shaving foam (too expensive) for shaving my legs and underarms. I discovered that using a hair conditioner works great as a shaving lotion! It makes for very smooth shaving, and my legs are soft and silky afterward. Mary B.

Blanket Rolls

Most of us have heard about rolling clothing when packing a suitcase. I also roll my blankets when storing them in my linen closet. Takes up less space, I can easily see each blanket and pull out one when needed. Jeannine

Where Odors Hide

I remove the rubber gasket above the garbage disposal regularly so I can clean its underside. That’s where particles of food accumulate, contributing to garbage disposal odor. Keeping it clean helps eliminate those odors. Fran

Hairspray Overspray

If your bathroom mirror, countertop, the wall, woodwork, and or floor get covered with hairspray, remove all that sticky build-up with rubbing alcohol. It works great and will leave the areas sparkling clean. Rubbing alcohol will also work to clean all the gunk that builds up on styling tools like curling irons and flat irons. Justine

Give ‘Em a Flip

Store sour cream, cottage cheese, jelly, and sauces upside down in the fridge to retain freshness and prevent mold. It’s a simple principle: The jars’ contents create a seal against oxygen. Morgan

 

Thanks, everyone. Keep those tips and tricks coming! Send your best, little-known household tips, tricks, and hacks to: Tips@EverydayCheapskate.com.

 

 

 

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9 replies
    • Mary Hunt says:

      Select a sandpaper with a fine grain size from about 600. Run it carefully and only with very light pressure over the edge of the rubber lip. You shouldn’t repeat this process more than once. Afterwards, the edges are soft again and the wiping result is usually much better than before, provided that the wiper blades aren’t too old. However, this method quickly reaches its limits, because the wiper blades still wear out and the sanding process can’t be repeated as many times as desired. If in doubt, it’s better to completely replace your wiper blades.

      Reply
  2. Pamela says:

    Hi Mary, I have another great idea for keeping celery fresh longer. When you bring it home from the store (remove from the plastic bag, if there is one) wrap the celery completely in Reynolds wrap. I used heavy duty, because that’s what I had. Do not wash it first, you wash it as you use it. It has lasted fresh for 2-3 weeks or longer.

    Reply
    • Barbara J Pire says:

      That is exactly what I have been doing!! It works so well because when you shop there are only large bunches of celery and I don’t use it that much!! Good tip Pamela!!

      Reply
  3. Joyce M Shumate says:

    I have been wrapping my celery in aluminum foil for years, which lasts a long time. Got this idea from Martha Stewart.

    Reply
  4. Becky says:

    I used to remove the rubber gasket above the garbage disposal for cleaning, but my new disposal unit has the gasket permanently attached. So now I have to use a dish brush or bottle brush to poke down into the gasket to clean it.

    Reply

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