We've All Experienced Mini Panics From Burned Rice For Arriving Guests or Spilled Red Wine on White Upholstery During the Party - Hacks #1

The unavoidable messes

We've all been there. Those moments of mini panic, or sheer terror if more serious, about how to clean up messes or remedy problems around the house, garage, or related to children, the biggest mess-inducers of the world.

Red wine or cranberry juice spilled on white carpet or upholstery. A chocolate stain on a favorite shirt. Burned black chicken on the barbeque which is the dinner for your guests. Rice cooked dry on the stove. Stained clothing from ice cream cones or frozen iced treats slobbered by children. Makeup spilled on painted walls. Food stains on men's ties dangling in soup.

Those are just a few personal ones that come to mind immediately. I, like most people, have tossed far more items of clothing than I can recall due to food stains. Chocolate has been a significant culprit for me.

Advice from elders and today

Growing up, my mother faithfully read a newspaper column by Heloise with helpful household hints. She was the maven for all things related to kitchens, bathrooms, cleaning, and children's messes.

When my sweet grandmother died, in her handwriting were helpful hints to enhance a housewife’s duties. Amusingly, many related to “white vinegar,” which is still the go-to miracle worker for much of one’s kitchen or bathroom ills.

We often receive “how-to” advice from our elders for myriad time-saving or mess-cleaning remedies. These used to be referred to as 'helpful hints.' Today, we like the term 'hacks' or 'life hacks.'

Now, we have Google and YouTube, where every imaginable trick and hack is available. Often, so much information is available that it takes time to decipher what works and what doesn't.

My most recent "oops, how do I clean up THIS MESS were both when staying at my friend’s Arizona house between India trips. She had different homes and rarely used the one she offered me on several occasions. The last Arizona pop-in, I accepted her generous invitation.

One was spilling cranberry juice on her white carpet. It was a nightmare to resolve and involved professional carpet cleaners and me, spending countless hours on YouTube trying various hacks. It took numerous attempts and several "recommended hacks" to finally remove all the red stains from the carpet. I had made the mistake, which many do, of immediately trying to douse the area with water to absorb the color. This turned out to 'set the stain,' further exacerbating it.

I learned an invaluable lesson from that: do research first regarding stain removal before attempting the knee-jerk automatic response.

As an admitted nerd, I love learning, even if the information isn't useful immediately. Also, with plenty of time in retirement and limited television viewing where I reside, out of boredom, I may watch programming outside the 'top of my viewing priorities,' including life hacks.

Who isn't interested in simplifying our lives or learning clever tips?

White bread uses

Intrigued by some recently learned ingenious hacks, I thought it might be fun to share some cool ones.

How about boring white bread? 

✅ Leftover celebratory store-bought sheet cake? Along the open side where pieces were cut, line up half-slices of white bread to prevent drying out.  

✅ Burned the rice again? Plop a slice of white bread on top of rice for 5–10 minutes. The charred taste will be eliminated, and rice will be edible. (I just learned this, but it might have saved a few tossed pots of rice). 

✅ A nasty wood sliver in your finger? Saturate a small piece of bread with hot H20. Cover with a bandage. As the bread cools, a sliver slides out.

✅ Spilled water on leather furniture? Douse a piece of bread in water and clean up the aqua with it.

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