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into bottles for use with cooking. Especially suitable herbs for this are Basil, Oregano, Lavender, and Sage. (The same can be done with roses and lilacs, though they aren't usually used for cooking and would simply be thrown away when they stopped scenting the room.)

Gum on fabrics or hair

Rub ice over the gum, and once cold, break it off of the hair or clothing. Gum becomes brittle when cooled.

Degreaser

Store bought hand degreaser is expensive and tends to leave a mess all over everything when it is used. Here is a very cheap alternative that doesn't leave as much of a mess; use dish soap (NOT dish detergent). Apply the soap liberally; work it in to the oil, and rinse. Any oily residue left on the sink, etc, rinses off just as easily. The dish soap can even be stored in decorative hand soap bottles, but it works far better than hand soap. You don't even need to buy the good dish soap. Cheap brands will work just as well.

Broken light bulbs

Not really a cleaning tip, but one that is occasionally encountered...you have a light bulb that breaks off in the socket. First, make sure that there is no power to the socket by turning off the circuit breaker or unplugging the light. Then press a half of a raw potato into the socket. You should then be able to turn the potato to remove the broken light bulb base. You can also use soap instead of the potato, but potatoes are cheaper (the soap or potato needs to be thrown away afterward, since it may have particles of glass in it.)

Microwave cleaner

Pour 1/4 cup household ammonia into 1 cup hot water and place this inside the microwave, then just let it set there for the day (or at least a few hours). When you are ready to do the actual cleaning, simply wipe the inside of the microwave with a clean damp cloth. The ammonia softens dried on, baked on foods. This can also be done in a conventional oven as long as it isn't too dirty.

Fast room deoderizer

Ever have the situation that you have guests coming shortly and the house doesn't smell quite as good as you'd like? Here's a quick way to mask the odor in a rather good way. Take an onion, slice it top to bottom about 3/4 of the way through, several times in a star burst pattern, then place it in a baking dish and pop it in the oven at 350 degrees. Within a few minutes, there will be a wonderful cooked onion aroma in the house that even people who don't like onions will like. If you DO like onions, the baked onion can also be served with dinner or added to dishes, so there is no

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