If you find your kitchen swarming with pesky house flies or fruit flies, don’t reach for chemical insecticides to kill them. Instead, just fill a small shallow bowl with two things: apple cider vinegar and a little bit of liquid dishwashing soap. Since flies love the strong, pungent smell of the vinegar, they’ll swoop down for a sip, but the soapy mixture keeps them trapped in the bowl. In no time, your kitchen will be pest-free, naturally.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

When dust collects under an appliance like a refrigerator, the reduced airflow can force it to work harder to keep things cold or frozen. A simple trick is to vacuum away the dust, but often the extension hose on a vacuum isn’t long enough or narrow enough at the opening to squeeze underneath. To remedy this, simply take a cardboard paper-towel tube and secure it to the vacuum hose with a rubber band. Then flatten it so it fits snug under the fridge. Turn the vacuum on to suck up all those dust bunnies.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Want to weed, mulch and naturally fertilize your garden in just seconds? Use newspaper. Take sheets of black and white newspaper and place them directly on top of weeds, then soak them down with the hose. The paper will block the sun and choke out the weeds, and over time it will degrade into beneficial mulch. You’ll be left with a perfectly plantable patch of land for your spring flowers, veggies or whatever you want to plant, all without the use of any chemical herbicides.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION