If you've never cleaned the inside of your washing machine, you should drop everything and do it today. As one of the hardest-working machines in the house, all of the dirt, stains and bacteria it removes from your clothing can cause buildup inside the machine. Eventually, a machine designed to clean your clothes can just leave them dirty. To sanitize the wash drum, pour a whole quart of white vinegar directly into the drum with a cup of baking soda. Scrub the interior to remove grime and saturate it fully inside, then run a full wash cycle on hot to dissolve it all away.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Any home cook knows you should never pour used cooking oil down the drain, because it can cause plumbing problems. But the alternative can mean tossing tons of soaked paper towels in the trash, where they surely will end up in a landfill. So, what to do? Take the cooled, used cooking oil out to the yard and use it to kill pesky weeds. Not only will cooled oil kill tough weeds, but the oily mixture will prevent them from coming back. And since it's vegetable oil, it also will biodegrade slowly in the ground.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Is your tea kettle in need of a good cleaning to remove mineral deposits inside? It's important to not use harsh products like bleach or chemical cleaners, since you'll be sipping tea using water you've boiled in the pot. Instead, fill the tea kettle with citrus peels from lemons, limes and oranges. The natural citric acid helps break down the mineral deposits. To do this, just fill your kettle with peels and water and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let the citrus mixture sit for an hour to work its magic.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION