Household Hint

Here's a sneaky tip for any of you who have, like me, left flowers a bit too long in a vase...or forgotten to rinse out your water bottle/thermos...or just can't get the coffee stains out of your carafe. Wait...here it is....DENTURE CLEANER!

It has started getting hotter these last few weeks, so I have been trying to stay hydrated and bring a half-gallon thermos of ice water or tea with me when I go to the barn to teach lessons. Last week, I did drink the whole thermos worth of iced tea. And then left it in the car for days.

Let me tell you, opening that up was NOT pretty. Luckily I had literally drank the last drop, so it was dry at least. But stinky. And with a faint dark haze of something that shall remain nameless but was probably mold. Yummy.

Before I even dove in with a sponge or anything, I dumped four effervescent denture tabs in the thermos and filled it with the hottest water my tap can provide. And a nice minty-fresh scent filled the air while I let the funk marinate.

So a few minutes later I go back to rinse and scrub, and the thing was practically clean already. Just took a quick wipe with a soapy sponge and I was done. I put the lid in a bowl to sit with two tablets and hot water of its own, and while that took a bit of creative scrubbing (baby bottle nipple brushes are useful for more than just baby bottles!), it came clean quickly as well.

I have used the denture tabs to clean vases that got that ring around the collar sort of mark at the water line, to clean pitchers used for iced tea, and to freshen up old glassware. Great to clean up garage sale finds. And you know that the denture cleaner has to be safe to use on items you might eat or drink from since it apparently is safe to soak your teeth in! Let me know if you have any other sneaky uses for handy household stuff...