Natural Solutions for Household Problems

When my daughter was born, I started looking for some natural solutions. We had ant problems and I did not want to spray chemicals particularly since she was born prematurely and we had to be very careful. I found many great solutions for household problems and here are the ones that worked the best.

Ants and Bugs

While this will not kill them, it does prevent ants from coming in. Sprinkle ground pepper, cayenne, or cinnamon in the path of the ants. They hate anything spicy so it will turn them back. I found it worked well when I caught them coming in by the doorstep. I sprinkled cinnamon and they headed back outside. It is a great alternative to spraying when you cannot because of a premature infant.

Do you get those nasty little fruit flies that seem to constantly fly around your face? Set out a glass of orange juice or lemonade- or anything with a good sugar base- and watch the bugs head to that instead. Every spring for a couple of weeks when I lived in Texas, we had to do this. The juice was a great alternative to trying to spray or fumigate the house.

Deodorizers

Apples & Coffee

Have you recently loaned your car to a smoker? If you have problems getting the smoke smell out of your car, use this simple solution that my car dealer husband uses. All you need is an apple and a small can of coffee. (Use as dark a roast as possible.) Slice the apple in half and place them peel-side down on a plate. Sprinkle the coffee over the slices and put them in the car. Make sure windows are rolled up tightly and doors shut. Leave the apples with coffee in the car overnight. It should absorb most of the odors by morning. If it is particularly strong, you can leave the coffee can in the car too.

Apples & Cinnamon

If you need to refresh the odors in your home, take a sliced apple and a few cinnamon sticks and simmer them in water on your stove. Your house will smell like apple pie. This works wonderfully in the winter when you cannot open windows to lessen the stuffiness.

Tarnished Silver

A sliced apple can be a snack or a room deodorizer.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Copyright: Wikimedia Commons