HOW TO EXTRACT COCONUT MILK

Nowadays, with so many artificial flavours and colorings in the market for all sort of dishes, the need for home-made coconut milk seem to be on the decline, after all, who would not want things the easy way? However, if you want to get the real thing, below is a step-by-step guide on getting a rich and nutrient-laden coconut milk.
 
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
3 dry (brown) coconuts
Warm water
Grate or blender
Cheese cloth
METHOD:
1. Break open the coconut with a blunt metalic object, for instance, hammer.
2. With a blunt knife, prize off the flesh from the dried shell.
3. Wash and cut the flesh into smaller pieces, put in a blender and shredd into a fine pulp. Traditionally, this step is usually done with grate. To make it easier, you can use a blender.
4. Pour the smooth mixture into a bowl. Add 4 glasses of warm water and allow for 30 minutes.
5. With the use of cheese cloth or seive with very fine mesh, squeeze out the milk from the pulp.
6. If the squeezed pulp still feels creamy, you can add more water to it and repeat step 5 till the milk becomes thinner. However, to have a richer milk, ensure that water added is not too much.
Your coconut milk is ready. This can be enough to cook four cups of rice with.

WHAT TO DO WHEN CHEWING GUM STICKS TO YOUR FABRIC

It can be very annoying, and embarrassing to perhaps dress up to the nines to an occasion, only to find out that you had mistakenly sat on gum left behind by kids. Below is a proven method to remove the stuck gum. It works for almost every kind of fabric.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED
A towel
Ice block

METHOD
1. Lay out the fabric on a towel, with the affected part up.
2. Lay a block of ice on the stuck gum on the fabric
3. After some minutes, try to peel off the gum.
4. The iceblock will harden the gum and make it  very easy for you to pull off from the cloth, with no trace left behind.

HOW TO REMOVE BANANA SAP STAINS FROM KNIFE

Unripe banana and plantain oozes a sticky sap which turns brown on exposure to air. This could be very annoying after using knifes to peel banana/plantain. It can ruin the look of utensils and render them unpleasant to work with as the sap could stick to the palms. In addition, it could be very difficult to wash off ordinarily with water and soap. However, the following is a very easy and fool-proof method to clean saps from utensils. This works for almost every sap.

What you will need

Oil - olive oil, vegetable oil or any oil available.

Detergent

Water

Scrubbing foam or light sponge

Method:

Rub the oil in on the stained utensil. Work the oil gently on the stains. As this is done, you will notice the sap getting 'dissolved' by the oil. Add detergent and rub gently with the foam. Rinse with the water. Your utensil is back in shape with all trace of the sap gone.

THINGS YOUR LAUNDRYMAN WILL NEVER TELL YOU 6

How to Remove Ink Stains from Clothing

Before you embark on removing ink stains, first of all find out the type of ink. It cloud be water-based, ball-point pen ink or permanent ink. Water-based inks are pretty much easier to remove; permanent inks can really be very difficult, so are ball-point pen inks. Here are some suggestions to remove the ink from washable clothing at home. However, it is best to act very fast because once they set, ink stains can be very stubborn to remove.

1. WATER-BASED INKS:

Lay the stained clothing on top of a clean dry towel or cloth. Apply water to the stained area and blot with another clean cloth. While you blot, the stain will begin to transfer onto the cleaning cloth. Apply a small amount of liquid laundry detergent onto the ink stain and allow the fabric to sit for about 5 minutes. Using the hottest water recommend for the fabric type, wash normally.

Before drying, check to make sure the entire stain was removed. If any trace of the stained area remains, repeat the steps above. Drying the stained area before everything is removed will make it nearly impossible to remove later.

2. PERMANENT INK STAINS

Permanent ink is a very difficult stain to remove. If it is a white fabric and bleaching does not remove the ink, the following tips may help to at least fade the stain.

1. Alcohol/Methylated Spirit: Either of these is ideal to remove ink stains, especially if they have not dried and set.

Soak the affected part in rubbing alcohol or methylated spirit, and then wash as normal. The alcohol would neutralize the pigment in the ink and make it disappear. OR

Grab a clean white towel and put the stained item on top. The white towel is to absorb the ink that would leach from the stained fabric in the course of treatment.

Dip a clean cotton swab into rubbing alcohol and dab at the stained spot of the clothing. Repeat as many times as possible with a fresh swab while moving the garment to a clean dry section of the towel to keep from picking back up any of the removed ink. Repeat till the stain is gone. Thereafter, Dip another fresh cotton swab or sponge into cold water and dab the area to remove the alcohol from the fabric. For best results, let the fabric dry before trying to remove the ink stains again. Rubbing alcohol works best on a dry fabric, but after each application you must rinse it with water several times.

2. Ammonia/methylated spirit/vinegar: Soak the stained clothing in a mixture of 1 part ammonia to 2 parts methylated spirit. Add vinegar to neutralize the ammonia. Thereafter, wash as usual.
3. Fingernail Polish Remover: The ladies will definitely find this easy to procure, though most never know it could work wonders in removing inks. This works best for dried stubborn stains as this is a very strong reagent. Before applying, be sure to test first on an inconspicuous area of the clothing. The chances are that it could damage the fabric. It nothing happens, blot in the same way as you did with the rubbing alcohol. Thereafter, rinse properly and dry.
4. Milk: I do not understand how this works, but folks testify to the stain-removal abilities of milk. After dabbing up the excess fresh ink with paper towels, soak the stain in milk for half an hour. Wash as usual. Or, you may want to heat the milk first to lukewarm. Pour the lukewarm milk into a suitable container and soak the stained part of the garment in the warm milk as soon as possible. Rinse after soaking and wash as usual.

3. BALL-POINT PEN INKS

Ball-point pen inks are not as difficult to remove as permanent inks. Try the alcohol and/or fingernail polish remover treatments as for permanent inks above.

The above are tips you can use to remove ink stains at home. If after trying the above methods the ink stains are still not removed from your clothing, do not hesitate to try a professional drycleaner for help.

Do you know of any other method to remove ink stains? Comment, please.

5. 00:00 00:00

THINGS YOUR LAUNDRYMAN WILL NEVER TELL YOU 5

How to Remove Blood Stains

You must have had some encounter from blood stains. It could be from a cut finger, bleeding nose, or menstrual flow on your favorite white cotton panties. When dried, blood stains could be very hard to remove because on exposure to air, the hemoglobin in the blood would bind with the fibers in clothing. It is easiest to remove blood when it is still wet.

1.      Saline solution: The best and easiest way to remove a blood stain, especially fresh, is with saline (salt water). The Red Blood Cells are filled with protein (high osmolality) and need to be in osmotic balance with their surrounding fluid. If exposed to water (low osmolality), the water will rush into the cells, bursting them. A saline solution (higher osmolality) would tend to shrink them, making the blood more removable from the fabric.

Make a saline solution from 1 cup of salt with 2 quarts water. Let the stain soak in the solution for 30 minutes. Thereafter, blot off the stain carefully with a cotton cloth dipped in the salt solution. This will remove the stain with no damage to the fabric, and no one would tell it ever got stained before.

2.      Hydrogen Peroxide: If the above method does not work for you, you may as well want to try dabbing a little bit of hydrogen peroxide on the stain and rinse. Hydrogen peroxide can wear down the fibers of your clothing and weaken the fabric, so you might want to be careful when applying it. When the stain is removed, wash the clothing in cold water with detergent or mild soap depending on the specifications of the fabric.

3.      Other methods: Other methods recommended include soaking the stain in milk overnight and then washing. 

You may as well try spitting on it, especially if it is your own blood. It may work even better to rub with both spit and mild soap simultaneously. Sounds bizarre. Ain’t it?

NB: Never use warm water. Arm water speeds up the setting process and makes the blood stain more difficult to remove.

 UP NEXT: HOW TO REMOVE INK STAINS FROM CLOTHING

THINGS YOUR LAUNDRYMAN WILL NEVER TELL YOU 4

HOW DO I REMOVE PAINT STAINS FROM FABRIC

The method for paint stains removal depends on the type of paint that got on the clothing. Paint stains can be water-based paint (latex) or oil-based paint. With either type of paint, it is best to remove the stains before it dries on the clothing. If you can't treat it right away, keep the area wet until you can. These techniques are for washable fabrics. For dry-clean only garments or home accessories take to a reputable cleaner immediately.

Water-based paints

Water-based paint stains are much easier to remove, especially when not dried.

1.     First, flush the fabric from the wrong side with a stream of warm water. Soak the cloth in a washing detergent-water solution for some time before scrubbing gently with a brush till the paint is gone.

2.     If the stain persists, try kerosene. I have personally used kerosene on paint-stained clothes before and it worked well. Apply some drops kerosene on the stains. Then rub vigorously with the fingers or scrub lightly with brush. Thereafter, wash off with detergent, rinse and dry. Repeat the steps if stain persists before drying.

3.     Use alcohol. In most cases, if you are allergic or uncomfortable with the use of kerosene, try alcohol. Pour some quantity of rubbing alcohol on the affected part(s) of the clothing. Scrub gently and launder as usual.

4.     If the paint has dried, Use a dull knife or the edge of a credit card to gently scrape away the paint the dried paint. Thereafter, try any of the above methods. 

Oil-Based Paint

1.     First, wipe off any paint as you can from the fabric (if the paint has not dried).

2.     Place the fabric on a towel to help absorb any paint that would seep through the back of the fabric.

3.     Pour some quantity of paint thinner or turpentine on the stains.

4.     Scrub off the paint with brush or with another cloth folded into a pad.

5.     Repeat the process till much of the paint is gone.

6.     Thereafter, soak the fabric overnight in a solution of washing detergent and water before washing off. By then the paint must have gone.

Feel free to leave a comment behind. And do not hesitate to share the information.

UP NEXT: HOW TO REMOVE BLOOD STAINS FROM CLOTHING