Who doesn’t love saving money? Making multiple use of kitchen and household items can save some of your hard-earned dollars. Here are some multiple-use ideas to put into practice.

Use Dishwashing Gloves to Remove Pet Hair

Getting pet hair off upholstery, clothing, car seats and carpets can be difficult. Lint rollers, whisks, and vacuums don’t always do the trick. For persistent pet hair problems, try putting on a pair of ordinary dishwashing gloves, running them under water, and rubbing them along the surface covered with the pet hair. The hair will either stick to the gloves, or it will gather in a clump on surfaces so you can pick it up or vacuum it. Remember to rinse the gloves off before reusing, catching the pet hair in a sink strainer.

The gloves work better on tougher, sturdier fabrics like carpeting, upholstery, and heavy jackets or coats made from wool. They’re not as effective with cotton and lightweight clothing.

Roast a Chicken Using a Bundt Pan

Use your bundt pan as a vertical roaster to cook a crispy, rotisserie-style chicken at home. Roasting with a bundt pan requires a little adjustment to your regular roast chicken recipes (e.g. you can’t stuff the chicken), but the results are worth it. Place the chicken sitting upright on top of the inner tube of the pan, and stuff the ring with vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots and onions. The juices from the chicken will drip down into the vegetables, giving them extra flavor, without wasting any of the juices. You’ll need to place a lined baking sheet under the pan to catch any drippings that fall through the open hole in the center.  Although it’s a little strange-looking, this method produces an even, tender chicken for your dinner table.

And of course, you can still use your bundt pan for coffee cakes, sweet cakes, and even layer cakes. These pans are inexpensive, and well worth the investment.

Protect Frosted Cakes with Spaghetti Noodles

You don’t need to buy a cake saver to protect your frosted cakes before you serve them. All you need is uncooked spaghetti noodles and plastic wrap. Insert half strands of spaghetti at regular intervals over the top and sides of the cake. Cut a very long sheet of plastic wrap and drape it over the spaghetti strands on top of the cake. Repeat with another sheet of plastic, draping it perpendicular to the first sheet. Tuck the ends under the cake plate. You now have a clear tent to protect the cake until it’s time for dessert, or you arrive at your destination if travelling.

When it’s time to serve the cake, remove the wrap and spaghetti pieces, and smooth out the holes using a butter knife that’s been dipped in warm water. You can also use candles to prop up the plastic, and toothpicks also work if you don’t have any spaghetti.

Use an Unglazed Tile as a Pizza Stone

An unglazed ceramic tile that only costs a few dollars at your local hardware store works just as well as an expensive pizza tile or stone. A pizza stone is essential for making a pizza as good as your favorite restaurant’s. The stone conducts and holds heat, keeping the oven temperature steady, even when you add a cold uncooked pizza. The pizza on the stone cooks more evenly, allowing for a crispy crust. You’ll need several tiles if you’re baking large pizzas, which is still a savings. Just remember to heat the stone at the same time as your oven.

Roots and vegetables can also be cooked on an unglazed ceramic tile. You’ll get a tasty compromise between pan-roasting and grilling.

Bread made on a ceramic tile will be sure to be baked through, with a thick and crunchy crust prized by bread lovers.

There are numerous other baked goods you can cook on your ceramic tile, but a household favorite is sure to be a giant cookie. Spread an entire batch of cookie dough across a hot tile (put a generous amount of vegetable oil on the stone first so you can get the cookie off later), put it in the oven, and wait for your giant treat to bake.

Use Kitchen Sponges to Remove Sweater Pills

Whether it’s cashmere, wool, cotton, or even a synthetic fiber, one of your favorite sweaters will eventually pill. Pilling occurs when groups of  short or broken fibers tangle together in a tiny mat or ball (a pill). In a wash the pills become magnets for other loose threads, and become entangled. You’ll then have different colored knots on your sweaters. To get rid of these little fuzzballs, use the rough side of a kitchen half-and-half sponge and run it along the surface to get rid of most of the pills. Make sure you use a new sponge so you don’t transfer any odors to your sweaters.

Pumice stones, fresh disposable razors, and sandpaper sponges can also be used to remove pills.

Use Exfoliating Gloves to Wash Produce

Fruits and vegetables need to be cleaned properly before eating or cooking. Just running them under water for a few seconds doesn’t clean the dirt, bacteria, pesticides or wax from the surface. Exfoliating gloves are a fast and efficient way of cleaning produce. They can be purchased in dollar stores, drug stores, etc. for a few dollars, and if you already own a pair for personal use, throw them in the washer with some dishtowels and some bleach to sanitize them before tackling your produce.

These gloves are especially good for cleaning smooth tubers or root vegetables. Clean them by using a scrubbing motion with your hands. You’ll be able to tell when you need to scrub more firmly. Some vegetables have divots and difficult folds to navigate, in which case you can either cut them out or resort to a scrub brush to get them clean. Because you’re using both hands with the gloves, you won’t experience “scrub brush fatigue” in one hand when faced with large quantities of potatoes. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how clean your root vegetables will look using this method.

Use a Small Frying Pan as a Meat Mallet

Pounding softens and tenderizes those tough cuts of meat, making them easier to cut and chew, as well as adding taste. A meat mallet is the usual tool of choice, but if you don’t have one, try using a small frying pan instead. Sandwich the meat between a couple of pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap, and pound it with the frying pan before cooking. When you’re making schnitzel, it’s especially important to pound that meat to a uniform thinness. This gives you more surface area for the coating, and softens the protein fibers within the meat. The meat cooks more evenly when there are no lumps and bumps.

Protect the investment you made in your major appliances with a repair company that provides fast, friendly, professional, and competent service.  Call C&W Appliance Service today at (855) 358-1496 or (214) 358-1496.