Printable Yard Sale Checklist

I have had many garage sales or yard sales in my life. I have raised money for my family, for my kids to go to youth camp, for the youth group to go on trips. I have raised a lot of money with all sorts of sales. So, that left me with a lot of yard sale tips.

If you’re holding your own garage sale to make extra cash, you might like to budget that money. Click here to get your own free printable Monthly Budget Worksheet.

Here are some of the tips I have found helpful when holding my own garage sales or yard sales. I have made you a FREE Printable Garage Sale Checklist to go along with this post, too!

Print your Yard Sale Checklist <— Click here

Set Goal

Whether you’re just needing to do a thorough clean out of the attic or you need some extra cash. You need to set a goal as t how much you need or want to earn.

Choose Date(s) & Time(s)

Choose the best date(s) and time(s) for your sale. If you want to run it for 2 -3 days in a row, or 2 consecutive weekends. Maybe you want to run it Thursday through Sunday, choose what works best for you.

Check With City On Any Needed Permits

Many cities have rules governing yard/garage sales. Be sure you know if you need to get a permit and what the rules at for when and how you can run it and when and how you can post signs for your sale.

Gather Items For Sale

Now it’s time to gather your items. Go through the kids clothes and pull out any that they have outgrown, toys, books, and movies, too. Look through your kitchen and garage and your own closet. Be sure to ask family, friends, and neighbors if they have things they’d like you to sell for them.

Clean/Repair Items

Next check your items and make sure they are sparkling clean and ready to be sold. Plug everything in and make sure they work, makes sure they have all of their parts, repair any items that you can.

Sort Items By Type

Make sure to sort everything prior to the sale so it’s easier on the morning of to put all like items together.

Gather Tables, Containers, Extension Cords

You may need to borrow folding tables from friends, and family to put your items on. Gather some boxes or bins to hold items, make sure you have extensions cords ready and plugged in for your buyers to see that your items work prior to purchasing them.

Choose What To Collect Your Earnings In

Whether you’d prefer a money box, money bag, or a fanny pack you can wear the entire time, be sure to have this figured out and available ahead of time.

Make Yard Sale Signs

You can purchase whiteboard or poster board at the dollar store along with markers and make some great signs. Think about investing in a few signs, instead of the cardboard that gets blown away or ripped. Check out some of the best yard sale signs here.

Gather Plastic Sacks And Boxes

Start collecting plastic grocery sacks and boxes for people to carry MORE of your treasures home in.

Get Markers, Notebooks, Price Stickers, Calculator

If you are pricing things you’ll need markers and price stickers, also keep a notebook handy to keep track of any notes you may need ie: you’re selling things for friends and family and need to write down what they sold for, or the lowest price they will accept. Also don’t forget the calculator which will come in handy for those multiple purchase sales.

Get Paper To Wrap Breakables In

Gather newspaper, used tissue and wrapping paper to wrap breakables in for your buyers.

Get Change

Make sure you have plenty of money to start with so you can make change. Be sure to have ones, fives, and a few tens and twenties, as well as coins, too. Tip: If you’re going to take large bills you might want to grab these pens to check to make sure the bills aren’t counterfeit. I actually had a lady pass 5 twenties off to me that weren’t real :/

Rope Off Areas Off Limits

For some reason buyers often like to wander off into areas where things aren’t for sale… so make sure you rope off areas that are off limits and keep an eye on those areas, as well.

Put Signs On Things That Are NOT For Sale

If something has been sold and not picked up, yet, or something in the yard or garage is NOT for sale, be sure to put a sign in clear view that the item is not for sale. This one will save your sanity when the 50th person in the first 2 hours asks you how much the not for sale item is.

If You’re Pricing Add Price Tags

If you have chosen to price everything or some things make sure to use price stickers and mark them all with the same color ink and make the stickers visible. The same color ink ensures no one tries to change one of your stickers.

Put Out Signs, Smile, Collect Your Earnings

Time for the sale to begin, get those signs out, put on your best buyer friendly smile, and collect your earnings! Good luck and have fun meeting new people!

I hope these tips help with your future yard sales. I have hosted many yard sales to date and most of these tips and the Printable Yard Sale Checklist I made for you comes from the experience I got from sales I have done.

10 Yard Sale Hacks That Everyone Needs to Know!

by Dian 7 Comments

10 Yard Sale Hacks That Everyone Needs to Know!

People love yard sales for several reasons; some love the thrill of the hunt, while others love making money selling items they don’t use anymore. Regardless if you are an avid yard sale buyer or seller, there are a few yard sale tips & tricks that you should know before going to or setting out those yard sale signs, or even moving sale signs. Below you will find 10 yard sale hacks and garage sale tips for buyers and sellers that will not only help you get the best price when you are buying, but also sell for the best price when you are selling.

Buyer Hacks:

Always try to bundle

There is power in numbers! If there are several items that you are interested in at a yard sale, ask the seller if she would make you a deal on all of the items together. Sellers want to get rid of their stuff and the more stuff you buy, the better deal you can get. For example, the last yard sale I went to, I was interested in some framed prints priced at $5 a piece. I picked up 3 of them and asked the seller for his best price on all 3..he said $10 bucks! I saved $5 just by asking for a bundled price!

Look for textbooks

Text book flipping can be a lucrative side hustle, especially if you are in a college town. Download the BookScouter app onto your mobile device before going to a yard sale. If you find text books at the yard sale, you can use the mobile app to scan the ISBN barcode to find out how much the book is worth on sites like Amazon, Half Price Books & Barnes & Noble. Textbooks are usually priced between $1- $5 at yard sales, leaving room for some major profit!

Get there early

You know how the old saying goes, “The early bird gets the worm” ..well in yard sale talk it’s “The early bird gets the deal” You’ll want to scope out the yard sales online or in the paper ahead of time, choose the one that looks the most promising and be there as soon as it opens. There is no shame in creeping up to the driveway early and scouting out the sale from your car. Getting there early means you’ll get first dibs on the good stuff.

With that said….go right before the sale ends

Now I know I just told you to get there early in the morning in the last tip, but there is also a strategy in going right before the yard sale shuts down as well. Sellers are more willing to slash prices as the sale is coming to a close. I’ve even seen some sellers start to give stuff away for free in the final minutes. Visiting yard sales just before closing can help you score on some potentially free or cheap stuff!

Never show your excitement

You’ve heard of a poker face, right? Well that’s the kind of face you’ll need to put on when you spot an “oh my gosh, I must have it” item at a yard sale. Sellers will be able to sense your excitement and be less willing to negotiate on the price. If you do see an item that you absolutely must have, try to negotiate a lower price even though you’d be willing to pay full price for it. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

Seller Hacks:

Look beyond Craigslist

When advertising a yard sale online, Craigslist is probably the first website that comes to mind. However, there are several other garage sale specific websites that allow you to advertise your sale for free. Did you know that you can advertise your sale on YardSales.net (http://www.yardsales.net) and it will be broadcast out to 6 different garage/yard/estate sites and will also be emailed to thousands of their local email subscribers? This is a great way to advertise a sale to a wider audience!

Don’t put garage sale stickers on anything over $10

Not putting price tags for garage sale items on your larger items will prompt buyers to ask you how much the item is, to which you can reply, “I don’t know…how much are you willing to spend?” If you let the buyer start the price bidding, you could end up with more than you were going to ask. This is a great strategy for furniture, tools and electronics.

Sell refreshments

If it’s a hot day, throw some bottles of water and cans of soda in a cooler and sell them for $1 a piece. This hack is a win/win because your customers are refreshed and you make a little extra money. Bonus Tip: If you have children, set them up with a lemonade stand at the beginning of the yard sale. Customers won’t be able to say no to cute kids!

Know what your stuff is worth

I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of stories about people finding treasures at yard sales because the seller had no idea of the item’s value…don’t let this be you! Doing a little online research into what your stuff might be worth is time well spent. This can especially be valuable for collectibles, electronics and vintage items. Check out Ebay’s closed listings or Craigslist postings to see what people are buying and selling those items for. Knowing what your stuff is worth will give you some leverage when negotiating with buyers.

Embrace the buy one get one free

People love a good deal and can rarely resist a buy one get one free deal! Use the buy one get one free tactic on things like books, records and kids toys. This will entice people to buy these items because they think they are getting a good deal!

If you’re planning on having a yard sale a time or two a year, you’ll want to invest in a few things to make your life easier. Make a yard sale box and add these to it:

Markers
Price Stickers
Notebook
Money box/bag

And thanks to reader Cheri for suggesting:

Plastic shopping bags

Paper to wrap breakables

Think about investing in a few signs, instead of the cardboard that gets blown away or ripped. Check out some of the best yard sale signs here.

You may also want to check out our checklist:

Print your Yard Sale Checklist <— Click here

Are there any hacks we missed? Feel free to leave us a comment with your favorite yard sale tips!

You Might Also Like:

Our newest freebie. Click here to get your free printable Monthly Budget Worksheet.

Chrystie is a frugal living blogger, who enjoys DIY home decor and flipping yard sale finds on Ebay. She blogs at Gsalr.com & Money Saving Sisters

11 MORE 20 Mule Team Borax Uses!

by Dian Leave a Comment

11 MORE 20 Mule Team Borax Uses! Borax is a soap that years ago many people used for washing their clothes. You can still find it for pretty cheap, but, nowadays there are so many other uses we have found for it that work so well!

I wrote a post a while back entitled: 18 Everyday Uses For 20 Mule Team Borax! Readers seemed to have enjoyed it, there are some awesome uses for it, from getting rid of fleas (don’t put it on your pet) to repelling mice and killing weeds, to freshening your garbage disposal! It’s an awesome thing to have on hand!

I love when you can find other uses for things we have on hand or buy on the regular:

12 Everyday Uses For Dawn Dishwashing Liquid!

12 Uses For Leftover Coffee Grounds!

10 Other Uses For Sugar

6 Little Known Uses For Leftover Tea Bags!

Those are a few of the ones like that I have written in the past.

11 MORE 20 Mule Team Borax Uses!

Let’s look at some of the uses others have found for it:

DIY Inflammation Fighting Bath Salts

How to Get Rid of Ants with Three Ingredients

Glow in the Dark Slime Recipe

Yes — Borax got rid of the ants!

How to Make Silly Putty

What We Did To Help Our Son’s Eczema Without Drugs

Rainbow Slime: How to make with borax

How To Make Homemade Gak (Borax Free!)

Unicorn Poop Slime Recipe

Pillow Care 101: How to Wash, Whiten & Dry Pillows

Peppermint Christmas Slime

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

12 Uses For Leftover Coffee Grounds!

by Dian 5 Comments

12 Uses For Leftover Coffee Grounds! If there is one thing in my house I use on a regular basis and can always count on having on hand… it would be leftover coffee grounds!

Every day I have at least 2 cups of coffee, as does Hubby, so we have leftover grounds and we just toss them, but there are so many uses for them!

From facial scrubs to cleaning out the fireplace there are so many things they can be used for it’s unbelievable! I love when I can find other uses for things we use every day or have on hand all the time!

Do you have any ideas for reusing things or using things most of us have on hand all of the time in a different way? I am not an “out of the box” thinker, so I love to hear other people’s ideas who are!

I thought I would research some ways to use them and share them with you!

Next time you make a pot/cup of coffee think about those grounds and check out these great ways to use them:

Place an open container of leftover grounds in your fridge or freezer to neutralize odors! No need to buy boxes of baking powder for that job anymore!

Use a damp cotton swab, dip into leftover grounds and use to minimize the look of scratches and in wood. Be sure to test a hidden spot before you do it to make sure you get the desired color.

Use leftover grounds in the garden to discourage bugs from getting to your plants and destroying them.

Use damp leftover grounds to help keep down the dust when cleaning out the fireplace. Just toss them on the ashes before you remove them.

Place an open container with leftover grounds in a room or car that needs deodorizing.

Use leftover grounds to deter cats from using your garden as a litter box.

Fertilize your garden and potted plants by adding leftover grounds to the soil or to your watering can.

Repel mosquitos by placing dry leftover coffee grounds in an aluminum pie pan, add a couple (do not soak) of drops of lighter fluid, carefully light the grounds and the smoke produced will ward off mosquito!

Add leftover grounds to your facial or body scrub for extra exfoliation.

Leftover grounds make a great abrasive cleanser for cleaning pots and pans.

Use leftover grounds as a hand cleaner to get rid of cooking smells on your hands such as onions.

Put leftover grounds in old hosiery or cheesecloth to make sachets you can place in closets and drawers to absorb odors.

What are your tips for Leftover Coffee Grounds? Share them in the comment section!

12 Everyday Uses For Dawn Dishwashing Liquid!

by Dian 56 Comments

12 Everyday Uses For Dawn Dishwashing Liquid! Dawn is something I have on hand all of the time and I LOVE to find other uses for things that I already have or that I already use often. I love finding ways to reuse something, too!

From ant repellent to removing the skunk smell from an over curious dog, There are so many things Dawn can do besides just washing your dishes!

Dawn Dishwashing Liquid has so many uses that I couldn’t begin to list them all! I LOVE that they even found out they can use it to save wildlife when there is an oil spill, too!

If you have any tips to share about other uses for every day items or things most of us have on hand right now, please leave those in the comments! Everyone loves a new tip so don’t keep it to yourself! Share them with all of us!

Here are just 12 of the uses I know of for Dawn. Do you know others? If so, please share them in the comments!

Liquid Laundry Detergent:

Mix 1 bottle Dawn, 2 boxes Baking Soda, and 5 gallons water. Makes your own homemade laundry detergent.

Bubbles:

Mix 1 cup of corn syrup into 6 cups of water, add 2 2/3 cups Dawn, mix well without creating bubbles while mixing. To make glow in the dark bubbles add 6 glow sticks.

Carpet Cleaner:

Mix 1 teaspoon Dawn, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 gallon water. Makes a great carpet cleaner.

Remove Skunk Smell From Dogs:

Soap them up and rinse 2-3 times to get rid of the smell. For this one you might want to use a scented Dawn to help.

Cuticle Softener:

Mix Dawn in warm water and soak your fingertips in mixture. This will soften cuticles so you push them back and/or nip them.

Ice Pack:

Fill a plastic freezer bag (not all the way leave room for mixture to freeze) with Dawn and water and freeze, making a great ice pack that can be refrozen over and over.

Ant Repellent:

Mix Dawn with warm water in a spray bottle. Spray mixture on counter tops and clean counters. The thin residue left on the counters repels ants.

Kid’s Wading Pool:

Scrub down the sides and bottom of a plastic wading pool with Dawn to keep it clen and fresh. Any bubbles left when you fill the pool are a bonus! Other harsh chemicals left on as a residue can be harmful to the pool as well as the children.

Laundry Pre-Treater:

Dawn was made to remove grease from your dishes, it does the same to oil based stains on your clothes, so that makes it a great pre-treater. Apply Dawn directly to stains, scrub the stain with a toothbrush, add to your laundry and wash as you normally would.

Eyeglass Lense Defogger:

Place 1 drop of Dawn on your lenses and rub in and then clean off – there will be a fine coating left on your lenses that will keep them from fogging up.

Grill Cleaner:

Soak your grill racks overnight in Dawn mixed with water, then finish the job with a wire brush.

Pet Flea Killer:

Bathe your pets in Dawn to kill fleas, it’s much gentler than flea shampoo and works great!

Do you know of other uses for Dawn Dishwashing Liquid? If so, please share in the comments below!

10 Best House Cleaning Hacks To Help You Get It Done!

by Dian Leave a Comment

10 Best House Cleaning Hacks!

If we all think a little about our own “Best House Cleaning Hacks” we can probably come up with quite a few that maybe other people didn’t know about.

I was thinking of a few that I use on a regular basis:

Let’s start with the grill:

To clean the grate on the outdoor barbecue grill, cut an onion in half and rub it on the hot gate to clean and flavor the grill. (The grate is hot don’t use your fingers, use a fork, knife, or tongs)

Pour Coca-Cola on corroded battery cables in your car to clean them so the cables work properly (sometimes it’s the only reason the car won’t start – corroded battery cables)

Use hair spray on clothing stains such as hair color and lipstick. When I worked in a hair salon, if I spilled hair color on my clothes I just sprayed hairspray on it right away and when I threw it in the wash (hours later) it came out clean. This is probably one of my top 3 favorite and Best House Cleaning Hacks.

Remove pet or other lingering odors in a room by placing a shallow dish filled with white vinegar in the center of the room overnight.

(Not a cleaning tip, but…) Repel mosquitoes by placing a small, open container of ammonia near the area you wish to keep free of mosquitoes.

Remove pet urine from carpet: soak up all you can with a towel, stepping on it and drawing it all up. Then pour a small mound of baking soda on the stain and cover with a bowl overnight. When you lift the bowl you will see the baking soda has taken on a yellow color , that means it worked. Never use hot water to clean pet stains, it will set them, not remove them.

Sanitize kitchen sponges by placing them (damp) in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. They WILL be hot, so use caution when removing. I also throw them in the dishwasher.

If you have a Swiffer, you can use wash rags instead of those expensive pads. Just use a spray cleaner and wash rags attached to your Swiffer.

image courtesy: Mashable

Use an over-the-door hanging shoe bag to store cleaning supplies.

A Magic Eraser or an S-O-S pad will clean almost anything. <— These are 2 of my favorite and Best House Cleaning Hacks! I buy the “Magic Erasers” online for less – I get more and they last a while – I don’t buy the store brand, here’s what I buy: Magic Cleaning Sponges <— click here to check them out.

What are your Best House Cleaning Hacks that you can share with us?

10 Kitchen Hacks You’ll Love!

by Dian 16 Comments

Over the years I have run across quite a few “kitchen hacks” that helped me and so I thought I would share them with you! I love finding these – it’s fun for me – so excuse me while i get happy about them!

Finding a new or easier way to do things in the kitchen make me so happy. I love when you can use something differently or substitute something. I love new solutions and ideas to make things easier in the kitchen. Whether it’s cooking or cleaning or organizing, I am happy to try it out!

I am hoping that y’all have some kitchen hacks to share with me, as well. Any little bit of help to make clean up easier, cooking faster, or life in the kitchen more simple is definitely a plus! Especially if it gets me in and out of the kitchen faster! So, please share any fun tips you have come across in your experiences!

10 Kitchen Hacks You’ll Love!

Ripen an avocado quickly place it in a paper bag with a banana on top of the fridge for a day.

Keep bananas from fresher for 4 – 5 days longer by wrapping the stems in plastic wrap. – tip and image via Life Hacker

Freeze leftover coffee in ice trays to use as ice cubes in Iced Coffee Drinks to keep them from getting watered down

Keep fish from sticking to the grill by grilling on top of lemon slices and give it a great lemon flavor – tip and image via The Mother Huddle

Keep potatoes from budding while being stored by putting an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

Cook burgers evenly by putting a thumbprint in the middle of them before cooking.

Laying a wooden utensil over a boiling pot will keep it from boiling over

Use leftovers to make quick and easy burrito frozen snacks/meals. Leftover taco meat and cheese, spaghetti sauce, chili, even eggs and bacon or almost anything can be portioned out and put in tortillas, rolled up, and frozen individually in plastic wrap or freezer bags. Then just pop them individually in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute and you have a snack or lunch, or even breakfast (my kids LOVED this!)

Brown hashbrowns easily. I could never brown hashbrowns correctly – they stuck, they burned, it was always a disaster. Someone told me once to use a waffle iron and it worked like a charm to brown both sides perfectly! – image via Rachael Ray

Perfect microwave leftovers every time. Put a couple of drops of water on your leftovers and cover them (I use a bowl when heating a plateful of food, making sure to cover all of the food), place them in the microwave for 1 minute on high. When you remove the cover (carefully there will be steam) you’ll have perfectly heated and moist leftovers ready to eat!

What are some of YOUR kitchen hacks?

10 Other Uses For Sugar

by Dian Leave a Comment

As of this writing, I have been totally sugar/fructose free for about 2 weeks now and Hubby has been for over a month. I have to say I feel better, AND everything tastes sweeter. It’s like with the sugar/fructose in your system you can’t really taste the real flavors in anything. Everything tastes so much better.

So, Hubby and I coupon and we stock up when things are on sale for a great deal. Well, just before we decided to go sugar/fructose free, there was a deal on sugar…. so, I now have about 20 5lb bags of sugar and we don’t eat it anymore! lol So, I researched ways to use sugar that don’t include eating it, and I found there are quite a few ways I can use it. Now, I will say most of it will go to family, friends, and the shelter in our area.

10 Other Uses For Sugar! Other than eating of course :).

But, I will definitely try a few of these tips:

Remove Grass or Grease Stains

Make a thick paste of sugar and small amount of water and apply to the stain, let sit for 30 minutes to an hour and then wash normally.

Keep Your Chopper Blades Sharp And Clean

Whatever chopper you use you can use sugar to keep the blades from getting dull while cleaning them, too. Grind 1/2 cup or so of sugar for 4-5 minutes and you’ll have a nice clean smelling chopper with sharp blades! Works for coffee grinders, too.

Keep Wasps and Flies Away From Your Outdoor Fun

Mix any kind of vinegar with sugar to make a sweet and sour scent then mix just a squirt of dish soap and mix well. The sweet and sour scent attracts them and when they consume the liquid the dish soap kills them. You need the sweet and sour scent to mask the dish soap scent.

Stop The Burning From A Burnt Tongue

You can (if you are not sugar/fructose free) use a teaspoon of sugar or a cube of sugar to soothe a burnt tongue. Whether it’s from spicy foods or you actually burned it with a hot liquid, this trick should instantly relieve the pain.

Sugar Body Scrub

You can make a very frugal yet effective body scrub by mashing a very ripe banana and adding 1 tsp of olive oil with 3 TBSP sugar, mix well and use in the shower to exfoliate and moisturize your skin.

Keep Cakes, Cookies, and Even Cheese Fresh

You can add a couple of cubes of sugar to airtight containers with your cookies, cakes, or cheese and extend their freshness by up to a week!

Keep Flowers Fresh

To keep fresh flowers lasting longer add 3 TBSP sugar with 1 tsp vinegar to your water in the vase, mix well to keep your flowers looking great longer. The sugar feeds them and the vinegar fights bacteria in the water.

Greasy Hand Scrub

I have used Lava hand soap for greasy messes after working on a car or bike chain. Yes, I have helped . But, you can use sugar and have a very frugal cleaner and it smells better. Just sprinkle sugar in your hands, add a little soap and scrub the grease right off!

Frugal Safe Roach Killer

We had an infestation of German Roaches for a few years that we could not get rid of, a family member asked us to store a stove in our garage and apparently it was infested an we didn’t know. The exterminators said that German Roaches love electricity because it tastes sweet. That’s why you will see them in electronic resell places and pawn shops. We bombed, we sprayed, we spent over $500 with exterminators and nothing worked! Finally I made a paste with peanut butter, sugar, and baking soda, equal parts. I put a tsp full in baggies, leaving them open I set them around the house in drawers and cabinets and in less than a week they were ALL gone! The baking soda kills them, but the peanut butter and sugar draw them.

Stop Hiccups

I have not tried this one but, I know people who swear by it! Swallow a teaspoon of dry sugar without water, and your hiccups disappear!

So, there you have it 10 Uses For Sugar Other Than Eating. Do you know of any others?

6 Little Known Uses For Leftover Tea Bags!

by Dian 4 Comments

6 Little Known Uses For Leftover Tea Bags! I love to find new uses for everyday things we use around the house everyday. We have an overabundance of used tea bags around our house. By that, I mean we drink tea every day and throw away a lot of tea bags – not that we have used tea bags stacking up around our house! lol

I was browsing online one day and noticed there were a lot of articles on how to reuse everyday things, so I started thinking about what we use every day and tea bags came to mind, as did coffee filters!

That led to me writing this post, I have found 6 uses for leftover tea bags you might want to try! I found everything from treating puffy eyes and sunburn to removing odors! Be sure to pin this and save it for later – you never know when you’ll need it!

Here are some others you might find interesting, too;

10 Other Uses For Sugar

12 Uses For Leftover Coffee Grounds!

12 Everyday Uses For Dawn Dishwashing Liquid!

18 Everyday Uses For 20 Mule Team Borax!

Here’s the roundup of things you can do with leftover tea bags!

6 Little Known Uses For Leftover Tea Bags!

Remove Warts

Soak tea bag in hot water, apply to wart 10 minutes 3-4 times a day. You should see results in 2-3 days.

Reduce Puffy Eyes

Soak tea bags in ice water, then apply to closed eyes as a compress. Leave on for 20 minutes.

Take The Sting Out Of A Sunburn

Apply used tea bags directly to burn, or add a few tea bags to bath water and soak for an overall sunburn.

Soothe Razor Burn

Apply wet tea bag to affected areas to soothe the burn, also works for knicks.

Ease Itch Of Insect Bites

Apply used tea bags to insect bites to soothe the itch.

Removes Odors

After chopping onions, wash hands in tea to remove the odor from your hands.

18 Everyday Uses For 20 Mule Team Borax!

by Dian 31 Comments

18 Everyday Uses For 20 Mule Team Borax! Have you ever used 20 Mule Team Borax? I used it when my oldest was a baby. I used it in her cloth diaper pail, yeah, I tried the whole cloth diaper thing… with the first one! The other three wore disposable, for sure!

But, I hadn’t tried it again until recently.

Here are some interesting facts about 20-Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster:

100% Natural Mineral. Once it’s removed from the ground, it’s washed, dried and boxed for purchase!
It is produced by the evaporation of seasonal lakes
There is NOTHING added, no chlorine, no phosphates, no other added chemicals
It naturally softens hard water, which maximizes your detergents cleaning power!
Keeps stains from being re-deposited on the clothes in your wash

Here are the 20 mule team borax ingredients listed on the box:

Sodium Tetraborate (a natural mineral).

You can purchase 20 Mule Team Borax at Walmart and most any place you can purchase laundry detergent.

I also found out years ago that Borax is good for other uses as well. You can use it to clean and freshen things all over your house. One use I found especially helpful and interesting, was years ago we lived “in the country”, and our dogs got fleas and we had a terrible time getting rid of them and keeping them out of the house.

A friend told me that she accidentally found out that 20 Mule Team Borax is great for getting rid of fleas! She had spilled some under her kitchen table and when she was cleaning up she found dead fleas under there! She also tried it with sugar ants and said it worked for those as well! Who knew you could use 20 Mule Team Borax for ants?

Here are 18 other uses:

Restore shine to your china: use a 1/2 cup in your dishwater to restore the shine
Cut down on water spots in the dishwasher: add 1 tablespoon in the detergent cup.
Mix with water to clean your aluminum pots and pans.
Remove stains from carpet: mix into paste, rub into the stain, let dry, vacuum
Liquid carpet stains: mix 1 cup 1/2 and 1/2 with water. pour on stain, blot liquid, repeat until stain disappears
Fresh Smelling carpet: spray mist of water, sprinkle Borax on carpet, when dry, vacuum
You can use 20 Mule Team Borax for roaches & ants: mix with small amount powdered sugar, leave in problem areas insects will eat it and then die from the gas caused by the mixture
Kills fleas: sprinkle Borax on floors, leave for an hour, then remove
Clears drains: mix 1 cup with boiling water, pour down drain. Clogs will disappear
Cat Litter Box odor: mix in with litter when changed
Odors in mattresses and furniture (including urine): wet areas, add Borax, wait until dry, vacuum
Trash can odor: Add small amount to bottom of trash cans to keep them smelling fresh
Soften Hard Water which can make shampoo s and soaps less effective.
Keep Toilet bowl clean & fresh: add 1/2 cup to toilet, let it sit for 1 hour, clean normally
Sprinkle on floors near baseboards to repel mice
Mix 2 tablespoons Borax, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, in 2 cups hot water to remove rust
Put 3 tablespoons in garbage disposal, let stand 1 hour then flush with water to keep it fresh smelling
Sprinkle on weeds to kill them, taking care not to get on wanted plants

Check out 11 MORE 20 Mule Team Borax Uses <— here!

Do you have any other uses or tips for 20 Mule Team Borax?

Share them with us!