4/23/14

Before turning unwanted towels and blankets into rags or throwing them away, consider donating them to animal rescue charities. When stray cats and dog are brought into shelters, they often need warm blankets and towels to comfort the scared animals and keep them warm at night. You can contact your local animal rescue organization to see if it needs these items, or you can give to the organization DELTA Rescue, which will gladly take them from you through the mail. Just give them a thorough wash before sending. Learn more at deltarescue.org.

4/22/14

White vinegar is the magic natural ingredient every laundry room should have. For new moms, a cup of vinegar will neutralize and kill any bacteria in the laundry, especially if you are washing cloth diapers or germy microfiber towels. It also helps brighten whites, kill odors in smelly workout clothes and even keep clothes lint- and static-free. And if you dye fabric at home, adding one cup of white vinegar to the last rinse in the cycle is a sure way to "set" the color and have your clothes or fabrics look true-to-color.

4/21/14

A laptop computer has an internal rechargeable battery that can be recharged about 1000 times before it needs to be replaced. One way to extend the life of your battery is to minimize the overall energy consumption your laptop uses on a daily basis. One easy way to extend battery life is to turn off the Wi-Fi when you have no need to be online. Another is to go into your laptop settings and opt for energy-saver mode, which will automatically dim or sleep your laptop after a short period of time. And even just reducing the brightness level of your computer can help extend the life of the battery.