by Anna Sattler on Sep
11th 2007 11:00AM
(Taken from DIY network. For original article, click
here.)
When I was growing up, my parents reused
and recycled almost everything. All items were used until they were
falling apart. My dad would wrap his sandwiches in wax paper until
the paper was in tatters before he would use another piece. Plastic
wasn't used much either in the house. Since we had every size Mason
and Ball jar ever made for canning purposes and making jelly and jam,
they were great for storing leftover food. If anything got stored
on a plate, then aluminum foil was used to cover the plate. Nothing
ever went to waste in our dirt poor household. The motto passed down
to my 7 siblings and I was "waste not, want not!!"
I still use aluminum foil for almost
everything. It is strong, durable, and efficient. It comes in all
kinds of sizes now, not like when I was a kid and you had to tear
off a tiny piece for a tiny item. Best of all, when it wears out,
I just throw it in the recycling bin with the aluminum cans. I like
it so much that I thought I would compile a list and share with you
all the things to do with this handy item besides keeping food warm,
so please join me after the break.
When my scissors get dull, I layer
about 7 pieces of foil and cut through them, and the scissors are
sharp once again.
I often forget to take my gold wedding
ring and my silver cross ring off my fingers when I am doing dishes
or grubbing around the house, so I put them in aluminum foil and
put in some salt solution and leave it overnight. The next morning
they look like new.
Sometimes I go on a baking streak,
and I find my brown sugar has gotten hard. To soften the sugar,
I wrap it in foil and bake it in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes.
To keep it soft, I leave it wrapped in the foil and enclose in a
labeled ziploc bag.
Ball up some foil and use it to
clean the gunk off your grill. It cleans just as well as a wire
scrub brush.
Makes great gift wrapping paper
in a pinch and can be decorated as you wish.
I use foil to clean the baked on
gunk off my pots and pans. It works just as well as a steel wool
scrub pad.
Wrap your hardware and doorknobs
in foil so that they don't get dripped on when you are painting.
Half way through the baking process,
take a length of foil and wrap around the edge of your pie, securing
with a metal paper clip. This will prevent your crust from browning
too much.
Roll a double thickness of heavy
duty foil into a cone shape, snip off the end, and use as a pouring
funnel.
Use it as a temporary piping bag
or pastry bag by rolling it into a double thickness and leaving
just a tiny hole at the pointed end. Fold down the top of the cone
so nothing oozes out or twist the top closed.
Put a length of foil on your oven
rack to catch spills. Many pizzas have instructions that tell you
to bake the pizza on the rack, but what a mess that can make. Putting
the pizza on cooking sprayed foil will save a big mess.
Since I love grilled vegetables,
especially mushrooms, I top them with some butter and whatever herb
or spice I am in the mood for, wrap them in a foil packet and give
them to my husband to put on the grill with the steaks.
To prevent stuck on food in my
baking pans and cookie sheets, I will line them with foil. It cuts
down on cleaning time and leaves my pans looking just as good as
they did when they went into the oven. Rinse off the sheets if they
are not to disastrous and save them for another baking session,
or rinse them off and put them in your recycling bin.
To prevent static electricity in
your clothing, throw a small crumpled up ball of foil into your
dryer.
For clothing items that can't take
direct heat, such as rayon, silk, and wool, you can get the wrinkles
out by placing a piece of foil on your ironing board. Put the garment
over the foil, and pass 3 inches above the garment several times
with the iron, holding down the steam button the entire time. The
wet heat from the foil with rid the garment of wrinkles.
These ideas are some of my favorites, and ones that were used in my
childhood home as well as in my home now. I think that as long as
they make aluminum foil, I will use it. Foil will be a staple in my
household forever I think!! After all, it is recyclable too and is
easily kept out of the landfills. What do you use aluminum foil for?
