26 January 2006

Frugal Toiletries

Just a few tips on saving money in the bathroom:

• Use only a pea-sized squeeze of toothpaste on your brush. It gets the job done.

• Dilute your shampoo with 5 parts hot water. Trust me, there's more than enough detergent in shampoo to cut 90 weight oil!

1. Rinse and save your empty shampoo and dish detergent bottles. For every 5 bottles...
2. Take a brand new bottle of shampoo, and pour 1/6 of its contents into each of the other 5 bottles.
3. Fill each of the bottles (including the now 5/6 empty shampoo bottle) with scalding hot water.
4. Close lids, and shake gently.
5. Let cool with lids open. Once cool, store for later use. (Don't worry if the shampoo and water don't look properly mixed. Over time, nature and physics will do the work for you.)

• Floss with polyester thread - take a strand and fold it so that it will be doubled. It will actually cut closer to the the enamel, and pick up better in the two strands. This isn't a good idea for small children, because if not done carefully, the thread can cut the gums.