Dish detergent to the rescue

DISH detergent is cheap, and it’s useful for more than cleaning plates and glasses. Here are three ways you can use your detergent outside of its normal use.

Fly killer: You’ve got your zapper, your pet cat has been told to be on the lookout, but those pesky flies keep buzzing indoors, determined to feast on your rending.

Instead of keeping the little pests out, lure them to one side of your kitchen with the aid of a bowl of vinegar.

Add a couple of drops ( just two or three) to the bowl. The vinegar attracts the flies and the soap breaks up the surface tension of the liquid, so the moment the flies try to sip, they slip in and drown.

Clean jewellery: Those pretty little bangles, rings and necklaces with all those tiny bits of complicated folds and edges can be difficult to clean.

Mix some bubbly soda water with a teaspoon of detergent. Set your jewellery in to soak for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice. The bubbles should force the soap into all the nooks and crannies.

After it’s soaked, use a soft bristled toothbrush to give it the lightest of pats. Then rinse in clean cold water.

Amuse the kids: Tell the kids you’ve finally honed your kinaesthetic skills and offer to prove it. Put some grated black pepper into a bowl of water. Ask the kids to stick a finger in the water and to move the pepper by their minds alone.

Secretly put a dollop of detergent on your finger. When you put your finger in the water, the pepper will move away.

Claim it’s all part of your kinaesthetic powers; and reward the kid who points out it’s a result of breaking up surface tension.