Tip of the Week - smelly stuff

Have shoes that stink? A bag? Garbage that just follows you around your house?

Do you drink tea or coffee? If yes, then save those teabags and coffee grounds! The caffeine in both of these substances absorbs odors (just don't smell the teabags after you've put them in your shoes--gross!).

All you have to do is save up a few teabags, keep them on a plate or in a cup to dry, and then place them in your shoes overnight or even up to a week. Here's the thing, though. Tea doesn't have as much caffeine as coffee and also--usually--doesn't have as strong a smell. If using teabags, they soak up their capacity for smelly odors quickly which means you have to replace them often and use more of them. 

So, obviously, the opposite of that is that coffee absorbs more and leaves a fragrant coffee smell in your shoes. For the garbage, all you have to do is save up your coffee grounds in a separate container and occasionally sprinkle your garbage bin with it. For your shoes, bags, or other "use-ables", place two or three heaping spoonfuls of coffee grounds into a small coffee filter (the filters that are usually used for single servings or for two cups). Pour it into the flat middle, and then fold the frilly edge to meet the base of the filter. Fold the other edge to the end so that you now have a rectangle. Take the open ends (your filter should now be long with the coffee in the middle, and two sides will be open) and fold the filter in half so that the ends meet. Fold the tip of the ends about a centimeter, and then fold again. Staple. It should kind of look like a teabag. Stuff into your shoes or anything smelly!