Tips for running your own home.

So now you have moved to your very own home.  Here is a list of some stuff I have found useful for peace of mind when we started our own place.

1. Don’t turn on the gas stove in the morning.  If you have to, before you leave for work, make sure the cooker hobs are clear of any pots or pans.  This will save you from going mad wondering did you turn off the gas and the possibility of a fire.
2. Turn the front door lock twice when leaving for the day.  Similar.
3. If your apartment is west facing, a fan with a wall plug timer can help to cool the room.
4. Any electrical item (rice cooker, hot pot etc) that you need to turn off/on regularly can be done with a wall plug time.  Save your sanity and wallet.
5. For a kitchen sink without garbage disposal, do this every month to clear any stuck food debris. In the morning or night, pour 2 caps full of bleach down the sink drain. hot soapy water. Seal it tight with the sink filter. Flush it with water 4 or more hours later.  I learned this from CSI the TV series.
6. Empty milk cartons, toilet, and kitchen rolls are excellent building blocks.  You can use it to store cables or handphone stands. Or when your kid tells you at 10 pm there is an art project due tomorrow morning.
7. Bread tags are excellent for tagging cables or tracking ends of sticky tapes.
8. A small toaster oven is an excellent low cost and lightweight replacement for a microwave oven. Prata, pizza, garlic bread, Zhai er (mocked goose), revitalize fried fritters etc.
9. Don’t throw chipped porcelain plates and bowls.  Use it as the first item in the stack, prevents stains and discolouration.
10. For takeaway roti prata, save the stains, don’t pour into a bowl. Just open up the bag, sit it in a bowl and dip!
11. Use a pillowcase for storing the bed sheet and quilt covers together.
12. Keep the toilet door close after your bath/shower to keep the humidity down.
13. Wash coloured and whites separately.  Trust me it is worth the trouble.
14. The inside collar stains can be removed by scrubbing with hair shampoo.
15. Always keep the washing machine door open to dry it.  If you have pets, check if it is empty before putting in your dirty laundry.

Edit

Added wall plug timer

Edit 29 Mar 21

Added  washing machine and deleted use of bleach (doesn’t do anything)