Trust Me-Don’t Try This at Home

By Cindy Pitts Gilbert, Gwinnett Citizen April 2017

Dear Sister Knowitall,

My friend and I have a debate going over several home remedies we have read about on the internet. I’m afraid to try some of them because I don’t want to make things worse than it already is.

Neither of us want to try them because there is just so much conflicting information out there. How do you know what works and what doesn’t. 

~ Signed Netty Overload   

Dear Netty Overload,I spend a lot of time researching home remedies. Why? Because I want to be sure that what I am doing to my home, my body or my family are all safe and effective. I also want to be sure that anything that I recommend is actually helpful and not harmful to the person or group I am talking too. We can be too trusting sometimes. Being cautious is a good thing, so how do you know?I want you to know I have suffered for my hard earned knowledge. You have to be willing to let go of a ruined item , and be realistic and responsible. You will also learn where the reputable sources are and which ones are full of cow poo. I have experienced some monumental home remedy fails over the years. Learning what works and what doesn’t takes time, patience and a willingness to experiment and possibly fail. After all, we have the light bulb because Edison was willing to fail 1,000 times. Here are some of my fails:

FAIL #1: Home Remedy for natural nail polish remover. -White Vinegar and Lemon Juice does not even begin to remove nail polish.

FAIL #2: Home Remedy for removing oxidation from headlights -Toothpaste did do a slight polish but does not remove the oxidation from my headlight.

FAIL #3 Pinterest has an unbelievable number of both good and bad remedies. Here are a few tried and failed attempts for cleaning the oxidation from aluminum baking pans. Baking Soda, Salt, White Vinegar, Coca Cola and Ketchup, all fails. I did find a winner however, I’ll save that for another column.

FAIL #4. This was my monumental and painful fail. I met a woman from Tennessee on a Facebook page for Etsy sellers. She was discussing this homemade hair removal process that has apparently been used in Ancient Egypt. It is called Sugaring which is; cooking sugar in a way that makes a wax either in a ball or that can be put on with a spatula, then using a hand motion they refer to as “flicking”. It is supposed to be less painful than waxing. You don’t have to let the hair get as long as waxing and in addition is it supposed to remove the hair follicle. Sounds amazing, Right? I was sincerely excited to try this. Long story short. I researched videos, the sellers website and even chatted with her several times on messenger. Did I “not” shave my legs for this? I felt totally prepared. NOT! 

All I have time to tell you today is; Don’t try this at home. This was a painful fail. To find out what happened in painful detail. read the full sordid story click here.