This Easter long weekend, it is important to not just remember to set your clocks back one hour with the end of daylight savings but to also change the batteries in your smoke alarms.

Did you know that almost ¾ of Australians believe they would wake up if a fire started in their homes at night? This is despite evidence to the contrary that your sense of smell is reduced when asleep, in fact; smoke may actually cause deeper sleep.

The recently released, Duracell National Fire Safety Report, found that 49% of Australians believe that smoke would wake them if there was a fire in their home. In addition, only 12% of households test their fire alarms each month and over 60% are not replacing their smoke alarm batteries once a year.

Australian Television and Media personality, Nicky Buckley, has teamed up with Australian fire services and Duracell again this year, to promote the importance of smoke alarms and fire safety. As the spokesperson for this campaign, she is urging everyone to get into the habit of changing your smoke alarm’s batteries when you change your clocks over.

Nicky asks:

• If a fire started in your home during the night, would you wake to the smell of smoke and why?

Smoke alarms are now required by law in all dwellings, so what are you waiting for? Making sure your smoke alarms are in correct working order is a small price to pay for potentially saving your home and your life.

I’ll be changing mine this weekend, you should too!

Kate
Community Manager

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Photo by aussiegall

It’s time for another Five on Friday!

Since it’s summer in Australia at the moment and we’ve been experiencing higher rainfalls than average, this week features questions related to gardening.

Craig W seems to be experiencing a plague of aphids and he would like to know how to prevent aphids on corn silk?

Vonnie appears to have had a bit of an accident and wants to know does olive oil kill flowers?

Shoemy89 has been caring for her bamboo plant for quite a while but it’s leaves have recently started turning yellow and she’d like to know if she is taking proper care of it?

Sunya would like to know how tall do almond trees grow?

And Joshua would love to know what you find fun about gardening!

If you have an answer for any of the above questions, be sure to go ahead and answer them!

If you have a question you’ve seen in your travels or you’d like some extra help on, leave a comment below or send us an email at y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au with a subject of “Five on Friday”!

Kate
Community Manager

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It’s that time of the year. The sun finally makes its way into your garden/house and you look around and think, what a mess! Whether it’s kitchen cupboards that need a good cleanout, the kids’ room that is dying for a scrub or the garden than needs some love and care, it’s time for a spring clean.

The first job that needs my attention is the garden. For the last month I’ve looked desolately as the weeds creep through the beds and thought to myself, when it’s warmer, I’ll tend to that… Well this weekend’s forecast is sunny with temperatures in the late 20s, so I have no more excuses. It’s time to attack the garden!

Only problem is, I have no idea where to start. Apparently you don’t have to be born with a green thumb to grow a garden, so it’s time to turn my little patch of dirt into a horticulturalalist’s delight. Ok in all honesty, I’d just be happy with a garden that grows.

First step is removing the weeds then according to doubleg2006, I should work the dirt then go and buy some fertiliser and top soil.

After you have pulled out all the weeds and flowers first till the dirt till you get it all loosen up, now next add the top soil and the fertiliser and mix them together with the existing dirt and oh don’t forget to water after you have tilled all the top soil and fertiliser to keep the order down. More

Right! So I’ve got a fresh bed ready for some planting. But what should I get? Considering my record with killing plants, I probably shouldn’t be too ambitious. Sheltie has some great advice:

Your best ‘rule of thumb’ here is to look around locally and see what the council grows in their nature strips, parks etc. plus what plants schools have growing as well.  Some plants used are varieties of bottle brush, westringia, grevillias, gazanias, kangaroo paw, marigold, plumbago, geraniums. More

Australian natives are a good idea, they are obviously ideal for our hot Australian summers and don’t require too much water, very important with the drought. I should also consider plants that grow well in less sunlight as I have a south facing garden so it’s not very sunny in winter.

So once I’ve planted my seedlings, watered them, it’s apparently time to add the mulch. Forgive my ignorance, but why do we need it? Julie’s got a good answer:

Mulch does several things.. it helps control erosion (splashing and runoff of soil in heavy rains). It helps balance moisture in garden beds. The sun can’t bake the soil when mulch is shading it. Mulch, as it decomposes adds organic value to soil and it provides a uniform, finished look in garden beds. It really doesn’t do anything to cut back on bugs. More

Alright I think ready to garden. Do you have any more advice for me before I pull on my overalls and grab my shovel and fork?

Caitlin
Community Manager

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Let’s be honest – housework isn’t exactly something that many of us relish. Some love a tidy house and religiously put Saturday mornings aside to vacuum the carpets, wipe out the cupboards and put the clean sheets on the line. Others put it off until there’s a fusty scum around the bath and you’re down to your last pair of hole-ridden underwear that lost its elastic sometime last century.

Whoever you are, you’d probably agree that there’s nothing more annoying than going to all the effort of cleaning to find some sort of stubborn stain that has somehow escaped detection. No matter how much you scrub it or how many washes it goes through, it still sits there, almost taunting you. Fortunately that’s where Yahoo!7 Answers comes in! There’s a whole network of people who have been in your situation and have a resolution at hand.

Here’s a list of common stains and their tried and tested solutions:

How do I get a red wine stain out of carpet?
Pour white wine on it – honest it neutralises the red wine. More

What’s the best way to clean yellowed shirt collars?
1. Spray grimy collars with WD40 (solvent) or rub with orange oil . Then
2.Soak and / or wash with general laundry powder (warm water), followed by two cold rinses. More

How do I remove wax off a corduroy jacket?
Use a warm iron! Place a paper towel between your jacket and the iron and watch the wax melt off your jacket and soak into the paper towel. More

Anyone know how to remove food dye from skin?
Lemon juice is very good for removing stains on the skin just rub a lemon over it and just give it a good wash after. More

Is there an organic or earth friendly way to kill mould?
Use White Vinegar undiluted on Mould/Mildew. Pour on stains and leave overnight then clean with Baking Soda and a little more vinegar applied to the stains. Scrub with a old brush or toothbrush, wait about thirty minutes then rinse with hot water and allow to dry. More

How can i get rid of a pen stain on my jeans?
Spray hairspray on the stain and then let it dry. Wash them as you normally would. The stain should come completely out. More

How to remove a 2 day old blood stain?
The traditional method is to soak the item in a strong salty COLD water solution (make by dissolving a cup of salt with a little warm tap water then top up with cold water). Do not use any hot water on this as heat will set it. Soak it over night. More

Got a pesky stain? Just ask it in the Home & Garden > Cleaning & Laundry section!

Caitlin
Community Manager

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One of the best things about Answers is the really quirky questions that you come across, like “What’s a strange but surpisingly delicious food combination?” It’s fun to take a look at what other people have come up with and to add your own ideas.

That’s why when the Editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine Julia Zaetta got back to us with her suggestion for a question for the Answers community I was very excited to post it and see what people would come up with –

“What would your home’s theme song be, and why?”

Julia has worked with Better Homes and Gardens magazine on and off for many years and she was also instrumental in the creation of the hit Channel 7 TV Show so she has no doubt seen all sorts of houses – from the beautiful and opulent to the rundown and shabby. Some of the answers to her question so far include “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”, “Welcome to the Jungle” and even “Thunderstruck” by ACDC. You can only imagine what the houses actually look like! One user even suggested the theme song from “Playschool”, because her place has lots of different shaped windows. Who would have thought!

Think of something fun to describe your house and add your answer!

Clea

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