Dear Reena: I need to ask a question about the drainage system in my new house, which is about three years old. There is an odour coming from my kitchen sink and from my hot water (nothing wrong when we run the cold water).
We have tried some consumer products such as Draino, CLR, vinegar, baking soda, etc. The odour will usually subside for a few hours or days and then return.
Do you have any suggestions on what we can do to solve this problem?
Manpreet
Dear Manpreet: Believe me, you are not alone. I receive loads of letters from people with The Stinky Drain Challenge.
The overnight baking soda, hot water and vinegar solution is a powerful way to freshen drains and using this method once a month has no disadvantages.
However, if your sink continues to smell, you may have a clog in your pipes that will need to be cleaned out. Other causes of smelly drains are old grease sitting in pipes for a long period and becoming rancid, or poor ventilation.
Instead of vinegar, pour 1 cup of household non-sudsing ammonia down the drain and chase with 1 cup baking soda. Plug drain and leave overnight.
In the morning, remove plug and pour boiling water down the drain. If the smell remains, call a licensed plumber to check out the system and vent the lines.
The plumber should also check valves and controls needed to bring the plumbing system up to code.
Dear Reena: I own a box of old magnetic photo albums and some of the photos are stuck onto the gummy pages.
What is the safest way to remove old photos from the pages?
Lindsay
Dear Lindsay: Adhesives with which magnetic photo albums are made often degrade over time and leach acids into photos, which cause photos to become damaged and sometimes change colour.
Before trying to pry photos from old albums, put cotton or rubber gloves on your hands so that the oils from your hands do not damage photos. Gently pry the photos up, using either a very small metal spatula (micro spatula) or dental floss. Pick up one loose corner of the photo and slide dental floss underneath. Pull the floss toward you, not upward.
Dear Reena: What I can substitute in my monster cookie recipe for the required peanut butter. I don't like the taste of peanut butter but want the healthy goodness of peanuts.
Ben
Dear Ben: Leave out the peanut butter and bring in some almonds or chopped pecans.
You can also add dark chocolate chunks and chopped up pieces of granola or power bars. The cookies will taste great.
In my opinion, the best ingredients in monster cookies are the M&Ms.
Extra hint: Go wild with dessert. After your monster cookies have baked and cooled, take one cookie and put a scoop of chocolate chip mint ice cream on top. Place another cookie on top. Enjoy your cool ice cream sandwich.
Wrap leftover monster ice cream sandwiches in wax paper or sealable bags and store in the freezer.
Feedback from readers
Dear Reena: I read your recent column about towels with a bad odour. I think part of the problem is the use of fabric softener. The softener coats the surface of the cotton fibres and locks in moisture. Then the bacterial growth takes place.
My daughter was having this problem with her towels. I suggested that she launder them in very hot water with plenty of detergent to wash away the softener residue and avoid using fabric softener on towels. This solved the problem.
Maxine
Tips for cooking perfect rice:
? Measure rice into a sieve and rinse with water to get rid of some of the starch.
Pour the rice into a pot and add 1 tsp olive oil. Stir the rice with the oil to prevent rice grains from sticking together.
? For every cup of rice, add two cups liquid (or more), i.e. water or broth. Salt the water (optional).
? Do not stir the rice while it is cooking. Doing this activates gluten making rice sticky. Always use a fork to fluff rice, never stir with a spoon.
? When rice is cooked, drain any excess liquid. Professional chefs often recommend putting cooked rice back into a sieve and pouring boiling water over rice to get rid of any remaining starch. Strain and serve.
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