The answer lies….in the kitchen cupboard!

I find ordinary rose water which is about £1-70 is a really good , preservative free skin freshener/ Toner as well as used in some recipes

I have used frylight on door hinges. Lasted long enough until I got the hinges raised.

Elegran: that was hysterical. Laughed out loud and it triggered the dogs barking. Am now having to supress the giggles!!!

Thx Merlot. I suspect that your "woman . . .less than half the time" would lead men to suggest that SOME women would have taken longer, as they were so scatty that their recipe got accidentally posted to someone, used as a drawer liner, or included in wrapping paper, so they had to re-do the work several times over? Don't we all know some like that (& some men too of course!!).

WD40 is not a lubricant. It’s great for freeing up seized parts, but it isn’t oil.

My Mum used to wander around with a small can of oil & put it on door hinges,I haven’t thought of that for years,gave me a smile,thanks.

Same here, could I find the WD40 to oil my hedge trimmer, could I heck so I just stuck them back in the garage. I honestly do not know where my things vanish to. After my husband died I bought lots of massive storage trunks and labelled every single one of them with what the contents were, the trouble now is that the one is want is at the back of all the others and I can't get to it. I complete cleared the garage out so I could line all the boxes against the garage wall instead of stacking them on top of each other, what did our son do, he decided to park one of his classic cars (he collects them) in the garage so he stacked all the boxes on top of each other. I will admit I have sometimes bought an item I could not find in my storage boxes as I could not be bothered searching for it. Lazy me.

Gosh you learn something every day. I have never heard of frylight so just had to google it as you all seem to know what it is.

Still love the smell of swafega….my dad always had a tin in his shed …shift a thing could Swafega!

LovesBach

Gin not 'Swarfega' by any chance? That name has just leapt up from the past.

I hated the smell of the original Swarfega. I think they improved it with an orange smell but by then I’d banned it from the kitchen!

Swarfega is a hand cleaner. You can still buy it.

LovesBach yes, definitely Swafega!!

Some people swear by it for arthritis type ailments, but wd40 emphatically say it is not recommended.

Gin not 'Swarfega' by any chance? That name has just leapt up from the past.

Rainsnow my family have always used granulated sugar and olive oil to clean hands that have suffered from heavy work - I wondered if the washing up liquid might strip your hands of moisture; forget the back gate, your fingers are more important!
WD40 is my go to remedy for practically anything - it works wonders on the dull black bumper of my old car, and the metal garden furniture comes up like new every Spring. Not yet tried it on my face....

Baggs

I like your style, merlot! 😅

Baggs ,,,I thought Merlot was your secret weapon in you kitchen cupboard.....

My dad had that, too!
It had a lovely smell; all chemical-like.

I use sugar and washing up liquid to clean my hands when they are engrained with stuff. Just right level of friction. Ive also put a tiny drop of olive oil on the back gate . Not a lot as it’s too lovely to waste.

My Dad had an ancient tin in the garage of very thick blue/grey grease that was used on anything that needed lubrication, stuck or squeaked. I have no idea what it was but it lasted for years and years.

I use camellia oil, I sharpen and oil my garden tools regularly. I keep a sharpener handy in the garage

wd 40 is good for eg easing a rusted bolt out but is a sticky lubricant

My greatgrandfather was notorious for being "frugal". He was once found lubricating his pocket watch with the oil from a tin of sardines. That was going a bit too far.

I've just used coconut oil on a shelf unit that has always looked dull and rough, since I bought it.

It looks like it may be doing the trick, fingers crossed.

I use baby oil for my secateurs before I put them away. Also as a cleaning liquid for my sink

merlotgran, I have that non-stick spray in the garage (don't use it in the kitchen) to coat the underside of the strimmer/mower and push mower before I use them. It makes cleaning them up after use so much easier.