How to perfectly wash a wool or cashmere sweater: Step #1: The Washing Process: While filling up a sink with cool to lukewarm water, drizzle in some laundry detergent (any brand will do), and splash the water around to make suds. Knead the sweater in the sudsy water for a couple of minutes. Rinse, then squeeze out the excess water (don't wring). Step #2: The Blotting Process: Lay a towel on the floor, and lay the sweater flat on top of the towel. Roll the towel and sweater up together, and then fold the whole thing in half. Jump up and down a few times on the towel. (I'm not kidding! The weight of the jumping blots out a lot of excess water.) Drape the sweater over your bathmat (which is hopefully already draped over your shower rod) and let dry.

Avoid the added expense (and environmentally-unfriendly process) of dry cleaning: Many garments that say "Dry Clean Only" can actually be hand-washed with no harm to them at all. In fact, hand-washed clothes turn out cleaner and fresher than if you dry cleaned them. (In addition to being cleaner, hand-washing saves money, doesn't use weird chemicals, and saves the waste of thrown out hangers and plastic.) Anything made of cotton can be hand-washed, with little risk of fading or shrinkage. Wool and cashmere sweaters can be hand-washed in cool to lukewarm water (see process above), with little risk. Silk garments are hand-washable (except for silk charmeuse -- it sometimes fades and streaks). Metallic fabrics have no problem being carefully hand-washed in cool water. Be careful with rayon: some rayon garments are hand-washable, and others have been known to shrink at times.

Fear stains no longer: Lestoil (the piney-smelling stuff) is a MIRACLE stain remover. Dampen your garment, and apply some Lestoil on the stain. Roll the garment into a ball, and leave it somewhere inconspicuous overnight. In the morning, check the progress of the stain. If necessary, use a brush and some laundry detergent to help the stain along. Repeat this process if necessary. When the stain is gone, wash the garment thoroughly. (Lestoil leaves its piney smell on clothes, but washing thoroughly will remove it.) Caution: Don't use Lestoil on metallic fabrics (it dulls the shine) or on white silks.

A better way to iron: Always iron clothes inside-out. If you don't, shiny "iron marks" will show on the outer side of your clothes. Also, it's easier to iron seams flat when your garment is turned inside-out. Yet another reason to iron inside-out: If you happen to accidentally leave a scorch mark, chances are it won't show up on the outer side.

Method for less-wrinkled clothes at laundry-time: When removing damp clothes from the washing machine, take pieces out individually. Give each one a few quick "snaps" in the air to get them out of their crunched-up stage. Pile up as you go, paying no heed to the nasty looks you might get from others (from the snapping noise), then drop the mound in a dryer. Fold the clothes before putting them in your laundry bag. (Don't think this method works if you shove your unfolded stuff in the bag after it's dry.)

Easy way to whiten grout between shower tiles: Open the bathroom windows if there are any. Put a mixture of half bleach/half water in a spray bottle, and spray all over the grout. Come back in 15 minutes or so to check the progress. Reapply the mixture one or two additional times if necessary. If you get further inspired, scrub the tiles and grout lightly with a scrub brush. Douse the shower with water, and voila!

Easy way to defrost your freezer: Turn off your refrigerator. Fill a big pot with water, and start to heat it up on the stovetop. While the water is heating up, remove all the stuff from the freezer, and place it in plastic bags. (If it's cold out and you're a city dweller, put the bags outside on your window ledge.) When the pot of water starts to boil, stick it in the freezer. Take a second big pot, fill it with water, and start that one heating up. After about fifteen minutes, swap the pots of hot water. By the time the second pot is ready to be swapped, there should be melted ice in your freezer. Wear rubber gloves while you sop up the melted ice (wearing gloves is easier on your hands, because the freezer ice/water is COLD!) Keep going with the process of one pot of hot water sitting in the freezer, while the other pot heats up on the stove. By the time you've swapped pots three times, you should be able to start removing big chunks of ice out of the freezer. With some coaxing, pretty soon all of the ice will separate away from the inside of the freezer, and you'll be able to toss it in your sink by the chunk-loads. It's quite exhilarating when those monster chunks fall off!