Bothered by fleas or bracing for the next infestation? Forget turning to smelly chemical-filled flea sprays. Ohio State University scientists say all it takes to wipe out fleas in your home is your vacuum cleaner. Turns out, vacuuming kills 96% of adult fleas and 100% of younger fleas. Surprised? So were the scientists who repeated the test several times to make sure they were right. And they were! So what makes a vacuum work as well as (and sometimes better) than sprays? Turns out, fleas are pretty fragile, so the brushes and suction in your vacuum cleaner are enough to destroy them. For best results, vacuum two to three times a week to make sure all life cycles, including eggs, young fleas and adult fleas, are gone.
[photo: Hanumann]
Love to fill your home with beautiful flowers, but hate how fast they wither? “It’s easy to get five to seven more days out of your favorite buds,” says New York City floral and garden designer Rebecca Cole (
Burning a scented candle or spraying a room with your favorite air freshener doesn’t only make your home smell wonderful, it stimulates areas of the brain that change your mood. “Scents can generate reactions in the frontal lobe and the hypothalamus that influence behaviors and personalities,” says Alan Hirsch, M.D., Founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. According to his research, if you want to be more… 
According to a recent study, while an impressive 71% of men are now doing at least some of the grocery shopping, they’re not necessarily getting better at it. For instance, if they can’t find a certain item, they generally won’t look for substitutes. They tend to get overwhelmed when faced with a lot of choices. And they’re about as likely to ask for help finding products as they are to ask for directions. To make it easier for your mate, hand him a grocery list with lots of details—such as the size, brand and flavor you want, and even where the items are in the store. And be sure to include alternatives in case the product you want isn’t on the shelf.
No time to clean the house? That could be good news for your kid’s health, reveals a new Northwestern University study. “Ultra-clean, ultra-hygienic environments early in life may contribute to higher levels of 
Want your hubby to do the laundry? Your teen to do an after-school chore? Or your coworker to pitch in with a project? They’ll be more likely to agree—without grumbling!—if you give them easy to read written instructions, for instance, provide a bulleted, printed-out list instead of one big handwritten paragraph. In a recent University of Michigan study, volunteers who found instructions hard to read were much less willing to do tasks asked of them than folks given the same exact instructions in a simple step-by-step style!
Want your weed wacker, edger, hedge trimmer and other battery-powered lawn tools all work perfectly when you need them for spring? Here’s the trick: While these tools are in storage during the winter, charge 
Did you outfit your home with a wireless router only to discover that its signal reaches computers in just half of the house? You don’t need to shell out for a more expensive router. You just need a disposable $2 cookie sheet, 
If you love the sweet scent and elegant beauty of hyacinths, you don’ t have to wait till spring to enjoy them. It takes just a few easy steps to coax hyacinths to bloom indoors during the winter months: 
Put ‘em to work preserving leftovers that you’d otherwise toss and you’ll not only save money, but time, too. Just follow this easy guide:
Virtually all of us have outdated or broken cell phones, video games, movies, MP3 players, computers and other electronic waste taking up space around the house. At 