When your sweater catches a snag and a loop of yarn is pulled out of place, take off the garment and work a crochet hook through the knitting from behind next to the pull. For a big pull, snip the yarn at the center of the loop and use the hook to draw the two pieces to the inside. Then tie the two pieces together and use a large needle to weave the ends back into the snitching and snip away the excess.
For a stuck zipper, try rubbing a bar of soap, or a wax candle into the jammed components. With a little manipulation, the zipper may come unstuck once the coating begins to act as a lubricant. If the drawstring on a pair of sweatpants or pajamas has broken, do not throw it away. Pull out the fragments of the old drawstring; replace it with a woven bootlace of the right length. To insert the lace, make a loop at one end of a straightened wire coat hanger. Tie one end of the lace to the loop and feed the hanger through one opening in the garment until it comes out the other. If the hard plastic ends of the bootlace are uncomfortable, cut them off and tie tight over hand knots at the ends so that the lace will not unravel.
For a run starting in a pair of pantyhose, you can dab a drop of clear nail polish onto the top and bottom of the run. Another short-term fix to keep a run in panty hose from expanding is to give it a good dose of hair spray.
Curtains and drapes will eventually fade. To keep the fading even and make the curtains last longer, swap then once in a while from one side of the window to the other. After washing and drying a chenille bedspread, put it back on the bed and fluff up the tufts by going over them with a clean whiskbroom. If linen has yellowed, wash it with dishwashing liquid and then rinse well. While it is wet, place it outside on a white cloth in bright sunlight for a natural bleaching action.
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