Slick Tricks: Aka Household Hacks

[KungFuBunny]

Household hacks

[KungFuBunny]

A tried and true trick.

Not every household has a long armed lighter or a box of long matches.

When it comes to birthday cakes, many tend to stick all the candles into the cake and then try to light them.

With a regular bic lighter, you'll burn your hand and by the time you go around the cake, some of the candles will have melted

Use an uncooked piece of spaghetti as a long matchstick.

I've found this is a great trick when lighting a series of tea light candles or a jack-o-lantern candle

[KungFuBunny]

Sticky label and sticky glue residue removal

Immerse jar in hot water. Peel off as much of the label as possible. Take a lemon, roll uncut lemon to release juice inside. Cut lemon in half. Take one exposed half lemon, sprinkle with salt and baking soda – use it to scrub the label and sticky glue residue area.

The rest of the label and any sticky residue comes right off. The salt works as an abrasive. The lemon works with getting the sticky residue off.

The lemon trick is also good for cleaning wooden cutting boards. The baking soda, lemon, and  salt get into all of those knife grooves.

[riley702]

Salt and vinegar cleans copper - or you can combine those and just use ketchup.

I have a silicone pot holder that doubles as a jar opener.

Need to apply lotion or medication to your back? You can use the back of one of those back brushes for the shower. If you don't have one of those, fold a kleenex and tape it to the end of a yardstick. I've used duct tape looped sticky side out on the end of a broom to peel a spider off the ceiling. Fold the tape around the spider and pitch. 

A can of Lysol aerosol spray and a lighter makes a handy little flamethrower for... well, whatever you need a handy little flamethrower for. ;)

Need to dewrinkle already dry clothes? Either wet a wash cloth or get a handful of ice cubes and toss them in, to create enough steam to loosen up those wrinkles.

Edited May 19, 2017 by riley702

[MrSmith]

This is especially for those of you who dye your hair, but may be of interest to everyone else, too. If you wash your hair using a small amount of vinegar and apple cider vinegar, rinsing with cold water, then your color will stay vibrant and last much much longer. My wife does this and her color will last her more than 6 months and the only thing she has to do is dye her roots. I'd have to get the exact instructions from her, but she found this online herself. Also, her hair has never smelled of vinegar; instead, it smells sweet and good. In fact, using this has kept the cigarette smoke from attaching itself so firmly to her hair. (She's been switching to a vape thing and cutting back at the same time.) Another nice thing is that it's cut her hair care costs to almost nil, where before she'd go through a bottle of conditioner a week. She's estimated her hair care costs (not including dying) are down to about $3 a month.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

20 hours ago, KungFuBunny said:

Sticky label and sticky glue residue removal

Immerse jar in hot water. Peel off as much of the label as possible. Take a lemon, roll uncut lemon to release juice inside. Cut lemon in half. Take one exposed half lemon, sprinkle with salt and baking soda – use it to scrub the label and sticky glue residue area.

The rest of the label and any sticky residue comes right off. The salt works as an abrasive. The lemon works with getting the sticky residue off.

The lemon trick is also good for cleaning wooden cutting boards. The baking soda, lemon, and  salt get into all of those knife grooves.

Coconut oil removes any sticky labels or glue residue easily - no salt needed!

[KungFuBunny]

I use black binder clips as a chip clip.

If you've ever bought a pair of pants where they give you the plastic hanger that has 2 plastic clips that keep the pants aloft...it will take a little bit of elbow grease but you can detach these and use them as chip clips too

I laughed and saw a true sloth trick. Wear a hoodie backwards. Fill the hood with your favorite chip/popcorn. It works like a bowl as you sit and watch TV. Bwahahahaha

[DeLurker]

2 hours ago, KungFuBunny said:

I use black binder clips as a chip clip.

I do this too!

[KungFuBunny]

11 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

I do this too!

This might sound strange.

I have an entertainment unit, with various slots and there are holes in the back of the slots for the "wires". All of the various wires get plugged into a power surge outlet in the back of the unit. 

I took small/medium sized binder clips and attached a sticker on each. Cable, DVD Player, X Box, Router, Modem, Cable Box, etc. Then I clip each respective to the appropriate wire near the power surge outlet. This way I'm not playing eeny meeny miney moe when something goes out. I'm also not playing, you stand back there and I'm gonna wiggle the wire back and forth over the hole and you find the match.  

[riley702]

I've seen that on several YouTube "life hacks" videos.

[KungFuBunny]

1 minute ago, riley702 said:

I've seen that on several YouTube "life hacks" videos.

Really? My Techy friend did it for me. I thought it was so ingenious. 

[Spunkygal]

19 hours ago, KungFuBunny said:

This might sound strange.

I have an entertainment unit, with various slots and there are holes in the back of the slots for the "wires". All of the various wires get plugged into a power surge outlet in the back of the unit. 

I took small/medium sized binder clips and attached a sticker on each. Cable, DVD Player, X Box, Router, Modem, Cable Box, etc. Then I clip each respective to the appropriate wire near the power surge outlet. This way I'm not playing eeny meeny miney moe when something goes out. I'm also not playing, you stand back there and I'm gonna wiggle the wire back and forth over the hole and you find the match.  

I found the following on Pinterest last year and now do this to mark wires. Use those flat plastic tabs that come on bread packages! Just use a sharpie to write the name of the electronic on the tab and then slip it on the cord. So brilliant!

[KungFuBunny]

21 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

I found the following on Pinterest last year and now do this to mark wires. Use those flat plastic tabs that come on bread packages! Just use a sharpie to write the name of the electronic on the tab and then slip it on the cord. So brilliant!

Wow that's cool too. I just tried one to see if fit around a wire and it does.

[Petunia13]

[Petunia13]

Put phone in glass and the alarm or music will be amplified. 

[Spunkygal]

49 minutes ago, Petunia13 said:

I volunteer in an elementary school library and now I know why I find miscellaneous food items in books! Those paper bookmarks just fall out! Thank you!

[walnutqueen]

Sacreligiousness!!!  One does not destroy or damage the printed page.  Period. 

I own books.  Many, many books. Fall down to your fuckin knees and worship at the altar of real authors, and pages you can actually turn.

[/rant]

[ratgirlagogo]

About the ketchup thing - one of the reasons most of the libraries in the system I work in don't have after-hours bookdrops anymore  is that people universally used them as garbage cans. I'm so glad we sealed ours - it was so depressing opening it in the morning and finding every single book ruined by an almost full soda dumped on top of it.  This also happens in the Salvation Army and Goodwill donation boxes.  People suck.

Edited May 22, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[Petunia13]

I used to own a lot LOT of books but -long story - I don't anymore. I can see kids using sticks of gum or wrapped laffy taffy or whatever as a book mark and def pencils or barrettes. I often would lie the tone open flat which is bad for binding but in paperbacks I didn't give a shit. Also it added life and character. I had first edition compilations by several members of Algonquin Round Table (a few Benchley, Parker, Kaufman, and Woolcott)  I treated those with care. 

Back to hacks. To make a perfume stand

Take an old glass plate, a smaller salad or glass lunch plate, and a glass wine goblet. If you don't have those on hand you can buy them at garage sale or a thrift store. 

Flip wine goblet upside down and glue rim. Then press on center on bigger plate. Then put glue in the upended base of the goblet. Press smaller plate on top. This makes a cute funky holder and display for jewelry or perfume bottles. To really step it up use the circle spinner from the inside of a broken or old microwave on bottom so the stand spins on a vanity. 

[Qoass]

Quote

the plastic hanger that has 2 plastic clips that keep the pants aloft

  These are also good for holding a cookbook or sheet music book open. (So you don't accidentally get ketchup on the pages.)

Edited May 22, 2017 by Qoass

[Petunia13]

You can still walk while you're on an escalator. 

[JTMacc99]

So long hand!

[janestclair]

I think it was Mitch Hedberg who said an escalator can never be broken, it can only become stairs.  

Confession time: I have an irrational fear of escalators and avoid them at all costs, especially the down variety.  So I would be the person using the stairs right next to the escalator, even though I don't particularly love stairs in public places either.  Elevator please.  

[ParadoxLost]

3 hours ago, janestclair said:

Confession time: I have an irrational fear of escalators and avoid them at all costs, especially the down variety.  So I would be the person using the stairs right next to the escalator, even though I don't particularly love stairs in public places either.  Elevator please.  

I was fine with escalators until I broke my ankle.

Breaking my ankle had nothing to do with escalators, etc.  You would think learning to hop on one foot for three months would give me more confidence in balance.  But I still find that I will deviate to an elevator sometimes I guess because I didn't need an escalator to break something and falling on an escalator would be worse.

Although, to make it not so bad, its only the airport escalators that get me and those are way too many floors and all the people on them are juggling way too much stuff.

[Moose135]

I'm always worried about getting stuck on the escalator if the power goes out...

[Bastet]

I completely ate it coming down a flight of (concrete) stairs in a parking lot back in my 20s; being young, flexible, and lucky, I came away with just scrapes and bruises, but that fucking hurt and apparently left quite the psychological impression -- ever since then I have a tendency to get all tangled up in my head and then my feet (I start thinking I'm going to trip, which makes me trip).  I've never fallen again, but I stutter step a fair bit.  It's annoying. 

So, while I like the exercise of stairs, and will still opt for them over an elevator in many circumstances (e.g. I'm not in heels or going more than six floors), I do like an escalator in lieu of one flight of stairs because I still get a little bit of exercise (I don't just stand there, I climb them) without the flashbacks or whatever goes on my head on stairs.

Getting back to Hints From Heloise, I keep a mason jar full of paint for every color I use in my house to have on hand for touch-ups, patches, etc.  You still have the issue that the paint on your walls has been exposed to light for however many years while the paint in the jar has been in a dark cabinet, but at least it came from the same batch.  (Use a sponge rather than a brush and feather outward, and you can very often get away with it even after a long time has passed.)  And saving it in the jars takes up a lot less room than nearly-empty paint cans, plus keeps really well -- keep the lip wiped clean of paint, and you can open that thing up to fresh paint just needing a good stir after many, many years.  I change my wall art far more often than I change my paint color, so I've patched my share of holes left by screw anchors and being able to go out to the garage and grab the appropriate jar o' paint (I label them with the color, sheen, and room(s) they're used in) is a big help.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Bastet

[ParadoxLost]

A baking soda and water solution is supposed to remove pesticides from fruit.

So I guess I have a use for the rest of the 4 LBs of baking soda I bought when 10 LBs of chicken rotted when my freezer went out..

[Nordly Beaumont]

Remove ball point marks, hair dye drips, and all kind of stains from fabric by dabbing it with hand sanitizer.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 6/6/2019 at 9:39 PM, Nordly Beaumont said:

Remove ball point marks, hair dye drips, and all kind of stains from fabric by dabbing it with hand sanitizer.

Well, this tip from a dormant thread was oddly prescient 6 months before Covid LOL. I love household tips but don’t have any to share at the moment. 

[Ceindreadh]

Hand sanitizer can also be used to clean white-boards, especially if the markings have been there for a while.

Just splash it on and wipe down with paper towels.

[Leeds]

On 5/21/2017 at 1:13 PM, Petunia13 said:

Put phone in glass and the alarm or music will be amplified. 

When I read this I fully expected the second half of the sentence to read "and you'll never be bothered by it again" because I mentally read "glass of water".

Edited January 9, 2023 by Leeds

[Leeds]

6 hours ago, Leeds said:

I read this I fully expected the second half of the sentence to read "and you'll never be bothered by it again" because I mentally read "glass of water".

Sorry to quote myself, but I realised too late that I should have typed "When" as the first word of the post.  (Too late to edit.)

[Bastet]

48 minutes ago, Leeds said:

(Too late to edit.)

The Edit option has moved -- instead of being at the bottom of a post, it's now accessible via the ... drop-down menu in the upper right corner (yes, it's now a two-step process; why, I do not know). 

[Leeds]

28 minutes ago, Bastet said:

The Edit option has moved -- instead of being at the bottom of a post, it's now accessible via the ... drop-down menu in the upper right corner (yes, it's now a two-step process; why, I do not know). 

I don't seem to have any type of ... drop down menu.  Whatever.  But thanks.

[Bastet]

You don't have three dots in the upper right of every post?  On your own post, clicking on it drops down a menu with Share and Edit as options, and on others' posts, just the Share option.

[ginger90]

2 minutes ago, Leeds said:

I don't seem to have any type of ... drop down menu.  Whatever.  But thanks.

It’s 3 small dots in the upper right hand corner of your posts. 😁

[Leeds]

9 minutes ago, Bastet said:

You don't have three dots in the upper right of every post?  On your own post, clicking on it drops down a menu with Share and Edit as options, and on others' posts, just the Share option.

 

9 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

It’s 3 small dots in the upper right hand corner of your posts. 😁

Thank you both!  For some reason it wasn't easy to find the dots.  One day I'll work out the changes on the forum before they get changed again.  (I'm only a couple of years behind at this point.)

[EtheltoTillie]

On 6/6/2019 at 9:39 PM, Nordly Beaumont said:

Remove ball point marks, hair dye drips, and all kind of stains from fabric by dabbing it with hand sanitizer.

Well, I actually had occasion to use this tip last week. Someone got a lot of ink on the laminate credenza in the office, but a few dabs with hand sanitizer did the trick!  

[annzeepark914]

I need to find something to put in the dryer to prevent static but won't leave tiny hair-like things, or fuzz, on my black clothes. I tried those ball anti-static things but hated the noise they made (small laundry "room" is right off front hall). It could be that I need to go back to Bounce (I'm using a supermarket brand right now).

[ginger90]

5 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I need to find something to put in the dryer to prevent static but won't leave tiny hair-like things, or fuzz, on my black clothes. I tried those ball anti-static things but hated the noise they made (small laundry "room" is right off front hall). It could be that I need to go back to Bounce (I'm using a supermarket brand right now).

I know someone who uses aluminum foil rolled into a ball about the size of a softball. Depending on how much  laundry you do, it lasts almost 2 months.

[stewedsquash]

Is liquid softener in the wash an option? They make one just for dark clothes.

[SoMuchTV]

Speaking of laundry hacks, here's one that took me way too long to figure out.  Several years ago I bought my regular liquid detergent in one of those big containers that sits on the shelf with a tap on its side.  I thought, better price, less overall packaging, great, right?  But it turned out to be messy - leaky, drippy, no convenient way to rinse the lid/measuring cup out after using it.  So I never bought that size again!  Until very recently when I figured out I could just save the last "normal" sized bottle and refill it from the giant container every few weeks.

I have some wool dryer balls (I think I got them on the 75% off shelf at BB&B) that seem to keep the white cat hair under control.  They don't seem especially noisy, but then my dryer is a couple rooms away from where I usually am.

[ginger90]

When the cap for laundry detergent is the heavier plastic, I put the cap itself in the load, not in the dryer though. I also pour it instead as of using the tap.

 

 

[Bethany]

On 1/15/2023 at 12:08 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

Well, I actually had occasion to use this tip last week. Someone got a lot of ink on the laminate credenza in the office, but a few dabs with hand sanitizer did the trick!  

Would this work for blood?  My Dad was lving with us and had a bloody nose one night and got some blood on his bedspread.  Regular stain remover faded the stain but didn't remove it.  It may be too late now for this stain but it would be good to know going forward it it would help.  Lord knows I have a ton of hand sanitizer around!

[EtheltoTillie]

8 minutes ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

Would this work for blood?  My Dad was lving with us and had a bloody nose one night and got some blood on his bedspread.  Regular stain remover faded the stain but didn't remove it.  It may be too late now for this stain but it would be good to know going forward it it would help.  Lord knows I have a ton of hand sanitizer around!

They always say to use an enzyme cleaner for blood.  Or your own saliva, which has the enzymes.  Also, one of the good upholstery cleaners would probably work.  I used some for a pet (#2) accident on some fabric.  I used a Scotchgard spray product.  It's really good. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

18 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

They always say to use an enzyme cleaner for blood.  Or your own saliva, which has the enzymes.  Also, one of the good upholstery cleaners would probably work.  I used some for a pet (#2) accident on some fabric.  I used a Scotchgard spray product.  It's really good. 

I remember the old ERA stain remover tag line: "Protein gets out protein".  So I guess you can smear peanut butter on it.***

***Note - don't spread peanut butter on it. 😄

[ginger90]

I think the trick with removing blood is to use cold water. Warm and hot just helps it set in.

You can put a bit of vinegar on the stain and use a washcloth wet with cold water to rub it out.

Edited January 23, 2023 by ginger90

[stewedsquash]

Three other options

mixture of dish detergent/salt

baking soda paste

peroxide

 

[Bethany]

28 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

I think the trick with removing blood is to use cold water. Warm and hot just helps it set in.

I think this was my mistake.  Dad didn't tell me about the blood right away so it had already set in by the time I was aware of it and my solution was to spray some stain remover and wash it in the bedding plus cycle on our washer - so warm water.  

Thank you all for the great suggestions - I am going to try a few of them just to see if they might work (probably not the peanut butter 😃).  If not, at least going forward I know what not to do and what could work!

Edited January 23, 2023 by Elizabeth Anne

[EtheltoTillie]

1 hour ago, ginger90 said:

I think the trick with removing blood is to use cold water. Warm and hot just helps it set in.

You can put a bit of vinegar on the stain and use a washcloth wet with cold water to rub it out.

Yes, this trick has to be used right away.  You have to run under cold water right away and use some abrasion of the fabric against itself.   That usually works.  The main application for this has always been menstrual stains on underwear. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by EtheltoTillie