Life Hacks. Which unconventional solutions have you found to life's little problems

[onwardjames]

Here's one for the bachelors - If you hang a shirt up to dry, cause you're poor and don't wanna run the dryer forever (my excuse back in the day) it might leave "horns".

Nothing more pathetic to me than a guy with a polo shirt with those telltale horns.

Simply run your fingers under the faucet before you leave, and daub a tiny amount of water on the fabric. By the time you get where you're going, voila, horns gone.

With the advent of newer fabrics this isn't as common, but please, don't be horned polo dude.

 

[Johnno_Oz]

Meguiars Plast-X which is a fine polishing compound for instrument panels can be used to polish lots of things. Watches, scratched CDs, Perspex turntable covers, sunglasses, Zippos, silverware etc.

303 Aerospace protectant is great for restoring faded plastic on pretty well anything. I've been using it for years.

When you finish waxing the car use your buffing cloth on the windows to give them a bit of extra shine.

This is more a bit of advice. Once you find a good accountant, mechanic, doctor and dentist.....do not stray and hold on to them as long as you can.

 

[Johnno_Oz]

Oh another one car related.

Blow all the leaves and crap out of the rubber seal channels around the trunk and hood when you're blowing down your driveways.

 

[EngineerNate]

On the car note, I got turned on to fumoto oil pan valves a few years back by the Subaru community. Super handy little devices. On my newest car, I ended up adding a skid plate that covers up the oil pan completely, so even with the valve the process of removing the skid plate to get at it was a chore.

I discovered that if I popped off the right hand wheel, I could run a tube from the valve out the wheel well to an oil bottle. Not counting hauling the jack and electric impact out to the car, oil changes are a 15 minute affair now.

 

[Shominy]

You have slab ant problem? Mix honey and Borax 50/50, set it out and within minutes, ants are munching away. Within 18-24 hrs, the Queen and colony are historical artifacts.

 

[the skipper]

Liquid Turtle Wax car polish does a great job of getting rid of minor scratches on CD's and DVD's and the like. Not deep gouges but it's cured every skipping disc I've encountered.

 

[EngineerNate]

Liquid Turtle Wax car polish does a great job of getting rid of minor scratches on CD's and DVD's and the like. Not deep gouges but it's cured every skipping disc I've encountered.

I pull out my Meg's Ultimate Polish/Compound for just about every polishing/scratch removal task. I've found it to work nearly as well as the dedicated plastic ones on headlights and other clear plastics (turntable covers!) and it comes in a bigger bottle.

 

[nj pheonix]

Cut out the carbs. I stopped eating cereal for breakfast last summer and eat a two egg spinach and cheese omelet, plus less bread and bakery. I lost 15 pounds and my heartburn/acid reflux/GERD basically went away. I used to take OTC acid reducers and tums daily, now it's rarely.

I have to try this!

A friend at work told me it worked for him when he quit carbs, and i was quite pleased to see i had the same result.

You have slab ant problem? Mix honey and Borax 50/50, set it out and within minutes, ants are munching away. Within 18-24 hrs, the Queen and colony are historical artifacts.

And this ! (every spring)

 

[EngineerNate]

I did the honey/borax thing but with Aunt Jemima. Worked a treat.

 

[elcoholic]

This can be audio, or not. Looking for any unconventional solution to an issue where the "accepted" method was either unpractical, too expensive, doesn't work well etc.

This thread could provide ideas to help those who are stumped by some problem, sort of an idea sounding board. Asking for solution to problems is within this thread too. I seem to do this quite a lot. Sit and invent something to do a project, or solve an issue that either doesn't have a ready made one, or if it does, is too expensive etc.

I'll start out with this one. (I have many more)

While I am no doctor, I found that the standard fix for sleep apnea I was diagnosed with 10 years ago was not working very well. I had gone through the sleep clinic where all the wires are connected and you are monitored while sleeping. Afterwards I was prescribed with a $2000 C-Pap machine with the pressurized mask in order to get to a sleep state I was never getting to before.

Well the machine worked, and about every 3rd night I managed to keep all the parts together and on my face throughout the night. Problem was most nights I seemed to want to get rid of the uncomfortable mask in my sleep and after that I was back to starving for air etc.

Then there was the issue of always needing to be near a 110V supply. I sometimes like to camp. Go out for overnight trips in the boat, or take off in the camper. Having this machine made it if not impossible, at least impractical. I suffered with the C-Pap for several years...

One day I was reading a magazine and some article was mentioning that often the case of sleep apnea is caused by sleeping on one's back and if you sleep on your stomach you will be able to breathe. Not all cases are like this, but right then I went out and bought 2 "softballs" and had my wife sew them into pockets in the back of an old T shirt. This forced me to sleep other than on my back, and from that first night on I never used the c-pap again! This solution works well, I can drive 500 mile days now where I used to have trouble with 20 miles.

Glad this worked for you. I am the other side of the CPAP coin. I have severe inoperable obstructive apnea which isn't weight or position sensitive, my airway collapses when I sleep. I had over 400 arousals in 6 hours and the report narrative started with "World Class Snorer". No REM sleep and just a little stage 3. A CPAP with nasal pillow headgear (facial hair) has been saving my life for 24 years this October. When camping I just run it with an inverter.

About carbs, keep this in mind - our body has settled and evolved over at least 200,000 years.
Wheat and grains have only been cultivated for the last 10,000 or so.

Not looking for an argument James, just offering a different POV for consideration with respect.

1/2 of the world's population is sustained by rice alone. Then there's the rest of the grains sustaining a whole bunch more people who don't have a choice and are lucky to not be starving to death. Millions more would starve yearly if not for GMO grain. While we the well fed are often looking for the easy button for sedentary lifestyles, other poor dietary choices and lack of self control. IMO 'Evil' carbs may just be the latest scapegoat in a long line of them.

For a couple of years my neck was really giving me a lot of trouble. Chiropractic, Korean acupuncture and/or meds didn't provide lasting relief. 15 years ago I started using both straps on my backpack and got a neck pillow instead. My neck isn't perfect , but it is much better than before.

 

[Alobar]

Glad this worked for you. I am the other side of the CPAP coin. I have severe inoperable obstructive apnea which isn't weight or position sensitive, my airway collapses when I sleep. I had over 400 arousals in 6 hours and the report narrative started with "World Class Snorer". No REM sleep and just a little stage 3. A CPAP with nasal pillow headgear (facial hair) has been saving my life for 24 years this October. When camping I just run it with an inverter.



Not looking for an argument James, just offering a different POV for consideration with respect.

1/2 of the world's population is sustained by rice alone. Then there's the rest of the grains sustaining a whole bunch more people who don't have a choice and are lucky to not be starving to death. Millions more would starve yearly if not for GMO grain. While we the well fed are often looking for the easy button for sedentary lifestyles, other poor dietary choices and lack of self control. IMO 'Evil' carbs may just be the latest scapegoat in a long line of them.

For a couple of years my neck was really giving me a lot of trouble. Chiropractic, Korean acupuncture and/or meds didn't provide lasting relief. 15 years ago I started using both straps on my backpack and got a neck pillow instead. My neck isn't perfect , but it is much better than before.

About the carbs, your point is valid, the world would starve without grains nowadays however there's a bit of a falsehood that low carb means eating meat alone. I would say that I don't eat anymore meat today than I did before going low carb. Thanks to my wife, and her constant researching she has found a whole plethora of new non grain foods that can, while not be devoid of carbs, have the fiber to not let it be broken down fast in the digest system which is the hallmark of most high carb foods, of which grains, particularly refined ones found in so much of the prepared food products found in the central part of the grocery stores have in common. Looking at the weight problem the US and now the world is having, the strain on our systems have made insulin resistance epidemic, along with a host of other related issues from high BP to strained (maxed out) pancreas.

The world today would starve, but even those traditional rice consuming countries had ways to prepare it, without doing any refining,and with lot's of other high fiber that has allowed them to create healthy diets from it. Yes GMO foods could be the short term answer for an ever increasing population, but the ways it will be integrated into our diets will not be a healthy one. Imho..

Anyway, this could turn into a sort of a diversion of the intent of this thread if we weight too heavily on the effects of a world population suddenly changing to lower carb diets. Everyone needs to look after their health in whatever way that they can. Low carb is a way that hasn't until recently been accepted, so in that way a bit of a hack. If it works, great! The world wont fall apart if a few of us stop eating grains and sugar.

 

[CoogarXR]

WD-40 to remove sticker residue. It works almost as good as goo-gone, but you don't risk melting plastic (like goo-gone sometimes does).

 

[the skipper]

I did the honey/borax thing but with Aunt Jemima. Worked a treat.

It kept her away?

 

[KrisM]

Here's one for the bachelors - If you hang a shirt up to dry, cause you're poor and don't wanna run the dryer forever (my excuse back in the day) it might leave "horns".

Nothing more pathetic to me than a guy with a polo shirt with those telltale horns.

Simply run your fingers under the faucet before you leave, and daub a tiny amount of water on the fabric. By the time you get where you're going, voila, horns gone.

With the advent of newer fabrics this isn't as common, but please, don't be horned polo dude.

Yup.

Also, think long and hard if you really want to pop that collar.

 

[Shominy]

Ice in the washing machine makes extra cooler space for your overbooked get together.
Hazed headlights? Use toothpaste as your clearing substance. I've not had success with it, but others seem to.
Leftovers heat more evenly in the microwave if you make a void in the middle of it.
Freeze grapes to chill your wine without watering it down.
Doritos make good kindling for starting a fire, if you're short.
Need a longer match? Light a spaghetti noodle.
My grandpa said to rub a walnut on wood furniture dings. It works!
It seems obvious, but pencil graphite on stuck zippers works.
Bread tabs make good tape edge placeholders on a roll.
Hanging door shoe organizers are great for storing cleaning chems.
Lost something very small in the rug? Put a nylon stocking over the vac cleaner hose and go find it.
Muffin pans make a great condiment server at the cookout.
Wrapping paper storage- cut toilet paper rolls along the length to act as a cuff to prevent unrolling and destruction of the ends.
Take a pic of your open refrigerator- you'll never be left wondering when at the grocer.
Make a toasted sandwich- put two slices in one slot. You have crusty toasted on one side and chewy warm on the other.
This one isn't my problem, as I eat cold pizza leftover. But for Nikki, she puts water in a glass into the microwave to prevent chewy crust.
Want to have a very nearly unbreakable password- even with 2 letters? Use an ãcčeṋtȇd character.
Put your folded clothes vertically in the drawer. You'll easily see what you have.
Pay attention to how your boy/girlfriend treats their family. It will eventually be you.

 

[ScottFan355]

Always compliment her

 

[Alobar]

Ice in the washing machine makes extra cooler space for your overbooked get together.
Hazed headlights? Use toothpaste as you clearing substance. I've not had success with it, but others seem to.
Leftovers heat more evenly in the microwave if you make a void in the middle of it.
Freeze grapes to chill your wine without watering it down.
Doritos make good kindling for starting a fire, if you're short.
Need a longer match? Light a spaghetti noodle.
My grandpa said to rub a walnut on wood furniture dings. It works!
It seems obvious, but pencil graphite on stuck zippers works.
Bread tabs make good tape edge placeholders on a roll.
Hanging door organizers are great for storing cleaning chems.
Lost something very small in the rug? Put a nylon stoking over the vac cleaner hose and go find it.
Muffin pans make a great condiment server at the cookout.
Wrapping paper storage- cut toilet paper rolls along the length to act as a cuff to prevent unrolling and destruction of the ends.
Take a pic of your open refrigerator- you'll never be left wondering when at the grocer.
Make a toasted sandwich- put two slices in one slot. You have crusty toasted on one side and chewy warm on the other.
This one isn't my problem, as I eat cold pizza leftover. But for Nikki, she puts water in a glass into the microwave to prevent chewy crust.
Want to have a nearly unbreakable password- even with 2 letters? Use an accented character.
Put your folded clothes vertically in the drawer. You'll easily see what you have.
Pay attention to how your boy/girlfriend treats their family. It will eventually be you.

Very clever ideas there!

 

[Alobar]

You have slab ant problem? Mix honey and Borax 50/50, set it out and within minutes, ants are munching away. Within 18-24 hrs, the Queen and colony are historical artifacts.

OK, that is awesome! Carpenter ants are brutal in my area can almost destroy a home here if not stopped. In our old place in Juneau we had a big spruce that got infested and I had it cut down and just the last 8 feet remained so the excavator could have something to grab it with The first warm day, much to the dismay of the neighborhood the flying ants came out of that stump for several hours, at one point so many it looked like it was on fire! . . I once tried using some sort of ant poison on a place I was living where the ants invaded my pantry and damn near put me in the ER with it. I need to write this one down!

 

[EngineerNate]

1/2 of the world's population is sustained by rice alone. Then there's the rest of the grains sustaining a whole bunch more people who don't have a choice and are lucky to not be starving to death. Millions more would starve yearly if not for GMO grain. While we the well fed are often looking for the easy button for sedentary lifestyles, other poor dietary choices and lack of self control. IMO 'Evil' carbs may just be the latest scapegoat in a long line of them..

I'd say it's the processed carbs that are causing us trouble. It's one thing to eat grain, it's another thing to eat copious amounts of white flour in literally everything.

 

[thomo57]

Keep your bath soap dry, it will last you many times longer than sitting it in those soap holders in showers.
I use an upside down nail brush and sit the soap on top of the bristles .

You will cut your soap use better than in half , rather than flushing down the drain