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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Let's start a thread of just random advise / hacks

380 replies

washingmachineslivelongerwithcalgon · 21/08/2023 17:19

No specific topic, just great advise you'd give.

Keep it simple.
(Apologies, I didn't know which other category to put this under that would gain traction)

I'll go first:

  • don't sweat the petty stuff, & don't pet the sweaty stuff.
  • if you can't open a food jar, pierce the top to get the air out and it opens right up!
  • drizzle a tablespoon of marmite into the cooking fat before you roast your potatoes (and drizzle some over the spuds)
  • if you don't have egg cups, use shot glasses
  • hair spray gets most things out of carpets. (Learnt this when staying at a boyfriends house as a teen and dropped lipstick. Blind panic and hairspray saved me!) used it ever since, in emergency situations.
OP posts:
BettyBoopy · 21/08/2023 22:49

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 21/08/2023 18:02

I love this

Is this code for something?

Thehop · 21/08/2023 22:49

Cantyouseeimanaubergine · 21/08/2023 22:16

What ratios?

Please don't do this, it just makes your house flammable

ThunderSocks · 21/08/2023 22:47

Sugargliderwombat · 21/08/2023 20:21

Niche one for teachers. If a child uses permanent marker on a whiteboard. A whiteboard pen will rub it out.

Works on (freshly painted...) walls too

nopuppiesallowed · 21/08/2023 22:47

Spare lemons? Chop them into quarters and freeze them. Use in gin and Tonic instead of ice cubes. Tastes lemony but doesn't dilute your G and T.
Mould along the sealant of your bath, shower or sink? Press a strip of loo roll along the mould, squirt Milton on it and squidge down firmly. Leave a few hours before taking loo roll away. Result? Beautiful, white sealant with no scrubbing.

Clarefromwork · 21/08/2023 22:46

Ignore them! I browsed on my phone loads when feeding, a lot of the time it kept me sane and from over thinking worries.

My tip is to roughly flatten out wet clothes with your hands when you pull them out the washing machine (I do it over my legs or on the couch arm)
Fold as you go and leave for 10 minutes in a pile before hanging out. Saves having to iron (really good with kids clothes!)

A midwife told my mum to do this when she was pregnant with me over 30 years ago!

Notjustabrunette · 21/08/2023 22:45

If you don’t have shot glasses, use egg cups. As discovered on. Center parks stay in my 20’s.

newrubylane · 21/08/2023 22:43

To cure hiccups, have someone cover your ears tightly and gulp down a big glass of water (the one useful thing I learnt from my ex!)

D1nopawus · 21/08/2023 22:43

Reetnice · 21/08/2023 22:15

When your dishwasher is done, open it up and hang a tea towel over the door and close it. The tea towel/exposure will allow it to dry inside making it easier to put away when you’re ready.

If you forget to do that, empty bottom drawer first. That way you’re not dripping any wetness from the top shel to the bottom

DH does this. I'm a lazy arse though, so instead I drop the top rack at one side (where you adjust the height) and have a cuppa instead.

A bottle opener or tin opener will release the pressure on a tight jam lid.

Hide chocolate in your lunch bag. No one else thinks to look there.

Never run out of Tea bags or Night Nurse.

OP I hope tomorrow is a good day for you. Phone therapy is therapy. And if you're too knackered to read anything Audio books are your friend.

viques · 21/08/2023 22:39

Carpediem15 · 21/08/2023 21:07

Instead of bashing jam jars on anything where they may smash get one of these - this is from Lakeland but my local kitchen shops sells them for £6. Best thing ever for opening screw tops. I buy them for friends as extra pressies and everyone thanks me for them - https://www.lakeland.co.uk/7706/jarkey-screw-top-jar-opener .... I use my hand blender to make hot chocolate, that is frothy.

I agree, I have had one for years , I don’t know what I would do without it.

Solasum · 21/08/2023 22:38

If your sandwich isn’t looking very appealing after you have made it, bung it in the sandwich toaster. Miraculously it will become more delicious.

Old fashioned shopping list in the kitchen (with a pen right there); train everyone to write down anything they have finished/need/want as soon as they realise.

take photos of your passport ID page, driving licences etc. You never know when you may need a copy.

As soon as your DC can walk teach them to put their own clothes in the washing basket.

Scoutabout · 21/08/2023 22:38

Alternative to washing up liquid, biological washing powder gets anything out. I had to get a dog poo stain off a cream carpet. Worked a treat.

MrMucker · 21/08/2023 22:32

...and a little talc sprinkled along the skirting boards shows you how many mice in the kitchen you need to worry about.

Blondewithredlips · 21/08/2023 22:29

Least said soonest mended

CheshireCat1 · 21/08/2023 22:29

A little talc sprinkled on fabric removes grease stains.

LuluBlakey1 · 21/08/2023 22:28

If you paint using acrylics- a splash of Rug Doctor carpet shampoo in the water after you've done the initial clean of your brushed works wonders. Leave to stand for a couple of hours and rinse. Clean brushes and handles.

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 21/08/2023 22:24

SpamFrittersYouSay · 21/08/2023 18:07

When your fabric conditioner bottle gets half full, top it up with tap water then shake.

Use the same volume as always. When you run out, keep that bottle then decant half of the new bottle into the old bottle and top up and shake . Add tap water to the new bottle too.

Makes no difference to softness.

Better yet avoid disseminating these unnecessary chemicals into the environment.

BeyondMyWits · 21/08/2023 22:22

I have some "advice/advise" advice... ice is a noun, is is a verb... that's a bit of a general rule for -ce and -se words... probably not all but I can't be bothered to check...

Don't whack jars on a worktop, you could break the jar and/or dent the worktop.

Don't put carpet in a bathroom, just don't.

Cantyouseeimanaubergine · 21/08/2023 22:16

Beehappyx · 21/08/2023 17:48

Use your fav fabric softener mixed with water in a spray bottle to spray bedding, sofas and curtains in between washes. Well any soft furnishings really 😁

What ratios?

Reetnice · 21/08/2023 22:15

When your dishwasher is done, open it up and hang a tea towel over the door and close it. The tea towel/exposure will allow it to dry inside making it easier to put away when you’re ready.

If you forget to do that, empty bottom drawer first. That way you’re not dripping any wetness from the top shel to the bottom

IClaudine · 21/08/2023 22:14

MrMucker · 21/08/2023 22:00

If at family meals you get the rage at the sound of your loved ones chewing and swallowing, discretely watch them through a vertically positioned fork so you can imagine what they would look behind bars for their disgusting noise crimes.

🤣🤣🤣

PoshPineapple · 21/08/2023 22:13

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 21/08/2023 17:49

Before getting to an airport put a strip of washi tape on the back of everyone's passport and sharpie first names on to this

Way way easier to put boarding doc with correct passport in a hurry

Genius! Love this - thanks for sharing

MirrorMirror1247 · 21/08/2023 22:09

Not so much a hack as a life rule, but mine is to always shower on Friday and Saturday evenings, as you never know when you'll be invited out unexpectedly! This has happened to me a few times and I've been able to get ready quickly because I'm already showered!

TicTacNicNak · 21/08/2023 22:08

Hide an Apple air tag in your car if you have a high number of cars stolen in your neighbourhood. Will help to locate it as they're often parked up somewhere for a few days to ensure no trackers are on them.

And spring-loaded tension curtain rod, fixed tightly between a wall and cupboard in a utility room (high up) makes a good place to store spare coat hangers so they don't get tangled with each other.

OP, sorry to hear about the cancer. I hope you ignore the few twats on here and come back when you're feeling calmer.

tinkertots · 21/08/2023 22:02

@washingmachineslivelongerwithcalgon ignore them, it's easier said than done, but you are entitled to do whatever you like while doing anything else - including feeding.

Thank you for creating this thread! I feel I will be stain remover Queen going forward 👸🏻

Hope any treatment you're having is helping Flowers

MrMucker · 21/08/2023 22:00

If at family meals you get the rage at the sound of your loved ones chewing and swallowing, discretely watch them through a vertically positioned fork so you can imagine what they would look behind bars for their disgusting noise crimes.