What tip have you heard about and been incredulous when it actually works?

[hiredandsqueak]

I saw on Twitter that filling a ziplock bag with water and a few coins and hanging it in a doorway/placing it on the doorstep will keep flies out. It seemed such a bizarre suggestion that I thought I would try it and can confirm it works. I've also hung one near the bins and there hasn't been any flies around for a week.
Are there any other tips that I should know?

Use a marigold washing up glove on hard to open jars. So easy.
The wooden spoon trick works most of the time, too.
Rubber gloves to remove pet hair from sofas/car interior is brilliant too.

To get makeup off clothing ., micellar water. Impossible otherwise. Also to clean suede with, and doesn't leave a mark.

For burnt pan disasters, soak with hot water and laundry washing powder/gel. A fabulous nigella tip.

To open a stubborn jar, tap the lid on the edge of the bench.

I tap the lid on concrete (gently) and it also works. Amazing!!

As a quilter, I've heard the blood & spit one many times. We could never figure out if it had to be your own spit or if anybody's would work.

Stop washing your hair. Shampoo damages your hair and makes your scalp produce grease which keeps you in a vicious grease-wash-grease cycle.

I transitioned to ‘no poo’ 4.5 weeks ago. I only wash it with water, nothing else.

It was disgusting for one week (whilst your scalp gets used to not being abused with chemicals and keeps over producing grease). It was less disgusting after two weeks. After 2.5 weeks it was looking almost clean. After 3.5 weeks the grease just stopped.

After 4.5 weeks my hair has fully transitioned and is now thicker, silkier and in better condition than it’s been in years - and it’s completely clean and doesn’t get greasy at all (and it smells clean too which was the major concern I had). I wash it with warm water only, every 3 days.

I still can’t quite believe it worked!

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime

Not really a tip (thanks for using that word instead of the modern hack) But build a pond and wildlife will come.

We built a pond at the start of lockdown and I've been sat outside today and my garden is teeming with so many different creatures, most that I don't recognise from the previous 10 years I've lived there. I never thought they would come so quickly, frog arrived within a week. Some how water snails turned up and now weve had the biggest, most beautiful dragonflys whizzing around today.

Not if everyone on the estate has cats. I’ve had a pond for a couple of years. Nothing except a pigeon used it the first year. Put tadpoles in two years ago. Never saw a frog but my neighbour said her cats bought in two. Nothing in it since and it makes me sad I have to rescue dead woodlouse or snails from it.

I’m going to try the bag of coins and water next week - we’re going away to a place where flies are always a right pain in summer.

@BlueLagoona
Can we have a picture please? Thank you!

@confusednortherner

Using washing up liquid and fabric conditioner to wash your windows. I've never been able to clean windows without leaving them in a state until I tried this. Complete game changer!

Explain?

A small tot of brandy gets rid of period cramps in five minutes flat. wish I'd learned that twenty years earlier than I did.

Revive slightly soft crackers/biscuits for cheese in the microwave: microwave for 45 seconds in a single layer (I put them on a piece of kitchen roll). Leave for 5 minutes. Voila! Lovely crisp crackers.

If you have rubbish that's too big to fit in your bin, councils usually have "Household Recycling Centres" you can take it to for disposal.

Sorry not sorry.

Nail polish (with acetone) or hairspray will remove any kind of sticker residue.

Tin openers have a bit on them to help remove air pressure If you have trouble with jars. Look for a curved, hooked part of the tin opener, either near the tin opener part or on the leg. You hook the lid and pull up releasing air and making it easy to open.

This one I haven’t used because I’m too pale but apparently it works and is weirdly similar to the red underwear tip. Apparently, if you have a medium/dark skin tone and have very dark circles that are so bad that concealer won’t work, you can put red/orange lipstick over the circles then put concealer over that and it works really well.

But, my favourite tips that I’ve discovered recently that have surprised me in how well they work for dealing with a surge of anxiety, stress or panic are these techniques. 1. Do the 4/2/4 breathing technique, it’s on the NHS website but you inhale through your nose for count of 4, hold for two, then breath out through the mouth for 4. Do this a couple of times to calm down, good if you’re trying not to lose your temper too. 2. Another thing to try is to hold something with a bit of texture and rub your fingers across it, really focus on the feel. This works by shifting your focus and distracting your mind for a bit. I think these are great tips and the more ways of knowing how to cope with a difficult situation the better.

@tobee sugar will melt in plain hot water, it will just take a bit longer of it's burnt.

Curing hiccups.

Say to the person hiccuping
“ I will give a tenner if you can hiccup again”

Works every time.

My mum taught me when you burn a pan badly to just heat up hot water in it and the carbon comes off!

Thanks @StoppinBy

Ooh and @Angliski

If you have an ice cream headache, place the pad of your thumb on the roof of your mouth.

I also agree with the Vicks on the bottoms of feet for coughing.

Anyone have a fix for set in stains? I'm horrible at pretreating and so many of my kids clothing is now stained😔

A neighbour advised me to spray vinegar essence on my patio weeds - worked amazingly! Would never use it on anywhere that I wanted anything to grow since I don’t think it’s good for the soul but it worked a treat on the drive and patio and they’ve never grown back

Good for the soil 😂 it was great for the soul since they didn’t come back

I was curious about the saliva helping to remove blood stains, so I googled...apparently saliva contains hydrogen peroxide as well as very many enzymes (most of which seem to break down starch rather than protein).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saliva

If anyone has one to get the greasy marks off walls where dc have splattered food etc I will be forever grateful. I’ve tried washing up liquid, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, magic eraser, elbow grease (both the product and the action) and the stains remain. Even more annoying as I have got to them all straight away.

If someone has been sick and the smell lingers after cleaning, make a paste of bicarbonate of soda and some water. You want it almost the consistency of snow. With a marigold sheathed hand massage it into the sicky patch, then leave to dry preferably overnight. In the morning, vacuum the excess and maybe wipe with a damp cloth if any remains. You can finish with a spray of vinegar but the bicarb should work like magic on its own!